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Before we left the house, he pulled me against his body and kissed me. “I can’t believe I can do that.”

“Finally,” I said with a grin before he lifted me into the cab of the truck.

Just like the night before, it was impossible not to touch him. This drive couldn’t have been further from the one we’d shared after the kiss in my kitchen. Instead of awkward silence, it was perfect, Jude’s arm around me to ward off the morning chill. He didn’t even make me wear the seat belt, though I saw him consider it.

Deja Brew appeared too soon.

“Come here.” He pulled me with him out of the driver’s side and walked with me to the door.

Before I could reach for my keys, he spun me and backed me against the door until our bodies were touching. Not just touching, he was pressing me into the glass hard enough that all I could feel was him. “I owe you a kiss here,” he said.

Just like last night, he wove his hand into my hair, holding my head still as he leaned in to kiss me. Pressed against the door and frozen by his hand, I could do nothing but accept his kiss. My head spun, dizzy, heady pleasure sizzling through me and making me desperately wish I didn’t have a million things to do today.

I reached for him, and he caught my wrist with his free hand, not ever breaking the rhythm of his kiss. He was in control of it, and the heat that followed the thought startled me.

When he stepped back, all I could do was stare.

Jude let one corner of his mouth tip up, and he winked—winked—at me. “Have a good day.”

“Yeah.” My voice sounded like I’d run a marathon.

Finally able to tear my eyes away, I saw a couple of my regulars far down the street and coming in this direction. I had to get inside. Jude waited until I’d unlocked the door before getting back into his truck, and I started the morning routine feeling like I was floating on a cloud.

Chapter 11

Lena

The sensation of floating lasted for days. It was as if I drifted from task to task in a mist of happiness nothing could touch.

Everyone at Resting Warrior knew—once I told Evelyn, it was inevitable—but they were being good sports about keeping it low-key. As I predicted, Evie was so happy she started jumping up and down before she hugged me. And now that a few days had passed, I was starting to believe I wasn’t in a fever dream.

The phone rang in the office, and I stepped away from the batch of cupcakes I was mixing to answer it. “Deja Brew, Lena speaking.”

“Hello, Lena dear. It’s Mrs. Rosenthal.”

“Oh, hi.” The older woman was one of my best customers, having a standing weekly order for Garnet Bend’s retirement community. “I hope everything’s all right with the cookies?”

“That’s the thing… It’s not.”

My heart skipped a beat. Mrs. Rosenthal often called to compliment us on the cookies or to ask for something particular the next week. I’d never had her call to tell me something was wrong. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“Well…” She paused. “I’m not exactly sure.”

“Did they taste bad?” I’d tasted them yesterday when we made them, and they’d seemed fine. Had I missed something?

She made a noncommittal sound. “I couldn’t tell you. We weren’t able to eat any of them. As soon as we picked them up, they crumbled into bits.”

I froze. “What? All of them?”

“Yes. All of them.”

Dread hollowed out the pit of my stomach. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I’ll happily replace—”

“That’s all right, dear,” she said with a sigh. “With Thanksgiving so soon, the last thing I want here is for anyone to have a disappointment for the holiday. So I’ll cancel the order for tomorrow and also cancel my weekly order until after the holiday. Or rather, until you figure out what’s wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

My mouth dropped open, and anyone stepping into the office would have said I looked like a gaping fish. “Of course, Mrs. Rosenthal. I’ll let you know when I find the cause.”

She didn’t even say goodbye before hanging up.