Tidewater Lover by Janet Dailey

thrown aside again. It was absolutely pointless to try to go back to sleep now. She stalked angrily into the kitchen, opening and slamming the refrigerator door to get some orange juice and repeating the procedure when she put it back.
    While she sipped at her juice, she readied the percolator to make coffee, perversely hoping that when she filled the pot with cold water, Cole would get scalded with hot water in the shower. After plugging the pot in, she hopped onto the tall stool at the kitchen's counter bar.
    A quarter of an hour later, the coffee pot was emitting its last sighing pop when Cole walked in from the living room. A cigarette was dangling from his mouth while his hands were completing the knot of his tie. He saw Lacey sitting at the counter and frowned.
    "I thought you were going to sleep late this morning," he said. "What are you doing up?"
    "It takes gall to ask that question," Lacey declared with an exasperated look.
    Cole grimaced with mocking ruefulness. "My alarm clock woke you up, did it?"
    "Your alarm clock, followed by the shower and your stunning serenade," she answered caustically, enumerating the causes.
    He paused beside the counter to rest his cigarette in the ashtray. There was a roguish glint in his blue eyes. "The strawberry is green and tart this morning, isn't it?"
    "You would be, too, if it were the other way around." But her tone was less sharp.
    "Is there any juice?"
    "In the refrigerator. And there's coffee made, too," Lacey added.
    He glanced at her empty juice glass. "Shall I pour you a cup of coffee?" he asked as he walked around the counter.
    "Might as well," she sighed. After all, she was already awake and the freshly perked coffee had a decidedly pleasing aroma.
    First Cole poured himself a small glass of orange juice from the refrigerator and downed it before taking two cups from the cupboard. He filled them and set them side by side on the counter, then walked around it to join Lacey.
    He fingered the knot of his tie and muttered, "It isn't straight, is it?"
    "No," Lacey admitted. When he started to try to redo it by touch alone, she said, "Here, let me." Cole didn't argue.
    When she was finished, he inspected it with his hand, his eyebrow twisting in surprised approval. "That's very good. Where did you learn that?"
    "I have a father and two brothers," she answered. "And they're all thumbs when it comes to tying ties."
    "No sisters?" Cole sipped at his coffee, seemingly impervious to its burning temperature.
    "None. Your cigarette is in the ashtray," she reminded him as the smoke wafted into her eyes.
    He reached over and snubbed it out. "I have two sisters, both married and each with her own brood of little ones." He took another drink of his coffee.
    "Neither of my brothers is married yet." Lacey tried her coffee and decided to wait until it had cooled more.
    "Your parents must be getting anxious for grandchildren."
    "I don't know…" She smiled faintly. "My mother claims she's too young to be a grandmother. She certainly looks too young."
    Cole glanced at the gold watch on his wrist and gulped down the rest of his coffee. "I'm late," he declared grimly.
    Hesitating beside her stool, he crooked a finger under her chin. "I'm sorry for waking you up this morning."
    The devastating smile he gave her was Lacey's undoing. She found she could not summon any anger at the way he had deprived her of a few extra hours' sleep. But she wouldn't go so far as to admit that.
    "I suppose I shouldn't get into the habit of sleeping late anyway," she said instead.
    Before she could guess his intention, he bent down and kissed her firmly. "You know this could become a habit?" A dancing light twinkled in his eyes.
    Lacey wished her heart would stop beating so erratically. "You're forgetting the ground rules," she pointed out tersely.
    "Oh?" Cole said it as if he'd forgotten about them, but the gleam in his eyes said differently. "That's right, I had."
    The house seemed empty when he left.
     
    It was