Page 116 of A Dream for Daphne

It was a good way to end this conversation too.

Hours later, she’d calmed down though.

She was going to talk to Abe about it, but there was another issue she wanted to address.

He was coming to dinner tonight. Actually he was picking up dinner and told her not to cook.

She didn’t know why since she’d been cooking one-handed all week when he was outside. It’s not like he could stop her since he was working.

He’d come in and dinner was ready. Even joked he could get used to it.

Maybe she could too.

“Hi,” he said, entering, holding a pizza box. “Quick and easy. Hope this was okay.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “And gives you leftovers for lunch.”

He laughed while she reached for the box. “That was my thought. I’m going to take a quick shower.”

“Go ahead,” she said.

He’d left his boots right at the door like he always did. She’d seen him shake off anything on the porch. She’d joked that hewas like a dog doing that so he was more exaggerated now even shaking his head and wiggling his butt if he knew she was watching.

He did make her laugh.

Her anger over his conversation with Poppy and Reese wasn’t as great. She even told herself to not jump the gun, that Julie tended to embellish a lot.

She’d get to that conversation at some point tonight, but there was another she was going to have first.

Abe returned ten minutes later smelling like crisp mountain air.

She moved over and gave him a kiss, her right hand trailing down his arm and under his T-shirt. “Yum.”

He stiffened and then laughed.

What the hell?

Was he turned off by her for some reason?

They sat at the table and she lifted her right arm to smell herself.

Nope, nothing.

With her arm in a sling, she lifted her left as well as she could and did the same.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Checking to see if I stink,” she said. “Every time I get near you for anything more than a kiss you back away as if I’m a skunk trying to spray you. What is going on?”

“You smell great as always,” he said, leaning closer to give her a good sniff.

“Then why are you backing away from me all the time?”

“I’m not,” he said. “I’m sleeping next to you. Or I was before you kicked me out last week when we finished here.”

“I didn’t kick you out,” she argued and took a big bite of her pizza.

“Oh,” he said. “You did. You were polite about it, but I know I overstayed my welcome. I get it.”

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