incident at the hospital she’d asked Adam if he wanted to come for dinner. Now, she was mid-panic. A long time ago she’d owned a recipe book that was her mother’s. Where it was now was anyone’s guess. Her food repertoire wasn’t vast. Roast chicken, an almost passable lasagne, some penne pasta with the whole world thrown in and some kind of spicy sauce or lentil soup. That was basically the sum total of what she could cook. Hardly invite a guy round kind of thing. Maybe she could just bake? Baking was definitely her thing. Cheesecakes, carrot cake, apple pie, cookies, cream gateaux, red velvet cake or huckleberry dessert – any one of them she could whip up in a heartbeat. She looked around the kitchen and grabbed her apron, a smile dancing across her lips. Adam would probably expect a steak or some burgers or ribs. Let’s see what he would make of this. * He couldn’t believe how nervous he was as he reached out and rang the bell. This was ridiculous. But it felt as though there was a party going on in his stomach right now. He leaned forward a little. Was that laughter he could hear? He pressed the bell again. Music was floating through the air. Some kind of country and western style and there was definitely singing. The door was flung open. Lisa, with an apron on and flour on the tip of her nose and ends of her hair. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Come in,” she said a little merrier than expected. She gestured him in towards her open plan kitchen and living room. The apartment above the bridal salon was bigger than he expected with large windows looking out over the street. His eyes widened. The dining room table was groaning with the amount of cakes and pies on it. He couldn’t help but smile. “Is this some kind of party? I thought we were having dinner?” He handed over the bunch of flowers he was currently gripping too tightly. There were lucky to still be alive. Lisa looked touched as she took them. She buried her flour-covered nose amongst them and breathed deeply. “These are gorgeous, thank you,” she walked over to the sink and started filling a vase. “And look, red gerberas and purple larkspurs – my favorites.” She gave a little smile. “It’s almost as if you knew.” He sent a silent prayer upwards for his lucky break. Just as well Kaitlin in the florists had told him exactly what to get. As she stood at the sink he tried not to stare. It hadn’t been obvious at first because of the apron – but Lisa wasn’t exactly fully dressed. Her long legs and pert bum were exposed by a pair of skimpy denim shorts coupled with a white t-shirt. All his thoughts right now involved licking that flour off the tip of her nose. Once she’d put the flowers in the vase and set it on the middle of the table she opened the fridge and lifted out an open bottle of sparkling wine. She held it up towards Adam. “Want some? Or I got you some beer, what would you prefer?” It was a loaded question. Now he knew the reason for the merriment. What he really wanted to say was You, out of those shorts but he didn’t think he could go there yet. He pointed to the bottle. “I’ll have what you’re having,” seemed the obvious response. Her own glass mysteriously appeared from the kitchen counter top and she reached up for another. Her loose shirt shucking up to reveal her bare-skinned waist. This time he just couldn’t help but stare. It was almost as if she knew. She filled the two glasses and then untied the apron, dumping it on the counter top. She looked down at her shorts and her white button-down t-shirt. Most of the buttons weren’t fastened. He was getting the tiniest hint of cleavage. He was hoping it stayed that way. “Oops,” she said. “I meant to get changed before you arrived.” Her hand swept over the array of cakes. “But I guess I got carried away.” He turned to face her. The atmosphere between them was charged. “Why did you do that?” He walked slowly