Read Online Within This Frame by Lindy Zart - Free Book Online

upright and mobile. Lance leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her advance, sipping from her favorite mug. It was pink with a heart on either side. She wanted to snatch it away from him. He should have been embarrassed to use such a cup, but as with all things concerning Lance, he looked good holding it, totally natural. Annoyingly so.
    “That’s my cup.”
    “Aren’t they all?”
    She gave him a slit-eyed look and took a different, boring, non-favorite mug from the cupboard overhead. Stepping into the colorful kitchen usually had the ability to make her happy, but Lance’s presence had sucked all the joy right out of her. “That one’s my favorite.”
    He offered it to her and Maggie almost hissed at him. With a shrug, he retracted his hand.
    “What are you doing?” he asked when she reached for the coffeepot.
    “Getting a cup of coffee.”
    “Yours is over there.”
    She followed his nod and laughed at the bottle of water standing on the counter. “No. I don’t think so.”
    “How many cups of coffee do you drink a day?”
    “I don’t know, one.”
    “You drink one cup of coffee a day?”
    “No, one pot of coffee.”
    Lance straightened. “You drink twelve cups of coffee a day?”
    “You don’t have to sound so stunned,” she muttered, pouring black, liquid stamina into her cup.
    It was immediately removed from her hand.
    “There’s no other way to sound, since I am thoroughly, one hundred percent, without a doubt, stunned. Drink this instead.” He set the bottle of water before her.
    “No.” She crossed her arms.
    Lance raised his eyebrows. “Yes.”
    “You are out of your mind if you think I’m giving up coffee,” Maggie ground out, glaring into his blue eyes.
    “I’m not saying you have to give it up, but limit it, yes, and drinking it first thing in the morning? No.”
    “You’re drinking it.” She realized she was being childish, but Maggie really didn’t care. She was tired, and crabby, and she wanted her coffee.
    “I’ve been up since four. I drank my water already, and I also already got my workout in for the day. You can join me then, if you like.”
    Maggie snatched the bottle of water from the counter.
    Amusement flickered in his eyes. “Those are yours as well.” He nodded to a square packet.
    Maggie stared at it. “Are you trying to kill me, or get me in shape?”
    “You need energy to work out. These will give you that, and also tide you over until you can have a proper meal.”
    Grumbling, she opened the package of unsalted almonds, chewing the bland nuts as her face twisted with displeasure.
    Lance smirked. “What was that?”
    “I said, what is a proper meal to you? A piece of lettuce slathered in nothing?”
    He laughed. “No. Not quite.”
    “You’re enjoying this,” she accused, swallowing the nut and slowly placing another in her mouth. They tasted like cardboard.
    He shrugged, not denying it. “I’ve always enjoyed your personality.”
    “Don’t . . . bring up the past,” she warned. If he did, she would remember the bad things, sure, but then she’d also be forced to remember the good, and she didn’t want that.
    It had taken years to get over him, and the thought of doing it all over again was reprehensible. Lance was the one guy she’d loved more than anyone else. She’d loved other men, of course, but none like him. Him, she’d loved without reservation, with her whole heart, with every bit of her.
    And he’d given her heart back—torn, bloody, wounded, aching. Scarred. Jaded.
    “It’s all we got, Maggie.” His tone was somber, but then he grinned and winked, and she was transported back into that life they’d temporarily shared. Everything was brighter then, better, new. They loved under a haze of youth and misplaced dreams, and it crashed all around them—or her, more specifically.
    “How was the couch?” she asked sweetly, needing to get control of the conversation.
    Maggie wouldn’t be surprised to find that he