Page 59 of Throne of Secrets

Star chuckled, grabbing the door herself. "I got it. Go on, let the poor dog get his fix."

Bianca was behind the counter as usual, her eyes twinkling as she watched the chaos unfold. "A second pup cup today?" She smiled. "Come on in. There’s a table open for you two."

She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to Ethan. "Did Star tell you I have a dessert I wanted you to try out?"

Ethan nodded as he took the pup cup Bianca had already filled and handed it to Thor. "Yes, thank you very much. We didn’t have dessert at Wagner’s, so we could come down here and have coffee and whatever delicious concoction you’re about to spring on us."

Bianca clapped her hands. "Wonderful! I’ll get your usual coffees and then bring out the dessert. Have a seat, have a seat!" She waved them toward the only table left open in the small café.

Star slid into a chair as Ethan wrangled Thor and his pup cup to the table. The moment they were settled, Thor attacked his whipped cream treat with single-minded devotion.

Star shook her head. "He doesn’t act that way with me."

Ethan chuckled. "That’s because he knows he has to protect you. With me, he sometimes thinks I’m his butler or pain in his tail." He scratched behind Thor’s ears. "He’s got a mind of his own when it comes to his whipped cream."

Ethan extended his hand across the table, and Star laced her fingers with his.

"I had a lovely dinner, by the way. If I didn’t say thank you …" She smiled softly. "Thank you." His phone beeped, and he glanced at it. “Do you need to go?” Star was already moving to get up, but Ethan stared at his watch before he shook his head.

“No, someone else is taking care of it.” He looked back up at her and smiled.

Star frowned. “You didn’t tell me you had a staff.”

“I don’t. A friend is watching the systems so I can have a night with you.”

“And the urgent beeps?”

“Looks like someone is attacking one of the systems we watch. It is a semi-permanent situation. They try, we defend, block, and eliminate.”

“So, you’re business partners?”

“In the loosest sense of the word. We cross over and do favors for each other.”

“Oh.” Star had no idea how that worked, but it wasn’t her business, and he could run his however he chose.

Ethan lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of hers. "After this dessert, we’ll get to thereallygood stuff."

Heat rushed to Star’s cheeks, and she glanced around, ensuring no one had overheard because they weren’t the only ones in the shop.

Ethan smirked and winked at her. "Relax. No one heard me."

She ducked her head, fiddling with his fingers. "I’m just not used to being flirted with. The intimacy is … difficult for me sometimes."

Ethan kissed her hand again. "It shouldn’t be. Not with me."

She lifted her eyes to his. "Oh, no. I don’t have a problem withyou. I really like the intimacy with you. It’s … sharing what I like so much with others. The thought that someone could overhear something personal—that’s what’s hard for me."

Bianca emerged from the back with their coffees. "I’ll be back in about two shakes of Thor’s tail with your dessert."

At the mention of his name, Thor wagged his tail twice quickly.

Bianca laughed. "Okay, well, maybe a little longer than that." She disappeared back into the kitchen.

Star took a sip of her coffee. As always, it wasperfect. Bianca had grown up in Italy andknewwhat real coffee was. And according to every Italian she’d ever met in New York, Italians made the best coffee in the world.

"Have you ever been to Italy?" she asked Ethan.

He paused, his cup halfway to his lips. "Yes, I’ve been to Italy."

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