“Sure. Whenever. Bye.” She wanted him gone before she embarrassed herself by blowing chunks all over her yard.

“Tomorrow.” He took one more look at Van, then headed for the street, breaking into a run.

She sighed as the sound of his footsteps faded away. Then she sniffed. She felt like crying. She blamed it on the booze.

Before the tears came, Van had the front door open and Pandora back in his arms. He carried her in, then set her up on the couch with a bottle of water, two aspirin and her cell phone at hand. “I should stay.”

“No, I’m fine. Really.” Embarrassed and way too drunk, but fine.

“You will call if you need me.”

“I will. Promise.”

He slipped her shoes off and covered her with the throw off the back of the couch. “Call me in the morning, or I will come over.”

“Got it.”

Pumpkin jumped up and draped herself over Pandora’s legs.

With the sound of purring and the front door closing, Pandora gave into sleep.

Cole was a well-educated man. He knew the difference between smart decisions and dumb decisions and yet, he thought, as he stood on Pandora’s front porch the next morning, he couldn’t tell which one this was. But he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her or wondering if she was okay. She’d even shown up in his dreams. He had to do something.

Even if that guy she’d been with last night had been something more than a friend.

The shopping bag he carried was filled with take-out boxes of bacon and eggs, hash browns, biscuits, and blueberry pancakes from the diner where he’d eaten breakfast a half hour ago with Kaley and his dad. A place called Mummy’s. It had been very busy, and the food had been very good, so there was no question about the quality of what he’d brought her.

He just had no idea if she’d even open the door for him. Or if her friend from last night would still be there.

Please don’t let that be the case.

If she didn’t open the door, he’d leave her the food anyway. On the rare occasions he’d been hungover, diner food—once he’d been able to eat—had been just the thing. And since he was the reason she was hungover, he kind of owed her.

With no real hope, he knocked.

A few minutes went by. He’d bent to set the bag on the porch when the door swung slowly open. Pandora’s fat orange cat sat in the foyer staring at him.

On the other side of the foyer, Pandora leaned against the kitchen doorway, a cup of coffee in one hand, the other finishing a flourish in the air. Had she used magic to open the door? She was swaddled in a big, fluffy ivory robe, an emerald green P embroidered on the breast. She waved her hand and the door opened wider. She frowned. “I thought you were Charisma or Willa, even though I told them not to come over.”

“I was…worried about you. Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay? I’m hungover like a frat boy after a weeklong kegger. I’m never drinking again.”

“You don’t look anything like a frat boy. You look pretty good, actually.” Her makeup was smudged like she’d slept in it, and her hair was a messy knot on top of her head, but it was kind of adorable. And sexy. An image of her sprawled in bed floated through his mind.

He had it bad for her. Bad.

He picked up the bag. “I brought you breakfast.”

The cat meowed.

“Pumpkin, you already ate.” Pandora stared at him. She’d yet to say he could come in. “From?”

“Mummy’s.”

She perked up a little. “Any pancakes in there?”

“Blueberry. Also biscuits, bacon and eggs and hash browns.”

She swallowed. “You can come in. But I don’t feel like talking.”

“That’s okay.” As long as she felt like listening.

He waited until she’d had her first bite of pancake dripping in butter and syrup, both of which Mummy’s had provided in ample amounts. She made a happy, that’s-delicious noise.

“Good?”

“Always.” She glanced at him, then pointed toward the counter with her fork. “You can have some coffee if you want.”

“Thanks.” He got a cup, then joined her at the kitchen table. “Do you remember much of last night?”

“I remember all of it. I was tipsy and unstable, but I didn’t black out.”

He nodded. “I owe you an apology. And an explanation.”

“I’m listening.” She stabbed her fork into another bite of pancakes.

“I’m sorry for not explaining things better. For not telling you upfront that I had no plans to stay in Nocturne Falls. And for assuming you knew. But I didn’t expect for anything to happen between us, either. You didn’t even like me initially.”

She looked up through her lashes at him. “You seem to think I do now.”

He nodded. “You certainly seemed to like kissing me.”

“I did. I don’t anymore.”

“You can turn it on and off just like that?”

“When it means protecting my heart? Yes.” She got up and refilled her coffee, but stayed at the counter. She held the cup in both hands.

He took a breath, but hesitated, turning his thoughts over in his head before he put voice to them. What if she didn’t want the same things he did? What if… Just say it. “I came over here because I wanted to see how you were but also to apologize for upsetting you. And I wanted to let you know that I’m willing to give us a shot if you’re willing to risk—”