Saturday morning, Gabriel sat on the terrace attached to his bedroom, still thinking about his dinner with Serenity. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d enjoyed a woman’s company so much, and it hadn’t even been a real date. Although, sitting across from her with lit candles and the moonlight as a backdrop had provided an intimacy he hadn’t realized he was missing. The last three women he had gone out with had had him itching to leave within the first half hour. But last night he’d talked and laughed with Serenity for a good four hours, and not once did he sense the restlessness that usually crept up. Just the opposite. He’d wanted to stay all night listening to her sultry voice and had to force himself to leave.

Holding her soft hand, though initially not intentional, had him fantasizing about touching her, caressing her, kissing her. That gave him pause. They’d agreed on friendship, but what he was beginning to feel went beyond that limit, and he didn’t quite know what he should do about it. The one thing he did know was that he wanted a repeat of last night. He didn’t think she was seeing anyone. Surely he would have noticed a man hanging around. And if she were his lady, she certainly wouldn’t be entertaining another man, new neighbor or not.

A thought occurred to him. He didn’t even have her phone number. With her being next door and them always running into each other, it had never crossed his mind. Gabriel would be correcting that oversight the next time he saw her. Okay, so that made two things on his to-do list. He wanted to take her out, but someplace other than Ms. Ida’s. He planned to go running at the park Natasha suggested, and afterward, he would see what else the quaint town had to offer.

Gabriel heard his phone ringing and went back inside to answer it.

“Brent, it’s nine thirty on a Saturday morning,” he said when he connected.

Brent laughed. “We figured we’d catch you before you got started for the day.”

He lifted a brow. “We?”

“Yep,” Darius and Glenn said.

“Uh-oh. Did something happen?” It wasn’t unusual for Brent and Darius to conference call him, but rarely did all three of his friends hop on a call.

“That’s what we’re calling to find out. I told them about the run-in you had with your neighbor, and we wanted to get the scoop on round two.”

“It wasn’t that serious that you had to be the town crier, Darius.” He should have known.

“No, but it was funny as hell. You guys should’ve heard her. Man, I would’ve given anything to see that. What was in the container anyway?”

“Brownies.” And he had four more in the kitchen waiting for him. That brought a smile to his face.