She glanced at him and even though he still wore that fierce look of disgust, she smiled. “I don’t wanna talk about Derek, anymore.” She stood and held her champagne glass up. “I need a refill.”

Like magic, his fierce expression morphed into an incredible smile and he stood up. “Yep, I’m ready for another one, too.”

He was so much taller than her and his masculinity was so potent that if she didn’t know what a sweetheart he could be she might be intimidated. “Besides,” she said as they walked through the front door. “With everything that’s happened in the last year and me trying to get back to a normal life, the last thing I need in my life right now is the distraction of a relationship. I need to work on me first, you know? Baby steps.”

She glanced at him and saw he studied her. “So what’s the next step?”

“Going back to work,” she said surprising herself at how definite her words came out. She’d put some thought into it and vamped up her resume but she really hadn’t been completely sure until now. “I’m hoping to go back, in the beginning of the new year.” She added with a smile.

“Well good for you,” he said his own smile as big as hers felt. They walked in the kitchen together. “Ooh!” Noah said as if he’d just remembered. “I could go for some pie, too.”

Veronica had to laugh. “Really? Beer and pie?”

“Yeah,” Noah smiled, pulling a beer out of the fridge, tucking the whip cream can under his arm and then grabbed the bottle of champagne out with his free hand. “It’s the best. Actually pumpkin pie is one of those universal deserts that go with almost anything. I’ve never tried it but it probably goes great with champagne too.”

He was right. Turns out the pie was great with champagne. They sat at the table eating their pie. Veronica watched, her eyes widening as he sprayed a very heavy dose of whip cream on his second slice of pie.

“That much, uh?”

“Oh yeah,” he said putting the can down and digging his fork into the pie. “Everything tastes better covered in whip cream.”

There was something so sinfully wicked about his smile, just before he stuck the forkful in his mouth. It made her squirm in her chair and she had to turn away. Then she heard him chuckle, adding annoyance to the list of emotions she gone through just today. He was enjoying this but if this is who he was then she’d have to get used to it so she decided two could play this game. Friends could be playful right?

She sipped her champagne, glancing up at him. He was still smirking even a he chewed. “Oh yeah,” she said lowering her voice a little. “I know everything tastes better with whip cream.”

His eyes widened and he stopped chewing but the smirk was still there. “Is that right?”

“Sure does?” What was she doing? This wasn’t playful this was flirting, something she’d always done so naturally. She needed to stop.

“Even the salty stuff?”

“Especially the salty stuff.” Too much! Too much!

That wiped the smirk right off his face and his dark eyes stared at her now. So she switched gears as fast as she could, standing up and heading toward the living room. “Aren’t there a lot of good movies on tonight? We should watch one.”

Oh, right. Snuggle up on the sofa together just after she mentioned liking her whip cream on the salty stuff. She set the champagne glass on the counter just before walking out of the kitchen. She’d had enough. It was bringing out the idiot in her.

Grabbing the remote from the coffee table, she clicked the television on and made sure to take a seat on the recliner that sat one. She didn’t want him thinking she was suggesting anything. She could kick herself now for flirting with him. Like Nellie had mentioned that first day at the gym, the old Veronica was a flirt. The champagne seemed to have allowed it to resurface. She made a mental note to keep the alcohol intake to a minimum while around Noah, especially alone. It was hard enough not to notice how incredibly sexy he could be even when she was completely sober. Adding alcohol into the mix was just stupid. She should’ve seen that coming.

Noah waltzed into the living room, looking a little too smug. Veronica gave him a quick glance then averted her eyes to the television. “Polar Express! My favorite. And it just started.” She jumped out of her recliner. “I’ll go make popcorn.”

Halfway into kitchen she heard Noah call out. “You gonna put whip cream on that?”

Then she heard the laugh. She bit her tongue holding back what she really wanted to say. That’s not the kind of salty stuff I was talking about. Instead she said, “Ha ha. No. That would be way too messy.”

“Isn’t the mess part of the fun?”

She spun around her face going hot not just from his words but at the sound of his voice so close behind her. He stood a couple of feet away from her now, a tinge of humor in his smoldering eyes. Clearing her throat, she turned back to the pantry and grabbed a bag of naturally flavored lightly salted popcorn. The best thing to do was ignore his question and change the subject. “Do you know that not only did I use to buy the buttered popcorn but for a while there I actually added more butter?”

As embarrassing as her fat ass confession was, it beat anymore talk of whip cream. Thankfully she turned away from his penetrating and playful eyes as she took the few steps to the microwave.

“Depression will do that to you. Food is comforting. Lots of people turn to over indulging on it just like others turn to alcohol or drugs to help them cope. You had every right to be down, Roni.”