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word, I will try my best not rush you.”
    She eased from his arms and sat on the bench
next to him, then she met his gaze. “Is that what we’re doing?
Beginning a courtship?”
    Tom took a deep breath, gathering his
courage before answering. “I’d like to think so. If you’re okay
with that. We call it the mating dance.”
    She looked out over the cove, then up at the
stars before answering. “Yeah, I think I’m okay with it. I like
you, Tom. That’s a good first step.”
    She stood and walked to the table, gathering
the plates and putting them in a plastic caddy she’d had stowed to
one side. He helped her clean up, prolonging the moments he had
with her, but it didn’t take long to put the roof garden back to
rights.
    Together, they went back down into the
apartment after shutting off the little lights on the roof. Tina
was nowhere in evidence, but they both knew she was somewhere in
the apartment. They dropped the dishes off near the sink, and
Ashley motioned for him to follow her down the stairs that led into
the bakery.
    He kissed her again—a long, lingering but
all-too-chaste kiss—in the door of the closed bakery, and then, he
left, heading for home. They’d made a start. And for that, Tom sent
a little prayer of thanks heavenward to the Mother of All.
    He wasn’t one hundred percent sure yet, but
he had a good feeling that Ashley Baker might just be his mate.
     

Chapter Six

    Tom couldn’t stay away. After a mostly
sleepless night, he found himself at the bakery bright and early,
when only Ashley was there. She welcomed him with a smile, and they
shared a quiet breakfast while her bread baked.
    They even went outside to watch the sunrise
and to feed Gus, the seagull. Little things that were becoming
rituals after only two days with her. Tom wanted to spend every
moment with Ashley, but he couldn’t. For one thing, he had promised
John he would work on some permits from the state today. For
another, he had to prepare for their date. He’d promised to cook
for her, and he had to get some supplies and clean his house a
bit.
    He left her as the morning customers started
coming in and her sister joined her behind the counter. He didn’t
try to kiss her. Not in public. Not with their relationship so new.
He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, but he was
definitely making plans for kissing her—and whatever else she would
allow him to do—at his place tonight.
    He couldn’t wait.
     
    By the time dinner rolled around, Asheley
was a nervous wreck. She’d showered and primped, shaving and
putting lotion on every part of her skin she could reasonably
reach. She’d given herself a mani/pedi and spent almost an hour on
her hair.
    The entire contents of her wardrobe was
strewn all over her room again, but that seemed to be the norm now
for preparing for a date with Tom. He’d left her at the bakery this
morning, and she’d practically waltzed through the rest of her
shift, her feet barely touching the ground.
    It had been a long time since the mere
prospect of a date with a man had made her that happy, and she
intended to savor it. Almost as much as she intended to jump his
bones tonight if the opportunity arose.
    Tom drove up to the bakery and parked in
front. He was driving a Jeep with the top down and looked
absolutely scrumptious. Ashley stood in front of the display case,
fighting the urge to step up to the door. It wouldn’t do to let him
see how eager she was, would it?
    Tina came up beside her, folding her arms as
she leaned against the case beside Ashley. The bakery was quiet for
the moment, though a few of the locals were sitting outside at one
of the tables they’d been able to set up on the sidewalk in front
of the shop. They all seemed to stop and look when Tom pulled
up.
    Ashley noticed the way the men greeted Tom
with nods of respect, but Tom didn’t stop to chat. He had a rather
intense look on his face that matched the way Ashley was
feeling.
    “He looks good enough to