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“And you’ll be there to help her through it,” said Mick, efficiently flipping the eggs “So will I”

He brought the coffee to her—creaar, exactly as she liked She had no idea how he knew that As she took the , she said, "This is what you do, isn’t it?"

"What?" he asked

"It’s not just a "

He shrugged "I’m not exactly a mama hen, petite"

She set the coffee on the kitchen table and lay a hand on his free arm "You take care of what’s yours," she said softly "Your staff, your patrons, your bar, your home" She trailed off

Me

She stopped herself before she said it The whole idea was ludicrous She’d known him less than a day But she couldn’t deny the connection she felt with hih their mutual love for Liza and the strain of extraordinary circumstances

The arm beneath her hand was firh this whole night apart But it wasn’t gratitudeher heart race as he looked down at her hiskey colored eyes His ar behind her back to draw her nearer His other hand cupped her face, the pad of his thuers curved warm and sure behind her neck

It was easy to melt into hih, clung So at last to be replaced with soft, certain coing, when she’d never belonged before

Sophie rose to her toes, threading fingers in his hair, needing to be closer He angled his head, changing the tone, taking the kiss deeper And they were lost to the dark edge of desperation that had chased theht

“I really don’t think eggs are supposed to be that color”

Mick jerked away and glared at the de into the skillet

“We really need to have a talk about personal space and how you’re totally invading it,” he said, stalking over

Sophie reeled from the loss of contact and curled her hand around the back of a chair to steady herself She didn’t recognize the spate of Cajun French Mick spewed out as he fished the blackened eggs out of the skillet, but the h The demon looked amused