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conveyor belt, and they moved toward the
cashier.
    “I’ll walk you home.”
    She glanced at him and the hopeful look on
his face. What would it hurt?
    Well, for one it would encourage him. For two
he might ask to come in and she would be getting things ready for
dinner for John.
    “I’m fine,” she said. “But thanks.”
    He handed her the Italian bread. “You should
take this.”
    “Thank you.” She had completely forgotten
about getting some bread herself.
    After she paid for the groceries, she turned
to say goodbye to Drake. “It was nice seeing you,” she said. “Next
time without the milk.”
    He laughed. “Yes, agreed.”
    She picked up her bags and headed out the
door. She looked over her shoulder as she walked out but he was
gone.
     
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    The doorbell rang and Roni looked into the
peephole, saw John, and she smiled. She opened the door and she
caught her breath. He looked so sexy in a blue shirt with Levis and
a pair of running shoes. His short sleeves drew attention to the
power in his arms and the fabric fit his muscular chest just right.
She liked the way his short hair curled a little above his ears and
the piercing intensity of his blue eyes.
    “Hello, beautiful.” He leaned down and kissed
her as she held the door open. It was a kiss filled with a day of
pent-up passion that they both obviously felt.
    The kiss rocketed her blood pressure. Who
cared about dinner when she had one hell of a man on her
doorstep?
    “Hi,” she said when he drew away. She wasn’t
sure she was going to be able to breathe for a while.
    “Smells great.” He sniffed the air as she let
him in and she thought she heard his stomach rumble. “It’s been a
long day and I haven’t eaten much.”
    So much for pre-dinner diversions.
    He swung a duffel bag off his shoulder and
put it on the floor by the couch. “Mind if I leave this here?”
    “Sure.” She smiled and headed toward the
kitchen. As he followed her, she looked over her shoulder. “How was
work?”
    “Not real great.” He shook his head. “Got
called out of bed almost as soon as I got home.”
    “Wow, you’ve been up awhile.” She paused and
faced him. “What happened?”
    He shrugged. “Security issues.” It was clear
that was about all she was going to get out of him about work.
    “You must be exhausted,” she said.
    Another growl of his stomach. “Right now I’m
more hungry than anything.”
    She gestured to the kitchen table that was
already set for two including wine glasses, the bottle of wine, and
a slender taper candle. “Have a seat. Dinner is ready.”
    “I’ll help you get everything to the table,”
he said.
    He carried out the pan of lasagna while she
took the bowl of salad and the basket of garlic bread—which she had
thanks to Drake.
    As she lit the candle, she could tell it
wasn’t easy for the hungry man at her table to hold himself back
while waiting for her to join him.
    He insisted on helping her sit, took his own
chair, and then he served up lasagna on both of their plates while
she took care of the salad.
    John wasn’t real chatty to begin with and he
was even less so when he was as hungry as he appeared to be as he
ate. There was nothing like having a man who appreciated a good
home cooked meal.
    “This is great,” he said after a few large
bites. “I think it’s probably the best lasagna I’ve had.”
    “Thank you.” She smiled and dug into her own
dinner.
    When he stopped to take a drink of merlot, he
said, “How was your day?”
    “Not too eventful.” She thought about her day
and running into Drake. She certainly wasn’t going to mention him.
“Took care of some odds and ends that I needed to catch up with and
went to the grocery store and made dinner. That was the extent of
today’s excitement.”
    “I could use a day like that.” John wiped his
mouth with his napkin. “Doesn’t seem to be in the cards. If one
particularly big problem was solved it would make my life a