Page 25 of Except You
I feel my cheeks heat, and I turn my gaze back to the fire, trying damn hard not to look over at him. But my eyes are drawn there anyways. His head is tilted back, a small smile on his face.
“You should get a hammock out here. Then I could sleep under the stars.”
“I don’t have any trees back here.”
“You can plant some.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
My phone pings and I glance at it, seeing that a delivery has been made, so I get up and walk to the door. Doggo doesn’t even stir, just continues snoring, completely dead to the world.
“What did you get?” Beau asks, following me inside. His nosy self couldn’t help but do this. He just has to know what’s going on at all times.
“Nothing,” I say as I grab the package and bring it inside. I want him to give me some space because I’m feeling a little insecure about what I purchased yesterday on my break from work.
But of course, Beau doesn’t budge. He follows me into the kitchen and stares at me until I hand him the scissors.
“Go ahead,” I say, and he grins, grabbing them and ripping into the box, staring inside with parted lips.
“Oh my god, you got an espresso machine!? Max!”
It’s nearly a squeal, and I bite back a grin. “It’s not a big deal, Bow-tie.”
“It is! You like your primitive coffee machine, but this is…” He leans down and pulls out the leaflet. “This is fancy. Like it has ten buttons!”
“Shut up,” I say and help him pull it out of the box, making room on the counter for it.
“I’m so damn flattered. I could kiss you.”
“Please don’t,” I say with a laugh, but he leans up and presses his lips to my chin anyways. I’d be lying if I said that his touch doesn’t warm me all the way to my toes.
“Oh, but now I want a hot chocolate. It’s so cold outside.”
“You need another jacket?” I ask, and he nods.
“You have the warmest jackets in all of California.”
I stare at him and then walk to my room, grabbing another flannel from my closet and handing it to him. He pulls it on and buttons it up before walking over to the machine and ogling it.
“A hot chocolate, Max. I’m desperate for one with frothed milk. Make it real fancy. Charm my pants off.”
“Frothed? Jesus, you’re high maintenance. Alright. Just go back outside, and I’ll make you one.”
He blows me a kiss and then nearly skips back outside, leaving me with this damn thing.
Now, how the fuck do I work this?
“You look like you just went to war,” Beau says when I finally return outside, victorious.
“That damn thing was from a different planet. I felt like I died a million deaths trying to get it to work.”
Beau reaches up for the mug of hot chocolate and sighs in happiness. “But look how good you did. Look at that frothy milk. You, Max, are a catch.”
He takes a sip and moans. “All this needs is whipped cream.”
“Yeah, next time I’ll have it for you. I just didn’t know when I was gonna see you next.”
His brow furrows and he cocks his head. “What do you mean?”