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“Who’s we?”
He sips out of his mug. His brown hair is all in disarray, and I’d like to push my fingers through it.
“My assistant, Becs, and I. She comes over a couple of times a week. She also edits all the videos and gets them ready for posting, and she handles most of the website and social media stuff. She’s a gem and a single mom, so having a flexible schedule works out for her.”
I keep babbling, and he keeps listening, but all I can think is, is this technically still date number one, or are we on to date number two?
Because I’m trying really hard to follow Meg’s three-date rule before sleeping with someone, but damn, it’s hard.
It’s especially hard when he looks like that. All rumpled from sleep, with bare feet, standing in my kitchen just casually drinking my coffee, as if we do this all the freaking time. All I can concentrate on is what those abs really look like under his white T-shirt.
I’m quite sure they’re way better than lovely.
“Sophie.”
I blink and try to act nonchalant. “What’s that?”
“I asked where you went. You stopped talking and got lost in a stare.”
Yeah, I was staring at his freaking abs.
“Oh, sorry. Coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.”
I stand and move to walk around him so I can pour another cup, even though I never drink more than one cup of coffee a day, but he catches my elbow and tugs me to him, sets both of our mugs aside, and just pulls me in for a great big hug.
Instinctively, I circle my arms around his middle and hold on just as tightly and breathe him in. He’s hard, but not uncomfortably so. In fact, I think I could stand here, just like this, all day long.
“Oh, this is nice.”
“Hmm.” He buries his nose in the top of my head and kisses me there. “Good mornin’, beautiful.”
“Mornin’.”
It’s a long hug. In some circumstances, it could slide right over into awkward.
But I’m not feeling uncomfortable at all. In fact, the longer it goes, the more relaxed I become.
“If you continue to snuggle me like this, I might fall asleep.”
I feel him smile against the crown of my head, and then he lets me go.
“Would you rather I make you breakfast,” I offer as I continue around the island to the coffee maker, “or would you like to just grab something down at the market? There are some cute restaurants down there.”
“Let’s do that,” he says. “As long as you aren’t offended by me wearing the same thing today as I did last night, I won’t go home and change.”
“You’re not stinky,” I inform him with a wrinkle of my nose. “It’s fine with me.”
Deciding against more coffee, I set the mug in the dishwasher.
“I’ll be ready in ten. I have an extra toothbrush you can use.”
“I’d appreciate that,” he says with a nod and follows me back to my bedroom, walking straight into the en suite bathroom.
From the closet, I hear the water come on, and I smile. I’ve only lived in this condo for about a year, and Ike is the first man I’ve brought back here. I’ve been so busy with work, I just haven’t had time to date.
But I like having him here.
I’ve just pulled on a cardigan when the man himself appears in the doorway. He straightened out his hair a bit, and he looks as fresh as he did when I first arrived at his house yesterday.
“How do guys do that?” I ask, gesturing to him.
“Do what?”
“Look like that. If I had to regroup with the same outfit from the day before, I’d look homeless.”
“Doubt it,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re freaking gorgeous, Soph. Can I call you Soph?”
I grin. “Yeah. You can. Come on, I have so much to show you today.”
“Lead the way.”
“It’s good that I had a big breakfast before you introduced me to the tiny donuts,” Ike decides as we walk past the flying fish counter at the market. We each have a small bag of the hot, fresh goodness, and we’re munching away. “Otherwise, I’d not only eat this whole bag but some of yours, too.”
“I’ll have plenty left over,” I reply with a shrug. “I take them home and warm them up in the air fryer, then serve them with a small scoop of ice cream. It’s especially good when I’m on my period.”
My eyes widen, and I immediately wish the ground would open up and suck me down.
“Uh, that was probably too much information.”
“Not at all. Now I know what to do when Aunt Flow comes to town.”
My gaze whips up to his, and he grins, wiping a few grains of sugar from the corner of my lips, then licks his finger.
“Hey, Ike!”
We turn at his name being called out, and it’s fascinating to watch the change on Ike’s face.
