Page 83 of Moonlit Colorado

I swatted his arm with the back of my hand, though I was laughing too. “Pretend you didn’t hear that. Breakfast later. I want you now.”

“That monster in your stomach sounded pretty insistent.”

I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes. “Dane, please. This is so embarrassing.”

He chuckled, getting up and rounding the bed to pull the covers off of me. “I happen to think it’s hilarious. But it also proves I’m doing a bad job of taking care of you. Come on. I’m going to feed you.” He winked. “You know I love watching you eat.”

“Well, at least there’s that.” Since my growling stomach had ruined the mood, I got up. Dane pulled on a pair of sweatpants, throwing me a T-shirt to wear from his dresser drawer. I made a quick visit to the bathroom and took care of brushing my teeth. Much better.

In the kitchen, Dane started the coffee, then opened the fridge. “Eggs and bacon sound good? Or I could run to the corner and get some pastries.”

I peered around him at the fridge shelves. “Oh, cheesecake! Yummy. That’s what I want.”

“For breakfast?”

“Yep.”

He paused, blinking. “You are so damn adorable.”

“What? Cheesecake is every bit as healthy as champagne and pastries. Or unhealthy.”

He kissed the top of my head. “You’re just proving my point. Cheesecake it is. But I’m having eggs.”

“I’ll make them. Scrambled? Sunny side up?”

“Sunny side. Because I’m in a very sunny mood.” He grinned, and I went up on my toes to kiss him.

The cheesecake was to die for. And so good with coffee, which suggested that I should have cheesecake for breakfast a lot more often.

“Should we go back to bed after this?” I asked.

Dane finished the last of his coffee. “That is extremely tempting.” Then a furrow appeared between his brows. “It’s already ten though. I needed to take care of something this morning.”

I licked my fork. “An errand?”

“Not exactly. I’m going to visit my mom. You could come with me, or you could hit a museum instead. There’s several you could walk to, or?—“

“I would love to go with you. I’d be honored to meet your mom. If you’re good with that.”

He exhaled and lifted his eyes. I hadn’t even realized he was holding his breath. “Definitely. I want you to meet her.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Grace

Dane seemednervous as we left the apartment. Well, as close to nervous as he ever got. A wrinkle of worry between his eyes and a tight frown instead of his easy smile.

“I called the nurse while you were in the shower,” he said. “It sounds like mom is having a good day. But that’s relative, you know? Hard to tell how things will go until we’re there.”

“I get it.”

“Mind if we stop at a bakery on the way? Mom has a weakness for strawberry tarts.” A smile reappeared on his gorgeous face. “Kind of like you and your cheesecake. You moaned more eating that than when I had my mouth on you last night.”

That was so not true. But he had me grinning as I remembered how much I had enjoyed both experiences. “Never stand between a woman and her dessert.”

“Words to live by.”

He’d said his parents’ place was within walking distance. I expected I would see his father there, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

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