She hesitated and searched his face before speaking again.“What the heck — I’m just going to say it.I feel at home withyou, Jake.”
He brushed her hair away from her face and leaned in to claim her mouth in a deep, slow kiss that he hoped could tell her just how much at home he felt with her.
Chapter Fourteen
Savannah looked up when Harvey stuck his head out through the door from the office and called, “I’m going to head on home.You kids should think about heading out soon.”
She frowned and looked around for Jake.He was doing an oil change on Cara’s Civic, and she’d been under the hood of the Explorer, double-checking his radiator installation and topping off the coolant.She wanted to tell Harvey he didn’t need to leave because of her.He’d said he was going to go just after lunch, but they’d talked him out of it.
As much as she appreciated him wanting to give her and Jake time alone together — and she knew Jake did, too — this wasn’t about that.Of course she was enjoying working alongside Jake, but if she was going to do it on any kind of regular basis, she didn’t want to feel like she was chasing Harvey out of here every time.
Jake came over, wiping his hands on a rag.She knew he was thinking the same thing when he said, “You don’t need to go yet, Harvey.”
She loved the sound of Harvey’s raspy laugh — she always had — but she had to bite back her own smile when he said, “I’ll stick around if you need me to, boss.But I’m about ready to get home and watch my shows.”
Savannah checked her watch and was shocked to see that it was already five o’clock.
Harvey laughed again.“It’s true what they say — time sure does fly when you’re having fun.And I reckon all three of us have had fun this afternoon.You two look like you’ve worked together forever.And I won’t say I was shirking on my paperwork, but I can tell you that whenever I looked through the window, it was fun for me to watch.”
Savannah went to him and gave him a hug.“I’ve enjoyed every minute of this.”
“I have as well, Savvie,” he said, giving her a squeeze before he stepped back.“I’m hoping this won’t be the last time we do it, either.”He winked at her before jerking his chin toward Jake.“But I guess that’ll be up to the boss.And I reckon if I get out of the way, you might stand a better chance of persuading him without me around.”
She rolled her eyes at him, and Jake chuckled.“We all know that I hope we’ll have lots more days like this.”
He shook Harvey’s hand and pulled him into one of those one-armed man hugs that always made Savannah wonder why they couldn’t just come out and hug each other for real.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Harvey.Thanks again.”
Harvey chuckled and told Savannah, “I reckon the world would be a better place if there were more bosses like Jake who thank their staff at the end of every day.”
Jake punched his arm gently.“You’ve never even had a boss before, have you?And we both know you’re the one pulling the strings around here anyway.”
He and Savannah smiled at each other as Harvey turned and ambled out to his car, his laughter ringing in their ears.He waved as he pulled away, and Jake slung his arm around Savannah’s shoulders.
“Sorry I kept us working so late.”
She shook her head.“It’s not late, and I didn’t even notice.I was the same as you — I was about to tell Harvey he didn’t need to leave so early just because of me.”
“Well, we can call it a day now.Do you need to get going, or do you want to help me close up?”
Her heart sank.She hadn’t realized it was this late, and she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him.
He leaned in to brush his lips over hers.“What do you think?Just because we’re closing up here…” He gave a small grin.“I shouldn’t even ask.You probably want to go home and put your feet up — thisisyour day off, after all.But I’m going to ask anyway.What are you doing this evening?Do you want to hang out?”
She grinned.“I’d love to.I don’t feel like going out or anything, but…”
“It’s okay if you’ve realized you have other stuff you need to do.”A small smile played on his lips.“I can just go sit at home and pine for you.No pressure or anything.”
She slapped his arm.“It’s not that I have to do something else.It’s just that I was going to say it would be nice to spend a chill evening just hanging out — eat something easy to make and maybe watch a movie or something.But then it hit me.”
“What did?”
“We don’t have anywhere we can do that.I mean, we do, but Josh is home at your place, and Tiff’s at the apartment.Not that I have anything against either of them — I love them both, you know that — it’s just…”
He nodded slowly.“You’re right.It’s not ideal, is it?”
She lifted a shoulder.“Life rarely is.But that doesn’t mean we can’t make the most of it.What do you think?Do you want to come over to the apartment?I know Tiff won’t mind — she keeps telling me I should invite you over.And if we watch a movie or something, she’s fun to hang out with.”
