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“So are your muscles.” I swooned, falling back onto the mattress. My legs jerked with a shiver as his fingertips traced circles along my thighs and under the hem of the shirt I wore. He took my hands and pulled me up, guiding me back down to the kitchen, where his stove timer screamed at us for the detour.
“It smells amazing,” I commented, inhaling the flavors floating around the room.
“Thank you. I think you’ll like it.”
I returned to my wineglass, watching Rowan seamlessly fuss over whatever he cooked on the stove.
“This way.” Rowan smiled at me when he turned from the stove, his hands full with a tray of food, nodding toward the dining room.
He had the table set in his dining room already, including a small vase filled with two red roses and candles waiting to be lit. I took the seat opposite him as he set the tray down and ripped a match across a small box from the tray, the tall candles flickering softly in the center of the table.
“This is perfect, Rowan.” A blush tickled my cheeks, and I didn’t care. It was absolutely perfect. “Although usually,” I bit my lip, thinking back to five minutes prior, “you buy the girl dinner first.”
“You’re not just any girl,” he replied, winking at me as he started serving us.
After my stomach felt as good as the rest of my body and I praised him repeatedly for his impressive culinary skills, our conversation went back to both of our jobs. I didn’t think about my promotion at all since we talked about it in the morning, my mind happily distracted by Rowan.
When he started talking about his travel schedule, I willed time to fly so we could repeat today a few more times.
“I was wondering how you felt about staying here when I’m gone,” he asked when we were washing dishes later. “I’ll get in really late and it’d be so nice to come home to you.”
The daydream of waking up in Rowan’s bed with him slipping in next to me was something I could get used to, so I happily agreed.
Saying goodbye when he finally went with his team to Washington, D.C. was easier than I thought it would be. I imagined missing him, but watching his pride and everything about him in his element was exciting. Our kiss goodbye at the airport almost made him miss the flight, but his charm got him back on the jetway in time.
The local news broadcast every second they could of the Emeralds meeting the president and fans who were lucky enough to get access. It was on repeat for the entire time he was gone, but I had my own time with him via video when he got back into his hotel at night that made the time pass faster.
Stretching my arms and legs, I slowly opened my eyes in the darkened room. Rowan’s cat purred on the empty pillow next to me, opening one sliver of an eye to watch me. He was flying in from Washington, D.C. that night, and I planned on our friends coming to his house for dinner. He had no idea, but I thought we owed it to each other, and them, to be real seriously. When he asked me to stay at his house, I gladly accepted. Not only because his house was beautiful, the thread count on his sheets was beyond measure, and I could sleep in his t-shirt, but because it felt like home there. And knowing he was coming home to me made every night without him worth it.
The rain stopped long enough to let me pick some roses from the garden, the blooms long overdue but somehow still glowing a soft pink and radiant purple. I dropped them into a vase on the dining room table just as Ethan knocked on the back door.
He carried a wooden crate into the kitchen, describing the scotch he brought that flew right over my head. I was too worried about ruining the roast I had hopefully baked in the oven. I didn’t cook. I should’ve ordered food.
“It smells amazing in here,” Ethan told me, inhaling deeply as he walked toward the oven. “Damn, Mer. I’m going to marry you, too.” He lifted lids off pots on the stove, eagerly inspecting what I was making. “Seriously. Want to trade?”
“I love you, but no.” I smiled at him, falling happily into his hug.
“He still doesn’t know we’re all coming?”
“No. He won’t mind, though. He loves filling this place with family,” I replied, taking the scotch Ethan offered from a small glass. The two ice cubes cracked in the warm liquid, another sound I’d remember in my attempt to make dinner.
By the time Ezra, Heather, and Aubrey came, Ethan and I were halfway into one bottle and I felt weightless. I didn’t realize I needed the liquid courage. I was nervous as hell about so many things. Making dinner, hosting, and being with Rowan for real that time. Having it be just us who knew this time was real made it seem even more risqué, and I liked quietly reveling in that secret. However, it also amped up my nerves.
“He’s here!” Aubrey shouted from the front door, on the lookout for the cab to roll up to the house. I was too flustered to use the spatula in my hand, so Ezra took it from me and tried not to laugh too hard.
Running across the hardwood, I clenched the doorknob and tried to catch my breath. “How do I look?”
“You sound like you just had amazing sex,” she admitted, “which I’m like a million percent jealous about because I know it’s true, but you also look fabulous.” Rolling my eyes when she kissed me, I waved her back into the kitchen when we heard his cab door close and the deep sound of his voice outside.
I went outside to meet him on the front porch, taking in my adorably exhausted boyfriend as he climbed the steps with his lips twisting in the corner, grinning at me.
“Holy shit,” he raced up the last steps, wrapping his arms around me, “I missed you.”
“Tell me about it,” I groaned, returning his kiss. “Come on inside. I made you dinner.”
“I’d rather start with dessert.” Rowan slapped my backside as I turned in front of him, grabbing my hand when I swatted him away as we both laughed. “I missed you, Meredith. Tell me why you taste like scotch.”
“I will when we get inside,” I taunted, pulling him with me through the foyer and into the kitchen.
