A Little Harmless Fantasy(70)

Her heartfelt expression and solemn tone told him she was serious. He swallowed. “Yeah. It took me a long time to figure it out but I did.”

“Good. I’m glad you do. He deserves someone who loves him. Someone who will give him the world.”

And we could, love. His brain stopped functioning for a second as he let the thought seep into his consciousness. He waited for the panic to come but it didn’t. Instead, the incredible rightness of the statement settled in his gut. The three of them. Together.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He looked at her and swallowed the lump in his throat. Zee had been right. There was so much more to Maura than she showed the world. And there was something about her that completed both Zee and him. They belonged together.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Apparently not wanting to push it any further she looked down at the batter. “I love French toast.”

“Any special reason?” he asked as he retrieved the loaf of bread.

She nodded. “My mom made the best French toast. It was just amazing.”

“Ah.”

She took the bread from him and pulled out the slices. “It was the last thing she made for me before the accident.”

He felt the stab to the heart right there and then. Seeing her position the bread on the counter carefully, he could easily see the teenaged Maura suffering through losing her parents, watching them die. She showed so little of that part of her that he held it close to his chest. He blinked.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We had done brinner that night and had gone to see a movie.”

“Brinner?”

She grinned at him. “Yeah, that’s what we called it when Mom made it, then on the way back...” she shrugged.

He set his hand on top of hers and she looked up at him, surprise lighting her features. Her eyes widened behind her lenses. He couldn’t tell her he knew the feelings, or even express how it made him feel that she had shared it with him. Instead, he leaned in and brushed his mouth over hers. She closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss. It wasn’t carnal but it affected him just the same. No, this was more intense. It hit him on so many levels, but the worst part of it was what it did to his heart. It turned over as she pulled away and then trailed her fingers down his cheek.

He’d been fighting it for days now, but he had to admit he was ass deep in love with a woman for the first time in his life.

“Hey, do I smell French toast?” Zee said.

Rory couldn’t speak, not yet. He was pretty sure his voice would crack.

Maura grinned at him. If he hadn’t known before that, he would definitely know now that he was in love with her.

She turned around. “Yep. He claims it is fantastic.”

Rory tried to get his head in order as he went back to preparing the toast. Zee stopped in front of Maura and gave her a kiss, then leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Smells good.”

The Georgia fight song went off on Maura’s phone. “Hey, Jillian. Having some French toast. No, Rory cooks.” She laughed and his heart danced a little.

Damn.

“No, I don’t think Conner would let him live with you just for cooking. Sure.” She jumped off the counter. “I’m going to check something out on the computer, be right back.”

She started up the steps and he couldn’t help but watch her as she went. He didn’t pay attention to her words, but the tone of her voice, the way she laughed entranced him. The swing of her hips didn’t hurt either.

“Earth to Rory.”

He shook his head and looked at Zee who was smiling at him.

“What?” he asked. His head was still spinning and his body was still humming.

“Nothing. You just seemed to be lost there.”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “We were talking about her family.”

“Conner?” Zee asked as he poured himself some coffee.

“No, her folks.”

He sensed Zee’s stillness. He looked back over his shoulder.

“She did.”

“What?”

“She rarely talks about them. I don’t know much about them.”

He sensed a thread of hurt in Zee’s voice. Setting down the whisk, he walked over to him and kissed him. “It wasn’t that much. She mentioned she liked French toast, that it was her favorite thing to eat for breakfast.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“It was the last thing her mom made her before the accident. That’s all she said.”

Zee sighed and put his head on Rory’s shoulder and for the second time that day he felt that slow roll through his heart, through his soul.

“I didn’t mean to act like an ass.”

He chuckled. “Really, Zee your definition of acting like an ass is weird.”