Rosie, I knew after last night, was likely never coming back.
I just hoped whatever he did in not coming back, he did it breathing.
This made me sad, but I pushed that thought aside too.
I got up, staggered to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I was running on empty, not just my morning caffeine jolt but also the fact that I’d had a lot less sleep than I usually required. I stared in the mirror noting the bruising on my face was subsiding but not by much, or perhaps the scary dark circles under my eyes were running interference for the bruising.
I walked out of the bedroom to make coffee and stopped dead, staring at the Command Center door, which was open.
I expected that Lee was gone, off for a run, off to command mercenary troops in a drug war in Peru, off to put tracking devices on my car.
Instead I heard him talking on the phone like it was an everyday room and not the nerve center for an international commando cartel.
Normally, curiosity would have forced me to walk right in or at least eavesdrop on his conversation.
Instead, I went straight to the coffeepot.
Priorities.
The pot was almost full.
I emitted a sigh of delight.
I filled a cup, splashed in the milk and walked it to the balcony off the living room, sipping my coffee and staring at the beauty of the Front Range.
Lee had a killer view.
As the caffeine permeated, I allowed my foggy brain to plan my day.
I was going to call Jane and Ally and go put a note up at Fortnum’s. I was going to go get Tod and Stevie’s car, go home and make macaroni salad so it had time to ferment before the barbeque. Then I was going to go to bed until I had to wake up to make the brownies and get ready for the barbeque.
If I felt like it, I might lay out in the sun rather than sleeping in my bed.
That was going to be my day.
It sounded like a good day.
Two hands, undoubtedly connected to arms which connected to Lee’s body, settled on the balcony railing on either side of me. I felt his warmth at my back.
I had a moment where I felt I should turn around, screaming like a banshee and scratching his eyes out for having the audacity to handcuff me to his bed.
Then I thought about how he held me while I trembled and played with my hair until I fell asleep and decided against it.
“Hey,” I said as he moved my hair with his chin and kissed my neck.
“How’re you feelin’ this morning?” His voice sounded in my ear and tingles slid across my skin.
“Okay.”
I realized I forgot to factor Lee in my plans for the day.
I didn’t have time to perform any mental recalculations as he turned me around, took the coffee cup and put it on the teak table that was just within reach. Then his arms slid around me, I opened my mouth to say something, anything, and then he kissed me.
The tingles intensified by about one hundred percent and started to target specific zones.
After the kiss, his lips trailed along my cheek to my ear, I had my hands pressed against his chest and I said, perhaps stupidly and definitely shakily, “What are you doing?”
He answered, “Saying good morning.”