Silently they continued to eat. He finished his coffee and poured another cup. “Would you like some dessert?”

“Dessert after breakfast?” She’d never heard of such a thing. Who ate dessert after breakfast?

He opened the refrigerator and removed a glass bowl covered with Saran Wrap. The bowl contained…well, it looked like perfectly round balls of milk chocolate. He tore the Saran Wrap off the bowl and the amazing lemony chocolate smell practically shouted from the bowl. “These are chocolate lemon buttercreams. I got up extra early and made a batch this morning. I make them quite often.” His deep voice filled with pride as he stared at the bowl of candy.

“You can eat this whole bowl of candy yourself?”

He shrugged. “It stays fresh in the fridge. Sometimes, I take a batch to church to share at meetings. Like yesterday, I made a batch and shared it at a youth group meeting.” Well, that explained why he’d smelled of lemons and chocolate the previous day. She glanced at his shirt and noticed that it was stained with chocolate and yellow. She figured he was messy and spilled chocolate and lemon filling on his shirt when he made the candy. That’s why he smelled so amazing. He pushed the bowl closer to her. “Have some.”

He didn’t have to ask her twice. Curiosity and…something else seemed to erupt within her as she selected one of the balls of candy. She’d never met a man who cooked like Keith Baxter and made his own candy. She bit into the chocolate.

Oh. My. Goodness.

The fresh lemon cream center coated with milky chocolate exploded in her mouth like a cloud of perfect sweetness. She moaned and finished the piece of candy in two bites. Chocolate had melted on her fingers, and heaven help her, she just couldn’t resist.

She licked her fingers.

Keith’s laughter filled the kitchen. His eyes twinkled and his dimples winked as he looked directly at her. She eyed the bowl. In spite of her full stomach, she wanted to select another piece of candy. But, she couldn’t sample another piece. It just wouldn’t be right, especially since she’d been so enamored with the candy that she’d lost her mind and had licked her fingers.

Still chuckling, Keith removed a box of aluminum foil from the cupboard. He tore off a piece of foil and, as if he were reading her mind, he placed half a dozen pieces of candy into the foil and wrapped it up. He then presented it to her. Their fingers touched when she accepted his offering. Warm sparks of delight shot up her palm. Her hand felt so warm that she hoped the candy wouldn’t melt before she got home. Finally, she remembered her manners. “Thank you.”

His eyes twinkled as he quickly winked at her. “You’re welcome.”

Bittersweet Dreams