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“You okay? And don’t say fine. I can tell you’re not doing well.”
“You can?” I couldn’t keep the guilty startle from my tone.
“Doubt the others noticed, but the lines around your eyes and mouth get deeper when it’s a bad pain day, your shoulders get tenser, your voice a little more strident, and your humor more forced.” Cal rattled off a whole damn list of observations I couldn’t argue with as I turned toward my neighborhood.
“Hell.” I groaned in defeat. “I was trying hard to not be obvious.”
“Like I said, the others likely didn’t pick up on anything. Think I’m just tuned into you.” Cal gave me a much more tender look than my cranky ass probably deserved.
“I’d rather you be turned on to me.”
“That too.” He stretched as I pulled into the driveway. “But not tonight.”
“What? Why?”
“Holden.” Cal put on a not-an-idiot voice that made me feel like I was in a remedial how-to-human class. “You’re in pain, and the only reason I didn’t insist on driving is because I knew you wouldn’t trust me with your pricey baby.”
“I trust you.” Holding up my hands, I gave him what I hoped was a sincere look. Because I did trust him. Maybe not with everything, but my car? My house? Sure. My bad days? My heart? I was working on it.
“Then trust me. Take the meds you’ve been putting off.” Cal said this declaratively, and damn it, he really did know me too well.
“But I wanted to sleep with you.” I tried one last protest as I transferred to my chair. “The meds make me sleepy. Like all of me sleepy, sleepy.”
“Then you’ll sleep. My insomnia willing, we’ll both sleep.” Cal was only too patient as he waited for me to enter the house. “After you take your meds, I’ll give you a neck rub if you think it will help, and I can still sleep next to you.”
“You touching me is always a good thing. It’s our first date, though, and I wanted…more.”
“More? It’s date one, Professor.” He grinned at me, right there in the dim light of the mudroom, a full-wattage rare-as-fuck Cal grin. And just like that, I was all his. “Give us time to run all the plays in the playbook. How about you take your painkillers, I rub you down, and you give me a goodnight kiss to remember?”
“Deal.” I grinned back, already contemplating how to repay Cal’s kindness as soon as my body allowed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cal
“Take the afternoon off.” Knox, who had already established himself as a nice guy several times over, seemed determined to earn his spot in the Good Boss Hall of Fame. It was a sleepy Saturday, with more of the cold, drizzly rain Safe Harbor had been battling all week. But I’d been scheduled to work on the accessible ramp at the Stapleton house, and I was nothing if not a man of my word.
“I don’t mind a little rain.”
“A little? It’s practically a monsoon.” Knox shook his head. “The ramp will get done, but not today. Not in this weather. And before you ask for more work, we’re waiting on plumbing and electric for the third floor. The paint for the remaining second-floor rooms is back-ordered. I won’t get the floor sander rental until next week. It’s Saturday, and you’ve been working pretty much nonstop on this project since I hired you. Go find something to do with Holden.”
Oh. Now there was an idea. I’d never been one to make much of holidays or days off as an adult, preferring to pull extra shifts wherever I could, but the prospect of a few daylight hours with Holden was a rare treat. “Maybe I could do that.”
“Need a list of suggestions?” Knox winked at me.
“Nah. I’m sure we’ll think of something.” I tried to play it cool because being public about dating someone was new and uncomfortable, like a too-tight shoe, but Knox merely laughed.
“I bet you will.” He waved me away with more merry laughter. Despite a vague sense of embarrassment, I was amped when I reached Holden’s house, choosing a quick walk in the damp weather over calling for a ride.
However, when I arrived home, Holden was recording a podcast, office door shut. The low, soothing tones of his voice made me even looser than the walk. I used his work time to sneak in a shower to warm up after the rainy walk. A bolder guy than me probably wouldn’t have bothered with anything more than a towel after the shower, but I pulled on a clean pair of jeans before making a fast brunch of eggs, sausages, and potatoes and venturing to Holden’s now-open office door.
“You’re home way early.” He smiled broadly as he gestured for me to come in with the two lunch plates. “And bearing food while shirtless. I like this turn of events already.”
