Chapter Forty-One
Jade
I woke up and turned over to find Brian where I usually did in the mornings, sitting up in bed—shirtless—reading something on his phone with his other hand on my ass or my hip, depending on my position.
I’d tried telling myself it was waking up to the sound of the ocean that put me in such a good mood, but I knew that wasn’t really it. We could be in the middle of the desert and seeing him first thing in the morning would make me happy.
He smiled when he noticed I was awake and staring at him. “Good morning, Sunshine.”
“Good morning, Sergeant O’.”
He shot me a wink. “I aim to please, baby.”
I got out of bed and pulled the curtains open to admire the sun shining on the ocean.
“Should we stay in or go out for breakfast?”
“I used the last of the eggs and bread yesterday, so our choices are limited if we don’t go out.”
“So, breakfast at the little diner, followed by a trip to the grocery store, then the beach?”
His mouth lifted in a crooked grin. “Another day in paradise.”
Except we had a cloud hanging over us that neither of us mentioned.
I leaned my hip against the windowsill and looked back at him. He was still watching me, phone forgotten on his lap.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.” His grin deepened. “Just enjoying the view.”
I shook my head, pretending I wasn’t secretly thrilled by how easily he said things like that. “You’re impossible.”
“Maybe,” he said, sliding out of bed and stretching until his muscles pulled tight. “But you keep me around anyway.”
I pretended to busy myself with straightening the curtains, because if I stared at him half-naked much longer, breakfast was never happening.
Brian came up behind me at the window, sliding his arms around my waist. His chest was warm against my back, his stubble rough where he kissed my shoulder.
“Another day in paradise.”
“I like paradise with you.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
He grinned against my skin, like I’d just handed him the best line he’d ever heard. “Careful, Sunshine. Keep talking like that, and I might start to think you want to keep me around.”
“I don’t know what I want anymore.”
****
Brian
By the time we pulled into the diner lot, I was still turning her words over in my head. I don’t know what I want anymore.
She hadn’t promised me anything, but she hadn’t shut the door either. For the first time, I let myself think maybe she was starting to picture us as more than just a fling.
Inside, the place smelled like coffee and bacon, same as it always did. I held the door for her and couldn’t help brushing my hand against her back as she passed, just to remind myself she was really here. With me.
We slid into a booth by the window. She opened the menu and looked it over.
“You going to branch out today?” I asked, teasing as I glanced through the selections.
She set the laminated sheet down with a smirk. “Not a chance.”
Good. Predictable was fine. The only thing I wanted her to change was the part where this ended in four days.
Still, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease her.
“Hope you brought your money,” I sing-songed as I continued perusing my choices.
She reached into the front pocket of her shorts and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, waving it at me with a smirk.
“I did. I’m buying today.”
I didn’t even look over at her when I declared, “No, you’re not.”
“Brian, I have the same exact amount of money as I did when we left the bank last Friday. The same. You can’t keep buying everything.”
“Yeah, I can.”
She stuffed the money back in her pocket and muttered, “Well, you’re not today, so deal with it.”
“We’ll see.”
The waitress came over, and before she could even ask if we wanted coffee, Jade told her, “I get the check today. No matter what he says, do not give it to him.”
I pointed to my chest and mouthed, “Give it to me.”
“Brian O’Shaughnessy!”
I ignored Jade’s ire and told the waitress again, louder this time, “Give me the check. I tip better.”
“Oh my god, no he doesn’t!”
The server just smirked and said, “How about if I throw it in the air and let you two fight for it?”
Jade cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders while she looked me in the eye with a devilish grin.
“That sounds like a great idea.”
The other woman nodded with her pen poised against her pad of paper. “Now, what can I get started for you?”
We placed our orders, still exchanging stern looks across the table, but before the lady even walked away, we’d erupted into laughter.
That’s what I loved about being with Jade. It always felt easy.