Chapter 23

"Pizza's here!" Kristi sang out as she shouldered her front door closed and headed for the kitchen.

"Do I get to kiss the delivery person?" Patrick hollered back.

"No pizza unless you do," she teased.

By the time she reached the kitchen, Patrick had clumped in from the living room on his crutches. Since he lived in a duplex, with stairs, they'd decided the smartest thing was to move him into her house, which was all on one level. She'd gotten used to that very fast. And loved it.

She had barely put the pizza down before he leaned the crutches against the counter and pulled her into his arms. The kiss he gave her sizzled her down to his toes.

"Now, that's the kind of homecoming I like." She ran her tongue over her lower lip. Tasting him.

"We could do that long term," he told her in a cautious voice. He'd brought it up before, but she'd wanted to get the monkey off her back, first.

"Let's negotiate over pizza," she joked. She wanted to make the atmosphere as relaxed as possible.