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A reluctant smile tugged his mouth, even if he kept his gaze glued to the television. “Sure you will.”

  Her hand crept lower, to stroke his stomach. “Be ready for me when I get back.”

  He pushed her hand lower, over his crotch. “I’m always ready for you.”

  This time when she kissed him, he kissed her back. They wrestled for a moment until he pulled her over the back of the couch and onto his lap. He kissed her harder, then pulled away to look into her face.

  “Don’t be too long,” he said in a low voice.

  “I won’t,” she assured him. She kissed him again, and he let her get up. By the time she left, he’d turned his attention back to the TV.

  Eddie was more than happy to leave Sugarland under Kara’s capable eye and walk down the block to the Frog House, where they ordered omelets and home fries and coffee.

  “I could eat breakfast anytime,” he said with a satisfied sigh when their plates arrived. “Gosh, that looks good.”

  The very fact he said “gosh” made Bess feel suddenly bubbly toward him.

  “So,” he continued, unaware of her sudden reaction, “what’s on your agenda for today? Are you going out to look for a job?”

  She shook her head and stabbed at her eggs, though she was so excited she could hardly eat a thing. “Actually, that’s what I’m here to talk about.”

  “Yeah?” Eddie grinned and set down his fork. “Tell me.”

  Bess laughed. “I’ve been thinking about Just A Bite—”

  “Woo hoo! I knew it!” He pumped a fist in the air.

  Bess expected embarrassment at the way heads turned to look at them, but her cheeks didn’t burn. She laughed again. “I have no money, Eddie. I need a job. I’m not even sure—”

  “I told you. I can get the money. How’s your credit?” His grin softened, still tweaking the corners of his eyes, but he looked more serious.

  “Fine, I guess.” Bess’s heart thumped a little faster. They were really going to do this. “Will that matter?”

  “If your name’s on the line of credit, sure.” He looked her over. “This is going to be great.”

  Then she did blush. “I’m glad you think so.”

  Eddie beamed. “I mean it.”

  “I have to do something,” she said. “My last job was as an addiction counselor. They don’t even have the same drugs now, Eddie. I mean, people are snorting and shooting stuff I never heard of. I’m not sure I could get back into it.”

  “You could.” Eddie made it sound so easy, Bess believed he was right. “But I’m glad you’re not going to!”

  Warmth flooded her at his enthusiasm. “The bills won’t pay themselves. And after this summer, when Connor goes off to college and Robbie gets settled into school, and when the divorce goes through…”

  She trailed off, but Eddie didn’t let the silence become uncomfortable. “Fall will be the perfect time to start making the renovations. It will all work out, Bess. You’ll see.”

  There was something so comforting about the way he said it. “I know.”

  Eddie’s phone beeped and he pulled it from his pocket with a glance at the screen. “That’s Kara. I guess I should head back.”

  “I should get home.” Bess grabbed up the check before he could. “I have this.”

  “No.” Eddie made a play for the slip of paper, “I asked you. It’s my treat.”

  “Nope.” Bess clutched it close to her chest, out of reach. “I got it.”

  He held up both hands in surrender. “Fine. But then I owe you one.”

  “No, you don’t!” She laughed. “You bought coffee the last time!”

  Eddie shook his head. “I asked you, I should pay. Anyway. Maybe I could take you to dinner, sometime?”

  Dinner was not breakfast, and they both knew it. Knew what the question was really asking. Bess opened her mouth to answer, but Eddie cut her off gently.

  “If it’s too soon, I understand. I mean…with the divorce and everything. It could just be a friendly dinner.”

  “I didn’t think it would be anything else,” Bess said.

  Eddie had a lovely smile that made his blue eyes twinkle from behind the dark-framed glasses. “Too bad. Because I was really asking you for a date.”

  She shifted, uncomfortable not because she didn’t think the idea was appealing, but rather because suddenly, it was. “Eddie…”

  “Just think about it.” He leaned forward a little bit.

  Bess looked into his eyes. “I can’t, Eddie.”

  She hoped he wouldn’t take it the wrong way, but what would the right way be? She couldn’t tell him the truth, and leaving him to think he understood her reasons seemed more dishonest than he deserved.

  Eddie nodded as though he’d expected her answer. “Fair enough.” He smiled. “But if you change your mind, the offer still stands.”

  Bess cocked her head to look him over. “You’ve really changed, haven’t you?”

  “I hope so.” Eddie passed a hand over his hair and looked self-conscious for the first time since they’d met again. “I grew up, I guess.”

  “It suits you,” Bess said, though once the words were out of her mouth she thought she’d regret them.

  Eddie’s smile didn’t let her. “Thanks.”

  They looked at each other for half a minute or so, smiling, and Bess stood. “I’ve got to get back to the house. Thanks, Eddie. For…everything.”

  For giving her sons jobs. For asking her on a date and proving she wasn’t just someone’s mother or a soon-to-be ex-wife. For being her friend, even after twenty long years had changed them both.

  “Anytime,” Eddie said, and Bess believed him.

  CHAPTER 26

  Then

  The ease with which they’d fallen into familiarity amazed her, but Bess didn’t admit it to Nick. He seemed to assume this was the natural course of things—initially casual but smoking-hot sex, followed swiftly by spending every moment of free time together. Every time she closed Sugarland and he was there waiting for her, her stomach swooped and dipped in the roller-coaster rush of first attraction.

  Of course, it had only been three weeks.

  They didn’t walk hand in hand along the beach cooing poetry, and he didn’t bring her flowers. Nick was more likely to feed her pizza and a milkshake at his apartment than buy an expensive dinner. A trip to the movies meant a drive, and since neither of them had a car, it meant relying on the generosity of friends. Missy was ignoring them both and Ryan did whatever Missy wanted, so Nick and Bess’s dates were restricted to what they could do in town.

  She didn’t care. Most times after working a full day she really only wanted to crash on the couch, anyway. She’d been picking up as many hours as she could, which sometimes meant working a closing shift and then getting up early the next morning to open, taking a four or five hour break, and going back to close again.

  They didn’t give what they were doing a name. Didn’t even acknowledge it to anyone, though it couldn’t have been a secret. Brian had stopped teasing Bess about it, which proved to her how serious it must seem to anyone observing, but between themselves neither of them talked about the “we” or the “us.”

  Bess hadn’t spoken to Andy since the night he’d hung up on her. Every day that passed without her calling him or him calling her made it harder to imagine doing so. She tried to feel sad, or guilty, or even to be angry about the way things had happened, but there frankly wasn’t much room in either her head or her heart for wishing or moping. Nick had filled her up, every crack and crevice.

  She hadn’t moved into his apartment and rarely even spent the night, trying at least for an attempt at propriety. She did hang a toothbrush in his bathroom and kept a small bag of toiletries there, and that seemed so significant to her she made sure never to mention it.

  The sex got impossibly better each time they did it, which was every time they saw one another. Which was at least once a day, sometimes twice, and once a memorable four times that had left her w