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‘Baby, you won’t need clothes for what I have in mind.’
She throws her head back on a laugh. ‘Okay, Romeo. Whilst I would love to say yes to indulging your bachelor fantasies, I’m working today.’
‘Then we’d better make the most of this morning.’
She gives me a cheeky, lopsided grin. ‘Do you have no shame?’
‘Nope. Especially not on a hangover.’ Thankfully, she laughs with me, though I’m not entirely joking. One word from her and I would ravage her in that dress. My member is still chastising me for not closing the deal last night after that intense cab ride. In fact, being kind to myself, I suggest, ‘Why don’t you go and pull something from my closet to wear? I’ll keep an eye on this stuff.’
‘This stuff is eggs Benedict, and if you mess it up, there’ll be bloody murder.’
She ruffles my hair as she walks by. I’m happy we had our talk last night because waking up like this with her is a hell of a lot better than waking up to an empty apartment. The only thing better would have been waking up sated and next to her.
She comes back in a white T-shirt. Only a white T-shirt. I look to the heavens because I need the big man’s help here.
I watch her bare legs move as she plates our breakfast and comes to sit on the stool next to me to eat, pulling one knee into her chest.
She asks about my friends. She starts with Kit and Madge, then Brooks and Marty. I suspect she ends up where she really wanted to start: with Sarah.
‘You two are really close, huh?’
‘We’ve known each other for years.’
‘Have you… ever… you know?’
‘Sarah and I? No. Never. I was actually good friends with her husband before her. He was a great guy.’
‘Sarah’s married?’
‘He died in a motorbike accident.’
‘Wow, that’s awful. She never told me.’
I shrug. ‘I guess some things are hard to talk about, especially when you’re getting to know someone. I think sometimes it’s easier for her to be single than widowed.’
I could try for an eternity and still fail to read the look Becky gives me now. She eventually casts her attention down to her hands in her lap. ‘I can understand that. Sometimes, with these things, it’s all about timing, don’t you think?’
I watch her twist her fingers around each other, waiting for more, but it doesn’t come. Whatever she holds inside is painful, that much I can take an easy stab at.
‘Timing and the right pair of ears listening.’
She looks up to me and the somber air of just moments ago is gone. ‘Well, I’ve finished my breakfast.’
I guess today won’t be the day she lets me in. I gesture to my empty plate. ‘Would you look at that. Me too.’
‘If you have no objections, I think I’ll take a shower.’
I shove my plate aside. ‘The hell I do.’ I lunge from my stool and hoist her over my shoulder. ‘You won’t ever have to ask me twice, Becky.’ She squeals with laughter as we run to the bathroom. It’s a sound I am rapidly coming to love.
* * *
Becky left around three to go home and change before her shift at the restaurant. It was strange to feel a sense of loss once she’d gone, as if she’d taken one of my limbs with her. My apartment seemed empty, lifeless and gray, even though nothing had changed. It was quiet, so quiet it started to get on my nerves. Usually, I like my apartment to be filled with silence, or music, but definitely not voices. Not when I spend so many hours a day in an office full of people. Today, it was too quiet.
I was grateful for Jake’s Facetime call from London around five. He was getting ready to go out for the night. That’s my kid brother. He keeps the hours he likes, trading in stocks and shares during market hours, or until he’s made enough money for the day. Then he’s done. His free time is his, and he likes to fill it with drink and women. I can understand that.
After his call, I made myself coffee and avocado on toast, courtesy of the shopping Becky did. I wandered around my penthouse. I put on some music and thought about Becky. That’s what I’m doing now. Sitting on the sofa, overthinking. How amazing we are in bed together. How well we get along; we can talk and she makes me laugh as not many people can. How nice it was to have her in my apartment, making us breakfast in my kitchen. I don’t get bored of her company.
I know I’m starting to let her in. I can feel her slowly penetrating my walls, slowly working her way into my mind and my heart. I’d be lying if I said she didn’t already have some kind of hold over me. The only thing I’m not sure of is whether it’s a little more than friendship or a hell of a lot more.
