“What is that?” She stepped back to let him and the box through.
“You’ll see.” He went straight to the kitchen and set the box on the floor. After using his pocket knife to slit the tape, he opened the flaps and pulled out a smaller box. “This is how you make coffee.”
“You bought me a coffeemaker?”
He heard the confusion in her voice, which wasn’t a surprise since he knew she was strict with herself. “It’s one of those single-cup brewers and there’s more.”
Reaching back into the shipping box, he pulled out two boxes of the little cups, both decaf. She smiled when he held them up for her to see.
“Most guys start with leaving a toothbrush.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t have to because you had an extra in the drawer, so I went big.”
“I hope it has directions.”
While she started pulling the coffeemaker out of its packaging, he took the last small box out of the bigger cardboard one and worked his way toward the stove. When he was certain all of her attention was on getting the brewer out of the plastic sleeve, he opened the cabinet over her range hood and stuffed the box in.
“What was that?”
Busted. He gave her an innocent look. “What was what?”
“Don’t even try it. What did you put in that cabinet?”
“Coffee. The real kind. I was hoping to hide it from you so you wouldn’t be tempted to drink it, but I need my coffee.”
She laughed at him and went back to what she was doing. “You don’t have to hide your coffee. Trust me, I felt crappy enough back when I was guzzling the stuff that I’m rarely tempted. Or I’m tempted a lot, actually, but I don’t have too much trouble resisting.”
“So you feel better now?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Was it all the coffee, or do you think it was making changes in your life?”
“All of it, probably,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. “The coffee was the big thing, but I was also lonely and unhappy and had a lot of stress about it.”
Drew stepped up behind her to wrap his arm around her waist. With his other hand, he pulled her hair to one side so he could kiss the back of her neck. “You don’t seem lonely and unhappy anymore.”
“Mmm.” She relaxed against his body and he slid his hand over her stomach, feeling some of his exhaustion slip away. “Speaking of not being lonely, Rose and Andy invited us over for dinner. Just a small one in the kitchen, since the lodge has guests.”
Disappointment surged through him, but he tried not to let her feel it in him. He did slide his hand away from the snap of her jeans, though, and back to her hip. “She did, huh?”
“I think she wants to gloat. I’m sure she’s managed to convince herself—and half the town—that us being a couple was all her doing.”
“So what time are we supposed to be over there?” Judging by the clock, it would be soon enough so they wouldn’t have time to get naked before they left.
“I passed on the invitation. I told her you’ve been working overtime and that we just want a quiet night. Do you mind?”
He kissed the back of her neck again. “I don’t mind at all. I’ve been looking forward to it, but I don’t know how quiet it’ll be.”
“You realize that means frozen pizzas in the oven instead of Rosie’s cooking, right?”
“Mmm-hmm.” He was too busy nuzzling the side of her neck to make words, but hopefully she’d get the message. Frozen pizzas was a small price to pay.
“Okay, show me how to use this thing.”
He lifted his head, scowling at the coffeemaker she’d just plugged in. “Right now?”
“Yes.” She stepped away from him to set the temperature on her oven. “As tired as we both are, if we get horizontal right now, we won’t have supper until tomorrow morning and I’m starving.”
“Good point.” He could wait a little while to get her naked, if the waiting involved food and coffee.
He showed her how to use the machine while the pizzas baked, brewing them each a mug of the decaf. As much as he preferred the high-test, her alarm was merciless and the sooner he fell asleep after sex, the better.
An hour later, they were snuggled on her futon, watching a DVD she’d popped in since she didn’t have cable yet. He had his feet up on her coffee table and she was tucked under his arm with her head on his chest.
“The book was better,” Drew muttered. They were watching It, which was based on his favorite Stephen King novel. “I must have read that book ten times when I was a teenager.”
“Needful Things was my favorite. It was more about people turning on each other, which was fascinating to me. Maybe because we live in a small town.”
“I was always running with Mitch and your brothers, especially on our bikes, so I could imagine something like It happening to us. The clown was scary as hell, though.”