You have to come down to the diner.”

Ava frowned at the apple sitting next to her cup of tea. She was trying to deal with the fact that she was never going to eat another apple again—and the fact that she really wanted to cover this one in brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.

“I’m in the middle of something.” Like examining everything she’d ever thought about apples. And herself.

She’d never given apples much thought before coming to Bliss. But had she been asked what she thought of them, she would have said they were a little sweet and pretty satisfying, if maybe a little…unexciting.

And now she was realizing how many parallels there were between apples and her life. Previously, she’d thought they were both fine. Now though, because of Parker, she realized she’d been missing sweetness and spice that could make both apples and her life so much more satisfying. In fact, she couldn’t help but think—

“Ava!” Cori snapped in her ear.

It yanked Ava back to the moment. It was really early in the morning to be having such deep thoughts about fruit. Or really anything.

“You have to get down here.”

Ava sighed. “I was planning on working at home today.”

“Well, you can’t,” Cori said. “I’ll see you in ten minutes.”

Then she hung up.

Ava stared at the phone. The last person to hang up on her had been the senior vice president in charge of marketing for the manufacturing branch of Carmichael Enterprises in London. He no longer worked for the company.

Ava started to dial Cori’s number, but before she pressed the button, she sighed. Her sisters had, so far, stayed out of everything with Parker. They’d given her space last night. They hadn’t told her that she’d messed up. They hadn’t told her that she owed Parker an apology. They hadn’t pointed out that she couldn’t just ignore him—or her feelings for him—for the next seven months and one week that she had to live and work in Bliss. They also hadn’t pointed out that she still needed to date someone and that it would be even more miserable when she was completely in love with Parker.

She blew out a breath. Okay, they were going to force her to face him. They were going to insist she apologize. They were going to urge her to tell him how she felt about him and that she’d knocked the wall down because she was in love with him.

A shiver went through her—part trepidation, but also part eagerness. She did want to tell him. He might not think that was a good reason to put holes in his stuff. But she needed to try to convince him that she could make it right. She could put the wall back up. She could cool it. She could stay on her own side and let him have his space.

Probably.

Fifteen minutes later, she walked into the pie shop. She’d made it to the diner, but walking in there directly seemed risky. Parker might be standing behind the front counter and she wasn’t sure how she’d react. She never walked into rooms without knowing exactly how the people inside would see her and react to her. But this time…there was no way to know. And that made her jumpy.

But, of course, the second she was inside the pie shop, she was essentially inside the diner because of the wide-open doorway she’d put in.

“Ava!”

It wasn’t Parker who was behind the front counter of the diner, however. It was Evan. With a notepad in hand as if he was taking orders.

The diner was packed. In fact, people were spilling over into the pie shop, eating eggs and bacon at the little round wooden tables. But then, there were people in the diner eating pie, she noted as she stepped through the doorway between the two restaurants. And was that a burger in Jeffery Jorgenson’s hands? At nine a.m.? Burgers before eleven were unheard of in Parker’s diner.

She started for the counter and Evan.

“Ava!” someone else called.

She could do nothing but give a little wave as Doris Christiansen lifted her forkful of apple pie—from a table on the far side of the diner—and said, “This is delicious!”

Then she noticed Hank and the guys sitting in the booth closest to the pie shop. They all lifted their coffee cups in salute and she saw they were cups from the pie shop. She assumed they were also filled with pie shop coffee rather than Parker’s.

“What in the hell is going on here?” she asked as she made it to the counter. It seemed that every rule had been abandoned. “Where’s Parker?”

Evan frowned as he turned and handed a slip of paper through the window to the kitchen. “I’m not sure. Larry Miller said he opened up early and that Parker bought a bunch of stuff from him. But no one knows for sure where he went from there.”

“Larry owns the hardware store, right?” Ava asked.

“Yep.”

She sighed. “He probably went to get stuff to patch up the huge holes I made in his wall.”

Evan looked over at her but didn’t say anything. “Cori was hoping you could help out. We’re swamped.”

“We’re swamped?” Ava asked. “You and Cori are running the diner?”

“Do you want fries with that Reuben or what?”

Ava turned to find Brynn poking her head through the window from the kitchen.

“Fuck if I know,” Evan told her.

“Well, Cori needs to know,” Brynn said. She noticed Ava. “Oh, good you’re here. Where does Parker keep the butter?”

Ava shook her head. “Um…in the fridge.”

“There’s none in there,” Brynn said.

Ava flushed. She’d taken the last of his butter last week, but she’d assumed he would notice and restock. Of course, he’d been closed since then because she’d whisked him off to New York. “Go check the pie shop.”

Brynn started to turn away, and Ava added, “And of course it’s fries with the Reuben. It’s always fries.” Then she frowned. “Why are people eating Reubens at nine in the morning anyway?”

Brynn shrugged. “It’s anarchy.”

That seemed about right.

“Who’s cooking?” Ava asked.

“Cori and Noah,” Brynn said. “I’m helping some.”

Well, Cori was an excellent cook. “Does she know how Parker makes everything?” Ava asked.

“I’m pretty sure we’re doing Cori versions of things today,” Brynn said with a grin.

Which meant they’d be delicious. But they wouldn’t be the way Parker liked them. And for some reason, that bugged her. She headed through the swinging door.

If the front had seemed crazy, the kitchen was downright chaotic. Food and supplies were spread out over every surface, cupboard doors were hanging open, every burner held a pot or pan, and Cori and Noah were rushing around, nearly bumping into one another at every turn.

“Hey.”

No one even looked at her.

Ava planted her hands on her hips. “Hey!”

They all stopped what they were doing and turned. Cori held a bunch of carrots in her two hands. Noah was holding a frying pan. Brynn had a stick of butter in her hand.

“Are you guys okay?” Ava asked.

“We’re going nuts!” Cori exclaimed. “I have no idea how Parker does this every day all by himself.”

“Well, when someone wants something on his menu, he doesn’t have to stop and look up the recipe,” she said, pointing to the two cookbooks open on the center island. “And he doesn’t let people order Reubens before eleven and when they order the breakfast special number one, they get eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns with no substitutions, and if they want pie they have to go next door so they’re not taking up a booth someone else needs.” Okay, so as she said it, she realized that his rules for the diner weren’t just about control, but that there were some practical reasons for them too.

Cori nodded. “Yeah, okay. Well, none of that really helps us right now. Everyone’s here and even if we wanted to stick with the breakfast specials, I don’t know what every one of those are, and since we already made a couple of Reubens, we can’t start telling people no now.”

Ava thought about that. Maybe Cori couldn’t tell them no, but she certainly could. “What can you make easily and quickly without a recipe?”

“Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit salad,” Cori said.

“Then start making that.” Ava turned on her heel and headed for the front of the diner. She stopped in the middle of the room, put her fingers to her lips and gave a shrill whistle. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned.

“Good morning, everyone,” she said. “I’m so happy you’re all here. But you’re making us crazy. So, just to get everyone on the same page, here is the menu for the rest of the day. Breakfast is pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit salad. No substitutions.” There was a low murmur in the room, but she held her hand up and it stopped. “Lunch will be…” She glanced toward the window to the kitchen. Cori shrugged. “Lunch will be Reubens.” Hell, they’d already been making those.

“Just Reubens?” someone asked.

Ava put her hand on her hip. “Yes. Just Reubens. And they will come with fries. And only fries. And for dinner…” She looked over at Cori, but her sister just shrugged again. “For dinner, we will be serving pork and peach pie over at the pie shop.”

The rumbling in the room started again and Ava crossed her arms and waited. It quieted quickly.

“The pork and peach is a new pie from the line of savory pies we’ll be introducing at Blissfully Baked. There will be a new one each week on Mondays for the rest of this month. We hope you’ll stop over and tell us what you think.”

She was prepared to make those pies. She didn’t have a recipe and they were maybe going to suck. But she was going to try. She’d sampled more than just cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger when she’d been taste-testing the spices. She could probably make a filling that was edible if she tasted it as she went along.

But she was definitely stealing pastry dough from Parker’s kitchen for the crusts.

She went back into the kitchen. “Okay, now what else can I do?”

Cori grinned at her. “You can go find Parker, tell him you love him, and then go…pick some peaches.”

“And that’s not a euphemism,” Brynn said. “You don’t have time for a euphemism.”

There was a choking noise, and Ava looked over to find Noah running a hand over his face. She wished she had time to get into whatever that was. But her heart was pounding, thinking of going after Parker.

“Well, I think I might know where he is,” she said of Parker. “If I don’t have to go looking all over town for him, we might just have time for a quick euphemism.”

She had no idea why she was feeling optimistic about their reunion. Except that she really did love him, and she thought he loved her, and she wanted him and…she always got what she wanted. Maybe not things that she couldn’t buy, up ’til now, but this was as good a time as any to make that change too and go after something she had to work for.

“Peaches,” Cori said. “Lots and lots of peaches.”

And then Ava realized what she’d done. “Oh, crap,” she groaned. “There are no peaches in season right now either, are there?”

“I can make a run to the grocery stores around,” Noah said. “After this rush is over, I’ll go get whatever I can.”

“Really?”

He gave her a grin. “We’ll figure it out. If nothing else, there are canned peaches.”

She laughed at that. “But you don’t have to work today?”

Noah shrugged. “Everyone knows that Parker walked out today. They’ll know to find me and Evan here if they need us.”

And for just a second, Ava felt tears pricking at her eyes. She’d never had people like this in her life. Everyone she knew came to work and put in extra time for the money, to kiss up to the boss, or for the chance at a partnership or promotion. None of them did it out of simple friendship. “Thanks, Noah.”

“Of course.”

And it really was that simple for the people here. Of course they would show up to help a friend. Of course they would stick with the crazy rules of the local diner so that it could keep operating. Of course they would show up to try the new pie at the pie shop.

She sniffed and nodded. “Okay, I’ll go find Parker.”

She was lost in thought as she made her way back through the pie shop toward the front door, and she was startled to feel a hand wrap around her wrist as she passed one of the tables. She stopped and looked at who was holding her. “Oh, hey, Hank.”

He was eating a burger. In the pie shop. Parker would hate that.

“Hi, honey.” He pulled her closer. “I’m going to need you to sit down for a minute.”

“I can’t right now. I really need to go find Parker.”

“This is about Parker.”

She glanced at the door, then back at the older man. “Okay, maybe for just a second.”

“Do you know Barbara Spencer?” Hank asked as she slid into the chair across from him.

Ava shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Hank pointed at a table in the diner. An older woman sat, eating pancakes and nursing a cup of tea while she looked at her phone.

“Oh, I recognize her. She works at the post office, right?” Ava asked.

Hank nodded. “And she’s an excellent cook.”

“Okay.”

“Do you know why she eats pancakes in here every Monday?”

“I don’t.”

“Because she used to bring her granddaughter, Hannah, in for breakfast every Monday before school. Hannah just left for college this past fall. But Barbara still comes in for those pancakes. And she told me Hannah goes and has pancakes every Monday at a diner near campus. They text or talk on the phone while they eat. It makes them feel close even though Hannah is far away.”

Ava blinked, her throat a little tight. “That’s really nice.”

Hank nodded. Then he pointed at another table. Ava turned to look.

“Those four guys in the corner booth?”

“Yeah?”

“They all went to high school together. They don’t see each other much anymore, but Tyler is home visiting. So they all came to the diner catch up. They’re sitting in the booth where they probably ate a hundred burgers together over the years growing up.”

Ava nodded, starting to understand where Hank was going with this. “People come in here to eat, but also because they have happy memories here.”

“Yep. But then there’s Tom Conner,” Hank said. “He and his wife will be in for an early lunch later on, like every Monday and Thursday. And the Perkins family. They have five little kids and they come in for dinner on Wednesdays after the kids are done with their different practices and rehearsals because it’s usually late and their mom doesn’t feel like cooking. And there’s Jason Harper. He’s a Big Brother to Hunter. They come in on Saturdays and Jason helps with homework and they talk about their weeks. So, see,” Hank said. “They don’t come in to relive memories. They’re making them now.”

Ava took a deep breath. “And having things be consistent and like they’ve always been is important to them.”

“It is.” Hank leaned in and covered her hand. “Parker is giving people around here a lot more than just good food.”

She pressed her lips together. “I shouldn’t have changed things up in here. This diner staying the same is important for everyone.”

Hank shook his head. “That’s not what I said.”

“That’s not what you meant?”

“Honey, Parker gets to help give people all these memories.”

“Right.”

“And that’s really good for him too.”

“I agree.”

“But why should he be the only one?”

Ava felt her heart trip. “You mean me?”

Hank laughed. “Yes, Ava, you’ve already made this place a lot more memorable, and I think that you deserve to have a place that makes you feel the way this diner makes all of us, including Parker, feel.”

“Like home,” she said softly. “That’s how this place makes him feel.”

Hank nodded. “It’s how it feels for a lot of us.”

“I think it already feels that way to me too,” she said, realizing it as she said it.

Hank squeezed her hand. “There you go.”

On impulse, Ava leaned across the table and kissed the older man’s cheek. “Thanks for making this place feel that way for my dad.”

Hank was smiling but blinking rapidly when she sat back.

---

Parker’s truck was in front of his house.

Ava parked Elvira, the Caddy Rudy had left her and her sisters, next to it. She took a deep breath and got out. Smoothing her hands down the thighs of her jeans, she looked around. She figured he was either in the greenhouse or cutting wood. She didn’t know what he’d gotten at the hardware store—and even knowing that wouldn’t have guaranteed she’d know what he was doing with any of it—but she assumed it was outside stuff. So she started across the grass. She didn’t hear the chainsaw so she headed for the greenhouse first.

There was fresh soil on the floor next to the table where she and Parker had gotten dirty the other day and a new plant in a pot on the top of the table. But no Parker. She checked the wood pile, where there were new cut logs, and even the chicken coop, but there was no Parker.

That left the house. She picked up her pace as she realized that he might be in the shower after working outside. She wasn’t sure she’d surprise him in there, considering she wasn’t sure about their current status, but she could absolutely be waiting in the bedroom when he came out.

But as soon as she entered the house she heard the pounding—very loud pounding—coming from the second floor.

She took the steps two at a time and followed the noise to Parker’s bedroom. More specifically to the closet in Parker’s bedroom. Ava rounded the corner and…whoa.

The sight that met her surprised her and instantly made tingles erupt all over her body.

Parker was standing in his closet, shirtless, his blue jeans riding low on his hips, his feet braced, causing the denim to pull tight across his ass. He had his arms raised as he lifted a sledgehammer. His skin was slick with sweat, his muscles bunching and rippling. She watched as he swung the hammer against the wall, enlarging the hole already there, the impact seemingly causing his entire body to tighten.

In response to the what-the-hell and the I-want-all-of-that-right-now that went coursing through her body, all she could do was make a strange little squeaking sound she’d never made before in her life.

Parker heard it and pivoted to face her. There was a beat where they just stared at each other. Then he pushed the plastic goggles he wore to the top of his head, lowered the hammer, and said, “Hey, Boss.”

And just like that, tears filled her eyes. Yeah, he definitely called her that with affection. And it made her feel insanely hopeful. And like she was looking at something she needed more than she could even understand. She hugged her arms to her stomach.

She thought briefly about replying with a simple “hey” herself. Then thought about confessing that she’d messed with his menu today. Then about begging him to help her make peach and pork pies. But instead she said, “Parker, do you know what I’m really, really good at?”

“Everything.”

She smiled at that response but shook her head. “I’m really, really good at recognizing people’s potential, and giving them the opportunity to do great things.”

He sighed. “Ava—”

“I might have been wrong to knock the wall down between the diner and pie shop without talking to you,” she said quickly. “But I wasn’t wrong about you.” She took a step forward. “You have to know why I did it, Parker.”

“I do know.”

“I wanted—” She stopped. “You do?”

“I do.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

He laughed at that and a twist of heat went through her belly. “Because you wanted to combine the things that are important to both of us. Mesh them together somehow. Make our worlds work together.” He paused. “Because you can’t stand being apart from me for even a few minutes now.”

She knew he was teasing, trying to lighten the moment with that last sentence. But she nodded solemnly. “Yes. All of that. I love watching you work, working with you, helping you.”

“I love that too,” he said, still smiling, but his voice gruffer.

“And so, when I was trying to think of a way to show you that, and to make things better for you, I went with what I know. I’m not fun and creative like Cori. I’m not brilliant like Brynn. I’m not sweet and patient like my mother. I can’t fix your car, or manage your legal affairs like Noah and Evan, and I can’t bake and cook like you. But I can get things done. I can call exactly the right people for the job. And I can throw money—lots of money—at things. So that’s what I went with. But—” she said quickly when he took a breath to respond, “you have to understand that it’s just how I support the people I love. I don’t know any other way.”

He blew out a big breath and leaned to prop the sledgehammer against the wall. He turned to face her, tucking his hands into his back pockets.

She was momentarily distracted by the way the position showed off the wide expanse of his chest.

“Do you know what I’m doing here?” he asked, gesturing at the hole in the wall behind him.

She made herself focus. “No.”

“I’m knocking this wall down.”

“Okay.”

“I’m knocking a wall down,” he said again, slower, as if waiting for her to catch up. “In a house that has been exactly the way it is now for as long as I’ve lived in it.”

Oh. She felt her eyes widen. “You’re changing something.”

“Right. I’m making a bigger closet.”

“Too many jeans?”

He gave her a half smile. “To make room for all of your shoes.”

She blinked at him. She looked at the wall. Then back to him. “You’re knocking a wall down to make more room for me?”

“You have a shit-ton of shoes, right?”

“I do.”

“Well, if we’re going to meld our lives together—at the diner and pie shop and here—we’re going to need more room. For all of it.”

“Parker, I…don’t know what to say.” That was amazing. It was a grand gesture. A grand, grand gesture. The grandest anyone had ever made for her. Ever.

“I wasn’t mad about the wall at the diner,” he said after a long moment.

“You definitely seemed mad about the wall at the diner.”

“I thought I was, but it wasn’t that. I was hurt. I wanted what I already had, what I was already doing, to be enough for you. I wanted you to be content and happy with what was already here. With a simple, straightforward setup.”

She felt tears stinging and pressed her lips together, nodding. “I know,” she finally answered. “But I didn’t change it because I wasn’t content or happy.” She took a deep breath. “I changed it because that’s all I know—knew—how to do.”

“Ava—”

But she cut him off once more. “That diner is hugely important to this town. The food you make there is important to this town. And to you. But you’re also washing dishes, and dicing onions, and ordering supplies, and going to the store for more butter all the time.”

He lifted one brow in a very sexy, very knowing, somewhat amused, and completely resigned way. “So much butter,” he said with a nod.

She felt her lungs expand as she took a big breath, not realizing she hadn’t been breathing for a few seconds, or maybe minutes, there. She took another step forward, into the closet. “You want to do more. Maybe not nationally-distributed-specialty-pie more, but more than washing things and dicing things. You’re happy when you’re taking care of the people here, and the way that you take care of them is by making them food…and giving them a place where that food becomes a part of other things. And I think you do, actually, want to make them dessert and good coffee after all. So what I need to give you is a way to do more of what you love for the people you love. And…I can’t actually do that with money, it turns out.”

He stepped forward, now only a few inches in front of her. She wanted to run her hands all over his hot, slick skin, but she tucked her hands into her back pockets too and just stood, looking up at him.

“You’ve found something you couldn’t buy, huh?” he asked.

“Yep.” She gave him a smile. “It’s something that has to be done.”

“So you can hire someone to do it.”

She shook her head. “Interestingly, I don’t think anyone else can do it as well as I can.”

He wet his lips and she could have sworn that he was fighting the urge to touch her too. “What’s going on in that beautiful, crazy head, Boss?” he asked, his voice rough.

“I am going to take over all of those things that you don’t need to be doing so that you can make your magic in the diner’s kitchen…and the pie shop kitchen.”

Now both of his eyebrows went up and she realized that she truly had surprised him. “Things like what?”

“Like everything but the cooking and baking. Though you’ll have to share the baking with Cori.”

“So you’re going to wait on customers, bus tables, and do dishes?” Parker asked, clearly skeptical.

“And run the register.”

He straightened as he clearly realized that she wasn’t kidding. “You’re not running the register.”

“I’m very good at taking other people’s money, Parker.”

He ran his hand along his jaw, watching her. “I like doing things a certain way.”

“I know. But my way is even better in most cases.”

He opened his mouth. Then shut it again. Then opened it again.

“And I might hire Hank and Roger to help with the lunch rush,” she said.

He narrowed his eyes.

“And I’m going to do some of the farm chores too.”

“You like my rooster that much?” he finally asked.

She grinned and nodded. “Rudy was right. I didn’t understand how satisfying it can be to actually have my hands on things. To directly affect what’s going on. I’m so used to just sitting in an office and making decisions based on reports and papers and emails from other people. Now I can be in it.”

“You’re not going to be the CEO anymore?”

“Oh, I am. But…like I said before, I’m simplifying. I’m going to promote some people. I’ll make once a month trips to New York, more as needed, I’ll have Skype, conference calls. I can be bossy even over a long distance.”

He finally reached out, put his hand on the back of her head, and threaded his fingers into her hair. “You actually want to do this, don’t you?”

She met his gaze. “I really do. Parker, taking care of the people I love, making sure they have what they need, that’s what makes me happy. And now I’ve realized I can do more than just writing checks and making bank transfers.”

He took a deep breath. “The people you love? That’s the second time you’ve said that.”

“Yes. The people I love.”

He pulled her closer, until she was nearly standing on his toes. “I love you too, Ava.”

She was so incredibly glad she’d put her heels on when she’d left the house to head to the diner. She was at exactly the right height to wrap her arms around his neck and press against him. “I’m sorry I changed your diner.”

But he shook his head slowly. “It didn’t change. Not really. Not the heart of it. It just got bigger. And better. Like everything else in my life since you came along.”

She sniffed. “Your greenhouse didn’t get bigger.”

“It’s going to. I need to add on so I have room for all these salad things you’re thinking about. And my crop already got bigger. I planted two avocado trees today.”

Her eyes widened. “You did?”

“Of course. You love avocados.”

“I do.” She nodded, her heart flipping in her chest. That was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her. Well, maybe second to knocking out a wall in his closet to make room for her shoes. “I really do.”

“And I’ve decided my flock of chickens will need to get bigger too. I’ll need more eggs if I’m cooking for two.”

She couldn’t resist any longer. She put her mouth to his, kissing him with all of the love and hope and happiness buzzing through her. When she finally let him go, he cupped her face in both hands.

“So my answer is yes, I will be your boss, Boss.”

She lifted a brow.

He shrugged. “You’re going to be working for me. The tables, the dishes, the register…”

“With you.” She pointed at him. “Kitchen.” Then at herself. “Everything else.”

“Partner in Blissfully Baked with Cori,” he said, pointing at himself. “Full owner of the diner.” He pointed at himself again. “Owner of the avocados.” He pointed at his chest again. “Girl who’s picking up after me and cleaning up my messes.” He pointed at her.

She tipped her head, narrowed her eyes, then stepped back, pulling her phone from her back pocket. She turned away, pretending to scroll through her address book.

“Who are you calling?” he asked.

She could hear the amusement in his voice. “Evan. My lawyer.”

“Ah, rethinking the partnership between me and Cori?”

She turned back, putting her phone to her ear. “Thinking I might just buy the whole thing.”

“You’re just going to keep that deed for the building?”

“I mean the whole town of Bliss.”

There was a beat as he absorbed that, then he threw his head back and laughed. She put her phone down, grinning at the sight before her. The hottest, sweetest, grumpiest guy she’d ever dated. The man she was madly in love with.

He focused on her again. “Okay, get in bed.”

“I’d love to, but we have to get back to the diner. Things are a little crazy there.”

He nodded. “I’m sure. Get in my bed. Now.”

“I need to tell you about the peaches.” But she was already backing toward the bed.

He paused slightly at that, but then shook his head. “Peaches later. Bed now.”

“And the lunch menu today.”

“And I clearly have to prove who the boss is here.”

She grinned. “How about we take turns?”

He had his jeans unbuttoned and unzipped. “Being the boss in bed? You can absolutely tell me what you want me to do to you once you’re naked.”

She actually meant taking turns in everything, but they could go through this “meeting” one point at a time. She pulled her T-shirt off as the backs of her knees hit the mattress. “How about we negotiate a few terms?”

He reached out and pulled one of her bra straps down, exposing her breast and rubbing his thumb over her nipple. She bit back a moan.

“Negotiate. As in, you give me something and I give you something?”

“Yeah, kind of like that.” She pushed his jeans down his legs and ran her hand up the length of his erection. “I think this merger is going to be wildly successful.”

He dragged in a quick breath, then pushed her back onto the bed, moving over her. “I actually prefer the term acquisition,” he told her.

“Oh really, because the synonym is possession?” Strangely, she didn’t mind that from Parker at all.

Heat flared in his eyes, but just before he kissed her, he said, “Another synonym is prize.”

She melted a little at that and kissed him deeply.

Another word for acquisition was also gain. And that one felt most appropriate of all.