“Deal,” she breathed, her eyes still closed.
“How’s your back?”
“So much better.” She opened her eyes and gazed up at him through a fringe of lashes. “You did a great job. I’m hiring you as my personal masseuse. All you have to do is carry my things and rub my shoulders twenty-four seven.”
Elias grinned. “Is that all?”
Wren glanced at the stove. “Breakfast is nice, too. I’ll let you do that.”
God, he loved her banter.
Wren dropped her act. “Seriously, thank you for making breakfast. It looks like you went to a lot of effort.”
Elias shrugged. “It’s just some breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast here in a sec. I wanted to wait until you got up. Nobody likes cold toast.”
“Very true.”
Elias gave her a squeeze before letting her go and dropping two slices of bread into the toaster. “Figured you’d be hungry after last night.”
“Starving, actually.” She glanced back at the breakfast table beside the kitchen, noticing the two places he’d set up, complete with glasses of orange juice and steaming mugs of coffee. “Seriously, you really thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“Just trying to take care of you,” he said, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.
Her eyes went soft and she looked away. “Thank you.”
“Hey.” Elias slipped his thumb under her chin and turned her face back to him. “I like this. Taking care of you.”
“It’s the EMT in you.”
Elias shook his head. “Yeah, okay, you’re right. That’s why I need the scrubs top back. It’s my last one since I give them out to all my naked patients on the regular.”
Wren giggled.
“First point of the day goes to me.” He made a tick mark in the air.
“Dang it!”
“And none of this, ‘oh I didn’t keep track so I win’ BS.”
“I didn’t say I’d win. I said we’d be tied.”
Elias grinned and started for the toast when it popped up but Wren beat him to it.
“Let me help at least a little bit,” she said as she plated the slices and looked around for the butter.
“On the table, babe.” The affectionate term rolled off his lips without thinking. He noticed her cheeks pinken along with her sweet smile and wondered if she wasn’t used to being called babe.
That’s gonna change.
Elias carried the rest of the food to the table and set it down. He held out her chair for her then spread a cloth napkin across her lap as soon as she sat down.
“Fancy.”
“What do you mean?” He blinked at her as he sat across the table. “I spread napkins across Penny and Chuck’s laps for every meal. Anything less is just savage.”
Wren rolled her lips in and her shoulders shook while she sliced off a square of butter for her toast. “Right. Savage.” She glanced down at Penny who’d parked herself beside the chair. “Did I steal your chair, too?”
“You did, actually, but she’s playing the long game.”
