Page 19 of Guarding My Love

Three batches of cookies to let him know she was capable of doing something only to not eventhinkof that.

“Seriously?” she said. “I’m so sorry. I should have asked. I’ll make just regular chocolate chip ones.”

He smiled and she was right.

He took her breath away.

Normally she was attracted to the suit-and-tie-polished type of guy.

No one could say Foster was any of those things, though the first time she’d seen him last Friday night, he’d had a suit on.

But since she saw him going to work the other day in just a cotton shirt, jeans and sneakers, the suit had to be for one of those family things he’d talked about.

“I’m joking,” he said.

Didn’t look it to her with his facial expression not changing in the least.

“You’re not allergic to peanut butter?”

“No,” he said, reaching for the plate.

She held it away from him. “Say you’re sorry.”

“What?”

“Tell me you’re sorry for making my heart stop that I might have killed you.”

He started to laugh. “You wouldn’t have killed me.”

“I’m serious, Foster. I didn’t even think to ask you that. What if you were and I just left them in your mailbox and then you touched them and blew up like a balloon and exploded.”

He started to laugh even harder and Marco was barking and jumping on him.

“I doubt people explode,” he said.

“You know what I mean,” she said.

“Fine. I’m sorry,” he said seriously. “I’m not allergic. I promise. Give me one. I’ll show you.”

She pulled the plastic wrap away, handed him a cookie, and he took a bite. “Not bad, huh?”

“Good,” he said and started to cough. “My throat. It’s getting tight. Shit, I thought I’d be fine.”

Her jaw dropped and she reached for him. He caught the cookies as she let them go.

The laughter had her slapping his arm. “That isn’t funny!”

“You should see your face.”

“I can’t believe you’re the same guy who barely said more than two words at once the last few times we saw each other and didn’t smile and now you’re picking on me.”

She’d like to think he was flirting too.

Wouldn’t that be something?

She was thinking of getting her flirt on back, but right now she was too annoyed.

“It’s not normally like me,” he said.

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