Cale relaxed and nodded, his voice solemn when he said, "Oui. I'd like that."
Alex let out a relieved breath, but knew she wasn't out of the woods yet. Now that it had been unleashed, their passion for each other was volatile enough that they still might end up a soggy puddle in the bottom of the tub should they brush against each other even accidentally. She glanced down at herself and saw that the water had rinsed the soap away.
"Then I'll get out and get dressed. I was done in here anyway," she said, easing toward the sliding panel at her end of the tub.
"Are you sure? I can get out and wait if you-"
"No, no, I'm sure." She slid the door open and stepped out. "You go ahead."
Alex quickly eased the door closed, shutting him inside alone, and only then released a little sigh of relief. She'd grabbed one of the towels and begun to dry herself when Cale spoke from inside the tub.
"Maybe we should collect your car on the way so you aren't trapped at the house after I leave for work."
Alex paused and grabbed her wristwatch off the sink counter where she'd left it before her first shower that evening. She frowned when she saw the time. "It's almost two in the morning, Cale. Surely you don't plan to work today when you've had so little sleep?"
"Not right away, no. But I don't sleep as much as most people. I could come back later in the day while you're resting and get at least a couple hours' paperwork done. I wouldn't want to shirk my work and disappoint my boss," he added with a chuckle.
"Trust me, I don't think it's possible for you to disappoint your boss," Alex said dryly, and smiled when he laughed again. Shaking her head, she added, "And your boss thinks that having spent Saturday night and Sunday babysitting her after her head injury, you deserve a day off."
"Well, I might have to make a run to the hotel for fresh clothes at some point, and you'll need the car eventually. We might as well stop and collect it on the way."
The old La Bonne Vie restaurant wasn't exactly on the way. In fact, it was quite out of the way. However,at this hour the traffic would be light on the highway, which probably cut the time it would take to get there in half, she realized.
"Okay, we'll stop and pick up my car," Alex said finally, and then stiffened when the sound of rushing water suddenly died. When the sliding door then began to open, she dropped the towel she'd been using and rushed out of the bathroom to retrieve her clothes from where they still lay strewn on the office floor. Alex had her panties, jeans, and bra on and was just pulling her sweater over her head when Cale came out of the bathroom. She took one look at his proud na**d body as she tugged her sweater into place and immediately headed for the door, muttering, "I'll get your shirt."
Alex found his shirt in the dining room, lying forgotten on the floor between the two tables they'd used, only one to eat on. She then wrinkled her nose and collected their forgotten meals from Emile, stacking the containers one on top of the other to carry into the kitchen.
"Ah, you found it," Cale said, entering the kitchen as she crossed it. He moved toward her, his gaze sliding to the containers she held and a grimace claimed his features. "Emile's meals don't look nearly as tasty cold."
"No," she agreed, handing him his shirt, careful to be sure that her hand didn't touch his. Alex then continued on to the garbage and dumped the plastic containers of food while he finished dressing.
"I'll get our coats," Cale said, tucking in his shirt as he turned to head back to the office.
Alex started to follow, intending to get her purse, butthen recalled the food on the floor from their last session and instead walked around the counter. However, there was no food on the floor when she got there. Cale must have collected and discarded it all before following her into the shower, she realized with surprise, and thought the man was just too good to be true. There just had to be some horrible flaw she didn't yet know about. No one, man or woman, was this perfect.
"I brought your purse too," Cale announced, returning to the kitchen with his coat on but undone and his scarf around his neck. "Was there anything else I should have grabbed?"
"Thank you. No, that's all I had," she murmured, accepting her coat and purse, noticing as she did that he too was careful that their hands didn't touch.
"You said you wanted to try my car, do you want to drive it to La Bonne Vie One?" Cale asked as he did up his coat, and then retrieved his hat and gloves from his pocket to don them as well.
"Okay." Alex smiled at the offer, surprised he remembered. Her smile faded though as she led the way to the back door and the thought occurred to her that he really was too perfect.
"Here." Cale held out the keys to her as she turned from locking the back door of the restaurant moments later, and Alex held out her hand for him to drop them into. They then quickly walked to his car, both of them hurrying to get out of the cold. It was bad enough during the day, but at that hour it was absolutely frigid. At least there was no wind today to make it even worse, Alex thought as she scrambled into the driver's side.
She started the engine before doing anything else, and then adjusted the seat before glancing to Cale with surprise as he opened the back door rather than the front.
"Turn on the defroster," he said as he retrieved a scraper from the backseat, and then the door closed and he began to scrape the windows.
Alex did as he suggested, and then glanced around the backseat to see if there was another scraper. Not seeing one, she picked up her purse and quickly retrieved her air-miles card. After taking a moment to crank up the heat, she slid out and began to scrape the driver's side window.
"Where did you get a scraper?" Cale asked with surprise.
Alex held up her air-miles card and laughed at his surprised expression. "We hearty northerners learn to improvise while quite young."
"I guess so," he said with amusement.
"Credit cards work too," she informed him as she finished with the side window and moved to the back. "But it can be inconvenient if you damage them so I prefer to use my air-miles card."