if you need me, call me, even if it’s late. Cinnamon rolls can be kind of tricky.”
Babette couldn’t fathom how, since she’d watched Hannah simply follow the recipe and then they’d turned out great, but she agreed.
Rose hugged her. “We’ll check on you in the morning and see how your cinnamon rolls turn out.”
A solid, rapping knock echoed from Babette’s door. “You expecting company?” Rose asked.
“No,” Babette whispered, but she had a strong suspicion that she knew who was on the other side of the door this time.
The knock continued.
Rose smiled. “Maybe you should go let him in.” Then she and Otis walked behind her to the door, and Babette opened it to find that this time, it was exactly who she’d hoped it’d be.
“Hello, Jeff,” Rose said, easing past him with Otis at her heels.
“We came back for Rose’s shawl,” Otis explained to Jeff as they left.
Then they were gone, and she was left standing there alone with the guy who had dominated her thoughts all day. No, he’d dominated them for a large portion of the last four years, the three they were together and the one that they were apart. Why she ever thought she could convince him to be with someone else was beyond her. She didn’t want him with Kitty; she wanted him with her.
But first, she had to prove to him that she had changed, that she could commit. Just a few more days. Then she’d follow Rose’s advice, and go for the man she wanted. She moistened her lips, and took him all in, the guy who understood her better than anyone, who had the ability to make her laugh and to make her dream. Dream about being with him for something long-term, more than what they’d had before, much more. A guy who’d, at one point, considered her as the woman to be with him forever.
If he’d consider that again, she wouldn’t bat an eye. She was ready.
“Babette, can I come in? I need to talk to you.”
“Oh,” she gasped, realizing that he was still in the doorway, and that she was gawking. “Sorry, yes. Come on in.”
He stepped inside, and Babette caught herself leaning toward him, breathing in the scent of him, all male and perfect. And she recognized that, thanks to Rose, she now had a new dilemma. Now that she’d made the decision to let him know how she felt and to attempt to get him back, she was yearning to get started on the process. Right here, right now. But proving herself to him, proving her ability to commit to him, meant maintaining her distance, for five more days.
Unaware of her inner struggle, Jeff crossed the room and sat on one end of the couch. Babette followed, sitting on the other end and trying to act casual, as though she wasn’t on the brink of losing control of the temptation of having him here, with her, alone in her condo.
“First, I want to apologize for leaving like I did earlier.” He put one arm on the back of the couch, and her attention was drawn to the long, tan fingers resting so near her head, and her mouth. A powerful urge to kiss each finger, and then his palm, and then . . .
“I shouldn’t have lost my temper. But I didn’t want to talk to Kitty, and I really didn’t want to hear you ask me to.”
Babette stopped thinking about kissing him all over, which typically would’ve been difficult to stop, and thought about how she should respond. If she said she didn’t want him talking to Kitty either, then she was showing him she wasn’t committed to her job, and she was, except for when she was supposed to get him back with his ex. And if she said that she really wanted him to talk to Kitty, then she’d be lying, and she wasn’t going to lie to Jeff again. Ever.
So she remained silent, which proved okay, because he kept talking.
“Since it looks like you’re going to make it without flirting,” he said, a slight grin playing on his lips, “I’ll talk to her then, but not before. And I’ll tell you right now, that there’s no way the two of us are getting back together, so don’t go spending all her money yet.”
Babette cheered inwardly, but said nothing outwardly. She really was in a fix with her portion of this conversation, which was, so far, nonexistent.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice, and continued again.
“But