Graham laughed and tossed his phone on the bed, startling Gertrude awake. He scratched her ears. “Sorry, sweets.”
He turned on the TV and watched the news until he heard Claire come in. Gertrude barked and leaped off the bed and was out the door before he could even grab his crutches. He made it into the kitchen several seconds behind his dog, and pretended not to notice the sweet voice Claire spoke to her in.
“Nothing in here for you.”
Okay, it wasn’t exactly sweet. But she didn’t call Gertie a “devil dog” or a “little jerk.” Something good was happening there.
“Can’t say I’d be heartbroken if you said the same thing to me,” he announced.
“What are you, five? How about you try it before deciding you don’t like it?”
He sighed and pulled out a chair. “You’re right.” He sat and propped his crutches against the table. “What do we have here?”
“It’s a bunch of appetizers and desserts from this place I love in Capitol Hill. They use mostly locally sourced food and make everything fresh in-house, even the bread. It’s to die for.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Told you.” She pulled several boxes out of the bag and placed them on the table, pointing at each. “Charcuterie spread. Hummus. Stuffed mushrooms. Apple tart. Chocolate cheesecake.”
“I call the cheesecake.”
“What? You can’t just call the cheesecake. We share.”
Graham lifted his chin a notch. “How big is it?”
“I paid for this stuff and brought it home. You’d seriously take the best dessert and not let me have even a bite?”
“Okay. You can have one bite.”
“Have I told you lately what an asshole you are?”
He couldn’t remember, and busied himself opening each container to peek inside. “It’s probably been a few days.”
She turned on her heel and opened the cabinet, grabbing two plates. “Too long, then.”
They loaded their plates with various appetizers and let the desserts be for now, though Graham made sure the cheesecake was closer to his plate than hers.
“How was work?” he asked.
“Another chaotic day in the ED.”
“Any stories for me? You know I live for the good ones.”
She spread hummus across a triangle of flatbread. “I’ve got a sort of good one and a really good one.”
He could barely contain his excitement, indicative of just how boring his day had been. “Save the best for last.”
She took a bite and grinned at him as she chewed. “Okay. The first one was a guy with a nail in his head. Like, sticking straight out of his skull like he walked out of that Hellraiser movie. Walked right in, awake, talking, cracking jokes with his buddy who accidentally hit him with a nail gun.”
“Damn,” Graham whistled. “Remind me never to let you near me with one of those.”
Claire scoffed. “I’m excellent with power tools.”
“Right. That’s why you badgered me for weeks to put up the porch swing?”
“I could have done it. I just didn’t want to.”
He took a bite and just stared at her.
“Do you want to hear the best one or not?”
Graham nodded. Damn, that prosciutto was good.
“Okay, so this couple comes in, a man and a woman, and they’re probably in their fifties. The man has some sort of issue going on down there and he’s convinced his wife has been cheating on him and gave him an STD.”
Graham scooted to the edge of his chair. This was a good one.
“Sure enough, his penis was red and swollen. Looked infected. The entire time he’s being examined he and his wife are fighting. She’s swearing up and down she didn’t cheat but he wasn’t having it.”
“Did he have an STD?”
“Nope. Get this.” Claire’s eyes went wide. “Turns out he got a jalape?o seed stuck up there somehow and that’s what was causing the problem.”
Graham nearly choked on his food. He took a long drink of water. “A jalape?o seed?”
“Yep.”
He blinked, his mouth ajar. “How... I... How?”
“Dunno. But when the doctor said what he found the guy’s face sort of cleared up like Ooooohhhh.”
Graham burst out laughing. “Shit. That’s so messed up.”
“Hey, everyone has their thing.”
“That’s one I think I’ll pass on, thanks.”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say I’d never have thought of that one in the first place.”
He tipped his glass in her direction. “Same.”
She rearranged the food on her plate and asked, “What did you do all day?”
“The usual. Worked out, watched TV, sat outside.”
Wrote you an email.
“When did you say you can go back to work for light duty?”
“Next week. I’ll be at a different station where administration is, just filing paperwork and stuff. But at least it’s something.”
They continued on in easy conversation while they ate, and eventually came to dessert. Feeling guilty, Graham pushed the cheesecake in her direction. “We can split it, I guess,” he said grudgingly.
Claire put a hand over her heart. “Such a gentleman.”
She took half of each and pushed them back to his side of the table. They spoke less during dessert, too focused on eating. Graham wasn’t usually a fruit-dessert type person, but he had to admit the apple tart was pretty good. In fact, he’d liked almost everything Claire had ever introduced him to since they became roommates. Without her he’d still be on his old diet of pizza and chicken wings.
Gertrude had hovered around the table during the meal, hoping for a treat but unwilling to appear too eager.
Claire tossed her an extra piece of salami from the charcuterie spread. “There. Now stop staring at me with those eyes.”
Graham’s heart warmed at the nonhostile interaction between them.
“Did you have pets growing up?” he asked.
She sat back down. “No. My mom’s allergic to cats and she was too much of a clean freak to have an indoor dog.”
“You and your mom could not be more different.”
“Are you saying I’m a slob?”
He took a drink. “Did you hear me say that?”
She pursed her lips. “What about you? Did you have a Gertrude when you were a kid?”
“Nah. We barely had enough money for ourselves, let alone to spend on keeping an animal fed.”
He’d spoken without thinking as he put the last bite of cheesecake in his mouth, and didn’t realize how out of character it was to say something so personal until he looked up and found Claire staring at him, fork poised halfway to her mouth.
Graham quickly dropped his gaze and put his fork down, leaning back and threading his fingers together behind his neck. “Well, and you know how much it pains me to say this, you were right. This was fucking delicious.”
It was enough to break Claire out of her trance, and she grinned, finishing her last bite. “I’m glad you liked it.” She stood and gathered the containers to the middle of the table.
As he watched, he noticed a speck of whipped cream near the corner of her mouth.
“Claire.”
She didn’t look up. “Hmm?”
“Come here.”
Their gazes collided, and she straightened, moving to stand beside him.
Graham reached up and swiped his index finger across her lip, then brought it to his mouth, the creamy sweetness hitting his taste buds. His eyes didn’t leave hers as he lifted his hand once more, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth across her perfect, full lower lip. Her mouth parted and she leaned forward, her knee bumping his thigh.
“Fuck it,” she muttered, throwing one leg across his to straddle him.
Surprised, his hands went to her waist to steady her mere seconds before her lips crashed down on his. Her arms locked around his shoulders and she arched into him.
His mind went blank as her lips moved on his, his tongue sliding into the warmth of her mouth. Would he ever get over how perfect it felt to kiss her? How many friends slid into a dynamic shift as easily as they had? It wasn’t awkward, it wasn’t fumbling, it wasn’t weird.
It was perfect.
Wanting her soft, warm skin beneath his fingers more than he wanted another piece of that cheesecake, he slid one hand beneath the drawstring waist of her pants.