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corner. She leaned against the table and blew on her cup. "Oh, is that for the jubilee?" she asked, eyeing the sheet cake Billy was working on.
    "Yeah, what do you think?" Billy asked, stepping back.
    "It looks fantastic so far."
    Georgette slammed pans around in the kitchen while Melissa rolled her eyes, and Billy couldn't help but giggle.
    "By the way, do Katie and Des need my help out front?" Billy asked, just realizing she'd been working in the back for over an hour.
    "No, don't worry; the lunch crowd already cleared out. Of course, Des's sleep-inducing diatribe on 'constructional imperialism' doesn't exactly entice one to linger." Billy laughed, recognizing that as Des's platform on the Big Dig, only about a decade too late. "By the way, how's Mark?"
    "He's fine," Billy replied with a smile.
    "So, are you guys still hot and heavy or what?" Melissa asked.
    "I guess," Billy said, though "hot and heavy" wasn't quite it. Mark was hot, Billy's fantasies were hot, but when the two worlds met... her expectations fizzled.
    Somehow the idea of kissing Mark was always more exciting than the reality. Billy honestly didn't know why—she was physically attracted to him, and she wanted to love kissing him. She wanted to melt inside, to sweat all over, to throw him down on the hood of his car and tear his shirt open with her teeth. Instead, while she enjoyed being near him, kissing him was merely pleasant. There was just something about Mark's lukewarm, very moist lips pressed on hers that didn't stir immediate and electrifying passion.
    Still, she wasn't ready to conclude that the chemistry was simply wrong. What seemed more realistic was that the passion between them would intensify as their relationship developed. Especially when they became more emotionally involved; so far they weren't even close to making love.
    "Is he still working for that supply distribution company?" Melissa asked. "He's never here anymore."
    "Oh, I know. With his promotion, he's been assigned to a different set of stores." If that sounded vague, she supposed it was, but Mark never went into a lot of detail about his job. "And he has longer hours now," Billy added, "which is why I don't get to see him as much as I'd like."
    "Really?" Melissa said, arching an eyebrow.
    "Yeah," she said, wondering why Melissa looked skeptical. Was she doubting that Mark had long hours? Or that it was the reason Billy didn't see him enough?
    Shaking her head, Melissa remarked, "I still can't get a feel for what Mark's type is."
    "What do you mean?" Billy asked, leaning against the table and accidentally smudging the side edge of the sheet cake. "Oh, shoot," she said, turning back and bending to fix it with her frosting spatula.
    "Hey, Billy," Katie called, ducking her head in, "there's someone here to see you."
    "Huh?"
    "About the jubilee."
    "Oh! I totally forgot." Damn, she really wanted to finish this cake first. Gingerly Billy worked her hands under the cardboard tray, shimmied the cake off the table to balance in her hands, and carried it to the freezer. Melissa opened the door for her.
    Then Billy wiped her hands on her apron, brushed back some loose strands of hair that had fallen away from her ponytail, and headed to the front.
    Suddenly she stopped short. And in less than a second, the dull but comforting predictability of life abruptly turned on its axis.
    "Billy?"
    "Oh, my God," she said, coming closer, barely having enough time to process the handsome, achingly familiar man standing on the other side of the counter. No... it couldn't be!
    Seth Lannigan? After all this time?
    "I can't believe this," he said, smiling warmly, with a touch of wonder crossing his face.
    "Um, what are you doing here?" Billy asked, feeling choked by shock, as her heart fluttered frantically in her chest.
    "I'm here representing Churchill and the Jubilee Planning Committee. What, you work here?" Grinning self-deprecatingly, he plowed his hand into his hair and said, "Okay, obviously you