Page 92 of Tangled Up In You

"Aren't you tired of kissing me?" she asked.

"That's like asking me if I'm tired of breathing."

She gave him a kiss and then took her coffee. As she sipped it, she realized he'd done more than make coffee. "What's all this?"

"Breakfast. Scrambled eggs and avocado toast."

"You might be the perfect man."

He laughed and shook his head. "Not even close. But I can make breakfast. And I figured you probably need to get down to the store pretty soon."

"I do. Drew will be here at ten as well."

"I'm not worried about Drew seeing us together. You don't need to be a secret, Molly."

"Okay, good," she said, happy to hear that. "I don't like hiding my feelings. But I'm kind of surprised you're willing to be so open."

"Well, I'm not planning to take out an ad anywhere, but I don't have a problem with people knowing I like you. It's not like our friends haven't guessed that already."

"That's true. Hannah was all over me about it yesterday."

"What did she say?"

"That I should go for it. She thinks you're hot."

"Hannah has always been one of my favorites." He handed her a plate of food. "Eat."

She took her plate to the table and sat down. He joined her a moment later. "So, what time do you normally go to work?" she asked.

"Around nine."

"You're going to be late."

"I don't have any pressing cases, except yours."

She frowned at the reminder that she had a case. "I'm supposed to call Lance Baylor today."

"Don't bother. I already left him a message. If he shows up again, just say no. You have no obligation to let him in here."

"Okay." She took a bite of her eggs. "These are good by the way. I like the hint of pepper."

"Everything tastes better with seasoning."

"What are you going to do today besides talk to Baylor?"

"I still need to connect Ethan Mercer to someone in Caroline's family. I'm also going to check out some of Caroline's stepchildren. Maybe tonight we should empty the boxes together, zero in on what exactly you have."

"Do you really want to go through boxes or is that an excuse to see me?" she teased.

He smiled. "I want to do both. Let's multi-task."

"All right. Tonight, we attack the boxes. But today, I have to go through my inventory, reorder some items, refill the shelves and a lot of other stuff. The to-do list seems to be never-ending. I just hope all this work will pay off. I had a lot of business this past weekend, but it was the festival, and some people were curious about the store. I just hope they come back, and they keep buying. Otherwise, the money Phoebe had in reserve is going to go fast. I'm beginning to realize what a big risk it all is."

"No risk, no reward." He gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. That cliché is not helpful. I know, because my father used to say it to me all the time when I was playing sports."

"Are you close to your dad?"

"To both my parents."

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