“I think I’m good.” She glanced around. “Nothing looks out of place.” Everything was just how she’d left it.
“Good. I’m going to go grab the security system and get it set up. You said you got a doorbell?”
Nodding, Yasmine gestured at the box on the table to her left. It was the only box on the table, so it was hard to miss.
“Got it. Go do whatever you need to do, and I’ll get this handled.” He flashed her a quick smile that warmed her right down to her toes.
There was something to be said for a man who knew what he was doing. Even better when she could believe he knew what he was doing and not just blowing smoke up her ass.
Grabbing her bag, she took it back to her bedroom, then returned to the kitchen. She was hungry, and even though he’d been up before her, she would guess he would probably be hungry soon, too.
Zeus came back in and got to work immediately—not just on her front door, though that was where he started, but also at each of her windows. She couldn’t help but glance at him every couple of seconds as she threw together some eggs and avocado toast. The tea kettle beeped and turned off when the water inside hit its boiling point, and Yasmine grabbed her mug.
“Zeus, do you want any tea?” she asked.
“Do you have coffee?” He was half in, half out of her house at the front door, pausing in his movements as he did whatever he was doing with the doorbell.
“No, sorry. I normally try to keep some for guests, but I ran out and haven’t restocked.” Partly because she hadn’t been planning on having any morning guests for a while. “But I have Breakfast Blend, Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Orange Spice black tea, or Jasmine green tea.” She’d never been able to stand the taste of coffee, but she loved her teas, and she liked to have options to keep things interesting.
“I’ll take whatever you’re having,” he said, refocusing on his current project.
Today felt like an Orange Spice black tea kind of morning. She poured the water over each of the tea bags, letting them steep while she finished up with the avocado toast.
“Do you like avocado and eggs?” she asked, pausing before she started slicing some more avocado.
“Together?” He glanced over again.
“I’m making avocado toast, and I usually put my egg on top, but I can put them separately, or leave one out if you prefer.”
“I’ll eat almost anything; I was just curious,” he said. “Whatever you’re having will be great.”
Well, that was easy. Yasmine finished both plates, took them to the table, then disposed of the tea bags from each mug before setting them on the table. She got silverware, the sugar caddy, and her little creamer container from the fridge and set those down as well. The final touch was two glasses of water.
Zeus got to his feet just as she put the glasses down.
“Doorbell’s installed,” he said.
“Really? That was quick.” She hadn’t expected it to be so soon; she thought he would have to take a break.
“Yeah, that’s the easy part. It’ll take me longer to do the security system,” he explained, coming over to examine the spread she’d put together. Yasmine looked down at it as well, suddenly seeing it with fresh eyes and wishing she’d been a little less herself.
Both plates had sourdough toast in the middle, with thin slices of avocado over them, topped with the sunny-side-up eggs and cracked black pepper, with a slice of lemon on the side. It was far fancier than she probably should have done for someone she was just fucking, not dating.
“This looks great,” Zeus said, pulling out one of the chairs. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Well, if he hadn’t noticed that this was probably too much effort for a meal with a hookup, she wasn’t going to point it out to him. She was going to have to watch herself in the future, though. It was too easy to fall into the patterns of the past.
Especially with a man like him.
But she had to keep her heart and hopes out of it—she wasn’t sure she could take them breaking again.
Chapter 22
Yasmine
“All done.”
