Page 29
“Be nice,” I warn as Dane balances the boxes while opening the door.
“Good morning,” Dane says with a big smile as he walks in.
“We’re not open yet,” Julian says, staring him down.
“Oh,” he says, stopping short. “I’m here to see Ivy.”
Julian continues to stare him down like a cranky pit bull guarding his owner.
“I brought breakfast,” he says. “I remember you mentioned you like the breakfast burrito at McArthur’s, so I got you one.”
“Thank you,” I say, feeling my whole insides light up as he hands me the box with a sexy smile.
“And I didn’t know what you’d like, Julian,” he says, trying to hand Julian the other box. Julian keeps his hands on his hips, glaring at him. “So, I got you the Hungry Man’s Breakfast.”
Julian’s angry demeanour cracks a little as he looks at the box. His stomach growls and I can tell he wants it badly.
“Wasn’t that sweet of him, Julian?” I ask, rubbing it in a little.
“Thanks,” Julian grumbles, reluctantly taking it.
He sits down at the counter as we dive in.
“You didn’t get anything?” I ask as I unwrap my burrito.
“I got a burrito too,” he says, looking guilty. “But it smelled so good and I was so hungry after last night that I ate it on the way.”
I feel my cheeks blushing as I grin at him, loving that I took all this man’s energy and made him ravenously hungry.
The comment goes right over Julian’s head. He’s too busy devouring his bacon to notice.
“So, why are you in town?” Julian asks him, that overprotective brother persona returning as he chews.
Dane couldn’t look more confident and relaxed as he sits on a stool. “It’s the perfect town to raise a family in. And that’s what I want.”
He steals a glance at me and I can’t help but grin, knowing he’s talking about me. I’ve never had such a meaningful connection with a man before. It feels so perfect. Like we truly belong together.
I’ve never felt so happy and optimistic for the future in my whole life.
Julian narrows his eyes. “You want kids?”
“Oh yeah,” Dane says. “As many as my wife will give me.”
The burrito freezes halfway to my mouth.
We’ll have to discuss that at a later date.
Julian takes a bite of sausage, chewing slowly while he studies Dane.
“What do you do?”
“I invest in local businesses.”
Julian raises his eyebrow. “To squeeze every drop of profit out of them while they get worse and worse and you make more and more?”
“Not exactly,” Dane says. “I’m a preserver and a builder. I spent twelve years in construction.”
Julian pauses.
