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Now totally aware of my lack of clothes because I fell asleep last night in just a T-shirt and panties, I shut the door and tug down the hem of my shirt as I walk to the dresser and pull out a pair of sleep shorts. Putting them on, I walk over to the bed.
“You brought me breakfast?”
“You need to eat,” he mutters without looking at me, and I press my lips together. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I got a few things.”
A few things? There’s enough food for a family of five!
Taking a seat where I was lying moments ago, I pull my blanket over my lap and watch him open each container. Two with pancakes, sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs, another with fruit, and the last with what looks like oatmeal.
He hands me one of the coffees, one of the containers with pancakes and stuff, and a plastic silverware set, then picks up the other one and walks around the side of my bed. Seeing he’s going to sit next to me, I grab the book I was reading before he can sit on it and place it on my nightstand.
“Eat, Elora,” he orders, looking over at me.
Shaking my head, I dig into my food. It’s delicious, way better than the cold Pop-Tarts I planned on having this morning. “Do you want to watch TV?”
“Sure.”
Grabbing the remote, I hit the power button and get excited when I find one of my favorite movies has just started. “You’ve seen this, right?”
“No.”
“The Goonies is a classic. You never saw it when you were a kid? It was one of my mom’s favorites and is now one of mine.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“What’s your favorite movie from when you were growing up?”
“I was in school or playing in sports. There was never time for me to have a favorite.”
“That’s terribly sad, Roman.”
Ignoring my comment, he lifts his chin to the TV. “What’s this about?”
“It’s about a family who’s losing their house. Their sons and a group of their friends find a treasure map in their attic, and they try to see if they can find it. Of course, drama ensues, and they end up running into some bad guys.”
“Of course,” he mutters, and I smile as I cut off a bite of pancakes while on the screen, Chunk does his belly dance to get into the house.
“It was filmed right here, or actually in a town about twenty minutes away. But part of it was filmed here on this beach, and you can still go visit the jail from the movie.”
“Have you been?”
“Twice.”
“Twice.” I hear the smile in his voice, but I don’t look at him.
“You’ll love it.” I focus on eating while the movie plays.
When I’m stuffed, I start to set my container aside, but he stops me and takes it, finishing off the rest of my food, along with the fruit and oatmeal. I have no idea where he puts it, but he devours every last bite.
Settling in with my cup of coffee, I stretch my legs out in front of me and lean back against the headrest, and he does the same after kicking off his shoes. When he laughs, I look over at him, and he turns his head. His eyes meet mine, the smile still on his lips. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him smile freely and completely relaxed. He always seems so serious, so much older than he probably is. I want to ask him about his life back in New York, about his family and his friends, but I swallow down the desire. I don’t want to ruin this moment, so I turn back to the TV.
Just when the boys find a man named Sloth locked in the basement of the old restaurant, my alarm goes off, bursting the bubble that has wrapped around us. Picking up my phone, I shut off the annoying beeping and sigh. The last thing I want to do is go to work, but I only have two more days until I will be packing up my van and leaving, so I need every dollar I’ll make between now and then. Plus, I need to finish Beth’s training so she’ll be able to take over for me.
“Are you working both jobs today?”
“Yeah.” I hand him the remote for the TV. “I’m going to start getting ready. You can hang out if you want.”
Getting his nod, I toss back the blanket and get out of bed. At the dresser, I dig for my clothes and take them with me into the bathroom. After I change out of my pajamas, I brush my teeth, tie my hair up into a bun—because it’s a wild mess this morning, and I don’t have the time to fix it—then put on some mascara so you can actually see I have lashes. When I’m done, I walk out of the bathroom and find the bed made, the TV off, and Roman and all the trash from our breakfast are gone. I tell myself I’m not annoyed with him for leaving without even saying goodbye, but the truth is, I am annoyed with him … and myself for caring.
