“Wow.” Eva pressed her hands to her face, afraid she’d start bawling. “Oh, wow.”
“Hi.” Ames Cooke was the most gorgeous and amazing man who’d ever lived, she was certain of it. Because he was looking at her as if she was the most gorgeous and amazing woman who ever lived, and that was exactly as it should be when you were madly in love.
“Ames. Those are so beautiful.” She blinked demurely. “But, um, you know Chris isn’t here...”
“I guess you’ll have to keep them.” He grinned and set the vase on the corner of the counter. The blaze of glory lit up the shop. A few customers applauded.
“Would you like some coffee?” Her voice came out breathless. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, not sure how she’d survived so many days without seeing him. She was starved for him, his scent, his skin—she practically wanted to ingest the poor guy.
All she could hope was that he felt exactly the same. And the way his dark eyes were fixed on her, there was a good chance he did.
“No coffee, thanks. I was hoping you’d be ready to leave soon.” He glanced at his watch. “I have an important call at four, but I was wondering if you’d like to—”
“Yes.”
He grinned. “Well, okay, then.”
“I’ll cover you.” Jinx laid a hand on Eva’s shoulder, making her jump. Were there other people in the world? She’d forgotten. “Don’t worry, boss, you go.”
“Thanks, Jinx. I’ll just clean—”
“Nope.” He pointed to the door. “You’re out. In another few days I don’t work for you anymore, so I can start telling you what to do.”
“Don’t be too sure about that.” She winked at his surprised face and handed him her apron. “Good business today, have fun. And thank you. Truly.”
“Name your first kid after me.” He grinned and shook Ames’s hand. “Even if it’s a girl.”
“Yeah...okay.” She hugged him and went around the counter, wanting to skip and cheer and howl at the sun.
One last look at the flowers and she took the hand Ames offered and followed him outside.
“This was such a surprise, Ames. Though I have to tell you I was coming over after my shift today, whether you liked it or not.”
“Yeah?” He grinned at her, swinging their hands, walking so fast she practically had to run.
“Are we in a hurry?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I have a surprise to show you. And we need to talk. And I want your clothes off.”
“In what order?”
He squeezed her fingers. “Doesn’t matter.”
They barreled down Forty-Third Street, entered his building, strode through the lobby, Eva barely having time to throw out a breathless, “Hi, Frank,” before Ames had dragged her onto the elevator.
The doors closed, and she was in his arms. He was murmuring her name. Her body melted against him, exquisite relief coursing through her system. “Oh, that is so much better.”
“Yes.” He drew his thumb across her mouth, his eyes warm and serious, causing a massive melt in her heart. “I missed you, Eva.”
“Oh, Ames.” She shook her head, gazing at him, unable to believe her luck finding someone so wonderful. “I missed you, too.”
The elevator doors opened...back onto the lobby. A startled tenant walked in with her tiny dog on a leash, eyeing them peculiarly.
They hadn’t pressed the button.
Somehow they made it to Ames’s floor before they cracked up, hurrying to get into his apartment, where he drew her into his arms again and was kissing her madly before they got more than six inches across the threshold.
Wonderful kisses, heart-swelling, chest-aching, fabulous kisses, the kind of kisses that felt like forever, because who would ever not want to feel exactly like this?
“Eva.” He pressed his forehead to hers, breathing unsteadily. “We need to talk. We have really important things to say to each other, and really serious stuff to face, and I think if we keep kissing right now we’ll just have crazed-beast sex, and that’s—”
“A great idea, I agree.” She pulled off her pink lace shirt, worn over a black-and-white polka-dot camisole that exposed and enhanced a good portion of her breasts.