“I know that you don’t like living things, but …” I tell her. Walking to her, I bend my head to kiss her. “Hi,” I whisper to her.

“Hi,” she whispers back and puts her hand on my cheek. The smell of the food hits me right away.

“It smells amazing,” I tell her, and she takes a vase from me, bringing it to her nose.

“Welcome,” she says. Moving aside, she turns to walk down her long hallway lined with art. Totally Vivienne. I see the kitchen as we walk down to the huge room at the end of the hall. Two windows provide a view of Central Park at the end of the room with a long couch facing the room. With the same couch on the right and two double couches facing it. She walks toward the glass table in the middle of the couches and places the red peonies down. “Let’s put the purple ones on the dining table.” She motions to the table to my left, which is a marble table with six white chairs—clean, sleek, elegant, and totally her. She grabs the vase from me and places it in the middle of the table. “These are beautiful,” she says, leaning in and smelling them. As I watch her dress riding higher, I’ve had enough of not touching her. I walk to her, my hands going to her hips, and she looks over her shoulder at me, then turns and faces me.

My hand comes up, and my thumb brushes her cheek. “Your eyes get crystal blue when you smile,” I say softly, and she looks down and then back up, licking her lips “They turn just a touch darker when you are unsure, like right now.”

She laughs. “Let me show you around,” she says, and her fingers link with mine. “That is the kitchen.” She points at the doorway off the side. She takes me back down the hallway and turns down another hallway, pointing at the closed door. “That’s my office,” she says and then we pass another bedroom door that is open. “That is the guest room,” she says, and I spot the stuffed animals on the bed. “The girls are going to love those stuffed animals.” She walks me to the door at the end of the hallway. “This is my bedroom,” she says, winking at me. We pass her walk-in closet and the bathroom and then it opens to her bedroom, and I have to smile.