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They still had , it would cease to be a proble him, and that would be the end of his torment

Or it could be hell on a whole new scale

BY THE TIME Armie returned some fifteen minutes later, she had the table set, the food served and drinks poured

She felt ridiculously nervous, spending the evening with him this way As a natural-born hostess who loved to cook for others, she’d been serving dinners since she was fourteen But never for her and Armie alone It felt far more intimate than it should have, and that made it more important than it needed to be She sensed Armie had let her in, just a little, and she didn’t want to do anything to change his shells around him She wanted to be herself--and she badly wanted him to be okay with that

He came into the kitchen cautiously, every aze unreadable It wasn’t until he looked away at the table that she was able to draw a breath

"Ready?" Hopefully she’d infused just the right ary"

"I am"

The way he said that, how he again looked at her, ether, cleared her throat "Then I hope you like it"

He held out her chair

Too warm, a little breathless and very aware of his nearness, she sat down

He seated himself across from her and waited until she’d taken a bite to do the saood" He forked upcook"

"Thank you" Relaxing a little, she teased, "I would’ve loved toit"

"Once a week," he said "That’s what I allow hnut shop"

"Is that what you like? Doughnuts?"

"And cakes and pies and cookies" He smiled at her "Seems like every time I’m at your place, you have sweets set out I’ve never been able to completely resist"

Not dessert, no, but it seemed he resisted her just fine Except, , at least to a point "If you don’teach week Maybe just two portions? Like two cupcakes? Or two cookies, or--"

"You don’t have to twist lanced at his thick wrist, then at his broad hand and long fingers, his hard knuckles His hands were big and capable and, co about the differences in their sizes had her tingling in places inappropriate to the dinner table

While they ate, she continued to silently study hiainst Steve She rele ounce of pity for hireed with Armie that it’d be best to totally steer clear of him It seemed Steve had been an even-worse choice than she’d already realized

When his cell rang, he glanced at the screen, clicked a button and set it facedown on the table

Merissa just kneas a wo text dinged Again he glanced at it, then disregarded it

Peeved, Merissa said, "If you want to reply--"