Page 36 of A Dream for Daphne

He squatted down and got under her so that he was beneath her face. She let out a snort. “If I was going to get sick, you’re in the line of it.”

He jumped back fast. “Come sit down.”

“I’m not going to get sick unless embarrassment can make someone puke. Is that possible?”

She looked at him and he stopped to stare at her. “What do we need to do to get past this? I’m not embarrassed. We both participated in it. It was a first for me like you. Why can’t we just agree it happened, we enjoyed it, but we are going to move on again and get to know each other now?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve spent so much of my life worrying what people thought of me. I come to a new area and start fresh where no one knows my background. Then I do something so slutty that if I was back home everyone would be talking about me worse than they already did.”

“Come here,” he said. He pulled her into his arms and held her. She didn’t feel desire right then. She felt comfort. He was rubbing her back and trying to soothe her. “Nothing that night was slutty. I don’t think that way of you at all. Never. I’m not sure how to get you to understand that.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I appreciate you being patient like this. I don’t know many men who would be.”

“Just shows you what a great guy I am. Remember, Poppy said it. If you can’t believe her, who can you?”

She let out a snort and pushed back with a smile on her face. “I know,” she said. “Just from being here, I like you, Abe. I do. I liked talking to you that night and there was something you made me feel.”

“What?” he asked. “Let’s just go to that. What made you do it?”

“I was lonely,” she said. “That’s the simplest reason. I didn’t go there thinking that was going to happen. Never. It just did.”

“That’s right,” he said. “It happened. You felt something with me and I want you to feel that again. Whether I made you feel safe or comfortable.”

“Both,” she said. “Added to the attraction.”

“Well, duh,” he said. “That’s a given. I’m a pretty good catch.”

She laughed. “You’ve got a great personality too.”

“Glad you think that,” he said. “Why don’t we start to cook this meat so we don’t get sick?”

She turned back to the meat and finished forming the patties with him. The two of them slapping the balls down at the same time and then laughing.

“You’re pretty good at that,” she said ten minutes later when he was flipping the burgers over.

Her eyes might be on his biceps.

She couldn’t remember if she ever thought of a guy’s arms as much as she had since she’d seen Abe’s.

It wasn’t like his biceps were big, but they were so defined.

There were ridges and bumps in places in the front and back that she didn’t know even existed.

She always thought Aster was in excellent condition, but he was nothing like Abe.

“I’d rather grill than anything else,” he said. “But I can do it all.”

“All, huh?” she asked.

He closed one eye at her. “You’ve got a great personality too.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I don’t even try. If I’m relaxed enough.”

“I’m glad to know you are. I’m serious, Daphne, put it behind you. Tell me what I need to do for you to do that.”

“It’s just going to take time.”

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” he said. “No one else seems to be knocking on my door. Least of all with pasta salad.”

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