something in him, too. “Here,” she said, passing him a business card.
“Really? A business card? How…professional.” He looked a little hurt.
“I’m just being practical. Now you have my cell number. See?” She smiled warmly.
He hauled her closer to him. She basked in the new warmth between them. Then he pulled away.
“Well, I have something for you, too. It’s a little more personal than a business card.” He reached into his pocket.
“What could be more personal than a business card?” She joked.
His hand was closed in a tight fist when he drew it out of his pocket. “Oh, just this.” He flipped his fist over and opened it to expose a key.
“Oh, is this to your heart?” She chuckled.
Shaking his head, he smirked. “Nope. This is the key to something far more valuable.” She quirked an eyebrow as she tried to imagine what that might be. “It’s a key to the loft. You can come here whenever you need to, even if I’m not home. That way you can grow your business just like you want and not be tied to anyone else’s schedule, reliant on anyone else.”
She could tell he was watching her to make sure she knew that he had listened. What was wrong with her tonight? She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She sniffled loudly and cleared her throat before speaking. “What if I get here and you need your kitchen? I’ll be sure to call first.” She smiled.
“Doll, does it look like I ever use this kitchen? You now officially know better than I do where everything goes. Hell, you change where it goes and I still wouldn’t notice. The movers unpacked me. The buyer at Macy’s picked out what she considered to be the necessities. I make coffee, the occasional bowl of cereal, and toast. I also am on a first name basis with every delivery guy in a four block radius. What does that tell you?” He looked at her while he waited for her response.
“Sounds like the kitchen is mine.” She smiled. “I’ll make it worth your while. No more delivery when I’m around.”
He looked mildly disappointed. Though he had tried to hide it, she noticed.
“Oh, were you hoping for some other…demonstration of my appreciation?” She swore the tips of his ears turned slightly pink. It made her smile.
“Well, you are all loaded,” he announced as they stood beside her car. “Be safe. Take care of you. Call me when you’re through.”
“I will Kit,” she joked. “And just so you know…” She looked at him with a smirk, “You really made me feel like a prostitute just now.” With that, she gave him a peck on the cheek, climbed into her car, and headed on her way.
From the moment she left, he suddenly found himself contemplating all these horrific possibilities. It was all too much for him. He fell asleep sitting up at midnight on the couch. The phone was in his hand. His neck had dropped onto the back of the sofa. Even though he hated it, he turned the volume up as high as it could go, and saved the most obnoxious ringtone, the one that sounded like the warning alarm before a building was being blown up.
She never called. In the morning, he discovered why. He found her asleep in his lap.
It startled him. Though he had longed to wake up with her, he doubt this really counted. It wasn’t simply that it was unplanned; it was that he was completely unaware and they hadn’t even made it into the bedroom, let alone managed to get undressed and get under the covers.
The time on the phone was 8am. His neck was absolutely killing him. As much as he wanted to shift, to find a more comfortable position, to stretch and take a steaming hot shower to work out the kink in his neck, he would never move as long as Cammie slept. He looked down at her lying there. Her hair was draped over his leg. He remembered so vividly the last time his hand was knotted in it. Softy, ever so carefully, he moved his hand so that he could pet her hair. Her eyes were shut and the occasional ripple under her eyelid suggested that she might be dreaming. The way her mouth turned up at the corners convinced him it was a happy dream. Because he was so lost in thought, lost in enjoying the moment, he didn’t even register that her eyes had opened.