If Tomorrow Never Comes

Chapter Twenty-Seven Elliott

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elliott

Elliott woke up before Jamie. She considered tucking herself under his arm and going back to sleep, but the aroma of freshly brewed coffee pulled her from the warmth of the bed. She cast a quick look at the man sleeping there before she opened the door.

Jamie was on his stomach, his arms forward and hands buried under the pillow, feet hanging off the edge. The comforter was perfectly positioned to expose most of his toned legs and muscled back, and when her eyes traveled back up to his messy, dark-blond hair, the temptation to curl back up with him was dangerously strong. But she hadn’t seen her parents in a while, and it might be nice to have a little alone time with them.

She crept downstairs and found her mom at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Hank, who had slept downstairs next to Dodger, immediately greeted her, his tail going crazy.

“Morning,” Elliott greeted her.

“Good morning. Coffee’s fresh.”

Elliott was already reaching for a ceramic mug. “Smells divine.”

“Got it at this new coffee shop down the street. They roast it in-house.”

After pouring liquid gold to the brim, Elliott joined her at the table and took a sip. “So good.”

“I think so, too.” Her mom eyed her over the rim of her own cup. “How’d you sleep?”

She kept her eyes on the table. “Great, thanks.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Elliott scrunched her nose and scratched her temple. “Anyway, what do you think of Jamie?”

“I like him.”

“Yeah?” Elliott grinned. “You didn’t like any of the other guys you met. All two of them.”

“They weren’t good enough for you.”

“Jamie is, though?”

“He’s as close as a man could get, I think.”

“What about women?”

“Same answer.”

Elliott ducked her head, her smile widening. “I think so, too.”

“He looks at you like you invented beer and baseball.”

Elliott looked up at that, a laugh of pure joy slipping out. “He does?”

Her mom nodded. “I don’t think I’ll accept anything less on your behalf ever again. It’s like you’re everything he’s ever wanted.”

That’s how Elliott felt about Jamie, no question. What did others see on her face when she looked at him? She’d never been good at hiding her emotions, and she wondered how she’d gotten by those first few weeks in Omaha without every single person knowing how hung up on him she was.

Elliott wrapped her hands around the warm drink. “It hasn’t been easy for us. At the beginning, anyway.”

“Relationships are rarely easy,” her mom said, unconcerned. Never one to push Elliott to talk when she wasn’t ready, she didn’t ask for details. It was one thing she loved about her mom, and one of the biggest differences between her and her dad. “There are good days and bad days, and the best thing to hope for is to find someone who loves you on both.”

“What a load of bull,” Elliott’s dad said, striding into the kitchen. “I definitely only love you on the good days.”

Her mom grabbed an orange and chucked it across the kitchen. Her dad ducked and Jamie caught it the second he appeared in the doorway.

“Whoa,” he said, eyes wide.

Her dad straightened and gave him an impressed nod. “Nice reflexes.”

Jamie winked at Elliott and set the orange on the counter, then bent low to love on Hank.

“Coffee?” her dad asked Jamie as he poured himself a cup.

“Please.”

“Cream or sugar?”

“Hell, no.” He stood up and paused. “Uh. I mean, no, thank you.”

Her dad just laughed. “I like you more and more.”

Elliott’s mom shook her head, and Elliott just sat there with a ridiculous grin. Cup in hand, Jamie kissed Elliott’s hair as he passed and took the chair beside her.

“So what’s on the agenda for you two today?” her dad asked. “Up for another round of poker?”

Jamie groaned. “Even if I wanted to, I’m broke.”

Her mom drank her coffee, a serene expression on her face.

“We’re having lunch with Yuka,” Elliott said. “We’ll head back after that.”

“Well, okay. But you’d better come back soon. Both of you.”

“Before we head out, there’s a pine tree out back I noticed last night with a few dead branches on the bottom,” Jamie said. “I could take care of those, if you don’t mind.”

“That would be great,” her dad said. “But I’m not sure we have the right tools.”

“I’ve got stuff in my truck,” he said. “Maybe I can earn some of my money back?”

Elliott’s mom stood. “Nope.”

Jamie chuckled and shook his head at Elliott. “Ruthless,” he mouthed.

They met Yuka at a Mexican restaurant with a dog-friendly outdoor patio. Jamie and Elliott arrived first and found a table, which Hank immediately stretched out under. He’d run around with Dodger all morning, and Elliott wouldn’t be surprised if he slept the rest of the day.

“Well, if it isn’t my best friend and the man who stole her from me,” Yuka said from behind them.

Elliott grinned as Yuka hugged her around the neck.

Jamie held up his hand, and Yuka slapped her hand against his before taking a seat. Elliott and Yuka had FaceTimed enough while Jamie was around last week that it was like they were old friends now, too. “I’d argue she moved to Omaha without knowing she’d run into me, but I prefer to believe she came looking for me.”

“You’re not far off,” Elliott admitted, and the smile on Jamie’s face melted her from the inside out.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Jamie jumped up and grabbed his keys from the tabletop. “Be right back.”

Yuka gave Elliott a curious glance, and Elliott shrugged.

“So how was meeting the parents?”

“It was perfect.”

“Mary take all his money?”

“Of course.”

Yuka shook her head. “That woman, I swear.”

“You should come play next time.”

Yuka snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m saving up to buy a house, remember?”

“You’re good at poker, though. Haven’t you beaten my mom before?”

“Once, and it was after her eye surgery and she was having trouble reading the cards.”

Elliott laughed. “I forgot about that.”

“Even then it was close.”

Jamie came back and slid a paper bag across the table.

“What’s this?” Yuka asked.

“Just a little something.”

Yuka opened the bag and stood to peer inside. Her eyes bugged out, and her hands went to her cheeks. “Cookies!”

“And one chocolate mousse brownie. Better eat that one soon, though—it’s been out of the fridge for two days.”

She clapped her hands and ran around the table to hug him. “Thank you thank you thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

The second she got back to her chair, she dug around for the brownie.

Elliott grabbed Jamie’s sleeve and pulled him close for a kiss, her heart full at the gesture for her best friend. Then she laughed at Yuka. “You’re not gonna at least wait until after lunch?”

“You heard the man,” Yuka said, taking a bite. “Gotta eat it now.”

A server came to take their drink orders, and Jamie and Elliott watched in amusement as Yuka devoured the brownie.

“You gotta tell your sister to open a store in Lincoln,” Yuka said. “Put it right next to campus, and she’d be rolling in cash.”

“Only if she never meets Mary,” Jamie muttered, adjusting his glasses.

Elliott snorted and nudged him with her shoulder. “You ever gonna get over that?”

“Probably not.”

“Anyhoo,” Yuka said, wiping her hands off. “How’s it going with you two? I mean, I know it’s good because Elliott tells me stuff. But how’s it going, like, with Carly and stuff?”

Jamie leaned close, his eyes twinkling. “It’s good, huh?”

Elliott rolled her eyes. “You know it is.”

He rolled his shoulders back in a show of confidence before his expression took on an air of gravity. “Carly doesn’t know about us. She told me she was moving, but other than that we’ve barely spoken since we broke up. No one else knows.”

“Aren’t you worried she’ll find out at some point?”

Jamie raised a brow at Elliott. Yuka’s directness wasn’t new for her, but she supposed it could take some getting used to.

“We haven’t really gone anywhere anyone might see us. We’ve been staying in a lot.”

“Nice.”

Elliott rolled her eyes. “Not like that.”

Jamie gave her the side-eye. “It’s a little like that.”

Yuka laughed and Elliott punched him in the arm.

“Well, either way,” Yuka said. “I’m glad you two figured it out. I like you for her, Jamie.”

Jamie reached over to squeeze Elliott’s hand and tipped his head at her best friend. “I like me for her, too.”

After spending two hours talking and laughing over chips and salsa, Jamie and Elliott headed back to Omaha.

When Jamie parked, Hank bounded out to sniff a nearby tree. Jamie headed in the direction of his building, stopping short when Elliott didn’t follow.

“What are you doing?”

She gave him her best beseeching look. “I need to get some work done.”

“Work? What work?”

“I told you the owners of that doughnut shop called me. I really need to get a few ideas down for their website.”

“Bring your laptop over.”

She shook her head. “I can’t focus when you’re around.”

He looked as if he might argue, but he knew she was right. The chemistry between them was off the charts. Take what had been there all along and subtract a long list of reservations, and suddenly one plus one equaled five hundred.

“Now kiss me goodnight and I’ll see you in the morning.”

His eyes went wide. “I thought we were talking, like, two hours. You’re not coming over at all ?”

She let out a sad laugh. “I know. I just ... I need to get this done. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise.”

He stepped forward and backed her against the truck. She smiled up at him, loving the happiness emanating from his hazel eyes. “Just come sleep with me, at least. I’ve gotten used to you being beside me. I won’t even touch you”—She shot him a skeptical look.—“much. Just a little.”

She dropped her forehead to his chest and huffed out a breath. Gripping his shirt in her fists, she pulled him flush against her body.

“Jamie,” she whispered.

He dipped his head to bury his nose in her neck, inhaling deeply. “Hmm?”

Her voice trembled as the words tumbled out. “I—I think I’m in love with you.”

He jerked his head up and stared at her, his expression unreadable. His eyes darted back and forth between hers. When he didn’t respond right away, unease started creeping in.

She frowned.

“I love you,” he blurted out. “I do. I love you so much, Elliott.”

Thank God.

He kissed her just within the bounds of propriety for the public space they were in. Somehow she extricated herself and went the opposite direction, the burning weight of Jamie’s eyes on her back the entire time.

She ended up right back on his doorstep two hours later.