She kept the lights off—although it was fully daylight outside at this point anyway—running through the routine the way she always did in the middle of the night. When she climbed back into bed, Eve had rolled over and was mumbling in her sleep. Josie set another alarm, in case neither of them woke before the next feeding, and drifted back to sleep.
The next time she woke, the bed was empty, and the smell of coffee permeated the apartment. Josie squinted, bringing the clock into focus before her sleep-blurred eyes. It was almost one o’clock in the afternoon. Ugh. Going to bed at sunrise really threw off her whole day. But, judging by the sounds coming from the kitchen, Eve was still here, and…that changed everything.
Josie stretched, smiling despite the fatigue still clinging to her body. It hadn’t been a good night’s sleep, but there was a very good reason for that, so she really couldn’t complain. She hauled herself out of bed and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Then, stifling a yawn, she headed into the living room to find Eve—still wearing the pink T-shirt—on the couch feeding Pippin. Nigel sat beside her, watching her intently.
She looked up. “Good morning…or afternoon, depending on your perspective.”
“Yeah. I’m all out of whack.” She dropped onto the couch next to Eve. “Who still needs to be fed?”
“No one. He’s the last.” She rubbed Pippin’s gray head as she looked at Josie, and wow, barefaced-fresh-from-bed Eve was breathtaking. There was a youth and an innocence to her with sleep-mussed hair and Josie’s oversized T-shirt hanging off her left shoulder.
“Thanks for feeding them.”
“Well, since you let me sleep through their last feeding, I figured the least I could do is return the favor.” Eve finished up with Pippin and set him in the playpen, glancing at Nigel, who was still watching her every move. “I’m not sure your cat likes me.”
“Nah, he’s just nosy,” Josie said with a grin.
Eve gave him a skeptical look, then stood to clean up the feeding supplies.
“Want breakfast?” Josie asked as she followed her into the kitchen.
“It’s past one,” Eve pointed out.
Josie shrugged. “It’s what happens when you spend the night with a bartender. We have dinner at six a.m. and breakfast at one.”
“I need to go,” Eve said, rinsing bottles at the sink.
“Got plans today?”
She hesitated just long enough for Josie to realize that if she’d gotten up five minutes later, Eve would have been long gone. “Look, I don’t do this.” She gestured around the apartment at large, glancing at Josie with an apology in her eyes. “Not anymore.”
Josie folded her arms over her chest, argument dying on her tongue.Not anymore.Because Eve had done this before, all of it. As hard as it was for Josie to picture her as part of anything as domestic as this morning after, borrowed T-shirts and awkward conversations, Eve had been married. She’d lived a life a million times more domestic than anything Josie herself had experienced.
“You can leave now if you want, but that doesn’t make me one of your one-night stands,” Josie said quietly.
Eve kept her back turned as she wiped down the kitchen counter.
“I have muffins in the pantry. Or I’ll see you on Monday for work. Tuesday, actually, because the bar’s closed on Monday. Your choice.”
Eve smoothed her hands over the front of the T-shirt before reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears, flattening it beneath her palms. She turned to face Josie. “What kind of muffins?”
Josie hid her smile. “Coffee cake and chocolate chip. I have a sweet tooth in the morning.”
Eve’s lips twitched as if she were hiding a smile of her own. “I don’t usually, but today I think I might.”
“I’m rubbing off on you.” She nudged her shoulder against Eve’s as she walked to the pantry and pulled out the box of muffins. She set it on the counter so Eve could help herself and reached up for two coffee mugs, since Eve had already brewed a pot for them.She was planning to leave, but she still made me coffee.Josie grinned as she poured herself a cup. She got out the milk and sugar, and they prepared their breakfast quietly, carrying muffins and coffee into the living room to eat. “I have to be back downstairs in just a few hours.”
“Weekends are busy for you,” Eve said, breaking off a little piece of her muffin and popping it into her mouth. Of course she’d eat it that way.
Josie lifted the whole thing and took a big bite, chewing thoughtfully. “Weekends are exhausting.”
“I bet.”
“Will I see you? You know, before Tuesday?” she asked cautiously. “I mean, just for the record, I had a really good time last night, and I’d really like to do this again…preferably when we could actually spend a whole night together instead of going to bed at daybreak.”
“Latest night I’ve had in ages,” Eve agreed, carefully avoiding the question.
“Well, you know where to find me, if you decide you want to,” Josie said, realizing she had no idea where Eve lived. It was disconcerting when she thought of how often Eve had been in her apartment over the last two weeks. Granted, it had been primarily for the sake of the kittens, but still.
