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decorations would be useless. Julia Ogilvy wanted candy hearts with “Adore Me” written on them, and that’s what she would get.
    Which meant that later today, Meredith would have to head to the nearest candy store, buy a few packages of hearts, and see what she could come up with.
    “Wonderful. Hearts with ‘Adore Me’ on them.” She smiled brightly to hide her sudden fear that this whole thing could well turn out to be a real pain in the…umm…neck.

Chapter Five
    Two boxes of hearts. Two freaking boxes, and not a single “Adore Me” in the group.
    Meredith sat at her kitchen table, staring at the unopened boxes piled in front of her waiting for their turn to be explored.
    She sighed and reached for the third box. But by the time she got to box five, she was ready to call it a day.
    “No, not yet. Gotta do a few more boxes first,” she murmured and got up to pour herself another cup of coffee.
    Her cell phone buzzed as she was about to sit down again, and she smiled when she saw who was at the other end.
    “Hello, computer expert,” she said as she clicked on the call.
    “Hello, yourself, master baker,” Vlad answered. “Have time for a little visit from a man with a pizza?”
    Meredith glanced at the candy hearts piled up on the table. No, logically, she didn’t have time. But, emotionally, damn was she ready for a little close contact with both the man and his food.
    “If the pizza has pepperoni, then the man can expect to be welcomed like a conquering hero.”
    Vlad’s laugh echoed in her ear, full-throated and filled with the promise of a wonderful evening. “Terrific. The man, happily bearing a cheese, pepperoni, and sausage pizza, will be there in about five minutes.”
    ****
    Four-and-a-half minutes later, he strode into her apartment, a large pizza box in one hand and his other hand free so he could pull her against him to deliver a full-body, one-armed hug.
    “Come into the kitchen,” Meredith said as she disentangled from his embrace. “I’m working in there.”
    He followed her, staring in confusion at the candy-strewn table when they entered the kitchen.
    “Don’t tell me. Let me guess. That mess on the table means you’ve got a secret addiction to small, sugary objects shaped like hearts,” he said as he set the pizza box on the kitchen counter.
    Meredith wanted to laugh at that possibility, but since she wasn’t in the most jovial mood, she just made a face at him. “Not hardly.” She swept the hearts over to one side of the table to give them a clear space for the pizza.
    “So what are you doing?” Vlad asked.
    “I’m checking candy hearts.”
    He shook his head, patently confounded. “Why?”
    “For a specific saying.”
    “This is what you do in the evening for fun?”
    Meredith gave him a dark look to let him know she was not amused by his question. “No, this is what I do in the evening to keep my business afloat.”
    “Every evening?”
    She took out a bowl and put it on the table for the rejected hearts, which so far had been every heart she’d examined. “Of course not. This is a singular event. At least I hope it is. A customer wants a wedding cake decorated with hearts that say ‘Adore Me,’ so that’s what I’m looking for. I’ve already gone through five boxes and haven’t found a single one.”
    Vlad pulled out a chair and sat down. “Okay, since the customer is always right, I’ll help.” He held out his hand. “Give me a box. We’ll look together.”
    Meredith stopped shoveling rejected hearts into the bowl and turned to him. “Really?”
    “Of course, really. Would I lie about it?”
    “What about the pizza?”
    He shrugged. “No problem. We can reheat it and have it later.”
    “Okay. In that case, here you go,” she said and dumped a box into his outstretched palm.
    Then she sat down beside him and picked a box of her own to explore.
    “No…no…and no,” Vlad said, sifting through the candy and tossing the rejects from his box