This is just pure fluff inspired by Christian Kane's idea behind his cooking show (preparing food for the people you love), the video on the Kane's Kitchen website where he mentions he needed stitches because he cut himself making bagels and lox, and a story I was telling Struckk about how I tried to talk my husband into eating lox by calling it "fish bacon".

Stone woke up to sunlight in his face. He glanced over at the clock and then back over to the woman sleeping beside him. She hadn't stirred when he woke, so if all went well, he'd have plenty of time to pull off his surprise. He stretched trying to be as quiet as possible. This was not the first time he and Cassandra had slept together, but it was the first time that they'd planned the sleep over. So far, they'd had the whole weekend together, the clippings book having been quiet.

It was now Sunday morning and Stone had high hopes about making Cassandra breakfast, knowing how much she adored everything related to the morning meal. He stole another glance over at her, moving the blanket out of the way so he could get up. The light was hitting her hair just right and he was well aware that she was naked under the blankets.

Nope. You're not waking her up for that.

Forcing himself out of bed, he grabbed his bag and slipped into her bathroom. Quick shower and change later, he crept across the room to close the curtains all the way. That might buy him a little while longer. Cassandra tended to be a sound sleeper and he was usually awake before her. But then again, the sleeping together thing was still relatively new and he couldn't be sure this would work.

In the kitchen, he checked out the supply situation. He was going to have to run to the store and that was the part that he worried about. He just was going to have to hope that Cassandra didn't wake up while he was gone. Grabbing his keys and his wallet, he headed out.

A couple of hours later, Cassandra woke to the smell of coffee and bacon floating into her bedroom. She grinned, delighted and stretched. She grabbed her robe off the back of the door and padded barefoot down to the kitchen.

Jacob was taking bagels out of her toaster oven and keeping an eye on the bacon that he was frying on the stove. He grinned at her when he caught sight of her.

"Morning, gorgeous."

When he was clear of the toaster oven, she kissed him on the cheek. "Good morning, wow, it smells good in here."

"There's a mushroom and spinach frittata finishing up in the oven and I've got bacon, obviously. Don't bake, so I bought some pastries from that bakery you like. Bagels too, I know they're probably not New York, but they looked good."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"It's actually almost done, but you can get the orange juice and the cream cheese out of the fridge if you want."

"Oooh, I have lox!" Cassandra exclaimed, running over to the refrigerator.

"Lox?"

"You know, brined, smoked salmon? I suppose my New Yorker is showing."

"I kinda, I've heard of it . . .but fish for breakfast?"

"It's really good."

"Yeah, uh, I'll take your word for it."

The bacon was finished and Stone took the frittata out of the oven. Cassandra set the table and put out the toppings for the bagels.

"The frittata needs to stand a little bit . . . ." Stone watched Cassandra put a layer of cream cheese on a bagel and then a slice of the salmon on top of it.

"That just don't seem right."

"Don't knock it until you tried it."

"I just, I ain't eatin' fish for breakfast unless I spent the morning fishin', that's all."

Cassandra giggled. "Oh come on, Stone, you eat bacon for breakfast, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't see what that has to do with anythin'."

"Lox is just fish bacon!"

Stone just stared at her and started laughing. "Fish bacon?"

"Sure, well . . . it sounded better in my head?"

"You are too adorable, Cassie." He kissed the side of her head. "Alright, I'll try a tiny bite."

She held up one half of her prepared bagel for him to try. He rolled his eyes, made a face but humored her. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. Probably not his first choice for breakfast fare, but it was actually tasty.

"That's not bad," he said, smiling at her. "I probably wouldn't eat a whole bagel like that in the morning, but maybe for lunch."

"It's a start."

"C'mon, let's eat, I've been working on this for hours and I'm starving."

"Did you go shopping this morning too?"

"Yep."

Cassandra looked a little teary.

"Hey, what's wrong, sweetheart?"

"This is . . .no one has ever gone through all this trouble for me. I mean . . .running out and buying my favorite latte or a breakfast sandwich or a bagel, yes, of course. But, actually getting up early and making me breakfast? It's so sweet, so special."

"You're special. I like to cook and I like it best when it's for someone special. I haven't had anyone special in a while. So for me this is no trouble at all. It's how I express . . . ."

Cassandra looked over at him, his eyes widening. "How you express what Jacob?"

"Love, Cassandra. I love you. This is how I show it."

She beamed at him and jumped into his arms. She tasted like cream cheese and lox but he didn't really care. Not until the kisses got a bit heated.

"Mmm, not that I'd normally mind, but I worked hard for this breakfast . . . ."

"You did," Cassandra said kissing his nose. "Let's eat before it gets cold."

And as they sat down at the table with their loaded plates, Cassandra looked over at him and said, "I love you too."