She thinks she’s found the one, but she doesn’t know his name. A stranger who rocked her world one night and showed her a connection she thought was impossible. A connection she’s desperate to feel again.

She’s settling for someone she does know, but he’s only perfect on paper. An attorney who matches her for education, career, and money, but doesn’t have a chance in hell of showing her the passion the other man showed her.

How do I know? Let’s just say there’s more to me than Hudson Kelley, the goofy neighbor across the hall. I have to tell her the truth soon. Right now, it’s better to keep her in the dark.

She looked at the burnt ones and back to me. “They were supposed to be a peace offering, but the more I thought about what I was going to say to you when I took them to you, the more hyped I got to say it.” She reached across the island and held my hand. “I really missed you.”

I took the hand she placed in mine and held it with both of my hands. I wanted to say so much. I wanted to show her how much I’d missed her even though I was angry with her. I wanted to show her how much I cared. I was afraid.

“I missed you, too.” I couldn’t look at her. I was afraid she’d see everything I was feeling with that one look.

She tugged on my hands and I opened mine, thinking she wanted to let go. She grabbed my hands again and pulled me around the island to hug me. “I’m so sorry I ever made you feel that way.”

I hugged her back and tried to not crush her. I didn’t want to let her go, but I knew I had to. It was too soon to make a move or to tell her how I felt, but having her in my arms made it impossible to stay quiet. “You’ve made me feel a lot more than that.”

She pulled back and looked at me. She didn’t let go, but she wanted to see into my eyes. It was as if she was searching to see what I was feeling, but I wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer. I didn’t say anything, but I returned her gaze. She looked down to my lips, and I pulled her hips closer. I wanted her to kiss me. I wanted her to make that first move.

The door opened, but we didn’t break our stance. I was sorry for the interruption, but I was glad it was Jamie and not Darrin. That would’ve been even more awkward.

“Wow.” Jamie walked in and turned the timer off on the oven. We hadn’t heard it. “Are you two deaf?”

Raelyn’s hands slid down my arms as she stepped away. It was as if she didn’t want to let go, either. I wondered what would’ve happened if Jamie hadn’t walked in. Whatever did happen was enough to give me hope that she would see me as more than the guy next door some day.

She cleared her throat and turned to Jamie. “We’re making ice cream cookies.”

“Looks like you’re burning the poor things to me.”

Raelyn glanced my way a couple of times. She looked confused, but that only gave me more hope. She was feeling something. I’d wait as long as it took for her figure it out.

B.L. lives in the Midwest, and her other talents include in-demand cookies, a very dry sense of humor, and stealth eavesdropping. Some mannerisms, attitudes, or twists come from random sentences picked up while passing by strangers. So speak up the next time you have something to gossip about. You never know, it may just end up on the pages of the next book you read.