Page 81 of Don't Go Faking My Heart

But Rusty tugs my hand away from my face. "I'm not saying I mind, but your stomach is growling and I don't want you to forget to eat, because I know when you forget for too long, it makes you feel sick."

WOW.

Now we've progressed to talking about nausea.

So attractive, Ash!

But also, Rusty looking out for me?

So attractive.

I grab two pancakes and multiple slices of bacon. I eat the bacon first, because Millie eats low carb for a fertility disorder, so she always snags every piece of bacon she can get her greedy hands on. Rusty's too used to eating with me to comment.

Next, I put fresh whipped cream and some kind of berry compote on top of the blueberry pancakes. I take my first bite and instantly sit back, enjoying the explosion of flavor. Lemon blueberry compote? My absolute favorite combination. With the whipped cream, it's out of this world. Especially on top of this pancake.

It's fluffy, tender, and a bit tangy.

"This pancake is blowing my mind," I say. "What did you add to the batter?"

"It's sourdough," he says.

I lift my glasses and rub my eyes. "Rusty, are you telling me you whipped cream, made compote, and made a quick batch of sourdough pancakes in the twenty minutes I was showering?"

He looks at the clock. It's almost 10:00 p.m. "It was more like forty-five."

"Well, invading your privacy takes time." I take another bite and then pound my fist on the table. "Mmm. Are you kidding me with this, Hotcakes? This is restaurant-level good."

He grins at me.

I try to ask him what he's smiling at, but I've already crammed another bite in my mouth, so it comes out more like, "Wha' are 'ou 'miling a'?" And I spit a fleck of pancake onto the table.

Take notes, people. This is how you get yourself a man.

He nudges my foot with his playfully, ignoring the food flying from my mouth.

"I'm really glad you're here."

I swallow and smile. "Me too."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

RUSTY

Ash is wearing my clothes and showered in my shower. We went out tonight and came back home to my house. The storm has progressed enough that it's not safe for me to take her home, and part of me wonders if she suspected this would happen all along.

After dinner, I went upstairs to change the sheets for her to sleep in, and she followed me, dropped to my couch, and propped her feet up on my table. So now we're both sitting there, our sides glued together, and watching fail videos on my laptop.

It's everything I ever wanted.

She is everything I ever wanted.

Loving her is as natural as breathing, except I'm always sucking in air through a straw. All I want is to drop the straw and inhale deeply, but I’ll take every breath I can get.

In my months of pining, I never imagined I'd get to have a week like this one. I hope Philip decides to move to Sugar Maple so we can keep up the ruse indefinitely, but even if he goes back tomorrow, I'll look back at this week as a gift. Knowing the feel of her skin and the taste of her lips is a privilege I never expected. Every day after we return to normal will be harder for it, but it doesn't make this experience any less poignant.

You can't know sweet without the bitter.

Sure, the opposite is also true, but I can't waste another second with her worrying about when this will be gone.

---