Page 79 of From That Moment

I grinned, cupped her face, and kissed her again. “Beyond scary. So, you get to do the next big thing. Whatever it is. I did my part. I’m exhausted.”

Paris took the keys away, set them down near her purse on the table, and grinned. “Exhausted, are you? It looks like I’m going to have to take care of you, aren’t I?”

From the gleam in her eye, I knew I was going to like this very much.

And when she slowly unzipped my zipper and licked her lips, I knew I had chosen well.

So. Fucking. Well.

Chapter 16

Paris

Tears nearly filled my eyes,my hands shaking. “Yes, I’ve fallen in love with you. From the deepest part of my soul, down to the very essence of my being. I love you.”

“Do you talk to all chocolate pastries this way? Or only the ones in your hand.”

I freed one hand to flip Dakota off before staring lovingly at the pain au chocolat that she had made and brought over especially for me.

My precious. My beautiful precious.

“Now you sound like Gollum.”

“Did I say precious out loud again?” I asked, staring lovingly once more at the half-eaten pastry with the chocolate oozing out in exactly the right way.

“Yes, and you’re one second away from petting the damn thing. I have more, you know. You just need to come to the café.”

“That would require me to put on non-stretchy pants. And after I eat this, I don’t think I’m going to be able to fit into my jeans.”

“Your leggings are perfectly respectable for the café. Go forth and eat.”

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to. Because, dear God, this is so good. So amazing.”

“Am I going to need to give you some space? Because you truly sound as if you’re about to make sweet, sweet love to your pastry.”

“And maybe I should. Sweet, sweet love.” I leaned forward, pressed my lips to the sweet essence, and got down to it.

“I’ve never heard you moan like that. Maybe I should have asked Prior if you moan like that.”

“Shut up. I’m eating.” I licked my lips and sighed.

“You doing okay?” Dakota asked, laughing.

“I’m doing splendidly,” I said, going to the kitchen so I could wash my face and my hands. It had gotten a little messy.

“I love that you can joke with me about pastries. That was a little much,” Dakota said, wiping tears from her face.

“It just tastes so marvelous. And yet, so simple.”

“There is nothing simple about puff pastry. The amount of folding and butter it takes to make that perfectly? So the butter doesn’t seep out into the oven and make smoke? It’s not simple.”

“I figured that out the hard way once. Prior and I were thinking about making croissants on our own, and then I remembered the last time I tried to cook with that much butter. I almost caught my kitchen on fire. So, we decided against it.”

“Look at you two, baking together and making plans to bake together. It must be serious.”

I looked over at my friend, trying to sort through my emotions. “I think it is. I have no idea how that happened.”

“It happened because you two are great for each other. I’m only sorry we didn’t think to set you up with him.”