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He paused. If he admitted to being with Ruth, would that be a compromising statement? Did Ruth mind being compromised? Overthinking it.
“Yeah, I was promised breakfast. What’s on the tray?”
Peaches glanced down as if she needed to remind herself. “It’s the first bunch of muffins—apricot almond. I’ve got some cinnamon buns rising, but I won’t put them in the oven until it’s closer to the time we open. They taste best hot.”
Predictably, his mouth began watering again. Cinnamon buns. When was the last time he’d tasted a home-baked cinnamon bun? Probably a few weeks ago when Peaches had brought some in to work with her. “Could I take a muffin? I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
Peaches grinned again, shaking her head. “If you’re having breakfast with Ruth, they’re free. She owns the place, you know.”
He nodded. “I know. Believe me, I know.”
Ruth pushed back through the kitchen door carrying a couple of coffee mugs. “I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so it’s black. There’s cream in the kitchen if you want it.”
“Black’s fine.” He picked up a plate from a stack on the counter, then took the muffin Peaches handed him. It was still warm.
He closed his eyes, letting that sink in. A warm muffin. Hot coffee. A beautiful woman who’d been in bed with him not that long ago. If this wasn’t the perfect morning, it was pretty damn close.
Ruth dropped into the chair across from him, then turned back to Peaches. “You want to join us? Take a break and have some coffee.”
Peaches shook her head, sighing. “Thanks anyway. I’ve got more muffins ready to come out and some batter that’s ready to go into the tins. I’ll grab some coffee when I get a minute.”
Ruth frowned. “Don’t work too hard. We’ll sell whatever you put in the case. Take some time for yourself.”
“I’m definitely not working too hard. I’m not working hard at all. I’m playing.” Peaches gave them both another delighted smile. “Tell me what you think of those muffins. They’re new.” She grabbed the tray with her potholders and headed back into the kitchen.
Liam took a bite, savoring the combination of almond and honey, with the slight hint of fruit that was probably apricot. He shook his head. “God, this is terrific. Why aren’t there people in the streets hammering the door down to get to these?”
“Business is going gangbusters. I’m as happy as Peaches is.”
“Good. I’m pretty happy myself.” He gave her another quick grin and watched her cheeks turn a deep pink. Happy at seven in the morning. A week ago he wouldn’t have believed it was possible.
“What time do you have to go to work?” she asked.
“I’m working the night shift tonight—it’s Friday. I start at three and then get off whenever we close down, which is usually around midnight this time of year. We don’t have as many late-night customers.”
She frowned. “That’s a long shift.”
“Yeah, but right now I’m the only full-time bartender. There’s another guy who picks up a couple of evenings a week, and some days we keep the bar closed during lunch so I can work the late shift. Once the skiers start showing up, Stanton will need a couple of bartenders to handle the workload. Not that he’ll admit that.”
“You don’t think he’ll hire them?” One eyebrow arched.
“With Stanton you never know. He must realize he’s going to need somebody, but he hates to spend the money, just like he didn’t want to spend the money to hire a first-rate cook. He’ll put it off as long as he can.”
Ruth shook her head. “That’s the restaurant business. It’s never as stable as you want it to be. Even with a good manager.”
“Which the tavern definitely doesn’t have right now.” He took another bite of his muffin to get the sour taste out of his mouth. Talking about Stanton was taking the glow off his mood. Even though he was leaving, he was still annoyed about the waste of a good tavern.
“You get off at midnight tonight?” Ruth was looking down at her coffee cup, stirring in some nonexistent sugar.
