Page 65 of A Little Bit Uncertain

“I enjoy a loose plan, but I’m okay with some spontaneity,” she laughed. That grin had her nose scrunch up, and the tiniest tip of her tongue peeked through her teeth playfully. Then she leaned in to whisper, “I mean, sometimes I even just wing it.”

“Blasphemous words, Chaos,” I joked with her, but I didn’t fully peel away. I debated pressing my luck and kissing her. But before I could, the oven timer beeped and brought me back to the kitchen. She ended up setting the table while I got the rest of the meal together. We worked in perfect sync, and it hit me how much I loved having her here in my space, doing this with me. When we sat down, she spoke.

“Donovan, I can’t remember the last time someone cooked for me. This is special. Thank you.” She put her hand over mine, and my thumb instinctively rubbed the top of her hand, noting I needed to cook more for her. As my eyes slowly traced from the point of contact up to her face, she gave me a smile that could have lit up the entire night. Breaking the moment, she took a bite of chicken and she looked surprised.

“You like it?” I asked nervously.

“Donovan, I can’t get over this. It’s incredible. Seriously, what can’t you do?”

“Can’t work on cars,” I laughed.

“If that’s it, I’d say you’re doing pretty well.”

Dinner progressed with ease, and as it was ending, I realized I had never followed up with her about what was happening with work and days off.

“Shit, Audra, I can’t believe I forgot to ask, are you clear to take the days off work?”

She rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, “Yes, and No. They weren’t happy with me, but I reminded them I pick up shifts all the time for repeat day-of no-shows. I also confided in our charge nurse about the stalking situation. She already knew about the bricks because cops are in and out of the ER so much, and small-town gossip spreads. So did I get a full blessing and pat on the ass to have a good time? No. But will I have a job when I get back? Yes.” She got up and grabbed our plates to take them to the sink, and I followed with the remaining food and dishes.

“That’s good news.” I was glad the trip wouldn’t put her in a bad spot..

“Yeah…” her voice trailed off as she yawned, even though it sounded like she was going to say more. “So, I need to head to bed soon. What’s our plan?”

I assumed it was an obvious answer, but apparently not. “You’re welcome to set up shop wherever you want. Guest room, my room, butterfly garden, gym, couch. Anywhere.”

Since I was so close to her, she playfully hit my chest. “You know what I mean.”

“Well, I don’t know. Are you going to set rules out and then try to make me break them?” My mouth curled up into something between a smile and a dare.

Her cheeks flushed up immediately. “Alright, I deserved that. I just lost control. Something that seems to be happening quite a bit with you, Sir Donovan?” She gasped and pulled her hand up over her mouth to cover it.

“What did you just say?” My brows furrowed in confusion, as I’m sure I had a weird smile on my face. “Did you just call me Sir Donovan?”

She stuttered and tipped her head to the ceiling while her hand was still covering her mouth.

“What is that about?”

She returned her eyes to mine and took her hand off her mouth as her head shook no.

“Please go on,” I pushed, amused by the revelation.

“You can’t kill me, or let Maeve know I spilled the beans.”

“Okay,” I agreed, genuinely confused by this.

“Oof,” she shook her head, with a nervous laugh. “It’s … it’s what we call you. You’re so proper. Or always came across as so proper. Now I know you’re not always that way.” Heat flashed on her face for a moment. “It’s just … Ugh. I’m sorry. I mean, it rolls off the tongue nicely. It was just something we all started calling you as a joke, and it stuck. You can’t deny it sounds good, and you’re kind of like royalty, ya know?”

“Not in the least. You’re the one with the last name King,” I countered. For a second, I got nervous they had looked at my past, and that’s why she was referring to me as royalty, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“It’s not an insult. It just kind of happened with the girls one night.”

“So you’re telling me you’ve been discussing me?” Her face flushed red. “Any other nicknames you have for me?”

“No. Are you going to keep calling me Chaos?”

“Absolutely.” I reached out to pull her into me, and she came willingly. “So, are you coming into the cloud bed tonight?” I looked down at her. Even if I had to keep myself in check, I enjoyed having her closeness, warmth, and sweet scent next to me.

“Just a sleep?” she smiled up at me.