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No surprisingly, the contact caused a tightening in my pants, and the flare of lust must have shown on my face because Sophie’s eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip.
Then, as if trying to talk herself out of her reaction, she pulled her hand away and stood, casting her eyes around the room as if she was looking for a good distraction. The place didn’t have much to offer on that front.
“I think we should go through the emergency bag and take inventory,” she said, crossing to the kitchen, where the duffle sat on the counter. I couldn’t help feeling like she was running away from me, from this intimate conversation we’d shared, and I wasn’t happy about it.
Sophie started to rifle through the bag, taking out and counting bottles of water, dehydrated food, and batteries for the flashlight. I figured that we had enough supplies to last about a week if necessary and we were careful, but I doubted it would be needed.
Someone had to have noticed that we were missing by now, or that our rental car was buried in snow at the side of the road nearby. It was just a matter of time before we were tracked down, but shockingly I wasn’t in a huge hurry to be found. Sophie was still trying to put distance between us and a small, selfish part of me didn’t want us to leave here until she got the idea of that out of her head.
Then, Sophie pulled out a box wrapped in shiny red paper with a green bow on top. “Oh, I forgot all about this. I brought it along to give to you after our ‘quick trip,’” she said, her voice tinged with a bit of humor.
“You got me a Christmas gift?” I asked, immediately wishing that I’d gotten her something. It hadn’t even crossed my mind before now.
“Yeah,” she said, giving me a small, slightly embarrassed shrug. “It’s nothing big, and I know a man like you can buy himself whatever he wants, but—”
“Bring it over here,” I said, excited to see what was inside. “I want to open it.”
She came back to the couch and handed it over before sitting beside me again. I was surprised by the heavy weight of the box, and immediately started to unwrap the present. I couldn’t remember the last time someone that wasn’t a family member bought me a gift for any occasion, and I was touched by the gesture before I even opened it. Once I tore off the wrapping paper and lifted the lid on the box, I found a variety of coffee pouches inside.
She shifted a bit uncertainly on the sofa cushion. “I thought that a caffeine addict like you might appreciate it. It’s small batches of artisan coffee from around the world.”
I looked at the labels, seeing coffee from Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. There were ten pouches in all, with a wide selection of flavors. I couldn’t believe how thoughtful this was. She knew that I loved to drink coffee every day and chose something specific for me because of it. Just receiving this made everything about our interactions feel even more genuine and intimate.
“Thanks,” I said, my voice a little husky as I smiled at her. “This is really great.”
“You’re welcome, Connor.”
I just realized that she was calling me by my first name now. I figured it made sense, considering what we did last night, and I liked that change between us. I hoped she never went back to calling me Mr. Renshaw again.
