“Me, too. She’ll be back in less than a week, so we won’t have to wait long.”

“In the meantime, I need you to be my test subject. I made two new desserts I want Aubrey to consider adding to the menu. I’d love your thoughts on them.”

“Ooh. New desserts?” Forgetting about her predicament with the men standing behind her, Tara rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “When can I taste them?”

“They just came out of the oven. Come on back,” Justine said, leading her by the arm. “Sorry, Seth. I’m going to borrow Tara for a bit.”

“No problem,” he replied, giving Roger a speculative glance.

Tara wasn’t at all sure if it would be a good idea to leave the two of them together, but she so badly wanted to escape that she let Justine lead her away. She hoped she didn’t regret this later.

“So … you’re from out of town?” Adonis also known as Roger asked, flicking back his golden bangs to better reveal the turquoise blue of his eyes. Is this guy for real?

“Yeah.” Seth narrowed his eyes. “How did you know?”

“I’m guessing you two are together?” The other man sized him up with a sideways glance.

“Yes, we are.” Even if it was meant to end next week, they sure as hell were together now.

“Well, as far as I know, Tara only dates out-of-towners.” Roger let that hang between them.

“Is that so?”

Seth felt a hot tingling at the base of his neck. So this guy was one of Tara’s former lovers? From the way he tried to greet her, maybe Roger wasn’t exactly her former lover. She might be planning to get back with him once Seth was out of the picture.

“And never for long.” Roger’s smirk made Seth’s hands curl into fists. “I tried to convince her to make what we have more permanent, but she balked at the idea and threatened to break things off completely.”

“Why exactly are you telling me this?”

“Because I saw the way you looked at her. You’ve got it bad for her.” He stopped to observe Seth’s reaction. When he got nothing, he shrugged. “But you won’t be able to hold on to her.”

“You know nothing about me and Tara,” Seth said through clenched teeth.

“No offense, man.” His expression told a different story. “Just offering you some free advice.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I don’t intend to lose her.” Blood pounded in Seth’s ears. He meant every word. He wasn’t going to lose her. He couldn’t.

“Well, good luck with that,” Roger said with a humorless laugh and walked out of Comfort Zone empty-handed.

Seth’s head was spinning. He wanted to keep her. Although he had shoved aside his bubbling questions this morning, his subconscious seemed to have already chosen what he wanted. He wanted Tara. He didn’t want their relationship to end when he left for Paris. The realization was too new, too bright to put under the microscope, but he was certain they had something that was worth keeping. His heart shook off its bindings and pumped with renewed life, and bliss spread through him as bright and warm as the first light of day.