“Dean,”Kyle warned.
“Open the gift, Madison,” Dean only replied through laughter, “and then I’m out of here.”
She ruffled the gift paper and reached inside, pulling out…
What was that?
“I thought you needed a stuffed cleaver.” Their friend took a few more playful steps backward. “Now you can stab people, but no one gets hurt.”
Her face was blank with shock as she thrust out her new toy. “You think I can’t hurt you with this?”
His shriek was mostly for show. “How about I take Pierre for another night? I’ll drop him off at the restaurant tomorrow.”
“Dean, that’s not?—”
“Pierre, Mommy and Daddy need some private time, so you’re coming back home with me,” Dean interrupted, lifting up the covering. “You two crazy kids have fun.”
He was gone in a blink.
Kyle bit his lip to contain his laughter as Madison stalked back toward him, shaking her new stuffed cleaver. “News is going to spread about us getting freaky, you know.”
“Maybe it’s better this way.” He cleared his throat to hide his mirth as he pointed the tip of the stuffed cleaver down to the floor. “Dean is the perfect town crier. How do you like your new present?”
She gently stabbed him in the stomach, and he pretended to double over. “I don’t know how I lived without it. We’relucky he didn’t have matching T-shirts made for us that say LOVEBIRDS.”
Shoulders shaking, he kissed her smartly on the mouth and headed over to start making them acafé crème.“With Dean, it’s always the gesture that counts. How soon will the pastelitos be ready?”
Madison needed a diversion right now. He wanted her light and giddy again—not frowning and worrying about their friends.
“Only about five or six minutes,” she told him, tossing the toy on the counter and then grabbing plates. “Also, I meant to ask last night but I got distracted. When did you become a big fan of Latin music? That was for me, wasn’t it?”
Now there was an edge to her voice. He had to work hard not to rattle the coffee cups and saucers as he grabbed them. “Making you happy was my goal, and the music was part of it. I’d like to dance with you.”
She pressed her hands on the kitchen island, her golden eyes large in her face. “Until Thea’s wedding, I’d never seen you dance with a partner.”
Shit. The weirdness between them was back. He finished making their crèmes and brought them over to the table. “Come sit.”
“I’m waiting on the pastelitos. I don’t want them to burn.”
Fine. He headed over to her with both their coffees. “Here. Have it while it’s warm.”
He sipped his own café, holding her gaze.
Yeah, she was overthinking things, no doubt about it.
“I know you love dancing,” he hedged, not wanting to unveil his secret dance lessons yet, “and I happen to love having you in my arms.”
Her brow knit. “Okay, that’s like flying in all my favorites from Miami and lighting a million candles. Don’t get me wrong. I really like that you did it. I told you last night it’s thenicest thing a guy has ever done for me. But I don’t want you to simply do everythingIlike. Where’s Kyle in all this?”
Now he was frowning. “I’m right here. Happily.”
She touched his jaw, searching his face. “I know that. But I asked you before, and I can’t help feeling like I need to ask it again. What is Operation Kyle?”
He took her hand and kissed it. “It’s you, Mad.”
New tension filled her frame. “It can’t be me. It has to be about you. I don’t have to listen to Brooke’s podcasts or journal like Thea to know that.”
“I have everything I want.” He cupped her face, wanting to make her understand how he was feeling. “Last night was like touching heaven.”
