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We made short work of cleanup, and that’s when I noticed that things had changed a little between the two of us.

I invaded her personal space, and she had no problem invading mine.

I’d never realized how much we’d had to worknotto touch each other before that kiss when we were in close quarters.

That short interlude had changed everything between the two of us, and that probably wasn’t a good thing.

Before that kiss, I’d avoided touching her physically.

Since that kiss, all I fucking wanted to do was touch her.

From now on, I was going to have to listen to my head and not my body or my instincts.

I’d had some hard challenges in my life, but something told me that not touching Reese again was going to be one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do.

Reese

“I’ll have the usual, Silas,” I told the older man as I sat on a barstool at The Mug And Jug. “And a decaf for Hannah, please.”

It had just become habit for me to stop at The Mug And Jug at least two days a week for coffee before I went to the office.

Hannah and I were both addicted to Silas’s mocha lattes, but hers had to be decaf due to her pregnancy.

Today was Wednesday, and it was one of those days that I really needed a coffee to take to work.

“You alone?” Silas asked as he started making my coffees with a lot more pep than most people his age. “Where’s that young man of yours today?”

I sent him a chastising look, but he just grinned back at me.

“You know he’s notmyyoung man,” I said teasingly. “And Devon is in Los Angeles on business this week.”

It had been over two weeks since that crazy kiss we’d shared, and I’d thought things would be awkward between us, but it actually didn’t turn out that way. We’d gotten even closer as friends, and he met me here in the morning when I was stopping for coffee. I was fairly sure he was almost always here at The Mug And Jug before he went to work anyway.

Unfortunately, I was almost certain that two large cinnamon rolls and a coffee were his usual breakfast items during the work week.

It was almost criminal that he could manage to stay so fit on the diet he ate, but he worked out pretty hard in the evenings. He pushed himself a lot harder than I did. And he was pretty active with community and home tasks that needed to be done when he had the time to spare.

Devon had left Sunday evening in his private jet so he could be ready for an early meeting in Los Angeles on Monday.

One of his brothers usually dropped him off so he didn’t have to leave a vehicle at the remote airstrip, but I’d insisted on doing it to help him out.

He’d texted me Sunday evening to let me know he was there safely.

We’d started exchanging text messages during the day just to share something funny or just to say good morning and goodnight.

I wasn’t exactly sure how that had started, but it was normal for us now to share things sometimes during the day.

“You miss him?” Silas asked gruffly.

I nodded. “He’s become a good friend.”

“Do you want my advice?” Silas asked as he put a lid on my coffee and started Hannah’s.

I smiled at the older man, knowing he was going to give me that advice, whether I wanted it…or not.

Honestly, I didn’t mind. There was a lot of wisdom in most of his words that some people probably didn’t notice because Silas tended to give his advice very freely and often.

“I’ve known Devon since the day that boy was born,” Silas explained. “I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you. I think you feel the same way. Go after what you want and don’t end up living with regrets. Life is too short for that. I told him the same thing.”