for a moment before shaking her head as if she were disappointed with herself. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
Something inside Gabe’s chest unclenched at her offer. She hadn’t agreed to anything yet, but she wasn’t kicking him out, either.
“Always,” he replied.
The twitching turned into a full-on smile. “Why am I not surprised?”
Did she realize she was flirting with him? He hoped not, otherwise she was bound to make herself stop.
“Without Summer here I haven’t bothered to go shopping, so there isn’t much.”
She was just opening the fridge when he said, “How about I go move your clothes into the dryer while you rustle up something to eat?”
“No,” she said quickly, her flush giving away the train of her thoughts, making both of them think about those pink panties again. “I’ll run and do it. You just sit tight and I’ll be right back.”
Each of the guys at the station took a meal shift when they were on duty, so although Gabe might not have been the neatest guy in the kitchen, he knew his way around a good handful of meals.
A short while later, he had the makings of a pretty great omelet on the counter. He was just pouring the eggs into the hot skillet when Megan came back inside.
“Gabe?” She looked stunned to see him behind the stove. “You didn’t have to cook.”
He slid the glass of juice he’d poured over to her. “I enjoy it. Sit.” He looked over at her desk in the corner of her small living room, covered with papers and a couple of big, fancy calculators. “Looks like you’ve been working hard.”
She nodded, looking tired again. “Still playing catch-up with a couple of my clients. Fortunately, I’m just about there.”
“Good,” he said, holding back the rest of what he’d come here to say.
Timing was everything.
He slid the omelet from the skillet onto a plate, buttered the raisin bread that had just popped up from the toaster, grabbed two forks from the top drawer, and moved over to the tiny breakfast bar to join her.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I can’t remember the last time someone besides Summer cooked for me.”
“Her muffins are great.”
“They are,” she agreed, “but now I’m wondering if I should teach her how to make omelets, instead.” She looked up at him with an even bigger smile. “The raisin bread is great, too.”
Somehow he managed to stop staring at the beautiful woman next to him and push his fork into the eggs. She followed suit and just as he was finishing his first bite, she made one of those soft little sounds that made him immediately hard.
“Ohmygod,” she moaned in one long syllable, “this is so good.”
Amazingly, praise from her over something as small as eggs and toast made him feel as good as if he’d singlehandedly put out a five-alarm fire.
“I’m glad you think so,” he said, and then while he held her captive with his cooking prowess, he decided the timing was finally right. “Got any plans for New Year’s Eve?”
She seemed startled for a moment. “Wow, how’d it get to be December 31 already?”
Smiling at her, he said, “I’ll take that as a no.”
“Yes,” she said, and then, “No. I haven’t made any plans.” Her eyes widened as she realized where he was going with his question. “You’re not suggesting that you—” She pointed at him. “—and I—” And then at herself. “—spend it together?”
“Hey, that’s a great idea.”
“No, it’s a terrible idea.”
“Do you like fireworks?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
“You do, don’t you?” he said with a grin. “I’ll bet you love them, the bigger the better.” The way her skin flushed in response was answer enough. “Watch them with me tonight on my roof.”
He could feel how tempted she was by his suggestion, but then she said, “I shouldn’t.”
But both of them knew shouldn’t was a hell of a long way from couldn’t.
“But you want to, don’t you?”
That gorgeous exasperated look reappeared on her face. “Of course I want to!”
He didn’t bother to hold back his grin at that admission. “What if I promise not to kiss you until next year?”
The heat between them flared into full-on flames.
“Nice try,” she said. “Next year is only a few hours away.”
“I’d have to break my promise if it were anything longer than that.” He reached for a tendril of hair that had fallen across her cheek. “And I don’t ever want to break a promise to you, Megan.”
Chapter Eighteen
Megan knew what the right answer was. Just two letters. N and O. Those