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“All good?” I asked, clearing my throat.
“Yep, all good. She appreciated the call and was grateful that I decided to stay since there’s supposed to be a storm moving in.”
“See, I told you.” I winked, moving toward the box of goods she’d brought up.
Rae stepped closer, “I’m starving.”
“Great, want to eat it at the table? I, uh—” Shit, I felt like a high schooler again. “I bought champagne.”
“You did?” The shock in her voice told me about as much as I needed to know regarding where she thought this night might go. She assumed it was just a booty call. Would it freak her out to know that this was the furthest thing from it?
“Honestly, I’m wiped from the long day. Would it be okay if we kept things a little more relaxed tonight? What if we watch a movie while we eat?”
Picturing Rae lying on my chest, her hair tangled around my fingers while a movie played in the background, did something to me. An odd ache bloomed that I never knew existed before.
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
“Do you have plates, or?”
I grabbed two forks. “Let’s just share it.”
She smiled, sauntering to the couch.
Settling in next to her, I started a movie, and she set the chicken pot pie between us, each of us taking turns to dig in. Occasionally, I’d stop and stare at her profile as she laughed or mouthed the words to the film. It was an older movie, debuting in the ’90s, but she must have seen it a thousand times for how well she knew the scenes.
I liked watching her. I liked having her in my space. She was like a little ball of light, captured and held here, just for me. She had her phone out, wanting to take a picture of the dogs while they slept, and I decided to do the same, except I captured her—the way she looked at my dogs, the way her hair fell over her shoulder, the way the denim clung to her ass and thighs.
Maybe it made me a creep, but I needed something of Rae’s that was just mine. Some part of her light that I got to keep, no matter what.
Once the pie was finished, the tin tray left behind on the coffee table, Rae tucked her legs under her and relaxed into my side.
Wrapping an arm around her, I pulled her close, right as the dark sky outside lit up like a Christmas tree, followed by a crack of thunder.
With a gasp, she sat up. “I thought you said it was snow that was coming.”
Stroking her arm, I tried to get her to relax. “Guess it’s rain.”
With one last glance outside, she deflated into my side once more, until another loud boom sounded above us, followed by a streak of light and the power blinking out. The only light we had was the fire.
“Oh my gosh, the power is out!”
“It’ll pop back on in a bit. This is normal. Us mountain dwellers have to deal with pretty bad storms from time to time. You get used to it.”
“Is your house all locked up though?” she asked nervously.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m serious! You never know if there’s some crazy person out there, just waiting for the power to go out so they can break in and murder you in your sleep.”
“Well, to answer your question: yes, all the doors are locked. I have a security system in place, with cameras and motion detectors that run off a generator. I also have two dogs who’d lose their fucking minds if anyone so much as fogged up one of my windows.”
She relaxed once more, letting out a long yawn. “Guess you’re right about that. Sorry, New York wasn’t like this. If the power went out, it was a bad night, and I definitely wouldn’t be sleeping, but mostly because of the roaches.”
“What?”
Groaning, she brought her hands up to cover her face. “Please don’t tell my parents.”
“Look, I think you’re tired. Why don’t we go to bed?”
