Brooke drove down Greenwood Drive, tapping the wheel to the beat of Ed Sheeran’s Perfect. She felt a little giddy over seeing Robert again and laughed at herself. It had been a long time since she’d been so excited about a man.

And not just any man. Robert was what she called a man of substance. He was down to earth, steady, and sexy without even trying; all things that drew her to him. Unconsciously, she frowned as she thought that her ex-fiancé could take some lessons from Robert.

His house came into sight and she smiled at the odd-looking single-story dwelling. It had originally been a very small one-bedroom house, but previous owners had added on rooms at odd places. Despite its lack of uniformity, there was a certain charm to the freshly painted sea green house with white trim. The barn was painted to match and the pasture fencing was done in white. The effect was welcoming and unique, much like the man who owned the property.

As she turned onto his driveway, a big dog that she recognized from Robert’s Facebook pictures as Corky raced to meet her car. He ran alongside, barking the whole time she pulled up to the house. She turned the engine off and gathered her purse.

Robert had told her that Corky was friendly, so she wasn’t afraid to get out. As soon as she opened the car door, the big pooch came to greet her. He sniffed her legs and wagged his tail furiously, happy to meet someone new.

“Hello, Corky,” she said, petting him. “Aren’t you a handsome guy?”

“Corky! Enough.”

Brooke looked up and her breath caught when she saw Robert. He looked scrumptious in dark blue jeans and a maroon button down shirt.

His smile practically melted her bones. “Hi there. Did you have trouble finding me?”

“No. You give really good directions,” she said.

He held out a hand to her and the appreciation in his brown eyes literally made her heart flutter. Giving him her hand felt more meaningful than just accepting his gallant gesture. His palm was warm and slightly rough as he closed his fingers around hers.

“Good.” He closed her door, but kept a hold on her hand, tucking it in the crook of his elbow as he led her towards the house. “Are you afraid of skunks?”

His question made her smile. “I’ve never met one before, but Kate said that yours is harmless.”

Robert nodded. “That’s right. Sketch is de-scented and he was hand-raised from the time he was a baby. So he’s very friendly and affectionate.”

She took the opportunity to squeeze his bicep a little. “I’m excited to meet him. To meet all your furry friends.”

“Good. Right through here. Don’t mind the mudroom. It’s always a little bit of a disaster,” he told her, guiding her to a screen door.

Brook opened it and stepped into the large room. “Wow. Do you use all these crates?”

“A lot of them. I volunteer with the local animal control department and sometimes we need them when we remove abused animals from homes,” he replied.

“That’s right. Emily mentioned that you did that.” Brooke entered the kitchen and looked around. “This is nice.”

The walls were done in sand with white glass-front cabinets and white counter units. It looked like all the floors were hardwood pine.

“Thanks. I’ve slowly been renovating it. It was pretty tacky when I bought it a few years ago.” He gestured around. “Make yourself at home. Would you like some wine?”

Brooke hung her purse on a kitchen chair and said, “I’d love some. Something smells really good.”

Robert shot her a smile as he opened the refrigerator. “Well, it’s not Hamburger Helper, but I hope you’ll like it anyway.”

She chuckled. “I’m sure I will. I can’t believe how silly I acted.”

“It’s understandable, and I enjoyed it. I like hearing you laugh.” He uncorked the red wine and poured some into two glasses.

“I sure did enough of that.” She took the glass he handed her, sniffed and took a sip. “Very nice. So, what did you make?”

“Half-homemade spaghetti and meatballs,” he replied with a self-deprecating grin.

She smiled. “Half-homemade?”

“Yeah. The meatballs are homemade, but the sauce isn’t. It’s doctored up, though,” he said.

“I’m sure it’ll be delicious,” Brooke said.

“I hope so.”

He went over to the stove, took the lid off a pot, and stirred its contents. The earthy, tomato scent of sauce filled the kitchen and Brooke’s mouth watered.

“How long until dinner?” She went to stand by him. “I’m starving.”

His gaze met hers and then trailed downward. Her cheeks heated under his pointed perusal. “Me, too.”

Tipping her chin up, she ran her fingertips along his freshly shaven jaw. “How about an appetizer?”

Slowly, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers in a brief, sweet kiss that did indeed whet her appetite for more. She slid her hand around the back of his neck and urged him back down for another kiss.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and melded his mouth to hers. The way that he ran the tip of his tongue along her bottom lip brought butterflies to life in her stomach. Parting her lips, she didn’t resist his gentle invasion into her mouth.

The slow glide of their tongues against each other awakened another kind of hunger. Brooke was amazed that a man who acted so shy could deliver such devastating kisses. Did he know that he was turning her to mush as he delved deeper, filling her mouth with the taste of wine?

She was a little dazed by the time he leisurely ended the kiss and lifted his head from hers.

“If that’s what you consider an appetizer, I can hardly wait for the main course,” she said.

The seducer was gone, replaced by the shy guy. Robert’s face turned a little pink. “Well, the spaghetti should be ready.”

“That’s not what I was talking about and you know it,” she teased.

He turned his attention to the stove and checked the pasta. “Oh, I know, but I don’t want to burn dinner because I got too carried away. I worked too hard on this half-homemade dinner.”

“You’re right. And I am hungry,” she said.

“Good, because I made plenty.” He opened the oven and the smell of garlic wafted out of it. “Excellent. That’s done, too.”

Pulling out a loaf of garlic bread he sat the cookie sheet off to the side and placed a colander in the sink. Brooke enjoyed watching him as he carefully dumped the spaghetti into the colander. He cut up the garlic bread, put it in a towel-lined wicker basket, and wrapped it up in the towel.

Turning to her, he said, “Okay. Let’s go to our specially reserved table, shall we?”

She looked around, but didn’t see what he was talking about. “Is this table invisible?”

He picked up the basket of garlic bread and the bottle of wine. “No. Right this way.”

Going out the kitchen door, he led her onto a large porch that overlooked the pasture, through which a stream ran. The sun was just starting to set and there was a hint of pink to the horizon.

A small round table was dressed with a burgundy cloth and white tapered candles held court in the center. Robert put the wine in a pretty, silver ice bucket and sat the bread-basket down.

He pulled out a wooden chair. “Have a seat.”

Brook was touched that he’d gone to so much effort. She let him help seat her and thanked him.

“I’ll be right back with our plates,” he said and disappeared inside.

Looking out over the pretty view, Brooke shook her head over the way he’d surprised her and couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the night would bring.

* * *

“So far, so good,” Robert mumbled as he scooped spaghetti onto their plates.

As he recalled, Brooke had a healthy appetite, so he gave her a large portion of pasta and several meatballs. Then he ladled thick garlic and basil sauce over it and made his plate. He headed for the porch, but stopped short as he looked out the door.

Brooke sat in profile to him, gazing at the pasture. She looked incredibly beautiful in her gauzy lavender blouse, which she wore over a white, spaghetti strap tank sprinkled with silver glitter. Her skinny jeans molded to her slim curves and her white strap sandals showed off her fuchsia toenails.

His fingers tightened on their plates as he played that kiss through his mind again. The way she’d sagged against him a little and responded to him so eagerly had threatened his control. He’d hung onto it, not wanting to get a hard-on before dinner. He was nervous enough without being distracted by desire. There would be time for that later.

Not wanting their food to get cold, he went out onto the porch and put a plate in front of her. “Dinner is served, madam.”

Her smile made her eyes shine. “Where did you learn to be so dashing?”

“Dashing, huh? My grandfather taught me some stuff,” Robert replied. “Be right back.”

He hurried inside, grabbed a tray laden with condiments, and returned to her.

Sitting down, he said, “Okay. Dig in. Here goes nothing.”

Brooke twirled some noodles on her fork and took a bite. Her eyes widened. “This is delicious, Robert.”

Robert took a bite and had to agree. “That turned out really well.”

“It sure did.” She sprinkled some parmesan cheese on her spaghetti and cut up her meatballs. “Oh, my God. So good.”

“Okay. Confession time. I had some guidance from Chase,” Robert said.

Brooke took a sip of wine. “You’re a good student, Superman.”

“I knew that nickname was going to stick.”

Her giggle warmed his heart. “I didn’t intend for it to. It was just a spur of the moment thing.”

“Yeah, but you have a knack for picking something that suits the person—except in my case,” he responded.

She gave him a sidelong glance. “Yes, it does. You don’t think so, but you really are like a superhero. How many people have you saved by scaling cliffs and mountains?”

Robert shrugged, uncomfortable with the subject. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t keep count. I’m just doing what I’m trained to do.”

Brooke swallowed a piece of garlic bread. “That may be, but there has to be a reason that you wanted to do it in the first place. Not many people wake up one day thinking that they want to hang off mountains and save people from certain death.”

A shard of pain pierced Robert’s heart as a dark memory surfaced. He didn’t want to think about that right now, didn’t want to talk about it and ruin dinner. “I took a rock climbing class once and really liked it. I was good at it and decided to use my skills for good. Sort of like you with nursing. We both want to help people. We just do it in different ways.”

He’d hoped to distract Brooke from that subject, but her expression told him that he’d failed. However, she didn’t comment further, for which he was thankful.

“We do have that in common,” she said. “I guess you love animals too. You work for a vet. So, what got you interested in being an administrative professional?”

Robert hated that the job he loved also made him feel a little inadequate because it wasn’t an exciting career that would impress anyone. “I actually have a business degree, but I’ve never been interested in being in a boardroom like Tyler or Ric. I’ve also never wanted to be in the limelight, like Chase. I like the grunt work, the behind scenes stuff, but I’m not really sure why.”

Brook said, “Grunt work is important. No business would be a success without it. Nurses, orderlies, and nursing assistants are all part of the grunt work force, so I get it. We like being down in the trenches instead of sitting with the generals, and there’s not a damn thing wrong with that.”

“No, there’s not. I like knowing that I keep everything humming along, but I don’t want attention drawn to me for it.”

Brooke wagged her index finger at him. “That’s because you’re truly modest. I saw how you were at the hospital with Davey’s parents. Some guys would’ve been high-fiving themselves, but not you. You, Mr. Chambers, are the very definition of a hero.”

Having a woman feel that way about him was a heady experience, and Robert could be forgiven for feeling just a little prideful. “Thank you. Would you like more?”

She wiped her mouth with a napkin and shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“Are you sure? There’s plenty,” he coaxed.

“I’m sure.”

Robert said, “Okay, but I’m going to send some home with you. I can’t eat it all myself.”

She put her hands up in surrender. “Fine by me. I love leftovers.”

Robert finished his wine and sat his glass down. “You have a lot going on tomorrow?”

It was the first time he remembered seeing Brooke act shy. “Not really. Just some things I usually do on Sunday nights.”

“I see,” but he didn’t. Was she blowing him off?

She sighed and confessed, “It’s wash-and-go night.”

“Oh! My first girlfriend did her wash-and-go every Thursday night so she was ready for the weekend,” Robert answered.

He was referring to the hair care regimen used by African American women who wore their hair natural instead of getting relaxers to straighten it.

“Your first girlfriend was black?”

Robert’s smile turned wistful. “Yeah. Her name was Alisha and I loved her so much. I was crushed when she moved away our senior year of high school. Her mom was in the Army, so they moved around a lot.”

“I didn’t know that you dated black women before.”

“I’ve dated a wide variety of women,” Robert said. “Black, white, Asian.”

She propped her chin on her palm. “They say variety is the spice of life.”

“I don’t fancy a lot of spice. I’m more of a one woman man. Plus, I care more about a woman’s personality than her looks. I’m not saying that looks don’t matter at all, but they’re not the most important thing to me.” He wrapped up the garlic bread.

“Good to know.” She tilted her head. “Did you ever hear from her again?”

Robert nodded. “Yeah. We emailed and called all the time for a few months and then she told me that she’d met someone. I was hurt, but I wasn’t mad. How could I be? It wasn’t her fault that they moved and there was no way for me to see her again since they’d moved to Germany.”

“Germany? Talk about a long-distance relationship,” Brooke remarked.

“Right. We lost touch after that, but I looked her up on Facebook a couple of years ago.” He smiled. “She’s married and has three kids now. They’re really cute. I’ve chatted online to them both and her husband seems to be a nice guy.”

“Do you still have feelings for her?”

He gave her a teasing smile. “If I said yes, would you be jealous?”

“Maybe.”

Her slightly haughty expression made him laugh. “Well, I’m honored that you would be jealous over me.”

“Don’t go getting cocky about it.”

“Never.” He rose and started gathering up dishes. “How about a walk before dessert?”

“That sounds great.”

He looked at her feet. “I’ll get Kate’s barn boots for you. It’s not a good idea to walk around in a barn barefoot or in open-toed shoes. She leaves a pair here.”

She helped him carry the dishes inside. Robert rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher.

“I’ll get those boots.”