could easily fill in the blanks without fail. Damp strands of red hair were plastered to her neck, a rosy flush painted across her cheeks. “What do you need?”
“There’s no towels,” she admitted with a pained wince. “I’m an idiot and I didn’t grab one before I got in. I didn’t want to drip water all over while I hunted for one. Do you know where they are?”
Towels. Yes. That he could do. “Sure thing.” He turned and opened a narrow door that hid a linen closet. He pulled out a fluffy yellow towel that had come from her apartment and carried it back over to the tub. “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry to scare you.”
“No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.” He turned and started walking out of the bathroom.
“Tyler?”
He stopped and turned. “Yes?”
Amelia had stood in the tub and quickly wrapped the towel around her. “Would you like to watch some television with me tonight? I was thinking we could pile up in the new bed and watch something together. I know the list I left for Janet had popcorn and chips, if you’d like some.”
Tyler was a little surprised by the invitation, but he was more surprised by the seemingly shy expression on her face while she asked. It was almost as if she was a teenager again, asking if he’d like to sit with her at lunch or something. She was his best friend. Of course he’d like to watch television with her. He hadn’t suggested something like that because...things were different now. They had shared a bed on several occasions throughout the years, but lying beside one another in bed now felt more complicated than it used to. Feelings had been unleashed between them.
The last thing he wanted was to lose the parts of their friendship he cherished the most as their physical relationship changed. Perhaps once they made the decision to cross that bridge again it wouldn’t seem like such a big deal any longer, but for now, they were in limbo. Married. Having a baby. Yet dating as though none of it had happened.
“That’s a great idea. Are you getting out of the tub already?”
“Yes. I’m not very good with sitting idle, even when it feels nice.”
“Okay, well, while you’re getting dressed, I’ll see what I can find in the kitchen for snacks.”
A smile lit up Amelia’s face, distracting him from the sight of the tiny towel wrapped around her curves. It was a contagious grin, and one spread across his own face just as easily.
Tyler left the room so she could put on some clothes and started to hunt through the kitchen. Fortunately, Janet had put everything in very sensible places. He found a box of microwave popcorn on a shelf in the pantry. Score.
About ten minutes later, he strolled cautiously back into the bedroom with two cans of soda, a roll of paper towels and a large bowl piled high with movie-theater butter-flavored popcorn.
He found Amelia dressed—thankfully—and sitting on the bed cross-legged. Her hair was still clipped up on top of her head, but she’d removed her makeup, leaving her skin clean and fresh. She was wearing her pajamas—a pair of pale blue cotton lounging pants with a matching tank top. The top had thin spaghetti straps and a lacy edge that gave the impression of modesty where there was none. There was no disguising Amelia’s assets in anything short of a turtleneck.
Tyler went around to the other side of the bed and unloaded the contents of his arms into the space between them. Currently, the only television in the house was from Amelia’s apartment. He’d opted to put it in the bedroom, since they really didn’t have much in the way of living room furniture for now.
Amelia flipped on the television, then piled the pillows up behind her. She accepted the can of soda from Tyler, resting it between her thighs since they also didn’t have nightstands yet. “Ooh,” she said, looking over at the bowl of popcorn. “That looks like the really buttery, nasty kind. I love it.”
Tyler chuckled. “I would’ve thought that such cheap, pedestrian fare might offend your refined palate.”
At that, she snorted. “People like that make me crazy. Whenever I watch those cooking competitions and the chefs are whining because they have to use canned ingredients or something, I just roll my eyes. The average working mom does not have the time to deal with freshly preparing a meal from scratch every night. Real people eat canned foods sometimes. And microwave popcorn,” she added, shoveling a handful into her mouth.
They flipped through the channels, finally agreeing on a mermaid mockumentary on the Discovery Channel. They heckled and joked, laughing throughout the show and polishing off all their snacks. It was just like old times, Tyler thought with an overwhelming sense of relief.
Tyler didn’t have much time for dating, but when he did, this was always what he was missing from his other relationships. He liked to keep things light and fun, but for some reason, the women were always so serious, as if he was the Lombardi Trophy in the Super Bowl of marrying well. Those women wouldn’t dare to be seen without makeup or to be silly with him, but he supposed in the end it didn’t matter what was lacking. He wasn’t going to fall in love with them. If he wanted friendship and compatibility, he would go to Amelia.
Looking over, he realized Amelia had drifted to sleep beside him. Her red-gold lashes rested against her cheeks, her pink lips softly parted. She must have been exhausted. He felt an ache in his chest as he looked at her lying there. All those other poor women had been doomed before they’d even started. He hadn’t really needed them for anything but a sexual release when he had Amelia in his life. His ex-fiancée, Christine, had known that. Even though he’d loved her, even though he’d proposed to her and wanted to start a life together, she’d felt like a third wheel. Maybe she had been.
Through a strange turn of events, it seemed Amelia was going to be the woman in his life. Fortunately, she was the one woman with whom he knew it was possible to have it all. They had the friendship. The sexual compatibility was there. He hadn’t stopped wanting her since he’d allowed himself to think of her that way.
As for love, she just had to be open to loving him. He had twenty-six days left. If she loved him by then, that would be as good as it could possibly get. They would stay married, raise their child together... Tyler could be happy with that. He didn’t need or want love for himself. In the end, it just made things harder.
Tyler slowly lowered the volume on the television and turned it off. He picked up the empty bowl of popcorn and eased toward the end of the mattress, trying to slip out of bed without waking her. He failed.
“Stay,” she muttered into her pillow without opening her eyes. “This house is too big and I don’t want to be alone down here. Please.”
With a sigh, he put the bowl on the floor and switched off the lights before he climbed back into bed.
“Yay.” Amelia yawned, snuggling up next to him and immediately falling back asleep.
Tyler wished he was so lucky. The scent of her perfumed skin so close to him and the soft heat of her body pressed against his made sleep impossible. He shut his eyes and tugged her close. If he couldn’t sleep, he could at least lie contented with her in his arms.
It was going to be a very, very long night.
* * *
Amelia was burning
