Another week passed and Whitney decided she couldn’t take it anymore.

Kyle would walk in a room and her body would light up like a Christmas tree. He’d walk out and she’d feel the disappointment wash over her.

There was a moment, sitting on the floor in Sam’s room when she thought he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. He hadn’t touched her again. It was all she could think about.

She had to put a stop to it. Now.

She sat across from him at the kitchen table.

She watched his expression as he took a bite. She wanted to see that grin. The one that said he loved the way it tasted on his tongue. The one that said he was happy with what she had made for him.

The corners of his mouth turned. “God, this is good.” He heaped more pasta on his fork.

“I’m glad you like it.” She couldn’t put up sheetrock, but she could cook. She smiled at him over her wine glass.

“What do you call it?”

“It’s one of my special dishes,” she teased. She wasn’t about to tell him she had spent the entire afternoon whipping up a cream sauce that would seduce him. She had to use the skills she had.

“So are you going to tell me the big secret you’ve been keeping?” He eyed her.

“S-secret?”

Oh God, he knew she had a massive crush on him. He knew she was finding him in her dreams every night. He knew when she looked at him all she could think about was what his mouth would feel like on hers. He knew she wanted him.

“There is definitely something you’re not telling me.” He paused. “No one can just cook like this.”

She sighed. “Oh, my cooking. Right.” She didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed that he had guessed the wrong secret.

“I used to own a restaurant in Seattle.”

“You did? Well I guess that explains a lot. Why haven’t you mentioned it?”

“Because it burned to the ground. I don’t have it anymore.”

His eyes widened. The blue flecks intense. “What happened?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “They ruled it an electrical malfunction in the breaker box. I lost the entire building.” She reached for the wine.

“Wow. I’m sorry, Whitney. I had no idea.”

“It happened right before I got the news about Sam. He didn’t even know about it yet.”

“What did you do?”

“I ended up here.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. You didn’t deserve any of this.” His voice grew louder. He clenched his fork.

“Between the insurance nightmare with the restaurant and this place falling down I think I’ve been hiding out.” God, it felt good to talk about it. She had felt guilty talking about the restaurant, as if that somehow diminished Sam’s death. But Kyle seemed to get it.

“You’ve been doing this all on your own.”

“Until you showed up,” she whispered.

This could be her chance. The moment when she told him that since he appeared on her porch her life had started to come back together. There was warmth. There was happiness. There was a future if he wanted it.

“Did you used to serve this in your restaurant?” he asked, twirling more noodles on his fork.

Maybe it wasn’t the moment.

She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t on the menu.”

“You could charge a hundred dollars a plate for this.” He walked to the kitchen island and added a second serving to his plate.

She blushed, loving how much he was enjoying it.

“Have you thought about staying here and opening a new restaurant nearby?”

“No. I can’t think about work until I get the house taken care of. Besides, you’ve seen the hardware store. It’s not like there’s much here. I don’t think there are enough people to get a business up and going. It’s so remote.”

“True. But I bet people would drive hours just to taste this.”

She giggled. “Well if I do open another restaurant I will make you my marketing manager.”

“You should do it, Whit.”

The way he said her name sent chills along her arm. Her skin prickled. He had never used her nickname before. It sounded casual. It sounded intimate.

“Since I lost the last one I haven’t been able to think about it. The house. Sam.” She could go on with the list of things that had happened since the restaurant fire.

“You’ve had a lot on your plate.”

She nodded. Things had crumbled around her, but suddenly there was something she wanted. It had come out of nowhere. Out of a cloud of grief and confusion. But he was sitting across from her.

Two months ago she never would have believed she would have something to look forward to, but the longer she was around Kyle, the more she wanted him to be a part of her life. She had a purpose. A reason to smile. A reason to cook. A reason to let her heart take another chance. He had been healing her for the past month and he didn’t even know it.

He broke the comfortable silence. “I thought tomorrow I could try to make a plan for the bathroom in the apartment.”

“Really?”

“If you want me to. I think it would be easy to finish it.”

She wanted the bathroom to be finished. It would help with selling the property, but she would by lying if she said she didn’t enjoy Kyle’s daily shower stops downstairs. She was running out of excuses to catch a glimpse of him in his towel every morning.

“Oh sure. I think it would be great to have it finished. That was the plan.” She placed her wine glass next to her plate.

“If you want to look at some pictures and pick out a shower and sink, that would help. I can order anything you want.”

“Oh. Ok.” She watched him eat everything on his plate.

“I don’t know how long it will take to get here, though. They don’t exactly have express service at the hardware store.”

She laughed. “No. Definitely not.”

He stood from the table. “Thanks for dinner.” He took the plates to the counter and started his nightly ritual of loading the dishwasher.

“You’re welcome.” She sat while he rinsed the plates and scrubbed the pans.

“I think it was my favorite dish so far.” He smiled at her, closing the dishwasher with his foot. “I’m going to call it a night.”

Whitney nodded. “Good night, Kyle.”

“Good night.”

And then he was gone. The house felt colder. The kitchen quieter. She finished the last few sips of wine. Damn. Once the bathroom was finished, that would be it. There would be nothing left keeping him here. She had to do something to change that.