A grin overtakes my face. “I knew it.”
“You knew nothing.” His eyes crinkle. “You don’t even know about the model airplanes I had to build.”
“So, what does this mean?” I hesitate, worrying my bottom lip for a moment. My heart pounds, my pulse accelerating. “Are you moving to Texas as well? To be closer to family?”
He’s silent for a moment. “I think it’s time I do my own thing.” My heart drums even faster. “Know a good area to move to?”
“I heard they’re building a bunch of luxury homes in this certain beach town in the state of South Carolina,” I say. “If you’re looking for a change in scenery.”
He levels me with an arched expression, and my grin widens. “On my clown salary?”
With a loud snort, I blurt out, “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” he says. “At least there’s one good thing about working remotely.”
“You don’t have to deal with office politics? Water cooler small talk? Lunch thieves?”
Laughter lines form around his gorgeous eyes. “I can work anywhere next year when my lease is up,” he says. “Perhaps I’ll be in the same city with a certain chatbot?”
“Ooh, I like where this is going,” I say, and he dips his head, burying his face against my neck with a deep laugh.
“Me too, Bee.” His nose skirts against my fluttering pulse point, and he holds me firm and steady in his arms. “I like where this is going, too.”
20
ETHAN
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH
My alarm jolts me awake.I’m experiencing what can only be déjà vu when I feel pressure on my neck and shoulder. Vision bleary, it takes a few seconds for my panic to subside when I realize there’s an orange tabby conked out on top of my bare chest.
I don’t know if Barbie knows this, but she sleeps a lot like her cat—body sprawled out in a position that has to be uncomfortable for literally any other human being.
Glancing over, the other half of the bed is empty. Barbie’s not here.
Pie goes limp in my hands when I lift him off of me, meowing pitifully when I lay him down on the mattress. After scratching him under the chin for a minute, I head out of the bedroom and stop short when I see Barbie dancing. Badly.
In the kitchen, while wearing my shirt that goes to her thighs, Barbie is humming the jingle to some old commercial for structured settlement as she shimmies her shoulders in front of the stove.
She startles when I make my way over.
“You’re making pancakes?”
“Unless you want granola bars for breakfast,” Barbie says, sighing blissfully when I tuck my arms around her waist and sneak a kiss to the crown of her head. “We’re having some pancakes with fruit. Bell and I usually go grocery shopping on Sunday?—”
“Pancakes are more than enough,” I say, eyeing the plate of mangoes she’s already sliced up. Then I pass off a snort as a yawn when she flips the pancake over in the skillet, and I see a squiggly smiley face on it. “I could have helped?—”
“It’s fine. I wanted to surprise you. Food prepared by someone else always tastes better,” she says. “So, when you make me a five-course meal later today—” A shriek erupts from her when I gently scrape my teeth on the tip of her ear. “All right, all right. I’ll settle for homemade pistachio ice cream, where you hand-select each—” She dissolves into giggles while she tries to wriggle out of my arms, laughing harder as I nip her ear again.
Amusement courses through my veins when I get a better look at the stack of pancakes. She’s writtenB&E Dream Teamon the one on the top that’s shaped like a heart. “How about I buy you donut holes later?”
“You drive a hard bargain, Ethan.” She leans into me. “I can’t wait to do things and have some fun with you.”
“Some fun like last night?” I ask, squeezing her hips.
She gasps and playfully swats my hand. “Ethan, my sister is asleep in her room.”
“Not that kind of fun,” I say. “We should make the most of today before I drive back to Oregon tomorrow morning.”
