Page 81 of When Morning Comes Around

“It’s not a problem.”

“What can I get you?”

“Just a coffee, thanks.”

“Take a seat, I’ll bring it over.”

“Thanks.”

He settled into a booth by the window and pulled the bunch of brochures that Austin had given him out of his inside jacket pocket.

There were some good options, but none of the houses that Austin had told him about really captured his imagination. He smiled to himself. What had captured his imagination – and pushed him to visit the realtor’s office first thing this morning – was Sadie. At least, his desire to have a place where he and Sadie could be alone together. When he’d finally dropped her back at her dad’s place on Friday night, he’d had a serious case of blue balls as he drove home. It didn’t help that Jake had been with him. Although, if he had to guess, he would have said that Jake was in a similar position. They’d ridden back around the lake in silence and bid each other a hasty goodnight when they got back to the house.

He couldn’t speak for Jake, but he’d headed straight to his room to relieve the frustration that had built within him over the course of the evening. He looked around the bakery, feeling guilty. It wasn’t as though anyone would be able to guess what he was thinking about, not that there was anything wrong with it anyway. It’d just been such a long time since he’d found himself aching for a woman. Even longer since he’d needed to relieve that ache himself.

He looked up when the front door opened, and smiled when his brother walked in.

April shot him a quick smile before turning and calling “Good morning, Damon. What can I get you?”

Damon grinned. “Morning, April. And well done, you guessed right.”

April laughed and pointed at Dom. “I didn’t. It was a process of elimination. Dominic’s already here.”

Damon ordered and then came over to join Dom in the booth. April was right on his heels and set down a tray with two coffees and a basket with a whole selection of pastries.

Dom gave his brother a puzzled look. “I take it you’re hungry?”

Damon laughed. “I figured we could have something sweet. Choose whatever you want. I’ll take the rest home for Jo.”

That made him smile. If he had to describe him, he’d call Damon a bit of a fitness freak. He spent a lot of time in the gym, either working out himself or working with clients. Jo on the other hand, worked out once a week, and that was more about spending time with Damon than anything else. She was soft, and round, and beautiful. To Dom, their relationship was beautiful.

He plucked a plain croissant from the basket – Jo had told him once that she only liked the kind of croissants that were filled with chocolate.

Damon gave him a knowing smirk. “You can have whatever you like, you know. I got two of everything.”

He laughed. “I’m good.”

“Good.” Damon looked at the brochures sitting on the table in front of Dom. “What’s that?”

He grinned and slid the papers toward him. “Houses.”

“Yeah?” Damon picked up the pile of papers and flipped through them. “Have you seen anything you like? I thought you were thinking about building.”

“I was, but I don’t want to wait that long.”

“Why not? Is everything alright at the house? Are you and Jake doing okay?”

“Everything’s great. The one thing I’m not looking forward to is leaving Jake, sharing your place with him the way we have has been great. I love that I’ve had this opportunity to get to know him. But…”

Damon cocked an eyebrow. “But you’re ready to have your own space?”

“Yeah.”

“How are things going with Sadie?”

He smiled through pursed lips. “I think you’ve already figured out the answer to that, haven’t you?”

Damon chuckled. “I was hoping so. You want to move her in with you?”

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