Cole was nearly always gone before their day began, or else didn’t come home at all. Debbie tried not to think about the constant danger he was probably in and knew a moment’s regret for the fact that she’d fallen in love with a man who was in law enforcement. But her worry came and went as quickly as it had surfaced. Her problem wasn’t in Cole’s choice of lifestyle. Her problem was getting Cole to realize that she was necessary in his world.

“Did I hear someone mention dessert?” Buddy asked as Debbie walked into the kitchen.

“By all rights, you shouldn’t have a good tooth left in your head.” She headed toward her room. “I’ve never seen someone eat so many sweets in my life. I’d be crawling on the ceiling if I ate as much sugar as you do.”

“Cole has been here for an hour,” Buddy remarked, changing the subject as usual.

Debbie stopped in her tracks. It made her nervous that she was beginning to understand Buddy’s odd conversational habits. What he was telling her, in Buddy fashion, was that Cole had been watching them in the pool for some time before coming outside. That also told her that he was interested.

“You get an extra big serving tonight, my friend.” She patted him on the cheek. “You’re a man worth cultivating.”

Buddy smiled, momentarily connecting with her line of thought and then was off in his own never-never land as he closed the door and shut himself away from the world.

“I’ll call you when dinner is ready,” Debbie said as she walked out of the kitchen. “And tonight is going to be special in more ways than dessert. I can just feel it.”

Chapter 2

“Who wants more dessert?” Debbie asked, swirling her finger around in her mouth as she licked the last of the whipped cream off the tip. She amended with a grin, “I mean, who besides Buddy wants more shortcake?”

Cole’s bare feet tingled and his toes curled against the red-tiled kitchen floor as he watched her off-center smile and the bit of whipped cream still caught at the corner of her lips. She accidentally found the topping with her tongue. He shuddered as he watched it disappear.

“None for me, thanks,” Morgan groaned as he pushed himself away from the table. “Everything was delicious, honey.” He hobbled into the living room to catch the late-evening news.

Buddy took his second helping in hand and began a none-too-grateful exit. He stumbled over a chair just as he was taking a bite of shortcake. A strawberry plopped out of his bowl and onto the floor.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, picked up the berry, looked at it, shrugged and then licked it clean before stuffing it into his mouth.

Cole rolled his eyes and laughed as Debbie spluttered, “For pity’s sake, Buddy, you don’t have to eat off the floor!”