“Hurt?” She all but growled at him. “You don’t know the half of it. I had the aerobics instructor from hell. Her name was Penny, if that gives you a clue. And she was cute as a damn button. Then I got handed over to some Amazon queen named Madge who put me on weights and all these hideous shiny machines. I pumped and lifted and squatted and crunched.” Wincing, she pressed a hand to her stomach. “And all I’ve had to eat all day is a few stingy leaves.”

“Aw.” He kissed her brow. “Poor baby.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m in the mood to punch someone, Donovan. It could be you.”

“How about if I fix you a nice snack?”

Her lips moved into a pout. “Have we got any frozen pizza?”

“I sincerely doubt it. Come on.” He put a friendly arm around her shoulders as he led her into the kitchen. “You can tell me all about it while you eat.”

She dropped down agreeably at the smoked glass kitchen table. “It was quite a day. You know she— Linda—does this whole routine twice a week?” Inspired, Mel popped up again to root through the cupboards for a bag of chips. “I don’t know why anybody’d want to be that healthy,” she said with her mouth full. “She seems okay, really. I mean, when you talk to her, she comes across as a normal, bright lady.” Eyes grim, she sat again. “Then you keep talking, and you get to see that she’s plenty bright. She’s also cold as a fish.”

“I take it you talked quite a bit.” Sebastian glanced up from his construction of a king-size sandwich.

“Hell, yes. I spilled my guts to her. She knows how I lost my parents when I was twenty. How I met you a couple years later. The whole love-at-first-sight routine. And you were pretty romantic.” She crunched into a chip.

“Was I?” He set the sandwich and a glass of her favorite soft drink in front of her.

“You bet. Showered me with roses, took me dancing and for long moonlit walks. You were nuts about me.”

He smiled as she bit hungrily into the sandwich. “I’m sure I was.”

“You begged me to marry you. Lord, this is good.” She closed her eyes and swallowed. “Where was I?”

“I was begging you to marry me.”

“Right.” She gestured with her glass before drinking. “But I was cautious. I did move in with you eventually, and then I let you wear me down. You’ve done everything to make my life a fairy tale since.”

“I sound like a terrific guy.”