Page 46 of Out of the Cold

“Decaf would be great.”

Pulling the heavy cream out of the fridge, she went to work. In no time, the cream frothed and then turned into stiff peaks. She grabbed a couple of small plates, sliced a generous piece of pie for each of them, and ladled a generous dollop of cream on top.

“That looks incredible,” he said, picking up a fork.

“Wait, I almost forgot.”

She went to the freezer and came back with vanilla ice cream. “We can’t have it without this.”

He looked at her in amazement, shaking his head. “You’re something else, you know that?”

It was embarrassing how much she enjoyed giving him pleasure. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be thinking about more ways to make him happy.

Gabriel poured them each a cup of coffee, and they carried their plates to the couch. She put in theAlienDVD and hit play.

She tried not to think about how natural if felt to do this, like it was something they did every day. Considering how poorly most of their interactions went, it was surprisingly easy. Maybe if they could both get out of their own way, it would happen more often.

Except that was a terrible idea if she was going to learn to be on her own. The man took care of everything when he was around.

But she’d made an amazing pie. She took another bite, making sure to get the decadent pecan filling, crust, whipped cream, and ice cream all on her fork. She closed her eyes as the different textures and temperatures mixed and melted in her mouth. When she opened her eyes, he was watching her.

There was no mistaking the naked desire in his heated gaze. He held himself rigid even as he heaved out a long breath.

He could have her under him in seconds. She could almost feel his weight on top of her, his mouth on hers.

Or she could crawl into his lap and take control. If he let her.

He broke eye contact, looking down at his plate as if not sure what to do with it.

“This is really delicious,” he finally said.

“Thank you.” Her voice was high and breathless, a total giveaway.

She turned back to the movie and pretended to concentrate while her heart pounded in her ears. He wasn’t going to kiss her, but he’d wanted to.

Their companionable silence didn’t return. Instead, each second that ticked by increased the tension until she was strung tight as a bow.

She nearly spilled her coffee when he finally spoke.

“I should probably get going. I’m more tired than I realized. Rain check on the movie?” he asked, standing up with his plate and mug.

“Sure. No problem.”

He headed toward the kitchen, but she sat a bit longer to regain her composure.

It was for the best. Their chemistry was off the charts, but the last thing she needed was that kind of complication. He had an ocean of pain in him, deep enough to drown in. What’s more, he knew it.

He was running the water like he was going to clean up.

“Leave those,” she said, finally getting up. “I can throw it all in the dishwasher.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“Well, thanks for everything. It was...it was exactly what I needed.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling. “Let me give you some leftovers to take with you.”

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