“That settles it.” He grinned. “What time?”
“Six?”
He stepped close. “Perfect,” he said, and kissed her. It rekindled her longing so strongly that she reconsidered her plan to leave, but Pete saved her. “Go on, I don’t want to be responsible for your career going up in flames.”
Cassidy laughed.
After returning home, Cassidy showered and put away her gear, then made a giant pot of tea, pulled on her thick wool socks and a dense fleece hoody, and settled in with her laptop at the picnic table she had purchased for their dining room furniture.
Thoughts of Pete threatened her concentration. A tingle of nervousness or something else knotted up her insides at the thought of him in her kitchen. She imagined the two of them working side by side, his body warming the space around her, his hand occasionally finding hers. She checked the clock and realized that hours had passed. With a groan, she refocused on her task.
At 5:45, she finally quit. By then, Juno had returned only to disappear into his room, Miles had stopped in just to leave again for his girlfriend Shelby’s, and Emily still hadn’t returned from visiting her parents in Spokane. Cassidy had managed to complete a solid first draft of the proposal. It still needed a thorough edit before the December 1 deadline only two days away, though. Cutting it pretty close, Kincaid, a voice inside her head warned. Unfortunately, her dedication to the grant meant a pile of ungraded Geology 101 lab quizzes waited for her as well, but she could knock them out later, or in the morning, depending on what happened with Pete.
You know what’s going to happen, she told herself. Or at least, you know what you want to happen. The jittery tingle spread over her skin again, making her cheeks feel hot. She remembered the way their bodies fit together when they kissed, and the craving to touch him returned.
Hearing Emily’s voice in her mind, Cassidy changed into black leggings and a pale turquoise, wide-neck sweater. She put in tiny gold earrings and brushed the tangles from her hair.
Pete arrived at six o’clock sharp carrying a grocery bag and a large silver bowl covered in plastic wrap. A reddish tinge marked his cheeks from the windburn and exposure on the mountain. His thick, sandy blonde hair was combed neatly to the side and his grey-blue eyes shone bright and glassy, like a kid’s.
Cassidy met him in the glassed-in entryway and took the bowl so he could shrug off his coat and slip out of his shoes. “You’re on time,” she teased.
“I almost came early, but I knew you had work to do.” He flashed her a grin. His button-down shirt was tucked into faded Levis held up by a brown leather belt. With amusement, she noticed that he had on the same type of thick wool socks she liked to wear.
“Smells good,” she said, inhaling the aroma coming from the dark brown bread in the bowl.
Pete straightened from tucking his shoes under the bench, grinning. “Family recipe.”
He leaned across the bowl to kiss her, and it all felt so wonderful and silly—with her hands stuck holding the bowl and his grasping the grocery bag that she giggled. “You do smell better now,” she said after the kiss ended. In truth, she hadn’t noticed his scent before, but now she detected the yeasty fragrance of rising bread mixed with something slightly spicy, like cloves. Whatever its origin, it was lovely.
“I’ll keep my socks on, just to be sure,” he added with a grin.
She led him through her living room that faced a set of three large windows to the kitchen. Pete placed the grocery bag on the floor near the sink and looked around, an eager gleam in his eyes.
The picnic bench sat to the left, on the street side of the house, with Cassidy’s bedroom door to the right, towards the back. The three other bedrooms were lined up behind the living room off of a narrow hallway, with a bathroom in between the first two. Cassidy had her own bathroom and a separate entrance that she hardly ever used.
“This is nice,” Pete said, looking impressed.
“Thanks,” she said, cringing at the idea of telling him that she owned the house. She thought of his beat-up car and tidy but simple apartment. Would he freak out when he found out about her situation? Take it easy, Kincaid, she thought. Things may not even get that far.
“Did you get your work done?” Pete asked.
“Hmm?” she asked, lost in the loop of what ifs. “Oh, yeah, or enough for today,” she answered. In truth, she could spend the rest of the evening working.
They heard a door open and a moment later, Juno came into the kitchen. “Oh, hey,” Juno said, blinking in surprise at Pete.
Cassidy made introductions. Juno grabbed a yogurt container from the fridge and a spoon and headed back towards his room. “Nice to meet you,” Juno called over his shoulder. They heard the door shut quietly behind him.
“He’s doing a PhD in physics. I hardly ever see him,” Cassidy explained. “Emily, one of my other roommates, won’t be home until late, and Miles is with his girlfriend, Shelby.” Both in their final year of Medical school, Miles and Shelby were practically inseparable. Sometimes Cassidy could hear their romantics all the way in her room. Emily had hinted that it was hard to sleep sometimes.
“Are they all at the U?” he asked, stepping to the large sink to wash his hands.
“Yeah.” She followed his example and washed up, too. “What can I help with?” she asked as he slid a knife from the butcher block and grabbed the cutting board from behind the faucet. He turned on the oven and removed a bread pan from the grocery bag.
“Would you like to chop carrots?” he asked.
Cassidy jumped to action, and soon they were chopping and talking and laughing. At one point, she was heading for the fridge and he was returning from
