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"Tate’s cool with that?" I have to say I’m surprised From what I saw of him over the summer, he seemed like a complete dick-wad

"His only stipulation was that I not include weddings as one ofdelivered, but the peppered beef skewers from Pebbles are my favorite and they don’t deliver"

"AhI definitely ate ood you can’t have just one"

I laugh

She s that I haven’t felt in a very long tiood-bye to her I’ht to end and I don’t think she is either I consider hrather than what I really want to do--again I have this strange feeling that she’s struggling with her e the same

"What do you say to a cup of coffee?"

She scans the parking lot "How did you get here?"

"My bike Why?"

"I’ll agree to go for coffee, but only if you let me drive"

"Are you scared?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

"I don’t want to get pulled over for not wearing a helmet"

"That didn’t bother you the time I drove you home when you’d locked your keys in your car"

"I was in a hurry then It was different"

I refrain fro under my breath "Different how?"

"I don’t know If I had to explain to a police"

She’s serious I have to hidecute she is "Ahthose half-truths are easier to tell than lies"

"Yes That’s it" She’s got a glow about her that’s not frohts above us "And, Ben"--her tone drops to a whisper--"I never got to say thank you for changing my tire" Then she lifts her wrist "And for the watch"

"It was no big deal Glad the watch has coht of it I’d helped her out over the su her lad she seems to have appreciated it I want to kiss her I want her to co to turn the quickie in the prep kitchen into sory?"

"A little" She smiles with that look of innocence she has about her, and the heat between us is alaze and bob reat little coffee shop right around the corner with the best homemade pies We can walk"

Four & Twenty Blackbirds seehaic theme, the homemade pies taste as if they’ve just come out of Grandma’s oven The mom-and-pop place is dimly lit, but the carousel of pies is lit up in a way I’ve never noticed

S’belle rushes over to it and splays her hands across the glass She points to a slice "What’s that one?"

I step close enough to whisper in her ear, "Oh, that would be their signature triple-crusted berry pie I knoell"

"Triple crust?" Her eyes are wide as she turns to glance back at ood" I pat o directly to her a out the top of what I know is a black lacy strapless bra My ck throbs at the sight--again She turns her head in ti picks up as if she’s reliving things too I can see it The light of the case highlights her freckles I think about the way her eyes drift dohen she talks and how she lets her hair cover her face when she answers ot a quirky, sassy personality, but there’s also an innocence there

"What’s that one?" she asks, twisting back toward the case

"I think that’s the sweet potato pie"

She wrinkles her nose "Vegetables should not be put in desserts"

I raise an eyebrow "You have an issue with vegetables?"

"I just s atwith irl inFuck, I’m not really sure I’ve ever actually flirted, except with her back in college My pulse is racing and I think it’s tiainst it I glance around Only a few people are sitting at the communal table, so we have our choice of seats

"Come on The booth in the front has the best view of the street"

We sit by theand I notice her shiver when our thighs touch I remove my jacket and stand to drape it around her

"Thank you" She pulls it closed around her body

I catch sight of her sniffing it and although I want to bust out laughing, at the sa and don’t want to ruin the lance down at o to the counter to place our order Instead she comes over to our table "Haven’t seen you around here in a while," she says

"I know I’ve definitely missed the food"

"Ruby just left"

"That’s too bad I haven’t caught up with her in a while"

The waitress whose name I don’t know pulls out her s?"

I look across at S’belle and ar--oh, "

The waitress glances over to me "Coffee, but not that decaf crap, and two slices of the triple-crusted blackberry pie"

The waitress closes her pad "Coht up"

My eyes lift toward S’belle’s, and a smile crosses her face "Good choice"

"Yeah, I’ve been known to rin at her

A yawn escapes herday"

"Well, drinking decaf isn’t going to help that"