Savor (45 page)

when you’re hungry.”

Chagrined at being called out for speaking my mind, I pushed away from my desk and

shuffled the couple of feet to the kitchen. “Aren’t you cold walking around without a robe

on?” I pulled out a chair before he could pull it out for me and flopped down. I had a strip of bacon in my mouth by the time Larry replied.

“I’m taking one for the team.” He treated me to a half-smile. “I know how much you like

staring at my ass…sets.”

I threw my bacon at him. It bounced off his chest to land on his lap. He picked it up and

popped it into his mouth, still grinning. I guzzled down half my second cup of coffee when

Larry’s next question caused me to swallow wrong.

“What?” I sputtered, swiping coffee off my chin.

He rolled his eyes at me. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t hear me.”

“I did hear you, hence the choking.” I pushed my half-eaten breakfast away. “You know

this thing between us isn’t anything.”

For a second I thought I noticed hurt in his eyes before he blinked it away. “What does

having dinner out once in a while have to do with what we have?”

“What you have in mind awfully sounds like a date to me.” I ignored my conscience

reprimanding me for being a cold bitch. Yes, I would be going to hell for what I was putting

Larry through. I should really just cut him loose, but my mental instability wouldn’t let me. I had to get through these two weeks in one piece if I wanted to graduate. I needed him to get

me through. “I’m not ready for that.”

“It’s just dinner, Dakota.” He played off his seriousness by shrugging nonchalantly.

“I know you.” I sighed. “I know that dinner isn’t just dinner for you. This,” I gestured at

him and me, “can’t go any further than what we have. After I graduate I’m off to travel the

world and you’ll be in law school.”

The relaxed air around him dissipated the second tension entered his shoulders. “Then

maybe we should break things off now. I mean, it’s headed that way from what you’re telling

me, right?”

I flinched then and reached for his hand across the table, but he moved it away. “Laurel.”

“Don’t Laurel me, Dakota.” He pushed away from the table and stood up. It was hard to

take him seriously in just his boxers, but I bit down on the joke begging to leave my lips. Not a time to be funny. “I get that you can’t talk about what happened to you last year, but it’s

clear you didn’t get out unscathed. I see the hurt on your face.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not like that.”

“You call out his name in your sleep.”

Kate Evangelista

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best

thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser,

M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back.

Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature

degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she

realized to be a writer, none of that had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and

simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she lives in the

Philippines and writes full-time.

Please visit her at
www.kateevangelista.com

• Title page
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-One
  
• Chapter Twenty-Two
  
• Chapter Twenty-Three
  
• Chapter Twenty-Four
  
• Chapter Twenty-Five
  
• Chapter Twenty-Six
  
• Chapter Twenty-Seven
  
• Chapter Twenty-Eight
  
• Chapter Twenty-Nine
  
• Chapter Thirty
  
• Chapter Thirty-One
  
• Chapter Thirty-Two
  
• Chapter Thirty-Three
  
• Chapter Thirty-Four
  
• Chapter Thirty-Five
  
• Chapter Thirty-Six
  
• Chapter Thirty-Seven
  
• Chapter Thirty-Eight
  
• Chapter Thirty-Nine
  
• Chapter Forty
  
• Chapter Forty-One
  
• Chapter Forty-Two
  
• Chapter Forty-Three
  
• Epilogue
  
• Relish Sneak Peek
  
• Kate Evangelista