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He looked over and winced. “Oh geez, sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”
Did he say “Oh geez”? His expression was so unguarded and genuinely contrite that her heart fluttered.
“No,” she began. She was about to say she’d come up for a glass of water and spotted him outside, but that might still imply the noise had woken her. “I, uh, I was…” She stepped out and pointed through the window to her laptop on the reclining end of the sofa. “I was there.”
He smiled. “And I was blocking your view.”
Not exactly.
“No, no. I just didn’t want you to turn around and see me sitting in the dark, like some kind of creeper.”
He laughed, and it wasn’t the laugh she’d heard before from him, always somewhere between forced and self-aware, as if he were, well, an actor playing a role. This was a real one, as he relaxed against the railing and patted Tika.
“Stealing my dog, huh?” she said.
He tensed. “Your dog, your author’s role, your bedroom.”
“No, no.” She fluttered a hand. “I’m kidding about Tika, and the rest was my choice.”
“Still…” He glanced inside. “There’s no reason I should kick you out of your bed. The film crew isn’t staying here. We can stage it before they arrive. You’ll sleep better in your own bed.”
In her own bed… where he’d been sleeping. A bed that would still be warm from him, still smell of him.
She swallowed hard and tried for a breezy tone. “No, Chris. Seriously. It wasn’t the guest room that drove me up here. I was obsessing over a scene, and it’s done now.” Liar. “I’ll just finish my cocoa and head back down.”
“Hot chocolate?” He perked up, and it was so adorable she had to smile.
“Would you like some?”
He hesitated, and then said, “No, it’s late. I’m fine.”
She opened the deck door. “I’m getting you a cocoa. Whether you drink it or not is up to you.”
While she heated the milk, he grabbed a shirt from his room.
“Little chilly out there?” she asked as he put it on.
A self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah. It’s warmer than I expected, though. Being the north and all.” His face screwed up. “That sounded like I thought there’d be snow in June.”
“Oh, people expect snow year-round. They arrive at the airport with winter coats in July. While it’s never hot enough to need air-conditioning, I will be hauling out the fans soon.”
She handed him his cocoa. He went back onto the deck and held the door for her, which she took as an invitation to join him.
She stepped out. He moved to the railing and gazed up at the sky.
“I was hoping for the northern lights,” he said.
“Uh…”
He glanced over, his smile wry. “Wrong weather, I’m guessing.”
“Wrong season. It’s not impossible to get them in early summer. They’re actually there when the solar wind activity is strong, but it rarely gets dark enough to see them at this time of year.”
“Solar wind activity?”
She smiled. “I’ll spare you the science.”
“No, I should know it, in case I’m asked, as Zane.”
