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The woman spoke, but it was too low for him to hear. Beth nodded a few times. Whoever the woman was, she was obviously shy, or nervous, or maybe both. After several minutes, the woman left, and Beth locked the front door again.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“She was inquiring about the job opening.”
Even though the woman was nowhere to be seen, Drew looked behind Beth to where she had been. “Does she realize she’ll have to deal with people?”
Beth smiled. “Yes. She worked in a diner when she was in high school.”
He went back to the table he was cleaning. “So are you going to hire her?”
“I told her to show up Tuesday morning at seven and I’d give her a trial run.”
“That was nice of you,” he said.
She took a step forward and brushed the back of her hand along his arm. “I can be very nice. When I want to be.”
Drew took a deep breath and met her gaze. “Are we going to the club tonight?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I doubt it could be worse than last night. I’d say the hard part is over. Everyone knows we’re together now. End of story.”
Beth shrugged. “Maybe. But that wasn’t why I was considering staying home.”
He gave her a questioning look.
“It’s your last night off. I don’t want to wear you out when you have to be at work first thing in the morning.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “Plus, I think I might want you all to myself tonight.”
It was hard to argue with that.
As it turned out, they did make an appearance at Serpent’s Kiss that night. They received a few lingering looks, but it was nothing like it had been the night before. For the most part, they hung out with friends and relaxed.
They headed back to Beth’s house around ten thirty. Drew was feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t really talked to Shawn since Wednesday morning. Other than a few quick texts, he hadn’t communicated with him at all in the last four days.
“What’s bothering you?” Beth asked as they lay in her bed that night.
“Just worried about Shawn.”
“I’ve sort of monopolized your time off, haven’t I?” She turned slightly so that she could look at him.
“Could be the other way around. I could be monopolizing your time.”
Beth rolled so that she was facing him. “This is moving kind of fast, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve spent nearly every minute I wasn’t at work together.”
He hated to ask, but he felt he needed to. “Are things moving too fast for you, Beth?”
Her forehead wrinkled as she considered his question. “I don’t know.”
Drew waited.
“I know it should. It’s only been a week since our first date, but . . .” She looked him in the eyes. “I missed you Tuesday night when you weren’t in my bed.”
It didn’t take a genius to know how much that admission cost her. The urge to tell her that he loved her was strong, but he resisted. She may have admitted that she missed him, but that didn’t mean she was ready to hear that he had fallen in love with her.
“I missed you, too,” he whispered. “I was lying in my cot remembering what it had been like to fall asleep with you beside me. It made it hard to go to sleep.” Drew flexed his hips against her to make sure she got his meaning.
She gave him a gentle shove. “I’m sure you managed. Don’t you have a shower at the station?”
