She looks down and then looks back up at him, the shield up. “I know,” she replies.
“It’s nice to have you,” he says, and her mouth opens a bit in shock.
“It’s nice to be here.” She looks at me, and I can’t help but smile at her.
I lean in to kiss her again. “What do you want to eat?” I ask her.
Brady has his own shocked look, which he quickly covers with a huge smile. If anyone knows how I’ve been, it’s Brady, since this used to be my go-to to pick up women.
“I guess this is why we haven’t seen you around.” He motions with his chin to me. “This is better.”
“Don’t I know it.” I put my arm around Collins’s shoulders and pull her to me, kissing the side of her head.
“I don’t know if that’s code or anything,” Collins says, “but thanks.”
She makes us all laugh, and I feel her guard go down as I order food. She orders the same thing.
The meal is quick, and when I see it’s almost eight, I push away from the table. “This was fun”—I look at Caleb—“but Collins works at three in the morning, and she has to get to bed by nine.”
“That’s in an hour,” Caleb teases me.
“Yeah, well, we have things to do before.” A gasp flies out of Collins’s mouth at the same time Sierra throws her head back and laughs.
“Don’t feel bad,” Sierra says. “When I was in the hospital, he climbed into the bed with me and refused to move when the doctor came in.”
“He wasn’t a doctor,” Caleb tries to defend himself.
“He was a resident,” Sierra clarifies, “and you made sure he knew I was spoken for.”
“Fucking right.” Caleb folds his arms over his chest. “He was giving you googly eyes every single time he came to ‘check up on you.’” He uses quotation marks for the last part of the sentence. “You were fine.”
“We have to do this again soon,” Sierra suggests, “but at our house, so it’s quieter.”
“I would love that.” Collins gets up. “I’m off this weekend again.”
“That’s good to know,” I interject, slipping my hand in hers as we say goodbye and walk out of the restaurant.
“Aren’t you going to pay?” she asks me, and I shake my head.
“Caleb will get it.” She looks over her shoulder toward Caleb, who now has his hand in Sierra’s as he kisses her fingers and tosses his card down. “So you’re off this weekend?”
“Yeah, I traded with someone else who needed next weekend off.”
“So we get the whole weekend?” I look at her sideways. “The whole weekend where we can lock the doors and just be together.”
She throws her head back and bursts out laughing, making me stop in the middle of the street. I turn to her and wrap my free hand around her neck. “Will you stay with me at my house this weekend?” I ask her softly, taking our joined hands and wrapping them around her waist. “Just this weekend, and then after you can decide.”
Her free hand comes up and she rubs my lips with her thumb. “Fine, we’ll spend the weekend at your place.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
COLLINS
I walk out of the bathroom to an empty bed and noises coming from the kitchen. The smell of bacon fills the bedroom.
I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s been three days since I have been staying with Caleb, and even though he doesn’t drive me to work anymore, he still gets up to prepare my lunch bag. I shake my head as I join him in the kitchen. The lights are on softly as he zips up the big red bag he bought me the day before. The old bag wasn’t good enough since it wasn’t insulated, he said. This bag has a section where I can put an ice pack, so it can keep my fruit cool.
“I made you a breakfast sandwich.” He pushes the plate on the island. “Do you have time to eat it now, or do you have to go?”
