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years, but Lovelace was Macy’s heart, the Macy he’d known for half his life.
    Need pulled at him. It had been years since he’d had to work hard for a woman he wanted. Macy wasn’t just any woman, however. She was his first, his saving grace, the only woman he’d been tempted to give everything to. That moment of insanity had been brief but facets of it remained, ready to erupt again. He knew if he wasn’t careful, he’d slide back into that same desperate hunger he’d had before and this time he didn’t know if he’d be able to walk away. He didn’t know if he wanted to.
    His phone vibrated with an incoming text. He dug it out of his jacket pocket to find a message from Sebastian.
Are you still stalking Macy?
    I made us another ten million today,
Raphael texted back.
I think I’m allowed to go to a bar to have a drink to celebrate.
    So you are stalking her. Because having a three-hour lunch wasn’t long enough to get your point across. I didn’t think the great Raphael Jerroult had to try that hard. I might need to see this with my own eyes.
    Raphael scowled. The last thing he needed was one off his partners getting in his shit.
Don’t you have a hot woman you need to get back to?
    Bite me.
    You wish.
    Sebastian threw his words back at him.
Don’t you have a hot woman you need to get backto, instead of texting me?
    Fuck. Irritated, Raphael shoved his phone back in his pocket, certain that Sebastian was currently laughing his ass off at Raphael’s expense. He made a mental note to kick his partner’s ass during a sparring match the next day. After all, he still owed Sebastian for not telling him about Macy and her restaurants.
    “Raphael.”
    He turned at the sound of Macy’s voice, stopped and stared. She was walking toward him, though it was more like a rolling glide that was quite a feat in black stiletto pumps. Charcoal gray pants encased her legs and she wore a pretty, patterned blouse in shades of bronze and greens that hugged her curves and liberally exposed her cleavage. Her hair was down today, loose curls falling past her shoulders, framing her heart-shaped face and calling attention to the emerald of her eyes.
    He sucked in a breath as her essence steamrolled him. One hundred-proof longing flooded his system, making him lean against the bar. He’d been foolish, too young and too stupid to realize what he’d had, what he’d lost eight years ago. He knew it now though. Knew that he’d do everything in his power to make things right, make things the way they were meant to be.
    She stopped in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing. Not a damn thing.”
    One eyebrow quirked upward. “You’re staring.”
    “That’s because you’re beautiful.”
    Heat flushed her cheeks. “How much have you contributed to my bottom line there, champ?” she joked, gesturing at his drink.
    “That’s the first one, and I’m not a lightweight.” Conscious of her employees workingaround them, he took her hands, then air-kissed both her cheeks. It seemed the safest of all the greetings he could have done, and more socially acceptable than the greeting he wanted to give her—one that involved tongue and handfuls of her luscious curves.
    “This place is fantastic,” he complimented, putting a respectable distance between them again. “Don’t get me wrong, Choux is excellent, but this place reminds me of game night at your dad’s place with a bowl of your dad’s gumbo in one hand and your dessert-of-the-day in the other.”
    A smile lit her eyes. “Thanks. That’s exactly the feel I was going for. I actually named the restaurant in Dad’s honor, and there’s even a dessert named for him. Lovelace does a nice side business in catered desserts. It allows me to make use of my pastry-chef training.”
    He gave her an admiring glance. “You’ve done really well for yourself, Macy. I know your dad’s got to be proud of you.”
    She blushed anew. “Thanks, Raffie. I appreciate your saying