“Really?” she asked. He could hear the hope in her voice. He thought about lying, but he’d told her he’d be honest with her.
“All it needs is a little more salt and a lot less shell.”
“I knew I missed some of those little, fragile suckers. How the hell do you do this on a regular basis without killing yourself and others?”
He couldn’t help but laugh and pull her into his arms.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“I’m laughing at how serious you get about breakfast,” he said. “You’d think you were prepping a deposition.”
“Trust me. Depositions are a piece of cake compared to this. I wanted it to be perfect.”
“It is because you made it.”
“You smooth-talking me isn’t going to make my cooking any better or turn me into Betty Crocker.”
“Then you’ll just have to come over here more often so we can get it right together.”
“Careful,” she said. “That sounds like you’re asking me to move in or something.”
He thought about it and did something he’d never done before. He grabbed the little container in one of his utility drawers and handed it to her.
“What is this?” she asked.
Andrei wrapped his arms back around her, right where they belonged. “Open it.”
She undid the small box and looked inside before staring up at him. “It’s a key.”
“That’s what it looks like,” he teased. “Yep. I’m absolutely certain that’s the shape of a key.”
“This isn’t a key to what I think it is, right?”
“If you’re thinking it’s a key to this place then you’d be correct in that assumption, prosecutor.”
“I can’t move in with you, Andrei.”
“Why not? It sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I don’t have to wait for you to come over, because you’ll already be here.”
“We barely know each other.”
“There are people who move in within a few days of meeting each other. I’m sure we’ve got them beat by seeing each other longer.”
“I can’t move in. Not right now when I don’t even know if I’m staying in New York.”
Andrei hated hearing her mentioning moving. He wanted her to stay right there with him so he could wake up to seeing her ruin breakfast more often.
“Then don’t think of it as moving in just yet,” he said. “Think of it as a key for you to keep for now. You know, in case you want to come over or spend the night. Now, you don’t have to wait for me to come home. Just come in. Besides, we know each other better than you want to believe. I have every inch of your mesmerizing body committed to memory.”
“You knowing how to do wickedly good things to me in bed doesn’t mean we understand everything about each other.”
“Really? I beg to differ.” He nuzzled her neck and planted a light kiss on her throat.
“This is insane.”
“I don’t think so. I already have your apartment key from when I stayed over. Let’s just call it a legitimate swap.”
“It’s just a lot, you know?”