‘Okay. Give me two minutes, and I’ll walk down with you.’ Maybe she could carry his bag or something. Anything to make the journey back a little easier for Drew than the one here had been.
‘I can manage. And I can’t believe I’m the one saying this but stay down for the rest of the day.’ There was a look of quiet humour in his eyes, and Drew was clearly appreciating the irony.
‘People tell you to stay down quite a lot, do they?’
‘All the time. I thought I’d try it out on you to see if you like it any better than I do.’
‘Actually... I don’t mind it.’ Being looked after like this was a novel experience.
‘I’ll give you the full treatment, then.’ His lips curved into a delicious smile. If she’d been greeted by that when she’s woken up, goodness only knew what might have happened, and Caro thanked her lucky stars that he’d saved it until now.
Phoenix had wandered over, it obviously having occurred to her that something might be happening without her. Caro swung her legs off the sofa, and Drew arranged the throw across them carefully, lifting the puppy up and putting her onto Caro’s lap.
‘Uh...what am I supposed to do now?’ Caro was beginning to wonder exactly what the full treatment would entail.
‘Same as you do with Clarice...’ He shot the words over his shoulder as he walked towards the kitchen.
Presumably that didn’t mean tinkering with Phoenix’s programming. Caro stroked the little dog, and she started to lick her hand. ‘She’s not going to bite me, is she?’
‘She might give it a go, but it’ll only be in play. Don’t bite her back.’ He grinned, opening the fridge door.
That was all very unpredictable. As was the way that Phoenix snuggled into her lap, looking up at Caro as if she was at the very centre of her world. But it was nice to have someone there who could make her feel that nothing was so urgent that it couldn’t wait a little while.
She stroked Phoenix while Drew clattered around in the kitchen, looking up when he walked towards her, carrying two mugs. ‘What’s this?’
‘It’s the next stage. Random drinks.’ He put the mugs down on the coffee table.
‘Hot soup. That’s nice.’ Caro had rather been hoping for coffee, strong enough to jolt her out of this feeling of delicious laziness.
‘Yeah. Nourishing and unlikely to keep you awake.’ He lowered himself onto the sofa next to her. ‘Now. Afternoon TV. I’m quite an aficionado.’
He reached for the remote, turning on the television that was mounted on the wall in the corner of the room. ‘What do you fancy? Home improvements?’
Caro shook her head. You needed to have a home in order to improve it. He flipped through the channels, listing the options.
‘Or you can have a whodunit... Sherlock Holmes?’
‘I don’t mind that.’
Drew grinned. ‘Perfect. You don’t want anything that you like too much in case it encourages you to think.’
‘You’re enjoying this a bit too much, Drew.’
He chuckled, leaning back against the cushions. ‘You have to admit that I’m very good at it, though.’
Yeah. Something told Caro that Drew was good at everything he did. Even the process of letting an afternoon slip by, without having done anything constructive. He’d probably had a little too much of that recently.
She leaned forward to pick up her mug, and Phoenix escaped her lap in favour of Drew’s. ‘Okay. So when we’ve done with the hot drinks and the afternoon TV...?’
‘I’ll go home. You can watch some more TV and then get some sleep.’
‘That sounds thrilling. And what about the project?’
‘I’ve got a proposition for you.’
‘Sounds exciting.’ Damn! That had just slipped out. The proposition was almost certainly work related...
‘Wait till you hear it.’ Drew took a moment to reach for his own mug and take a sip from it, and Caro wondered if he was trying for a Master of Suspense effect, or if the soup and the TV were having an effect on him also.