Noah’s jaw dropped in a look of sheer delight, and AJ covered her mouth with her hand.
“I didn’t say it,” she muttered.
Noah shook his head, laughing silently. “She’s not even in herurnyet.”
He washed his hands and placed a mug of fresh coffee in front of AJ. He watched her pick it up and tentatively take a sip. “Well?”
“That’s annoyingly good,” she said.
Noah looked pleased. “You need to eat something.”
“Why?”
Noah shrugged. “What if we want to go on a run later?”
AJ could tell instantly he’d been working up to this and was so happy he wanted to spend more time with her, she would probably have tried his appalling sardine dish. “Toast?” she offered.
Noah grinned and threw a couple pieces of bread in the toaster. AJ sipped her coffee and nibbled her toast as Noah pulled out the stool beside her and housed his aggressive omega-3 concoction in under three minutes. As they finished, AJ frowned.
“Yes?” he asked, wiping his mouth on a piece of paper towel. AJ hadn’t even seen him look up.
“I don’t have anything with me.”
Technically, she had one change of clothes at her parents’ house. AJ felt her face color when she recalled that they had all been expecting her home at some point last night.
Noah met her eyes. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “That’s fixable.”
They headed up to his room and AJ donned her dress from the day before while Noah pulled on a gray T-shirt and jeans. As they changed, they joked about this and that—Noah’s collection of incognito-wear, AJ’s post-funeral walk of shame. Neither of them touched the unmade bed.
Evidently Noah still drove his red Camaro when he was home. As they sped down the mountain, he filled AJ in on Drew House’s slow remodel. Apparently, he’d done a lot of the work himself.
“I did notice your room makes an abrupt departure in sconce style,” she said.
Noah checked the rearview. “The plan was for Eudora to take that room so she could be more comfortable, but when the time came, she naturally refused.” He shook his head. “Imighthave gone on a rewiring bender.”
AJ smiled. The more they talked, the less anxious she felt. This was a new kind of scene, one where she truly didn’t know her next line until it was her turn to speak. But he was in it with her.
The turn signal clicked on, and they pulled into a strip mall.
“I figured we’ll try T.J.’s first and go from there,” said Noah lightly.
AJ’s eyes swiveled toward him as he parked; his cheeks were tinged with pink. “Oh my God,” she said. “You love T.J. Maxx.”
“Stop,” he said, his cheeks now fully red.
AJ was beside herself. “You want to marry T.J. Maxx.”
“It’s called T.J.’s,” he said, tugging on a baseball cap and getting out of the car.
They found a cart and began to roam the aisles. As they walked, Noah made little knowing comments like “Twenty-five percent off cowls…not bad” and “This used to be in aisle seven.”
“How often do you come here?” asked AJ as they turned into the women’s clothing section.
Noah shrugged. “Pretty often,” he said. “I used to work here when I was in high school, back when it was Caldor. And then being home so much…it’s a nice place to take a break. No one here gives a flying fuck who I am—they’re all stoned. Sometimes I just come by and walk around. The guy who does the outdoor goods section has a real artistic flair.”
He tossed a sports bra to AJ—it was her exact size. She raised a brow, and he winked almost imperceptibly. Then he threw in a seven-pack of underwear for good measure.
They entered the shoe section, and AJ selected a pair of sneakers.
