“Nothing,” I say. “Someone called me twice times and hung up. I thought it was Jacob, but it’s an unknown number.”
“Maybe it’s a wrong number,” Beau says, coming closer to me. The scent of his body wash overwhelms me, and my hands tremble.
“Maybe.” I look at him. “This guy met this girl, and she gave him the wrong number or vice versa.”
“So he’s calling her in the middle of the night?” He laughs now.
“Booty call,” I joke with him. “It’s almost dawn.”
“Yeah, let’s go make breakfast,” he says, and I walk past him toward the door.
“The last time you said that, you stood there holding a cup of coffee the whole time, pretending to take notes.” I remind him of the time we went away to a cabin up north with Ethan, and he didn’t do any cooking.
“I told you this,” he says from behind me while I walk down the stairs. “My job is to get the food, and your job is to cook the food.”
“In what universe?” I ask, walking to the kitchen.
“Earth,” he says, laughing, and I look at him.
“You make coffee.” I point at him, and he nods.
“That I can do,” he says, opening up a cupboard and making the coffee. I grab bacon and sausage out of the fridge and start them both when my phone rings again.
“I’ll get it,” he says and picks up the phone. “Unknown number.” He slides his finger and puts it to his ear. “Hello?” I watch him say hello again and then put the phone down.
“This woman or man is in desperate need of something if they are going to call me three times.” I shake my head, and he laughs. When he walks past me, he puts his hands on my hips, and my whole body shivers when he lets me go. I try not to think of where he touched me, but my hips are still warm from his touch.
“Here you go,” he says, handing me a mug of coffee made just the way I like it. “It already smells great,” he says, and we hear a soft knock on the door. “That must be Grady.”
He walks to the door, and I hear Grady’s voice while I flip the bacon and start preparing the pancakes. “Morning,” he says, and I just smile at him.
“Would you like some coffee?” I ask as he sits at the island.
“I’d love some,” he says, taking out a pad and paper. I turn and lean up to grab a mug and then make Grady a cup.
“Here you go.” I hear Beau coming into the kitchen, and he hands me a white robe. I look at him and then look at Grady who just rolls his lips and looks down at the paper in front of him.
“What is that?” I ask him and look down at my outfit. It’s shorts and a tank top. I’m even wearing a bra.
Beau comes closer and says, “It’s a robe,” under his breath as he puts it around my shoulders. “In case you get splashed by the food.” I look at him.
“So cooking with a robe that is twice or maybe even three times my size is better than burning myself?”
“Yes.” He grabs his coffee and turns around to go sit next to Grady. “What do I need to tell you?”
I listen to him give his side of what happened while I put the robe on and roll the sleeves. I finish breakfast at the same time as Grady finishes taking the report. He joins us for breakfast, and I clean up as soon as they are both done. I’m closing the dishwasher when my phone rings again, and this time, I see it’s Jacob.
“Hello,” I say, looking over and seeing that it’s just after seven a.m.
“Hey,” he says, and I can hear music in the background. “Just letting you know that we are on our way back.”
“What? I thought you were going for a couple of days. Is everything okay?” My heart starts to pick up speed.
“Kallie isn’t feeling so hot,” he says. “She was throwing up all night, and then I think Ethan is catching it also.”
“Oh, no,” I say, sitting down. “Well, call me when you get home, and I’ll come and get Ethan from you.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, and I hear Ethan in the back shouting that he’s going to throw up. “I’ll call you back.”
I hang up the phone the same time Beau comes downstairs, and he’s dressed in black dress pants and a white button-down shirt. The cuffs are rolled up to his elbows, showing off the silver watch his grandfather gave him at graduation. “Who was on the phone?” he asks, running his hands through his hair. I wonder if it feels as soft and silky as it looks. He keeps it longer on the top so he can just brush it over.