“Nate?” she whispered with a smile as she tiptoed toward his bed with a glass of cold water in her hand.
“McKenna,” he said with a contented sigh as his hand found hers and tugged her down next to him on the bed.
She leaned over to place the water next to his glasses on his nightstand, then started combing her fingers through his hair. His eyes drifted shut. “How’s your headache? Better?”
“Mmm. Much,” he said with the type of drowsy rumble that made a girl think about what it would be like to climb under the covers and explore that rumble a little further.Hey.She shook her head.Thoughts above the covers, girl.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry I woke you. I’ll let you keep resting.”
He cradled her hand tighter against his chest. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Couple hours. None of us have eaten yet. Gus is throwing something together for supper if you’re up for it.”
He made a noncommittal sound. Pretty much how they all felt when it came to Gus’s cooking.
She continued combing her fingers through his hair. “It was the guy with the banjo that sent you over the edge, wasn’t it?”
“He certainly didn’t help.”
McKenna trailed her finger from his hair down to his forehead, sweeping back and forth above his eyebrows, then down to his nose. His sandpapery cheeks. She smiled, thinking how right she’d been from the very start. Nate Lambert was not terrible to look at. “Need anything? Cold washcloth? Fan? Toast?”
“I’m okay, but thanks. I’ll take a shower and be down in a bit.”
“How often do you get headaches like that?” She ran her finger over his top lip, pausing on his slight Cupid’s bow.
“Not often. Just when I’m really stressed.”
“What had you stressed today?” She traced his full bottom lip.
“Too much driving. Too much caffeine. Not enough kissing.” He cracked one eye open, those lovely lips of his curving in a sleepy smile.
“That does sound stressful.” She gave his bottom lip a playful tap, then stood and opened his blinds to let in the last orange glow of daylight. “I’ll let you shower. Just a heads up if you do come down for supper, Georgie said something about making us try each of her pickle salad recipes blindfolded this evening.”
“I’ll be sure to take a very long shower.”
“Don’t blame you.” She paused next to his doorway uncertain she should say this next bit or not.
“What is it?” He was watching her from the bed with one elbow bent behind his head. How did he always seem to know when she had something to say? “You’re biting your lip,” he said in answer to her unspoken question.
“Ah. Remind me to never play poker.” She freed her bottom lip and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I’m not sure if this will add to your stress or help, but while you were sleeping I may have taken a little gander online at what sort of photography opportunities and living spaces are available in New York.”
“Really?” He lowered his arm and sat straight up.
“Yeah. Brooklyn. I hear it’s a great place.”
He growled and tossed a pillow at her.
“Or maybe it was Buffalo. I don’t know. Aren’t they practically the same?” she teased, tossing the pillow back at him.
“Find any possibilities while you were looking?”
“A couple. Figure there’s no point in reaching out about anything just yet. Not until we see how the rest of this week goes. Can you believe Harry gets here tomorrow?”
“Hey, McKenna?” Nate said, still sitting on the bed watching her as she started to turn for the door. “It helps. Definitely helps.”
She smiled and ducked out before she did something foolish, like tackle Nate backwards on the bed with some of those kisses he’d mentioned missing out on earlier.
But today was only Wednesday. They still had three days until the proposal. Once they made it past Saturday, she and Nate could take a more serious look at possibilities in Buffalo. For now, they needed to stay focused. Before the big moment this Saturday, they needed to survive the first big moment happening in less than twenty-four hours.
