Page 84 of Here & Now

Nineteen

The next morning, Bree awoke to the sunshine streaming in through her bedroom window. She’d forgotten to close the blinds last night, and now she remembered why.

Zane had stayed over until two a.m., and after a long kiss goodbye at the front door, she’d gone to bed and collapsed into a deep sleep.

Stretching her arms overhead, she arched her back and groaned. Her entire body ached, but in the best possible way. She tried to remember how many times they’d had sex last night, but her brain was a little foggy.

Then she remembered that he was captaining a fishing charter that morning. Just as she was wondering how he was faring, her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

She picked it up and read his text.

Morning, beautiful. Hope you slept well last night.

Smiling at the screen, she replied: I just woke up. How are you feeling this morning? She watched the blinking dots as he typed a response.

I’d feel better if I were still in bed with you.

He was so good at this. Of course, he’d had a lot of practice, but she refused to think about that right now.

I’m a little sore, so it’s probably better you’re not here.

He wrote: Should I be sorry?

Nope, she replied.

He sent back a grinning emoji, and she laughed.

Her phone pinged again. Gotta go. Call you later.

She replied Okay and set down her phone.

They’d discussed going out to dinner tonight but hadn’t made definite plans. Just because they’d had sex, it didn’t mean they were obligated to one another, but she wanted to have dinner with him simply because she enjoyed his company.

While she was contemplating it, her phone rang, and she hurriedly snatched it up, thinking it might be him.

She glanced at the screen and answered. “Hey, sis.”

“Hey. Sofie is in her bouncy seat, watching TV, so I thought I’d call you.”

“Watching TV? She’s only two months old.”

Ivy laughed. “Don’t judge. I do what I have to do to get a little peace and quiet.”

“I guess I’ll find out someday.” An image sprang to mind of a baby boy with dark hair and golden-brown eyes, just like Zane’s… Ohmigod, stop it!

“I can’t wait to become Aunt Ivy.”

“I think it’ll be a while.”

“Anything new since the last time we talked?”

In their last conversation, Bree had insisted that her flirtation with Zane was over. Since then, she’d done an about-face and was almost embarrassed to admit it.

“Bree, are you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m a little groggy this morning.”

“Did you have trouble sleeping last night?”