Noah — Rook — filled the doorway like he always did, broad shoulders framed by sunlight, cut hanging open, hair a little too long, jaw a little too sharp. He scanned the room automatically, protective instinct never fully turned off, then found her.
His whole face softened.
Grim muttered, “Here we go,” looking up from fixing the chair leg.
Havoc elbowed Fish. “Watch this. He’s about to get all domestic.”
Fish sipped his coffee. “He already is.”
He walked toward her with that slow, deliberate stride that still made her heart flip. When he reached the counter, he leaned across it and kissed her, soft, warm, familiar.
“Morning, Aves.”
She smiled. “Morning.”
His hand brushed her waist, thumb tracing the chain around her neck, the one that held his ring. She wore it every day. She never took it off.
“You eat yet?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
He frowned. “Avery.”
She laughed. “I’ve been busy.”
He muttered something about stubborn women and stepped behind the counter like he owned the place. Which, again, in a way, he did. He grabbed a muffin, tore it in half, and handed her a piece.
“Eat.”
She took a bite just to make him stop glaring. “Happy?”
“Not yet,” he said, leaning in to kiss the crumb from her lip. “Now I am.”
Her cheeks warmed.
A customer at a nearby table whispered, “They’re disgustingly cute.”
Avery pretended not to hear.
Rook didn’t bother pretending. “Damn right we are.”
She swatted his arm, laughing.
He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.
Later, after closing
The bakery was quiet now, the last of the chairs flipped onto tables, the lights dimmed to a warm glow. Avery locked the front door and turned to find Rook leaning against the counter, watching her with that look, the one that said he still couldn’t believe she was his.
His cut hung open, his chest bare from just walking down from the upstairs apartment, revealing the tattoo on his ribs.
Her bakery logo.
Ink over bone. Permanent. Claiming her as much as she claimed him.
She walked toward him slowly, fingers brushing the edge of his cut. “You know, you never told me if that hurt.”
He smirked. “Didn’t feel a thing.”
