about ten more minutes.” He’d timed that perfectly, too.
“Come on.” He stood up and held out a hand. On the way to the deck tucked against the side of the house, he grabbed a blanket. She hadn’t put on a jacket and he didn’t want to be in the house when anybody else was there. It would wreck things, he thought. And wasn’t that stupid?
Still, it wasn’t like he didn’t have plans.
Waiting just by the door was a covered silver tray and he tucked the blanket into Abby’s arms so he could grab it. Her brows arched as she studied the tray. “More surprises?”
“Yes.”
“And what’s in there?”
“Open the door for me and you’ll see,” he said.
A few minutes later, as they stretched out on one of the lounges, he put a glass of ice wine into her hand and handed her a plate. It held a variety of bits of fruit and a few cookies, all dipped in chocolate. Simple and basic, and if he knew Abby, that would suit her just fine.
Especially the wine. It was too sweet for him, but she loved ice wine with something bordering on obsession. He hadn’t let her see the label and now he got to watch her sip it, watched her eyes widen as she took the first taste. “Oh . . .” Her lashes fluttered closed and a slow smile curved her lips. “That’s yummy.”
He pressed his lips to her shoulder and hummed in appreciation. “I agree.”
She snorted and bumped her elbow against his belly. “I’m going to make a new rule to go along with this affair thing—no teasing. Until you’re ready to follow through, you can’t touch. You’re killing me.”
Zach chuckled. “That’s not a good rule. Teasing is half the fun. Did we ever make all the rules?”
“I never wanted rules,” she reminded him, pausing to take another sip. “You did. Which is crazy. I’m the rule girl. You’re not.”
“No, I’m definitely not a girl for rules,” he agreed. He stroked a hand down her belly, glancing at his watch. His phone buzzed. He eased away and pulled it out, read the message. Coming in for the cleanup—be there in a few.
He responded and put the phone down.
Abby eyed the phone. “Who is that?”
“The elves who took care of the meal.” He heard the motor a few seconds later and reached for one of the strawberries on the tray. “Here . . . try one. You love this stuff, right?”
She took a bite and he almost groaned as a bit of the juice clung to her lips. Leaning in, he licked it away.
She turned her head away. “You’re breaking the new rule.”
“I never agreed to the new rule.” Five minutes, damn it. It should take them five minutes to clean the fucking place up.
He fed her the rest of the strawberry and reached for another one, eating that one himself as he listened to the noise coming from inside the cabin, just a few feet away. Hurry the hell up.
“Were there other rules, Abs?” he asked hoarsely as he fed her a piece of pineapple. Anything he needed to know while he was still capable of thinking?
She looked down, focusing on her glass. “What happens when this ends? How do we decide that, anyway?”
“We’ll know.” If I have my way, it ends when my heart stops. That seemed a good time limit. He took one of the cookies and broke it in half, feeding one half to her and popping the other piece into his mouth. He wasn’t hungry, but if he didn’t distract himself . . .
He’d been working up to this point all week, although the decision to go out of town had been a spur-of-the-moment thing. But now that it was here . . .
Fuck.
He lay his hand on her belly. “When it ends, if that’s what happens, we’re just back to us. Nothing is going to change, Abby.”
“You seem so sure of that.”
“Because that’s how it will be.” No matter what, even if she walked away, he wasn’t going to lose his best friend. Even if she wouldn’t be his lover, his woman always, she was still the most important person for him and he wouldn’t give that up. “And that’s a question . . . not a rule. Was there anything else?”
She shrugged a little and took a drink. “Not that I can think of.”
His phone buzzed. Glancing down, he saw the message.