Three batches of muffins and ten dozen cookies later, Katie leaned against the counter, exhausted. The only thing that kept her going was the promise of a date with Bowie. A real date. For a man intent on a one-and-done experience, he sure changed his tune. Katie laughed. Maybe Grandma Pearl was right when she advised Katie to tempt men with the china before she let them drink the tea.

Bowie had gotten to know her before she spread out her good china and served her teacakes in the same night. Thinking about her Grandma made her think of her mother. Hadn’t she made her suffer long enough?

She dialed her mom’s number and pressed send. It rang twice before her mother answered.

“Princess … is everything okay?”

Katie had been called “Princess” long before Kate Middleton came on the scene and landed her prince. She couldn’t remember a time where her parents hadn’t used the moniker.

“Hello, Mama, how are you?” It was nearing three o’clock, the slowest time of the day for Katie, so there would be no interruptions. “How’s Daddy? Isabella? Nick?” She listed off her siblings in order. Isabella was four years younger than Katie. Nick two years younger than Isabella.

“Everyone is fine, sweetheart. How’s the weather?” Over the last two months, her mother had learned not to come out of the gate with how’s your health, but Katie knew that was always her mother’s biggest concern.

“It’s wonderful. The skies are healthy. The clouds are rested. It’s a beautiful, healthy day.”

“I miss you, baby. We got your package. Your sister is just gaga over that lavender lotion you sent.”

Katie watched as a family walked into the dry goods store. “It’s made locally. A woman in town raises bees, and she uses the honey and wax for amazing things like lotions and candles and soap.”

“You’re liking Colorado?”

The minute she mailed the box, her location would be known. “I do. I like it so much.”

Katie could hear the scrape of a chair on a wooden floor in the background. She could picture her mother sitting at the large stone island in the big country kitchen looking across the massive back yard of their estate.

“Tell me about your life there.” It was the first time her mother acknowledged that she had a life anywhere but Dallas.

“I’ll tell you everything as long as you promise not to hop on Daddy’s jet and fly here.”

Another thing she had told no one was that she came from a wealthy family. Not new money rich, but old family Rockefeller rich. Her great granddaddy made his money in oil. Her father made his in insurance.

None of that mattered to Katie because when she left Texas, she left it all behind. Being independent didn’t mean dipping into the trust fund the minute things became bad. It meant living within her own means.

That first day she met Sage and told her she didn’t have money for supplies, she wasn’t kidding. She’d left with the cash she had in her pocket, which was barely enough to get her to Colorado.

“I promise. Tell me everything.”

She moved from behind the counter and took up a chair in front of the window. It was the perfect perch to people watch. She told her everything, from the pink envelope to her muffin of the day.

“You own a bakery?”

“I do, and it’s the most wonderful thing to mix up the ingredients and earn money for my masterpiece.”

“Your father said you were keeping up with your insurance payments. You know we would have paid them, regardless.”

“Don’t you understand? I needed this. All my life, I’ve been Sophia and Tate’s daughter—the poor thing with the heart condition. Here in Aspen Cove, I’m just Katie. No one knows about my heart. They don’t know my net worth. All they know is, I’m a girl who came to town and learned to make treats. I love being normal.”

The bakery was silent except the hum of the exhaust fan above the oven. “I can see the allure, but you have to tell someone there about your health. What if—”

“I know, Mama. I’ll tell someone soon, but for now I feel great. I’m happy for the first time in years. I’ve even got a date with an amazing man. I want to pretend I’m normal for a little while longer.”

“You’ve got a date? Who is this boy, and what does he do?”

“At thirty-four, he’s a man, not a boy.” Katie relived in her mind the things Bowie did to her body last night. No boy would ever have those skills. A shiver of excitement raced through her at the possibility of a repeat tonight. “He used to be a soldier but was injured and returned home.”

“What does he do for a living?”

If Katie had been home, her parents would have had a dossier on Bowie. “He runs a bait and tackle shop.” She could imagine her mom’s eye roll. Sophia Middleton would never approve of Bowie Bishop. He wasn’t white collar and rich. While Katie was privileged. Bowie was a commoner.

“He’s a good man. Works hard. Loves his family.”

“A bait shop?” Leave it to her mom to hear what she wanted.

“Yes, he taught me how to fish. He went rowing with me. We ate bologna sandwiches. I’m doing things I only dreamed about.”

“You could travel first class around the world. Why are you settling for bologna?” She could almost see the curl of her mother’s lip. The look she made when she tasted something foul.

Katie let out a frustrated growl. She’d spent a good portion of her life in a hospital. Never once did her parents’ money buy her health or happiness. When her heart failed and machines kept her blood pumping through her veins, their money couldn’t buy her a new heart. She waited on the list like everyone else.

“I choose bologna. Bologna may be common, but it tastes good. It feels right.” They were no longer talking about food, but lifestyles. “You’re caviar and Cristal. I’m peanut butter and jelly. I always have been. I’m happy. Be happy for me.”

“You know what?” her mom said with more joy and resignation than she’d heard in her lifetime. “You’ve been through hell and back. If heaven is a small town in Colorado, I’m happy you found it, but don’t forget, caviar and Cristal will always be waiting for you.”

“I love you.” She pressed her lips to the receiver of the phone. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Princess. You let me know when I can visit you. Surely, there’s an airport nearby.”

Katie shook her head. One visit from Sophia Middleton would turn Aspen Cove on its ear. That might be worth the visit alone.

“There’s an airport where Daddy’s plane can land in Copper Creek. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

“Call me next week?”

“Of course.” Katie hadn’t missed a phone call with her mom yet. Despite her need to be independent, she also needed the reassurance that when push came to shove, her mom would be there for her. “Talk to you soon.”

“Katie?” her mom said before hanging up. “I’m so damn proud of you.”

Sophia Middleton never cursed, so when she said “damn”, it emphasized the importance of her statement.

Katie looked around the old bakery. Although the building was a gift, she’d built her dozen-muffins-a-day business into a hundred-muffins-a-day empire. She was literally rolling in the dough that made her life here in Aspen Cove possible.

* * *

At six o’clock, she ran down the stairs to answer the back door. Taking up the entire door frame was Bowie dressed in black jeans and a gray T-shirt. In his hands was a mixed bouquet of daffodils and tulips. An odd combination of flowers that somehow worked.

“Are you ready?” He turned to the side and offered his arm.

“I need my purse.” She started up the steps, flowers in hand, but he caught her by the thin belt cinching the waist of her dress. She placed the buds on the steps by her feet.

“You don’t need anything.” He spun her around and pulled her into his chest.

“Not true,” she mumbled against the soft cotton of his shirt. “I need a kiss.”

He circled her waist with his hands and lifted her like a rag doll into the air until her lips were close to his. “You want a kiss, or need a kiss?”

“What does it matter?”

He kissed her forehead and let her slide down his body. “Oh … it matters. Want comes from a place of selfishness. Need comes from a place of desperation.”

With her chest glued to his stomach, she tilted her head back and looked into his eyes. “Which one gets me a better kiss?”

“Are you sure you were a data entry person and not a negotiator?”

“Kiss me.” She tilted her mouth to his. “I’m desperate.”

He pressed his lips to hers, and holy hell, if it didn’t send a bolt of heat and desire straight to her core.

“Like this?” He left her lips and pressed open mouth kisses down the column of her neck until his lips rested on the pulse point.

Katie stepped back and lifted her hand to her heart. It pounded out a strong tattoo against her palm. “Help me, Jesus.” Normally at one hundred heartbeats per minute, her heart raced beyond that now. “Your kisses are deadly.”

“Maybe, but you’ll die happy.” He gave her a panty-dropping smile. She loved when his smile came from inside and lit up his outside. “Let’s go. Dalton is making a special dinner for us, being as it’s our first date and all.”

Moments later, they were seated in the corner booth. Everything was special, from the cloth napkins to the tiny tea light set on top of an overturned wineglass in the center of the table. Bowie opened a bottle of her favorite sparkling water and poured them each a glass.

“You look beautiful,” Bowie said. He lifted his glass in a toast. “To our first date?”

She tapped his glass and sipped. The cool bubbles tickled as they made their way down. The whole idea of a first date with Bowie was both intriguing and ridiculous. The curls that lay on her shoulders shook with her blooming laughter.

“Do you think it’s odd we kissed before we shared a meal?” She looked around the mostly empty diner, making sure no one could hear her. “We slept together before we had a date?”

Bowie reached across the table and covered her hands with his. “I owe you an apology, Duchess. I told you you’d never be more than a good time. I was wrong. You’re more.” He rubbed his thumbs over the tops of her hands. Each time he touched her, every cell in her body danced. “My words were disrespectful. I’m sorry.”

Dalton appeared with two plates. They weren’t the chicken-fried steak, blue-plate special on the menu, but a perfectly cooked filet with grilled asparagus and a fully loaded baked potato.

“Save room for dessert,” Dalton said before he turned and left them alone in their quiet little corner.

While they ate, Katie thought about his words. “You don’t owe me an apology. I was on board. You can’t claim to be a victim if you’re involved in the crime.”

“Maybe not, but you deserve more. I offered so little.”

She picked up a spear of asparagus and licked the salty spices off. Bowie didn’t take his eyes off her tongue.

“I knew you would be worth the risk.” She bit the flowered end of the stem and hummed. “So good.”

Bowie’s cheeks blushed. “I loved those words last night. That and when you called my name are in a tie for the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. Then there’s the ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That’s up there, too.”

Katie could feel heat rise to her cheeks. How many times had she closed her eyes today and relived the moments of pleasure he gave her last night? Could she make it through a meal and not want more? Would her feelings be considered wants or needs?

“I need a kiss.” The words came out throaty and sexy.

“Need, or want?” He laid his silverware next to his half-eaten meal.

“Need.”

The way her body vibrated inside was like the withdrawal of a drug. She was a Bowie junkie after one hit. She took a sip of water, hoping the cold carbonation would cool the heat bubbling inside.

He lifted himself from his side of the booth, moved next to her, and licked her lips. “You taste like a strawberry.”

Dalton walked over mid-kiss. “Should I pack this shit up?”

Bowie’s lips never left hers, but she saw him give Dalton a thumbs up.

“Will do,” Dalton said on the tail end of his laugh. “I see you got dessert covered.”

The moment he left, Katie broke the kiss. “Bowie?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Take me home and disrespect me some more.”