I miss your laugh, your smile, your lips, your scent… I miss you. I miss you from so deep in my bones, they ache. You’re my favorite season. I’m sorry.

And then I cried some more.

Closing my mailbox, I drop my mail and keys into my bag, then swing it over my shoulder. Sipping my coffee, I take a deep breath and climb the stairs to the first floor, wondering what treat awaits me this time. Maple sheet-cake from The Cake Goddess? I never told him that was my birthday cake every year growing up, but he has a way of finding things out. Where I live, for one.

Maple Leaf Cookies from Trader Joe’s? Just thinking about them makes my mouth water. Maybe maple-chocolate blondies from Krispies in Ventura? No, he wouldn’t dare travel to Ventura.

As I reach the top few steps, I stop, freezing in my spot. My limbs tingle with the need to turn and run, but all I can do is stare in disbelief.

Aleck.

Perfect posture, perfectly tousled hair, hands in his pockets, steely dark stare Aleck.

He was the treat Tess was referring to. He lifts his head and looks at me. Straightening his back, he pushes off my door and stands at his full height.

Tall, dark, formidable Aleck.

I lift my chin and climb the last two stairs, ambling toward my door without a care in the world. Which is an absolute lie because I’m dying inside. Every muscle, nerve, vein is screaming at the sudden sight of him.

Aleck is here. In front of me. At my home.

“Jesus.” I roll my eyes. “You disappeared for a month without even a whisper and now you keep resurfacing like a persistent case of the herp,” I scoff.

Aleck smiles softly, almost bashfully. A laugh puffs in his chest. “Baby Bulldog… It’s been a while. Good to see you again.”

I stop in front of him and reach into my bag to fish for my keys. “What are you doing here, Aleck?”

“I want to talk to you…” He steps forward to take my coffee when the journey to find my keys makes me grind my teeth. “I wanted to talk to you Saturday after the dinner party incident, but I had to go back to New York for business. So, I sent you those notes and sweets in the meantime. Did you like them?”

“You know I did. Though it doesn’t take a white knight to pay for someone else to deliver an apology.”

He nods slowly. “No, it doesn’t. I could come back every morning for the next week and say them to you in person…”

And that’s it, isn’t it? The temptation of Aleck Fox. The agony of once having him, knowing now I’ll never be able to trust him. His presence alone makes my pulse quicken. Simply standing next to him makes my skin tingle, my stomach flutter, and my head dizzy. To hear him say those things… To hear the resonance in his tone when he tells me he misses me so much it aches deep in his bones…