Page 40 of Mountain Dreams

She followed him. The savory scents of meat, veggies, and fried eggrolls made her mouth water.

“Have a seat,” he said.

“I want to help.”

“You don’t know where everything is yet.”

He said yet as if it had been decided that she was going to move in with him. Am I?

“At least let me get the drinks.”

“Okay. I’ll take a beer, and you can grab whatever you want.”

She glanced at him just as he bent over to get something out of a cupboard. Grab whatever I want… Ohmigod! Stop it!

When he stood and turned toward her, she was standing still with the refrigerator door hanging open.

“Didn’t find what you’re looking for?” he asked.

“No. I mean, yes. I’m good.” She quickly ducked her head into the fridge and relished the cool blast of air against her heated face. She removed two beers and then joined him at the table.

He opened the containers of food and began doling it out. Then he handed her a plate with two eggrolls on it.

“You won the extra eggroll, not me.”

“I was just playing with you,” he said.

Playing with me…hmm. With every minute she spent with him, her mind was drifting into dangerous territory, which was why she absolutely should not agree to live here.

He smiled at her from across the table, the kind of warm, sexy smile that used to make her melt in history class. Suddenly she had a premonition that she was about to make a big mistake…

Thirteen

Ihope this isn’t a mistake, Cody thought as he arranged the flowers in a vase. He set the vase in the center of the kitchen table and placed the box of chocolates next to it. He’d snuck out earlier that morning in search of a Valentine’s Day gift. It was Sunday, though, and the only thing open was a grocery store. Luckily, they still had some flowers and chocolates left.

He’d questioned whether to acknowledge the holiday at all, and then he’d decided Maddie could probably use some cheering up. He convinced himself that it was a friendly gesture rather than a romantic one, and he’d purposely chosen pink carnations instead of red roses. Everyone knew that red roses were the symbol of love, and he didn’t want to send the wrong message.

A door creaked open upstairs, and he waited, his heart pounding in his chest. Then he heard another door close, and a minute later, the shower turned on. Last night after dinner, Maddie had claimed exhaustion and gone to bed. He’d stayed up for a while, watching TV with the volume turned down and trying not to think about her upstairs, preparing for bed.

He’d pictured her undressing, carefully folding her clothes and putting them away, and then getting into her pajamas. She’d slip into the bed that he’d slept in as a teenager and pull the covers up to her chin. Then she’d put on her reading glasses, open her latest novel, and get lost in the world of fiction. The vision might not sound sexy to some, but it did to him because he knew her. She tried to write herself off as an uptight bookworm, but that wasn’t an accurate description. She was sweet, sensitive, and oh so sexy, though she didn’t even know it.

He made coffee and scrambled eggs with the sound of the shower in the background and forced himself to concentrate on cooking rather than thinking about her naked. He wondered if she’d given any more thought to moving in with him, but he wouldn’t press the issue, especially not today. Today he was determined to take her mind off her troubles, not add to them.

He’d just set the plates of eggs and toast on the table when she padded into the kitchen, her hair slightly damp and her cheeks rosy.

“Ohmigod,” she said as she surveyed the scene.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Cody…”

“It’s just a little something.”

“I didn’t expect this. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s eat before the eggs get cold.”

They sat down, and he immediately dug in, but she just sat there, staring at the food, flowers, and candy.