I pushed her shoulder and rolled my eyes. "Shut up. I never claimed to be anything but a mortal."
"Maybe not but I've always wondered. You don't let things affect you like the rest of us. I've always envied that about you."
Damn, my friend knew how to build me up when I needed it the most. I pulled her into a hug and whispered, "What do I do? Tell me what to do because I'm out of my element, and it's freaking me out."
"Text him back. Tell him you're not mad about him waking you up and see how it goes from there. He's probably just as flustered as you are. This is new territory for both of you."
Stepping back, I stared into Elle's sincere eyes. "We're both a piece of work, huh? Two people incapable of relationships, and we end up married."
My friend snickered. "I mean it is a bit ironic. Never in a million years would I have guessed that's what you were going to tell me when I picked you up from the airport."
I laughed with her. "Trust me, no one was more surprised than me."
"I can imagine. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall when you woke up in bed with him."
A sneaky snort slipped out before I could stop it. "I'm sure you would've laughed your ass off."
"Absolutely. Now are you going to text him back or what?"
I slowly let out a breath. "Yes."
"Now?" Elle chuckled, and I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, now. Geesh." I unlocked my phone and stared at the short text thread. And by short I meant just the two texts from Parker.
Molly
No need to apologize. My phone is on silent anyway, so it didn't wake me up. My day was good. How about yours?
"There, are you happy?"
Elle beamed. "Immensely. Now I need to go pick up Savannah from the sitter’s. I'm still not used to leaving her for the day."
“Give her kisses for me and tell her Aunty Molly misses her.”
I watched Elle walk to her own vehicle, and with a wave, she answered, “I will. Love you, bitch.”
I didn’t bother to hide the snicker. “Love you too.”
I waited to check my phone for a response from Parker until after I had my seat belt buckled but before I turned the car on.
Sure enough there was a message waiting for me.
Parker
Slow. We are between assignments at the moment, so there isn’t much for me to do.
I quickly typed out my reply.
Molly
If you’re between assignments, then why did you wake up so early?
Dropping the phone into the cup holder, I turned on the car and got ready to back out of my spot. I barely switched the car into reverse when the shrill of my phone rang through the speakers loud enough that I jumped in my seat. I debated hitting the decline button when I saw it was Parker calling. Then I thought about what Elle said and decided against it.
“You know most people stick to texting these days. I don’t know anyone who actually calls to talk,” I said to him in lieu of a greeting.
“You’ll discover I’m not most people.”
