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He ignored the quick surge of excitement mixed with an undeniable flare of lust. “Somewhere around there, yeah.”
“Do you usually have dinner afterward?”
He shrugged. “If I’m hungry. Especially now since Peaches isn’t around to cook me anything.” He’d eat something off the tavern’s current menu only if he lost what was left of his mind.
“I could fix you something,” she said softly. “If that would be okay with you.”
“That would be…a lot more than okay. That would be great.”
She looked up at him, her lips moving into a faint smile. “Okay, then. Let’s do that. You come to my house when you get off, and I’ll make you a sandwich. Or something.”
Or something. He fought down another surge of lust, this time mixed with triumph. His conscience gave him a quick kick. “Staying up for me won’t keep you up too late?”
She shook her head. “We don’t open until noon on Saturdays. Less coffee break traffic. And I don’t have to get Carol up for anything since she’s still at Brett’s. We can sleep late.” Her cheeks flared pink again.
He nodded. “Definitely. We can definitely sleep late.” He took a quick sip of his coffee to hide his shit-eating grin.
“Do you need to work at the brewery this morning?”
He shrugged. “I’ll go over there later on to see if Bec needs me for anything. She works on her own in the afternoon and evening. Unless Wyatt’s coming up from Denver, in which case she’ll work until he gets there.”
Ruth frowned. “You’re going to work all morning at the brewery, and then you’re going to work at the tavern, and then you’re going to come to my house? How do you keep from collapsing in a heap?”
He gave her a slow smile. The lust was definitely there with a vengeance. “Some things just rejuvenate you. I take one look at you, and I’m wide awake, believe me.”
She smiled back. “Glad to hear it. I wouldn’t want you to start fading away on me. I have plans.”
Liam’s heart gave a mighty thump, and he was pretty sure his temperature had gone up at least a couple of degrees. He’d never had a sexier conversation at eight o’clock on a bright mountain morning. Maybe he should try getting up early more often. “Glad to hear it. We can discuss those plans at dinner.”
“Count on it.” She glanced out the front window. “Here comes Tom.”
Liam squinted at the door as someone began to knock. “I thought you didn’t open until ten.”
“We don’t for regular customers, but the bed and breakfast people show up to get the pastries for their breakfast bars.” She unlocked the door to admit an older man in a plaid flannel jacket and jeans. “Morning, Tom. What do you need?”
Tom paused to inhale the heady smells of Peaches’s kitchen. “A dozen muffins, and some coffee cake if you’ve got it. Myra said she talked to Peaches yesterday about fixing some. We’ve got a couple of families to feed.”
The next hour bustled with commercial customers coming for pastries. Many of them took the time to talk to Ruth and sometimes Peaches. Several tried samples of muffins and coffee cake.
Liam had never stopped to think about the success of the Salty Goat. He just took it for granted. Now that he knew how much work was involved, he was even more impressed with what Ruth had accomplished. Her deli was booming, and it was largely the result of hard work.
And her chef. Liam took a little personal pride in that.
As the last customer closed the door behind him, she flipped the lock once again and dropped down in her chair. “Whoosh. That’s the end of the early morning business. Now we restock for the coffee breakers who’ll show up at ten.”
“Quite a rush. Do you supply all the bed and breakfasts around town?”
She shook her head. “We’ve got most of the old-timers, but some of the new guys do their own cooking. The owner of Casa Verde was a chef in Miami.”
“I’d still bet on Peaches in a head-to-head,” he said loyally.
Ruth grinned. “I would, too.”
Someone else knocked on the front door, and she frowned. “I don’t know who that can be. We’ve already had all of our regulars. And it’s still too early to open up for the coffee breakers.”
