“Hey, I’m an easy kind of guy.”

  “Really. Does everyone know how easy you are?”

  He laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve seen firsthand how easy you can be after several shots.”

  “Oh, are your memories coming back?”

  “Not really. Just the flashes I had after you kissed me that day.”

  “Maybe we should try that again and see if it sparks more memories.”

  “I’m game if you are.”

  She leaned toward him and his heart skipped a beat. He’d always known Honor to be fun and playful, but that was in a friendship kind of way. Not this way. Not hot and sexy and making him want to kiss her and touch her in ways that were becoming part of his everyday fantasies.

  And for a fraction of a second, he thought of all the reasons they shouldn’t get closer, why he shouldn’t kiss her, why they shouldn’t take this step.

  All those reasons evaporated as soon as his lips touched hers and he pulled her closer so he could wrap his arms around her and feel her body touching his. She was warm, pliant, and she tasted like his wildest dreams. And when she reached up to slide her hand across his jaw, his body tensed as he realized how much he needed her to touch him.

  She pulled back and searched his face. “You got tense. Are you all right?”

  “More than. I like you touching me. Do more of that.”

  She straddled him and slid her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, and when she reached his skin he couldn’t help but shudder.

  “You’re not cold,” she said, smiling.

  “Just the opposite.”

  “Kiss me some more, Owen. I really like the way you kiss.”

  She was so bold, so surprising in demanding what she wanted. He laid her on her back on the sofa and slid next to her, then teased her lips with his before going in for a deeper, much more satisfying kiss that made her grasp a handful of his shirt at his back. She’d wrapped a leg around his hip and arched against him, making him go hard with the need to feel all of her.

  He was so ready to take this into the bedroom, to strip her naked so he could kiss her all over, to explore her body and make her moans turn into screams.

  But then she palmed his chest and gave him a gentle push. He lifted.

  “I can’t,” she said. “We shouldn’t do this.”

  He sat up so she could, too. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “I’m . . . I don’t know. Not ready, I guess. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “Hey.” He took her hand. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. If you don’t want to do this, that’s fine.”

  “It’s not that I don’t, I’m just . . . scared about how much I’m feeling so fast.”

  That, at least, made him feel really good. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s the same for me, Honor. It’s like a tornado sweeps over me every time I’m with you. And I’m just taken away without thinking.”

  Her lips curved. “I’m happy to hear that. But we should put the brakes on and take this slow, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, for sure.” Though right now his dick was painfully hard and telling him that was the worst idea ever. “But I still want to see you.”

  “I want to see you, too. We’ll just be better about keeping things more . . . friendly. No touching. No kissing. For now.”

  He grinned at her. “For now. Right. It’ll be just like it was before we got married.”

  She got up. “Sure. That should be easy.”

  “Sure.”

  She went to the bathroom. He stood, taking their glasses into the kitchen, giving himself some time to get his riotous feelings under control.

  She came into the kitchen. “Sorry about that.”

  “Hey, it’s all good.”

  “I’m not trying to be a tease. It’s just all these new feelings are confusing.”

  He wanted to put his arms around her, to hold her, but held back, so he slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s okay. You take whatever time you need to sort through your feelings.”

  “Thanks.”

  She walked around and picked up the bottle of wine on the counter and put it in the fridge, then studied his calendar there before turning to face him.

  “You have an appointment with your oncologist on Monday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  He shrugged. “I hope so. It’s a routine checkup. I get bloodwork run, then meet with my doc.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  He’d never had anyone go with him for his doctor appointments. He’d had plenty of visitors sit with him during his treatments, but he’d always gone alone to meet with his oncologist. “It’s not necessary.”

  “I’d like to go, unless you prefer to be alone.”

  It touched him that she cared. Probably more than he wanted to admit to himself. “You can come. I’d like it if you came.”

  She smiled. “Then I will.” She looked at him for a bit, as if there was more she wanted to say. There was a hell of a lot more he wanted to say. And do.

  “I should go,” she said. “I have an early meeting tomorrow morning.”

  He walked her to her car and opened the door for her. She smiled up at him and all he wanted to do at that moment was pull her into his arms and kiss her. But they’d agreed.

  “Thanks for tonight,” she said. “For making me dinner. I had fun.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I’ll . . . talk to you soon?”

  “Yeah.”

  She hesitated, and he wondered if she was thinking what he’d been thinking. How easy it would be to fall into each other. He could tell by the way she lifted her arm, then let it drop, that, yeah, she wanted the same thing.

  “Bye, Owen.”

  “See ya, Honor.”

  She got into her car and pulled down the drive. He waited until she disappeared around the corner before he went inside and closed the door.

  Now that she was gone, the house seemed empty. It was funny how he’d become used to being single, and then Honor had come into his life and boom, like a sudden explosion, everything was changing. And now that he’d touched her and kissed her, he wanted more. He had a feeling Honor did, too. But if she wanted to keep it platonic for now, he’d do as she asked for as long as she wanted to play it that way.

  But, no, this wasn’t going to be easy.

  CHAPTER

  eight

  SOME WEDDINGS WENT off without a single hitch to the proceedings. They were smooth and uneventful. Those were Honor’s favorites.

  Then there were the ones like today’s, where it seemed like if something could go wrong, it would. One bridesmaid forgot her dress at the hotel, and she showed up late, which meant Honor had to send someone to go fetch the dress for her because said bridesmaid had also cried off all her makeup on the way to the vineyard after her boyfriend had broken up with her via text, causing Sarah, the bride-to-be, to have to console her. Which was so not the bride-to-be’s job on her wedding day.

  Fortunately, Mae stepped in to console the sobbing bridesmaid, and Honor pulled a now very angry Sarah away to calm her down before the bride-to-be left the venue to go have some words with the now ex-boyfriend.

  And then the wrong flowers were delivered, which caused yet another meltdown, this time on Honor’s part, as she had to call the florist and figure out where the flowers for the Bergman/Winterly wedding had gone. That took twenty minutes and several phone calls. In the middle of all that, the aforementioned sobbing bridesmaid had taken off. Like, left. According to Brenna, she was leaving to have a conversation with the ex-boyfriend.

  Honor just stared, trying to absorb the latest disaster.

  “What do you mean she left?”

  “Apparently she told our bride that she just had to tell off her ex-boyfriend in person, and it couldn’t wait another minute.”

  Erin gave an impressive eye roll. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “I’m not,” Brenna said. “Mae’s in with Sarah right now trying to keep her from imploding.”

  “Okay, I’ll deal with it. I don’t know how, but I’ll deal with it. Erin, I need you to call the florist again and make sure those flowers are on the way.”

  Erin nodded. “Got it.”

  “Brenna, I need you to—I don’t know, make sure no other bombs go off.”

  Brenna gave her a severe look. “You got it. Absolutely no bombs.”

  She went to the bride’s dressing room, put her hand on the knob and paused, taking a moment to breathe.

  Just breathe, Honor. You’ve been through worse. You’ve got this.

  After exhaling, she opened the door to find Sarah and Mae embracing.

  “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you for this,” Sarah said, her eyes filling with tears.

  “What’s this about?” Honor asked. “And you can’t cry, Sarah. Makeup, remember?”

  “She’s right.” Sarah’s mom dabbed at the corner of her eyes with a tissue. “No tears.”

  “Since Mae is the same height and roughly the same size as Lorelai, she’s going to fill in for my missing bridesmaid for the ceremony.”

  Honor’s stress level dropped at least fifty points. She cast a grateful look at Mae. “What a wonderful idea. Thank you, Mae.”

  Mae smiled. “It’s no problem. I’m going to dash into hair and makeup, then get dressed.” She stopped and squeezed Sarah’s hand. “It’s all going to be fine.”

  Sarah nodded. “Yes, it is.”

  After that, everything else ran smoothly. The flowers—the right ones this time—arrived, and Honor and her sisters finished nailing down every final detail. Mae came out in a bridesmaid dress that looked as if it had been altered just for her. They’d dodged a bullet there. It didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous and curvy and her wild curls looked amazing pulled up, and with her warm brown eyes that just lit up a room, she more than made up for Sarah’s now ex-friend’s untimely disappearance.

  “I don’t know how we ever managed without her,” Erin whispered as Mae made her way down the aisle during the ceremony.

  “Right?” Brenna asked. “It’s like she fits in perfectly.”

  Honor sighed in relief. “She’s like the Mary Poppins of bridal. She just swoops in and saves the day.”

  Erin snickered. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”

  “Go ahead.” Because it was the truth.

  The rest of the wedding was perfect. Mae stood in for the first dance and tried to step out for photos, but Sarah wasn’t having it, saying that without her one of the groomsmen—and one of her husband’s very best friends from college—wouldn’t have been able to stand up for him. And for that, she would always be memorable and needed to be in the pictures. As always, Mae was happy to participate.

  At the end of the night, another happy couple had gotten married courtesy of Bellini Weddings. The crew came in to clean up, and Honor, her sisters and Mae sat in the Bellini house dining room to sip some champagne, though Honor wasn’t drinking. Not that her sisters noticed, fortunately.

  “Tonight was a wild one,” Erin said.

  Brenna took a sip of her wine, swirling the liquid around in her glass. “That’s an understatement.”

  “I thought it was fun,” Mae said. “Being a bridesmaid is always a kick. A bride? Not so much.”

  Honor kicked off her heels and wriggled her toes. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Maybe you just need more champagne,” Mae suggested.

  “Or a good night’s sleep,” Erin said.

  She was way too wired for sleep. And, fortunately, the families had booked the venue only until ten p.m. so it wasn’t too late.

  “You were amazing today, Mae,” Honor said. “Thank you for stepping in.”

  Mae beamed a smile. “It was easy, and I was lucky to fit into the dress. Plus, I’ve been a bridesmaid a time or two . . . or ten. I was happy to help out.”

  “We were all singing your praises earlier,” Brenna said.

  “You were?”

  “Yes,” Erin said. “I believe Honor even referred to you as the Mary Poppins of bridal. How you just show up and save the day.”

  “Really?” Mae’s eyes widened. “The Mary Poppins of bridal. That is outstanding.”

  Honor was glad that Mae wasn’t offended. “Hey, you’re the bomb, Mae. The best kind. We wouldn’t have made it through today without you. We’re very glad you’re part of our family.”

  “Aww. Thanks.”

  Brenna lifted her glass. “A toast to Mae.”

  “Who saved the day,” Erin added.

  “And look at us, rhyming away,” Honor said.

  Mae tilted her glass. “Hey. I came to play.”

  They all dissolved into laughter. After everyone else finished their champagne, Erin and Mae left and Brenna walked across the property to Finn’s house, leaving Honor to put the glasses into the sink and head upstairs.

  The house was so quiet with Mom and Dad gone. It was unnerving. She was used to the noise of the TV and people walking up and down the stairs, and someone was always talking. Now? Silence.

  She undressed, washed her face and brushed her teeth, then climbed into bed and turned off the light, figuring she’d pass out pretty quickly after the stress of the day. But the stress hadn’t quite let go of her yet and she couldn’t wind down. She grabbed her phone to check the time.

  Eleven p.m. She blew out a breath of frustration.

  She was irritated that she was wide awake and thinking about . . . what was she thinking about?

  You know what. And whom.

  She’d put the brakes on with Owen. Told him platonic and friends only and all that. But maybe it was time to test the romantic waters and see where it went between them.

  Sure, because you want to confuse the hell out of him, Honor.

  No, she was just coming to grips with her own feelings, and said feelings had decided now would be a good time.

  Satisfied with that answer and before she second-guessed herself, she sent a text to Owen, knowing he was working at the brewery tonight.

  How’s it going? You busy?

  She figured he wouldn’t text back until after he got off work, so she was surprised when she got a reply almost right away.

  Not bad. How was the wedding?

  She typed a reply. It was dramatic.

  A few minutes later he replied with: That sounds like a story.

  She laughed and replied with: A long one. Wanna come over after you get off work? I’m here alone.

  This time it was ten long minutes until he responded.

  It’ll be after midnight. Will you still be up?

  Her lips curved as she responded with: I’ll be up.

  He replied right away: See you then.

  Her heart pounded.

  Okay, Honor. Now you’ve done the thing. You invited Owen over.

  She put the phone aside, turned on the light and got out of bed, pondering what she should wear. Right now, she had on a tank and her underwear. Some other clothes would be in order, probably. She went to her closet and nibbled on her bottom lip as she stared at her clothes rack, then realized she was being ridiculous.

  She grabbed her pajama bottoms and slid into them, then headed downstairs to make something to eat, figuring Owen would be hungry when he got there.

  After that she went back upstairs to brush her hair, staring into the mirror.

  No makeup. Whatever. She wasn’t putting any back on. Though she did add some lip gloss before she headed back downstairs and poured herself a glass of water, then decided what she really wanted was coffee, so she brewed herself a cup.

  She turned a few lights on and wandered the house. After several sips, she felt a lot perkier. And excited about seeing Owen. Not hormonally excited, of course. Just . . . happy that he was coming over.

  That was a start.

  CHAPTER

  nine

  AFTER CLEANING UP and closing the pub, what Owen really wanted to do was go by his place to shower and change clothes. But it was already well past midnight and he didn’t want to show up at Honor’s house any later. He had a toothbrush and deodorant in the back room at the brew pub, so he at least managed to freshen up a little before he headed in her direction.

  He had no idea what was going on with her or why she wanted him to stop by, but he was always happy to see her. Maybe she was lonely in that big house by herself since her parents were on vacation.

  He pulled up in front of the house and got out, looking up at the oversized two-story ranch house, his lips quirking as he saw all the lights on inside.

  Maybe she was afraid of the dark. Though as he walked up the steps, he remembered that time when they were all kids when he and Jason and Clay had camped out in the backyard with all three sisters, and Honor had been the one to insist they turn out the lantern in the tent so they could tell ghost stories in the pitch-black darkness.

  He rang the doorbell and Honor opened the door.

  “Hey, thanks for coming,” she said as he stepped in. “I made coffee. And sandwiches. I thought you might be hungry and it’s important that you eat. Are you hungry? You want some coffee? Maybe a beer or some iced tea?”

  He stepped beside her as they made their way down the hall into the kitchen. “Just how many cups of coffee have you had?”

  “A few. I wanted to make sure I stayed awake. Why?”

  “Because you’ve definitely hit a caffeine high.”

  “Have I? Am I talking a lot? Do you want a sandwich? I made club sandwiches with bacon.”

  He tried not to laugh. “I’d love a sandwich. With some water, thanks.”

  “Great. Go have a seat in the dining room. I’ll be right out.”