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Thanks to my morning wake-up call, I arrive at the cabin at ten in the morning with coffee and Danishes in hand, after knocking on her apartment and getting no answer. Calista’s car is parked on the gravel driveway, so I knock softly on the door.
It’s a small cabin, quaint and cozy and totally Calista’s thing. A bunch of thoughts pop in my head, like whether she’ll ever share this space with anyone else or will it be another secret we share? Will I come home years from today and find her here with another man? That thought shouldn’t feel like a fireplace poker going through my chest, but it does anyway. I thought I’d moved on in the years since our breakup, but last Christmas really fucked me up.
There’s no answer, so I walk to the window and see Calista asleep on the sofa with a blanket over her. Going back to the door, I turn the doorknob and it clicks open. Anger washes over me.
I walk in, shut the door, put the coffees and Danishes on the counter in the kitchen, and walk over to her. She’s always been a deep sleeper. When we’d wake up spooning, I’d let my hands wander, but that was never enough to wake her. I pick up a pen from the coffee table and run it along her bare arm, but I’m not surprised she doesn’t even stir. Her mouth is half ajar.
“Calista,” I murmur, but I don’t even get a groggy response.
Finally, I put the end of the pen to her nostril while she inhales. Her hand flies up, swats it out of my grip, and it flies across the room. She sits up and the blanket falls to her lap.
“What the hell?” Her eyes open and she blinks again. “Rylan?”
Damn, I should’ve never woken her. She’s wearing the most threadbare shirt ever, her nipples poking out and saying good morning to me. I straighten and go back to the counter. I guess that whole session in the shower today was for nothing because I’m strung as tight as a guitar string again. I adjust myself on the way to the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” She remains on the couch.
“Delivering coffee and Danishes. Do you know your door was unlocked?” I set her coffee and the bag of croissants on the coffee table, then I sit in the chair adjacent to the couch.
She reaches forward and picks up the coffee, causing the blanket to slide off more and I see her cotton panties. There goes my dick twitching again. I glance at the floor. Sure enough, her jeans from last night are balled up on the hardwood. It seems odd to me since she always prides herself on being neat and tidy.
“Thanks.” She takes the stopper out of her coffee cup and sips it. Her eyes close briefly and her body sinks into the couch. “So good.”
“Still take it the same, huh?” We sit in silence, and I put my feet up on the table, crossing my ankles. “Once you’re ready, let’s get going?”
She looks down at herself and must notice her nipples peaked under the fabric. Her alarmed gaze meets mine and I nod, failing to hide my smirk.
“Don’t be flattered, it’s the same as morning wood,” she says.
I hold up one hand and sip my coffee with the other.
“I’m serious, Rylan. It’s not because of you.”
I swallow, the heat of the liquid coating my throat. “Point is made. Literally.”
She shifts forward but thinks better of it and makes sure the blanket covers her. I chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?” She snags the bag of Danishes and puts it in her lap.
“Because it’s nothing I haven’t seen. I know your body from head to toe.”
She glares at me from the corner of her eyes. “Not anymore.”
“Did you get a tattoo? Have a baby? Something that would change the body I memorized a decade ago?”
She inhales a deep breath, grabs a Danish, and bites off a huge chunk of it, allowing the crumbs to fall into her lap. I watch her with amusement. Does she think that somehow makes her unattractive to me? There’s nothing she could do that would make me not want her.
“So, chop-chop.” I nod at the food in her hand.
“Once again, why are you here?”
“To help with the pictures.”
“I told you I had it handled.” She takes another angry bite of the delicate pastry. The French would be offended.
“Turns out you don’t, because I got a wake-up call from Declan’s mommy.”
Her face falls, and I can tell she’s irritated his mom called me and not her. Her shoulders sink. “Where are we going?”
