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Once they were seated, his curiosity was piqued “Are you saying you’re a woman of mystery?”

She arched a brow “Would you like that?”

He pursed his lips together There were still so s about Sylvie that he didn’t know And he couldn’t help but think he wanted to know everything about her But now that he’d decided to sell the estate, she would be leaving here Maybe not today Maybe not tomorrow But soon Too soon

It was best to let the subject drop “What I’d like is to enjoy this food because there’s this great big cake with my name on it”

Sylvie smiled “You saw that?”

“How could I e and in the center of the table How did you get the bakery to make it so quickly? Or did you have this party planned for a long time?”

“Actually, I didn’t realize it was your birthday until yesterday when I saw a notation on my day planner There wasn’t any time to order a cake so I made it—”

“You baked me a birthday cake?”

She shrugged “Kind of”

“I don’t understand You baked it or you didn’t?”

“It’s a box cake Actually, it’s four boxes I wanted to h for everyone”

“Box or not, you’re the first person aside froesture touched him more profoundly than it should have He leaned over to her He was so tempted to reach out and turn her head toward hiht was so very, very te

But not wanting to ruin this moment, he pressed a kiss to her cheek instead “Thank you, for all of this”

Color filled her cheeks “You’re welcome”

And then before she could eat her food, she was called away to the kitchen He wanted to go after her—to offer his help hatever itbetween them—this second chance at a friendship