along her cheek, an intimate move she’d come to love. “You know I won’t be able to stay away for long. I’ll seize every opportunity to fly back and see you.”
“I know you will,” she said, believing him. “I will, too.”
She realized that trying to nail down dates wasn’t a feasible option for either of them just yet. She had no idea what events would come up or how much time Quinn could take off from the bank if she needed her to cover for her while she went to see Zev. Maybe her plan to come up with a plan was wrong, too, and what she really needed was to change the way she was thinking. They might not have dates on the calendar, but they had a plan in their hearts and they were both committed to making it work. That should be enough for now.
He ate a spoonful of soup and said, “This is delicious, even better than my mom’s.”
“Really? Thank you.”
They ate in silence for a few minutes, but something felt off. She didn’t think it was the lack of a plan. Their commitment had settled that worry for now. It wasn’t the food or Zev, and Bandit was sitting by the patio door, not off stealing her stuff.
“What’s wrong?” Zev asked.
“Does something feel weird to you?”
“Everything you made tastes amazing, and the candles are romantic.” He cocked a brow and said, “So please don’t take offense to this, but all we need is a Kenny G song playing and we could be our parents.”
“Oh my gosh!” She laughed. “That’s what it is.”
“Yeah, this is great, but it’s a bit too adult for us.”
“I totally agree. I have an idea.” She pushed to her feet, and Bandit jumped up, too, following her into the living room. She dragged the coffee table to the middle of the room and tossed two pillows from the couch on the floor. “How’s this?”
“Perfect,” he said, carrying their plates to the coffee table. They went back for the rest of their meal and the candles. “Remember how we used to sit in my parents’ living room and plan our adventures?”
“Yes. I have a picture of that! Hold on.” She ran into the dining room and grabbed the box of pictures she’d brought home. Zev was sitting on a pillow, and Bandit was lying beside him with his chin on Zev’s lap when she returned. She sat on the pillow beside them and opened the box.
“I told you your house wasn’t Zev-free,” he said cockily.
“These were in the closet in my office, smarty pants. But now that I have pictures of us in my office, I wanted to put some of these up here.”
“Hear that, Bandit? Told you she loved me.” He hooked an arm around Carly’s neck, tugging her into a kiss. “It’s about damn time.”
“You’re a brat. You knew I loved you when you saw me at the wedding.”
He smirked. “How could you not?”
She blew out the candles and pushed the coffee table a few feet away so they would have room to go through the pictures.
“What do you think, Bandit?” he said conspiratorially. “Is she moving furniture to get naked, or is this a bad sign?”
“Would you stop? Bandit’s going to think I really don’t like you.”
“I think you give him too much credit.”
“Really? He stuffed my clothes in your bag. I’m pretty sure that dog is part human.” She eyed Bandit, who lifted his head and then rested his chin on Zev again with a sigh. “I was just making room so we can look through the pictures.”
“Damn. I was hoping for naked.”
She gave him a deadpan look.
He chuckled. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“A lot of the pictures are the same as yours,” she said as they started going through them. “This is the one I was talking about.” She handed him a picture of the two of them sitting on pillows leaning over his parents’ coffee table, writing in notebooks. They couldn’t have been more than nine or ten years old. Their hair curtained their faces and their feet were bare. Beside them were two plates, each with an untouched sandwich and potato chips.
Zev ran his finger over the picture and said, “Even then you were trying to get my attention.”
“Why do you say that?” She studied the picture. “I was working.”
“Look at those skimpy shorts. See your arm pressed against mine? You were always after me.” He stole another kiss, and then he studied the picture