Gabriel sent an unhurried glance over his shoulder to her friends seated on the deck, then checked the timer on the oven and brought his gaze back to her. “They’re fine and there’s still one minute left on the oven. Plenty of time. So?” Serenity peeked around him. From where they stood in the kitchen, the partial wall blocked them from view.

“Yes,” she whispered.

She’d barely finished saying the word before he captured her mouth in his, needing to kiss her as much as he needed to breathe. He slowly, thoroughly explored every inch of her mouth, twining his tongue around hers and feeling the slight tremble in her body. Then it was his turn to shudder when she slid her hands up his chest, wound them around his neck, and arched her body against his. He groaned and pulled her closer. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he heard the oven timer going off. Reluctantly, he lifted his head. “Time’s up,” he whispered against her lips.

Serenity moaned. Her eyes fluttered open. “What?”

“The oven timer. I don’t think you want burned asparagus.”

“Oh, shoot.” She ducked under his arm and rushed over to turn off the timer and remove the tray. She let out a sigh of relief. “You’re way too much trouble in the kitchen.”

Gabriel placed a hand over his heart. “Who, me? I’m an angel.”

She rolled her eyes and snorted. “Whatever.” She placed the asparagus on a plate. “What are we doing here, Gabriel? I thought we agreed to be friends. But this…” She waved a hand as if it were an explanation itself.

He knew what she was asking, but he didn’t exactly have an answer, either. “We are. And this isn’t anything I’d planned. How about we talk later?”

Serenity nodded. “All right. Can you get the pitcher of iced tea out of the refrigerator?”

He did as she asked and followed her to the back deck. Throughout the meal, he contributed to the conversation but continued to mull over what Serenity had asked. He couldn’t deny how he liked being with her, but a relationship wasn’t on his radar. Or so he kept telling himself. Only there was something about this woman that made it hard to remember his vow.

Afterward, they all pitched in to clean up, which turned out to be a good thing because it took less than thirty minutes to get everything cleared up and put away.

As Terri and Jon were leaving, Jon shook Gabriel’s hand. “Man, let me know when you’re cooking something else. I’ll be happy to taste test.”

Laughing, Gabriel said, “Will do.” He shot Serenity a wink.

A few minutes later, Serenity and Gabriel were alone. He could only hope their conversation ended where he wanted, which was…well, he had no idea.

*  *  *