“What?” He glanced at me, then the book. “Oh, yeah. It’s a real horse anatomy book for vets.”
He got sucked back in immediately, so I let him be and went to make myself some nourishment.
I was finishing my very late breakfast when the office door opened and Lake and Ben emerged.
“Hey, long night?” Lake asked as he came to me and leaned down to kiss my cheek.
I noticed Ben frown slightly as he looked away from us.
“Very. Dr. Cobb is asking Krystal to take my shift.”
“Good. You needed rest.” Lake, unsurprisingly, went to the coffee maker after snatching my empty mug.
I took my plate to the sink and waited for Lake to make my coffee first. He gave it to me, and I went to one of the comfy couches in the living room.
Lake made Ben’s next, so he took his mug and hovered awkwardly.
“Come sit with me,” I called out to him.
Lake began to make himself something more indulgent, because he got out his milk frother thingy and turned purposefully so that it looked like he wasn’t paying any attention to us.
Ben seemed to hesitate, then carefully walked with his coffee and sat on the couch next to me.
“Hi.” I grinned.
He flushed a little. “Hello.”
“How has your workday been?”
He smiled. “It’s been good. We’re getting close to being done with the manuscript, actually.”
That jolted something within me. I’d thought we’d have more time. “Oh.”
He must’ve heard the sadness in my tone, because he reached for my hand. Squeezing my fingers, he said, “I’ll be back though. I’ll have another client booked after Lake, so that’s when the manuscript goes to Maria and the publisher’s rep, but once they’re done with it, I’ll be back again.”
I squeezed his hand, enjoying the contact more than I could explain. “Okay. That’s…that’s good.”
He nodded solemnly, then smiled a bit. “Yeah, I think so, too.”
“Maybe we could…I don’t know, text while you’re gone?”
Ben beamed at me. “Yeah, I…I’d like that.”
“Score!” Lake announced from the kitchen. “My very first—okay, I don’t even know what to call this, but it looks good.” He turned around to show us some sort of coffee monstrosity in a tall glass.
“That looks disturbing,” Rey called from his spot.
I frowned at Lake’s concoction. “What the kid said.”
“Sorry, but I got to agree with them,” Ben added.
“Yeah, yeah…you bullies.” Lake sniffed with theatrics more fitting to me, and then grinned. “Time for a final push for the day?” he asked Ben.
“Yeah, sure.” Ben seemed to realize we were still holding hands. “Oh,” he breathed. Then he blushed a little, got to his feet, and turned to follow Lake.
At the last moment, he turned back to me, carefully balanced his coffee, and leaned down to kiss my cheek. Without making eye contact, he left me there, stunned and blushing.
Once the office door closed behind him, I heard an amused sound from the back door.
