Page 78 of Rough Fantasy

He looked down at Maura.

Just what the hell was he going to do about her? She had wormed her way into his heart and now she claimed to love him.

He sighed and tried his best to brush his worries aside. It was probably just said to make him feel better. Or she had been too sleepy to know what she was saying. No use worrying about it now.

Rory knew he would have plenty of time to worry about it when he returned to Miami.

With that last thought, he closed his eyes and followed his lovers into sleep.

thirty-four

Rory cracked the last egg in the bowl and tossed the shell in the trash. It was already past nine in the morning and Zee was still in bed.

“I can’t believe he’s still sleeping,” Maura said.

“We had a long night, love,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She was sitting on the counter next to the stove watching him make French toast. When she had said it was her favorite thing to eat for breakfast, he couldn’t resist making his for her.

“Not that long. There is something very wrong with him being in bed and us being up.”

He chuckled as he poured in a little cream in with the eggs. “Nothing wrong with a little private time just the two of us.”

She said nothing for a while and he looked up. The look on her face didn’t tell him anything. If anything she showed no expression.

“What?”

She shrugged. “You promise not to take this the wrong way?”

Now, he started to worry. “I’ll try.”

She sighed. “I just didn’t think I would like you very much. Truthfully, I didn’t think you would like me very much. I have been told more than once I’m an acquired taste. And, since you admitted to being a little jealous last night, I guess I have to say that it killed me when you showed up in Florida. You know how special Zeke is, don’t you?”

Her heartfelt expression and solemn tone told him she was serious. He swallowed. “Yeah. It took me a long time to figure it out but I did.”

“Good. I’m glad you do. He deserves someone who loves him. Someone who will give him the world.”

And we could, love. His brain stopped functioning for a second as he let the thought seep into his consciousness. He waited for the panic to come but it didn’t. Instead, the incredible rightness of the statement settled in his gut. The three of them. Together.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He looked at her and swallowed the lump in his throat. Zee had been right. There was so much more to Maura than she showed the world. And there was something about her that completed both Zee and him. They belonged together.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Apparently not wanting to push it any further she looked down at the batter. “I love French toast.”

“Any special reason?” he asked as he retrieved the loaf of bread.

She nodded. “My mom made the best French toast. It was just amazing.”

“Ah.”

She took the bread from him and pulled out the slices. “It was the last thing she made for me before the accident.”

He felt the stab to the heart right there and then. Seeing her position the bread on the counter carefully, he could easily see the teenaged Maura suffering through losing her parents, watching them die. She showed so little of that part of her that he held it close to his chest. He blinked.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We had done brinner that night and had gone to see a movie.”