Morning light shined through the window and Mike blinked up at the ceiling he didn’t recognize and then winced.

He and Kitty had eventually made it to the bedroom for round two and apparently he’d fallen asleep.

A twinge of nerves ran through him as he realized this was the first time in years he hadn’t bailed on a woman shortly after sex.

And that woman was Kitty Pepper. How crazy was that?

He went to stretch and then winced, realizing his muscles were sore. Sure, some of that was from kitchen demo, but at least a part of it was from last night.

What did you do to me Kitty?

He rolled to his side, but was surprised to find the other half of the bed was cold and empty, only the faintest outline of where Kitty had slept in the wrinkles of the sheets.

Wouldn’t that be a twist if she’d bailed on him? In her own home? If the thought didn’t unsettle him so much, he might have laughed at the irony. Now, though, it just made him realize it was probably better for him to head back next door ASAP, before he did something reckless.

He rolled to his feet and yanked on his jeans and t-shirt right as the heavenly scent of coffee and bacon wafted into the room. His mouth salivated and his stomach lurched. He followed the smells to the kitchen to find Kitty standing in front of the stove, spatula in hand.

She wore nothing but a threadbare white t-shirt and a pair of pink and white striped boy shorts. Her hips swayed back and forth as she flipped bacon while singing a Christmas song about sleighs that Mike didn’t recognize under her breath.

“That seems like a pretty dangerous outfit to be wearing while you’re cooking with hot grease,” he murmured, surprised to find that his hands itched with the need to touch her again.

Kitty spun around with a gasp, and then offered a tentative smile. “I guess I like to live dangerously.”

Mike snorted. “Ha, aren’t you just the little daredevil? Big, bad Kitty. ”

She raised her eyebrows and nodded. “And don’t you forget it, Mikey-poo.”

“Mikey-poo?”

“That’s right.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Now you know how I feel when you call me Kitty,” she shot back.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Touché.” The crispy strips of bacon were taunting him from the pan almost half as much as seeing Kitty in those shorts did, but it still surprised him when the words came out of his mouth.

“So you making breakfast for two?”

Kitty cocked a single red eyebrow his way, her cheeks flushing a pretty shade of pink. “I mean, if you’re hungry. Are you sure you want to stay?”

“Yeah, why?”

She pushed a bouquet of curls from her face, tucking them behind her ear. “I don’t know, I just figured that maybe you had to work or something. I don’t want to keep you, ya know.”

Never mind that he’d been thinking exactly that not two minutes before, but once he’d laid eyes on her, leaving had been the last thing on his mind.

“Are you saying you’d rather me go?”

“No! No, not at all. I just--”

“Then what’s going on?” he asked, leaning in to trail the top of his finger over her silky soft cheek.

She turned away with a sigh and flopped the bacon out of the pan onto a paper towel to drain.

“Look, I’ve never done…this before. I didn’t want to make you feel like you had to stay or get weird like I thought I was your girlfriend now or something, that’s all.”

Even just the mention of the “g” word usually sent him hightailing it to his Harley, but for some reason, all he wanted to do was erase the worry from her pretty face.

He took her by the hips and pulled her in close.

“And what if I don’t want to leave?” Mike asked as he wrapped his massive arms around her waist.

She looked up at him, her doe eyes wide and glassy. “Then I guess you can stay,” she whispered.

He leaned in to kiss her raspberry lips, but just before they could touch he paused.

“But I definitely get some bacon if I stay, right?”

She burst into laughter and punched him in the chest.

“I’m only joking. I want to spend the day with you, if you don’t have plans. The bacon is just a bonus,” he said with a wink.

He pulled her in again and planted a kiss on her forehead. She wriggled away to reach for a carton of eggs, but he trapped her in place, spearing his hands into her hair and taking the kiss he’d wanted since he walked into the kitchen. She made a squeak low in her throat but then softened, opening her lips for his tongue.

A bolt of need coursed through him that sent the blood rushing south and he let out a growl.

“If you keep that up, we’re never going to eat.”

“There’s coffee if you want some,” she offered, her voice husky with want.

“Is it as hot as you?”

“Probably not,” she said, and pulled him in for another kiss before shooing him away to set the table.

For the next half hour they cooked breakfast and then ate in companionable silence as they sat in her breakfast nook and watched a rainstorm roll in over the horizon.

When all the food was gone, they sipped their coffee, and talked. Conversation came easy with Kitty, especially when they weren’t intent on irritating the crap out of each other. They reminisced over their childhoods, joked about the night of mistaken identity and recalled fond memories of Honey, and he and Rick’s future plans for her house.

“I’m sorry again for not coming over the past three days,” Kitty apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mike assured her. “It was a weird situation.”

“Looks like I won’t be able to get much work done today, either,” she said.

He stared out at the gray skies with a tilt of his head. “Yeah. I think I might take most of the day off, too. Ripping out all the innards of my childhood home and putting it up for sale…it feels weird. Depressing really, especially the week before Christmas. It just doesn’t seem right; like I’m destroying that last bit of her that I’d been hanging on to.”

He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but there it was, lying between them for the world to see. Big, tough Mike Blade, all mushy over some wood and nails.

But Kitty didn’t look at him with pity, or judgment. She just cocked her head, seeming to ponder that thought carefully before responding.

“So don’t, then.”

Mike set down his mug and shook his head, nonplussed. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t keep going with the remodel.”

“Yeah, but the real estate agent told us we wouldn’t get anything near what it’s worth without updating it. There are just too many homes for sale around here and it’s too old fashioned to get buyers willing to pay what it’s worth.”

“Then don’t sell it. You don’t have to sell it, Mike.” Her sharp blue gaze roved over his face as she drew her stockinged feet onto the chair and tucking her knees up to her chin. “Move back in. Rent out your apartment near your shop and live there.”

He paused to think for a second, toying with the toast crumbs left on his plate. “Yeah, but Rick and I already discussed that we would sell it. Honey had all but insisted before she died that we shouldn’t hang on to it.”

“Look,” she said, “Rick’s a frickin’ doctor now. He can wait for his half of the money or you can buy him out. It’s a great house. You’ll have a big home garage, where you can work on some of your clients’ bikes from home and any other projects you want. And, you’ll be right across the street when I come to visit my mom and decide to seduce the wrong twin again,” she said with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

A weird sense of emptiness settled over him as he thought about the season coming to an end. Once Kitty’s mom came back from her trip abroad after the holidays, she’d be gone again, back to her own life more than three hours away.

He shoved the thought aside ruthlessly. It hardly mattered. This was just for fun. To give them both what they hadn’t even realized they’d both wanted for ages. When it was time to end, hopefully, they’d be able to look back on it and smile.

“You make some very valid points. I’ll think about it.”

“Do, Mike. I think Honey didn’t want the house to be an anchor around your neck but some part of me feels pretty certain that she’d love the idea of one of you living there…maybe starting a family of your own one day and feeding a passel of kids on the big picnic table out by the pool.”

The soft smile that played around her lips sent a bolt of panic through him and he stood and made his way to the window.

A family? Kids around a picnic table? Maybe she did still have him confused with Rick. Strange that, right on the heels of that panic was a warm sensation filling his chest.

The rain had started to fall heavier. He frowned at the sky and glanced over at Kitty, who was still watching him, biting her lip.

“Sorry, I overstepped. I didn’t mean to pry. I just meant--”

“I know what you meant,” he said. “It’s all good. I’ll definitely give it more thought. Either way, I need to do something about the walkway. It’s about to crumble to pieces. Maybe I could get your expertise on that matter once the rain stops?”

He didn’t want to hurt her feelings by deflecting, but he had a lot to think about. And all of it was too important to do on a dime when he was still wrapped all up the memory of the best sex of his life.

To her credit, she rolled with the change of subject like a champ. “It’s what I do, so absolutely,” she said with a nod. “We can even look online now to get some options together.”

For the next few hours they sat, side by side, on her couch and looked over what seemed like a thousand designs of pavers and stone variations. It wasn’t the most exciting way to spend a rainy day, but for some reason, he found himself feeling just a little lighter inside whenever she laughed, or leaned in to point at something and brushed his arm with her breasts.

The day flew by and, before he knew it, it was after lunch. He had to be heading out to the shop to check in, but his ass was firmly planted in the seat of her couch, with no desire to get out.

“I was thinking,” he said after a long moment, “why don’t you come over tonight?”

With a wry smile, she looked up at him. “Looking for some more action, playboy?”

He chuckled. “I’m not saying I’d turn it down, but I was just thinking about what you said. You know, about moving into Honey’s house and renting out my apartment. I think you might be on to something. The living room is still intact, and I’d like to spend a little time there just enjoying the place. With you.”

“So you do want some more of this!” She ran her hands down her sides, accentuating her hourglass shape, and began singing, “If you want my body, and you think I’m sexy…”

He tossed his head back and let out a crack of laughter. “Fine, you busted me. So what do you say?”

“I guess I can tuck you in tonight,” she offered. “Should I bring a bottle of wine?”

“I’m more of a beer man, myself,” he replied, “but sure.”

“All right, let me go shower while you go do whatever you have to do for work. Meet up there in two hours?” she asked, and then bent to give him a kiss on his dimpled cheek.

He nodded and she wheeled around to jog down the hall. Only this time she was singing a song he definitely recognized.

If you want mah body…

Damn, he did. Bad. But what scared the hell out of him was how much he was starting to want so much more than that.