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“Fine, what do you want to watch?”
“Raising Arizona?”
“Okay.” She didn’t care what they watched, as long as they did it together. She would have agreed to watch The Three Stooges if that was what it took to keep him there.
He leaned across her for the remote. As his body pressed against hers, she closed her eyes and breathed him in. The cigarette smell didn’t bother her as much as it should. For the first time in her life, she actually found it kind of sexy.
Uh oh.
“How long before the chili’s ready?” he asked, turning on the TV and settling back into the couch. He was sitting even closer now, slouched down so that his elbow was resting on her thigh. Warmth from his body seeped into hers like warm butter.
“Another couple hours, probably.” She’d forgotten about the chili. She couldn’t even remember if she’d finished adding in all the spices. Probably. Hopefully. She certainly wasn’t getting up to do it now.
“Tell me you’ve seen this before,” he said as the movie started.
“Yeah, it’s great.” She’d seen it dozens of times. She could practically recite the whole thing from memory.
“It’s my third-favorite Coen brothers film.”
He obviously wanted her to ask what the first two were, so she did.
“Blood Simple and Miller’s Crossing,” he answered with a self-satisfied smirk.
When had his smugness become so adorable? What is happening to me? Had she completely lost her grip on her sanity?
Jonathan settled in to watch the movie, and Esther watched him watch the movie.
After a while, he tilted his head and rested it on her shoulder. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Her pulse pounded in her ears. She tried to ignore it and concentrate on the movie. His hair was tickling her neck, and all she could think about was how badly she wanted to run her fingers through it. How easy it would be to just reach up—
“Did you know Joel Coen was an assistant editor on The Evil Dead?” Jonathan asked.
“Oh yeah?” she said, trying to sound interested. Her entire consciousness was focused on the places where his body touched hers. There wasn’t room for anything else.
“The push in on Florence Arizona in this scene was a direct homage.”
“Cool.” Her skin felt raw and hypersensitive, like a sunburn. Every little move he made, every place his body came into contact with hers, caused her nerve endings to shriek like a tornado klaxon. Proximity alert! Proximity alert!
She passed the entire movie that way. It was almost a relief when the credits rolled and Jonathan shifted away from her.
“That movie always makes me feel better,” he said.
“Me too.”
He stretched his arms overhead, causing his T-shirt to ride up. Esther glimpsed a tantalizing sliver of abdomen and a faint dark trail disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. “How about that chili?” he said.
She pushed herself to her feet. “Right. Chili. I better go check on it.” It should be ready by now. She went into the kitchen to dish it up.
They ate out of bowls in front the TV while they argued about what movie to watch next. When they were finished eating, Jonathan carried their dishes to the sink and rinsed them.
They wound up watching What We Do in the Shadows, which immediately led into a Flight of the Conchords marathon. She kept to her own end of the couch this time, maintaining a safe distance between them.
Two episodes into Conchords, Jonathan fell asleep. He was slumped down on the couch with his legs stretched out in front of him and his head lolling to one side.
Esther’s eyes took a walking tour of his body as he slept, consuming every detail. The cords in his wrists. The tendons snaking up forearms that were as long as her shin. The smooth curve of his biceps. How would it feel to be wrapped up in those arms?
