Page 84 of Some Like It Hot

It’s pushing me to the edge of falling head over ass for him.

How to handle it isn’t entirely clear to me yet, but I do know that I don’t want to initiate sex. I feel confident if I did, he would tumble into bed naked with me, and I don’t want him to have regrets. It has to be his idea.

Patience isn’t my biggest virtue, but my mum always said the harder you work for something, the sweeter it tastes.

Ironic coming from a woman who never worked for a damn thing in her life, but a valid sentiment.

Speaking of sweets, I point to the row of pain au chocolat. “I’ll take four of those. One for each of us.”

“I don’t need one,” Aidan says. “I’ll just take a coffee. Black. Thanks, Luna.”

Aside from his fondness for domestic beer and steak, Aidan is a healthy eater. He has no sweet tooth. He’s also stubborn. He’s already pulling his wallet out to pay for his coffee and I don’t say anything. I just let him pay for it.

I can’t remember what kind of coffee Elise drinks, which makes me feel terrible. But in all fairness, the morning after I stayed at her place, I was deliciously distracted. “A latte for Elise?” I guess. “And two more black coffees.”

I suspect Wilder drinks his black just to punish himself. He’s that kind of guy.

Luna packages up my sweets and puts the coffee cups into a travel case. I give her a generous tip. “Thank you. Much appreciated.”

“Don’t keep Elise up all night,” she warns us. “She’s opening again tomorrow and I don’t think my blood pressure can take another kitchen fire.”

Even though she’s smiling and clearly teasing, I still wince. “I feel responsible for that. She was utterly desperate to get back to me.”

Luna laughs. “Oh, I bet.”

Aidan shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “Ready? I feel like this is going to take more than ten minutes.”

The plan is not to have sex tonight, though I won’t object to it.

We’re supposed to be creating a mutual history for Blake and Elise so that when they meet his grandmother, they have a solid lock on knowing each other and their relationship timeline.

I’m looking forward to it because I want to know every little snippet about Elise that I can.

Also, I can’t wait to torment Blake.

He’s fun to poke.

And I don’t mean that literally.

“I feel like this could take hours,” I agree. “He’s as stubborn as you are.”

“I’m not stubborn,” Aidan protests in surprise as we head toward the stairs.

I eye the coffee in his hand pointedly.

He makes a face. “Much.”

“We’ll just have to get the basics down. Family background, how long they’ve been dating, that sort of thing.”

We climb the stairs.

“Do you think they can pull off lovey-dovey?”

“I don’t see why not. They’ve seen each other naked.”

“That is true.”

Jostling the coffee carrier and the bag, I knock on the door. “We’re here.” I start to turn the knob.

---