The last mug passes between us. I'm standing close enough to feel the heat coming off him. He turns off the water and doesn't move away.
For a moment, we just stand there, side by side in the kitchen. It feels easy. Unfamiliar, but easy.
We migrate to the couch. I put on the medical drama I started the night before, the gritty one where nobody gets clean resolutions.
“What's this?”
“Trust me.”
I start explaining the characters. Who's sleeping with whom, which storyline makes me cry every time. I'm gesturing with my hands, probably talking too fast.
Kai watches me more than the screen. I steal glances at him too.
He winces when a trauma patient flatlines, mutters “that's a lawsuit” during a confrontation between doctors, laughs at the dry humor of the night shift nurse. When the storyline I warned him about hits its peak, he goes quiet.
“Told you,” I say softly.
“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “You did.”
Two episodes in, I pause. “Don't you have somewhere to be? Work? Meetings?”
“There are advantages to owning your company.”
“Do you do this often? Take random days off?”
His eyes meet mine. “First time.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls whose couch you crash on.”
He winks. “Only the ones who cook me breakfast.”
I can't help the smile spreading across my face.
Another episode passes. I shift, pull my legs up, and wince. My feet are aching, a dull throb I've been ignoring all morning.
“You okay?”
“Fine.” I reach down, rubbing at the arch of my foot. “Just those heels from work. And before you say anything, I love the shoes you got me. After several hours, all heels are uncomfortable.”
Kai's eyes drop to my feet, then back to my face.
“Lie down.”
I blink. “What?”
“Lie down and give me your feet.”
“Feet are personal,” I blurt out, then immediately want to die.Feet are personal?What am I, a Victorian maiden?
Kai chuckles, slow and warm. “I'm aware.”
Before I can protest, he lifts my legs, settles them across his lap. His hands find my right foot, thumbs pressing into the arch with exactly the right pressure.
A moan escapes before I can stop it. Loud and embarrassingly deep. Heat floods my face.
“Oh my God.” I press my hands over my eyes. “I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to?—“
“If I'd known this was all it took to hear you moan,” Kai says, voice warm with amusement, “I would have offered sooner.”
