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gonna do.”
    “I don’t want char—”
    “It’s not charity from me, either. It’s me being good to an old friend. Please? Tell me about your first day at work.”
    Another sigh.   “You’re good at getting what you want, too, aren’t you?”
    “Don’t be sore that I’m right.”
    He chuckled, and it sounded tired.   Then dropped on the sofa.   “She exhausts me.”
    “Do you like chocolate cake?”
    “Huh?”
    I retrieved the small box and two forks.   “Trust me.”   I cut a bite with one fork and offered it to him.   He opened his mouth.   “See? Already improving your day.”
    His eyes closed for a second as he savored the taste.   “Night. The day was fine.”   He took the fork.
    I sat close enough for him to reach the box.   Mmm, Matt knew food.   “You like the new job?”
    A shrug.   “It was the first day. I didn’t blow anything up or make them mad, so it was a success. This is good.”   He took another bite.
    “Then cheers to your success.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Of course.”
    “No, thank you . You’ve been beyond kind, and really, we hardly know each other.”
    “I have to know you to be kind?”
    “Obviously not. That’s my point. You didn’t have to do any of this.”
    “Well, I’m happy I did.”   More than he’d ever know.
    “You have a little…”   He wiped a smudge of frosting from the corner of my mouth then sucked the tip of his thumb clean.
    And now I was staring at his mouth.
    Patrick cleared his throat and dropped his eyes to the cake, sinking his fork into that side of the piece again.
    Way to make the poor man uncomfortable, Jess!   Every time I thought I’d put him in the Friend Zone, he did something sexy and made me want to kiss him all over again.   I had to get better at this willpower thing if he was going to stay.
    I turned on the news, we finished the cake, and it was my bedtime.
    Alone.
    Again.
    Maybe Lydia was right about seeking a little relief…

 

Chapter Five

 
    Same routine in the morning, only Patrick let me blow dry my hair before he took his shower.   We ate cereal together at the counter, sitting on my bar stools.   Turned out, his commute from my building was only fifteen minutes including the walk to the bus.
    “I still say you should leave some cushion for the bus to run late. They usually do in L.A.”
    “You’re difficult to argue with when you’re so sensible, Jess.”
    Tapping his bowl with my spoon, I asked, “When do you eat the Cap’n Crunch?”
    “I don’t. I made an educated guess.”
    “For me?”
    He nodded.   “With all the times you slept over at our house, it’d be impossible to miss what you ate at the breakfast table.”
    “Didn’t know you were paying attention. Your nose was always in a book.”
    “I multitasked.”
    A light slap on his arm.   “You’re playing with me.”
    “You were the only person at the table to not use butter and syrup when Mom made pancakes.”
    My jaw dropped.   “I can’t believe you remember that.”   My phone beeped.   “Shit, I gotta go. Sorry to run out on you.”
    He shooed me toward the door.   “I’ll clean up. Go.”
    “Thanks.”   I had to say it or I’d have kissed him—at least on the cheek.   He was too sweet.   When I did meet a guy to start a relationship with, I was going to be spoiled.   I turned back and opened the door.   “It occurred to me I don’t have your number.”
    “Jess, you’re going to be late.”   He wrote ten digits on the back of a receipt from his pocket.   “There. Go!”
    “I’ll text you mine.”   And out the door again, running this time.
    I’d have to speed on the freeway, but I still had enough time to clock in when I was supposed to.   Dropped my crap on my chair right on the minute.
    “Still hosting your distraction?” Lydia said.   God, I swear she could pop up out of thin air.
    “Thought we left our personal lives at the door, Boss.”
    “Cheeky. Did you take my