After Butch left, Drew rocked back in his chair and blew out a breath. Regardless of what the future held, being officially a couple with Liz felt good. And it felt right. Something that felt that good and that right would be too hard to walk away from, so all he could do was keep going forward and hope for the best.
He took out his cell phone and pulled up Liz’s number as he went to close his office door. Maybe he’d overreacted a little to the brochures on her counter, and it wasn’t as if she’d said she was leaving town. She’d just reminded him in a not-so-subtle way that she was still exploring her options. Instead of pushing or, even worse, pulling away, he needed to work on being one of those options.
She answered on the third ring, a little out of breath. “Hi, Drew. I was just thinking about you.”
He liked the sound of that. “Sexy thoughts, I hope.”
“Well, I was wishing you were here to carry my camping stuff and my laundry bag down to the basement and, since I find the way your muscles flex when you carry things sexy, let’s go with yes.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind.” He chuckled. “But whatever makes you wish I was there.”
“Are you coming here? Later, I mean?”
“I want to.” He looked at the mountain of paper that had eaten his desk. “But I need to work late if I’m ever going to catch up. And your alarm going off at four-thirty’s going to be a shock after a week off.”
He heard her sigh over the phone and the disappointment made him feel wanted. “That’s very grown-up of you. Will I see you at the diner tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. You should know, by the way, that Facebook struck again.”
She laughed. “Of course it did. So I should brace myself for being the center of attention tomorrow?”
“Fran sent Butch in for an official comment under the guise of checking on a police report. It’s out there now.” He shifted some piles around as he talked, trying to sort things by priority. It all seemed high. “Sorry to put you back in the spotlight.”
“Everybody knowing we’re a thing doesn’t bother me, Drew. It’s kind of a relief to be able to talk about it.”
“A thing, huh?”
“Yeah, we’re a thing.” He could practically hear the impish grin in her voice. “Don’t you think the word boyfriend is a little high school?”
“I like it.” He liked it a lot. But he heard a sharp rap on the door and Barbara stuck her head in, which meant it had to be important. “Crap, I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Can’t wait. Good night, Drew.”
He couldn’t wait, either, and he thought about her more than he should have while dealing with the pile of paper punishment his department was determined to heap on him. High school or not, he liked the word girlfriend. Up until last year, he never would have thought it possible, but Liz Kowalski was his girlfriend.
Drew spent the rest of the evening whistling while he worked, much to the dismay of everybody else who worked late.
Chapter Seventeen
“What the heck is arugula?”
Liz smiled at her customer, ready with an answer since she’d already been asked that question at least a dozen times since writing roasted chicken breast with arugula on the specials board. “It’s a leaf. Like baby lettuce, but with a little spicy flavor.”
“Can I get the roasted chicken breast without the arugula?”
“Sure.” The last dozen people who’d asked what it was had.
When she clipped the order slip into the rack and Gavin gave her a hopeful look, she shook her head. “Sorry, kid. Not an arugula crowd.”
“It’s a leaf! I can almost understand rejecting the cold melon soup. This is New England. Soup should be hot. But it’s just a little arugula.”
“I thought it was delicious.” She’d had it on her lunch break. She didn’t really get the whole arugula thing, either, but she liked to support Gavin. “And the roasted chicken breast without the arugula is getting a lot of compliments. They like your seasoning.”
Slightly mollified, the kid went back to his cooking and Liz glanced at the clock. It was almost time for Drew to show up, barring any police emergencies.
In the days since they’d gotten back to Whitford, they’d seen each other mostly during his lunch break. He had a lot of administrative stuff to catch up on after being gone for a week, even working through the weekend, and she got up at four-thirty in the morning. There wasn’t a lot of time between when he was leaving his office and when she was going to bed, though they’d managed to sneak a little here and there. Like last night, when he’d stayed over.
And speak of the devil. The bell over the door rang and he walked in, looking sexy as hell in his uniform. From the neck down, anyway. From his collar up, he looked exhausted and maybe a little ragged around the edges. He’d grumbled more than a little when her alarm went off at four-thirty, even after microwaving his third mug of hot water for instant coffee.
Before taking a seat, he leaned across the counter and gave her a quick kiss. “Hello, beautiful.”
“Hi, there. Let me guess. A salad with grilled chicken?”