TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,42

first food began to arrive."

"Oh." Terri sank down onto the edge of the couch next to him to contemplate the matter.

"How was the Met?" C.K. asked politely after a moment.

"It was fun." She perked up slightly at the mem¬ory. "They have lots of cool stuff there. We didn't get to see everything, though. It's so huge! But Bastien said we can go back another time."

Chris nodded. "It's probably better to go a couple times than to try to cram it all in one day anyway."

"Yes," Terri agreed, then asked, "How was your day?"

"Oh, you know. Long. Boring." Chris sighed, then his gaze landed on the stacked manuscript on the coffee table. "I did try to work, but the pain is distracting."

"Hmm." Terri nodded sympathetically as he rubbed his leg above the cast. She'd never had a bro¬ken bone in her life, and had no real idea how painful it must be. But it seemed best to keep him off the subject, so she asked, "What did you eat?"

She hoped that his answer might help her decide what to have, too. But the young man's answer brought a grimace to her face.

"Chips, cheese, and sausage." He shrugged.

"That's hardly a healthy diet," Terri chastised.

"Well, there was no one to cook for me. I had to fend for myself," the editor said defensively, then pat¬ted the set of crutches Terri hadn't noticed leaning against the couch. "Fortunately, Bastien's secretary brought these babies up half an hour ago. I can get around on my own now."

"Good," she said, aware that Bastien and Vincent had been helping the man get to and from his bed¬room each day. She didn't know if he needed help dressing and undressing, but thought he would prob¬ably want some more fresh clothes soon, too. She'd have to mention it to Bastien, Terri decided, then al¬lowed her mind to return to her problem.

She glanced to Vincent, who had followed her out of the kitchen. "You're sure you can't think of any¬thing special or specific you'd like to snack on?"

The man gave a desultory shrug. "You smell good enough to eat."

Terri laughed and shook her head. His flirting was kind of nice. And she was sure he was basically harm¬less. Unlike his cousin, who didn't flirt but lulled a girl into a false sense of security by talking about this and that and life in general for days on end, fascinat¬ing and amusing her with tales of past antics and present life, until her jaws ached from smiling so much and laughing so often. Bastien hadn't passed a single flirtatious comment since her arrival, leaving her to simply enjoy his company until, boom! He took her by surprise by suddenly grabbing and kissing her with an ardor that had brought her own passions to abrupt and startling life.

Passions she hadn't even known she had, Terri ad¬mitted unhappily, moving back into the kitchen to check the contents of the fridge. Bastien was defi¬nitely the more dangerous of the two men. At least to her heart.

Bastien listened idly to the chatter on the phone, his mind wandering to Terri and their shared kiss. She'd tasted of the strawberry smoothies she'd been drink¬ing, sweet and delicious. That kiss--while far too brief, thanks to those squawking birds--had been po¬tent. Bastien had quite forgotten himself. He'd been right there, in front of the museum where anyone might have seen, but he didn't care. He'd have liked to continue forgetting himself, too--and would have, if not for those stupid birds.

"Damned pigeons," he muttered.

"What pigeons?" Kate asked.

"The ones who interrupted my kissing Terri."

"You kissed Terri?" Lucern asked.

"I told you he was falling for her, darling," Kate said with glee.

Bastien blinked in confusion, realizing that he had somehow joined the conversation again and flowers were no longer the topic at hand. "Luc? When did you join this phone call?"

"I picked up the other phone when you put Kate on hold. It's my wedding, too," he said by way of ex¬planation. "Now, stop changing the subject. How was it?"

"How was what?"

"The kiss."

"I--" Bastien paused, floundering. The kiss had been wonderful. Passionate and sweet, it had made him hunger for more. But he wasn't telling them that. He was saved from trying to figure out a re-sponse by a most unlikely source: Roberto.

"Ahem. Might we get back to the issue at hand?" The florist sounded pretty prudish all of a sudden. Gone was the drama and wailing.

"Oh, yes, Roberto. Of course." Kate sighed. "I think your idea is the best. Do you