“Oh. Yeah.” He handed her the Diet Sprite and passed the tea to Grace. “They didn’t have your brand. Sorry.”

“I’ll suffer. Thank you.” She lifted it toward him in a toast.

“A man who fetches drinks for the sisters.” Cate grinned at him, then gave Eve a thumbs-up. “Grace—I think this is our cue to leave. We can rustle up dinner and come back later.”

“Works for me.” Grace bent and kissed Eve’s forehead. “Take care of yourself while we’re gone—although I think we’re leaving you in good hands.”

Cate squeezed Eve’s fingers. “Call if you need anything your friend here can’t supply. As if.” She snickered.

The two sisters made a quick exit.

As the door shut behind them, Brent walked toward the bed.

“Hi.” A slight flush bloomed on Eve’s cheeks as he approached her. “I’ve been waiting for you to—”

He leaned down, covered her lips with his—and discovered that the trite cliché was true.

Time stopped.

A minute later . . . an hour . . . who knew? . . . he backed off a few inches.

Eve stared up at him. “Wow.”

That didn’t come close to describing his reaction.

“Yeah.” The hoarse response was all he could manage while trying to convince his lungs to kick back in.

Her hand found his, and she gripped it. Tight. “Does that mean what I think it does?”

“Uh-huh.”

Joy chased away any lingering shadows on her face. “Epic, as the younger crowd would say. But I could use a little more convincing.” She tugged him closer.

He resisted. Despite the temptation to dive back in, he had a speech to give. “Hold on a sec. I want to clarify a few things.”

After studying him for a moment, she folded her hands on the white sheet that outlined her slim form. “Fine. As long as you’re not about to give me the I-like-you-a-lot-but-this-will-never-work-and-that-was-a-goodbye-kiss speech.”

He hitched up one side of his mouth at her blunt, to-the-point comment. No pussyfooting around with this woman. “A couple of weeks ago, that’s where I was.” He sat on the bed beside her, careful not to jostle the mattress. She seemed alert and in high spirits, but she had to be hurting. “However, I’ve had a change of heart. Emphasis on heart.”

She tipped her head. “What does that mean?”

“It means your assessment was on the mark. My heart wasn’t atrophied. It was sleeping. Waiting for the right woman to come along and nudge it awake. Kind of like in Cinderella.”

She grinned. “Wrong fairy tale. The prince awakens Sleeping Beauty with a kiss. Cinderella was more proactive.”

“Then I think our story is the best of two fairy tales.”

“Nice take.” She touched his hand. “Does that mean you’ve made peace with your worry about the risks of your profession, and the effect they could have on a significant other?”