“Is this your favorite color?”
“Yes.” There’s tension in his tone. Maybe he’s been teased before.
“I love it.” I sound reverent. It’s such an unexpected pop of bright against the dark chocolates and taupes, and I think how Josh it is. Something unexpected. Pale pretty blue. The dark brown headboard, plushly upholstered in leather, saves the room from femininity. He’s behind me, close enough to lean against, but I resist. The scent of his skin is fogging my brain. His bed is made and the linen is white, and I seem to find that little detail pretty sexy. His bathroom is polished to a high shine. Red towels and a red toothbrush. It looks like an Ikea catalog.
“I would never have picked you as someone who owns a fern. I had one but it went brown and crunchy.”
I go back to Joshua Templeman’s bed. I touch my finger to the edge of his pillowcase.
“Okay, you’re getting beyond weird now.”
I try to rattle the headboard but it’s solid.
“Stop it. Sit on the couch. I made you tea.”
I scuttle sideways like a crab into the living room. “How could you stand there and watch me snoop?”
I take the fancy cushion and stuff it in the small of my back. He gives me a mug and I hold it like a weapon.
“I snooped through your apartment. It’s your turn.”
I’m flustered, but try to hide it with a joke. “Did you find all the pictures I have of you with your eyes scratched out?”
“No, I never did find your scrapbook. I do know you’ve got twenty-six Papa Smurfs, and you don’t fold your bed sheets properly.”
He’s at the other end of the couch, head rolled gently to the side, lounging comfortably. He lolls in his office chair a lot but I’ve never seen his body make such stretched-out, loose shapes. I can’t stop looking at him.
“Sheets are too hard. My arms aren’t long enough.”
He sighs and shakes his head. “It’s no excuse.”
“Did you look in my underwear drawer?”
“Of course not. I’ve got to save something for next time.”
“Can I look in yours now?” I’m losing my wits. The threshold to his apartment is where I left my sanity.
I sip the tea. It is like nectar.
“Now, Shortcake. We’re going to do something a bit unusual.”
He unmutes the TV and takes a sip from his mug and starts watching an old rerun of ER like we do this every night. I sit with a pounding heart and try to concentrate. Hey, this is no big deal. I’m sitting on Joshua Templeman’s couch.
I roll my head to the side and stare at him for the entire episode, watching the tense surgery scenes and ward conflicts reflected in his eyes.
“Am I bothering you?”
“No,” he replies absently. “I’m used to it.”
We are not normal. The minutes tick past and he drinks his coffee and I continue to stare. He’s got a shading of stubble I don’t see during working hours. My chest is tight with anxiety. My body and brain are conditioned for combat whenever I’m in his immediate radius. When he looks over, I jerk back. He puts his hand between us on the couch, palm up, and then looks back at the TV.
It’s like he’s put out a dish of seed and is now sitting very still, waiting for the cowardly little chicken to make a move. And it does take me a while. I tentatively pick up his hand and lace his fingers into mine.
For a scary moment he doesn’t react, but as the warmth of his hand begins to glow into my palm, he gives me a deep, delicious squeeze. He lays our joined hands back down, picks up his mug with his other hand, and nods at the screen.
“I watch medical dramas to spite my dad. They drive him insane. You could never have this on in their house.”
“Why? Are they inaccurate?” I’m glad to be able to focus my attention on something other than this strange hand-related development.
“Oh, yeah. They’re complete fiction.”
“I prefer Law and Order. I love when a restaurant worker finds a body in a Dumpster.”
“Or a dog walker in Central Park.” He gestures at the screen with his coffee. “That so-called doctor isn’t even wearing gloves.” He scowls at the screen like he is offended to his core.