She set her overnight bag down next to the side of his bed that didn’t have the books in the nightstand and said, “May I sleep on this side?”

“You can sleep anywhere you want,” he assured her. He’d moved quickly up the stairs, but she noticed he winced a few times as he pulled a pair of shorts and an old T-shirt out of his dresser.

“Are you okay?”

“Just sore from the game. I’ll take some ibuprofen or something and be good as new by tomorrow morning.” He nodded toward the bathroom. “Would you like to change in there?”

She’d have to do some thinking later about why she felt suddenly shy getting naked in front of him when she’d been spread out all over his couch, let alone just given him a blow job, but that was a puzzle for when she wasn’t post-orgasmic and quite so tired.

“That would be great,” she said. She grabbed her bag again, headed into the bathroom, and took care of her business. She emerged from the bathroom to find Drew already in bed. He’d turned down the blankets for her.

“Let’s leave one of the bathroom lights on in case you wake up, okay?”

“That might be a good idea. Thank you.”

They were oddly formal for two people who were so crazed for each other less than half an hour ago they’d torn each other’s clothes off and risked getting walked in on by his parents. If Drew hadn’t conveniently finished moments before they came downstairs, she would have met them wearing nothing more than toenail polish and a pair of hoop earrings. She slid inside the soft, cool sheets, lay on her side facing him, and hauled in a breath.

“What time is your flight tomorrow again?”

“Ten AM.”

“I’ll set the alarm on my phone for six AM. Will that work for you? It takes about half an hour to forty-five minutes to get to the airport from here.”

“I forgot to call the shuttle—”

“I’ll drive you,” he said. “My mom and dad are getting picked up in a town car at seven AM.”

“Don’t you want to spend some more time with them?”

“I’ll see them soon.” He reached over to kiss her. His mouth was warm and firm on hers, and he didn’t linger. “Let’s get some sleep.”

He clasped her hand in his, rolled onto his back, and was asleep less than five minutes later.

Chapter Thirteen

DREW HAULED HIMSELF out of bed at six AM to get his parents’ luggage downstairs and hug and kiss them goodbye. His mom must have been up with the chickens; she was heating up some breakfast sandwiches. The coffee was ready. She was filling two travel mugs when he walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning, honey,” she said as she reached up to kiss his cheek. “Did you sleep well?” He saw color rising in her cheeks.

“Sure, Mom. Did you sleep well?”

“Of course I did.”

His mom was doing her best to look innocent, but he knew better. She put the lids on the travel mugs, and he reached out to take both of her hands in his. “There’s something I need to talk with you about.”

“I have to pack up these sandwiches for your dad. You know how hungry he is in the morning—”

“Mom. Mama. Five minutes of your time.”

She let out a sigh.

“Come and sit with me at the table,” Drew coaxed.

“Don’t you want to eat too? I know you want breakfast.”

“It can wait.” He led her to his kitchen table, pulled out a chair for her, and sat down kitty-corner from her. “Do you feel like you’ve worked out most of the issues with Dad while you’ve been here?”

“I don’t know how to answer that question—”

“Try.”

“Last night was a good start,” and she blushed a little more. He pretended like he didn’t notice it. “We need to do a lot more talking about what he expects and what I need. We’ve been married a long time, honey, but we’re in a rut. I wish he understood that I’m enjoying my new job and I’d like to keep working, instead of thinking he’s competing for my time and attention.” She looked down at the table. “I don’t want to spend every day for the rest of my life just waiting for him to get home from work.”

Drew squeezed his mom’s hand. “Do you want me to try talking with him about it?”

“Your dad is pretty old-fashioned. It was one of the reasons why I fell in love with him. I knew he wanted a wife that stayed home. That worked out well when you kids were little and he was building his client list, but the house is empty most of the time now. He wants to be the provider. Just because I make a little money at what I do doesn’t mean he’s not doing an excellent job.” She looked into his eyes. “I want something that’s mine.”

Drew squeezed her hand again. “Mom, I’ve been thinking about what you’ve told me and what Dad’s told me. I understand that you’d like to shake things up and try something new, but I want you to consider something as well.”

“What’s that? Honey, I have to get that stuff out of the oven—”

He got to his feet, crossed to the oven, grabbed a hot mat, and removed the pan of breakfast sandwiches, setting it on another hot mat to cool. He switched off the oven.

“How’s that?”

“Thank you,” she said. He sat back down at the table.

“I want you to do something for me, Mom. As I told you the other night, I’m willing to pay for a chef a few nights a week, send you some restaurant gift cards or whatever you and Dad might like so you can spend a little time together talking this out. I’m also willing to pay for some sessions with a counselor.”

“We don’t need therapy—”

“Okay, then.” He looked into her cornflower-blue eyes. “I want you to tell your boss you can’t work on Sundays. I’d prefer you didn’t work on the weekends at all, but that’s between you and Dad.”

“Everyone works on the weekends there.”

“It won’t hurt to ask. Mom, when you made the deal with Dad that you wouldn’t work, he thinks you changed the rules on him. I think it’s great that you have a job that you enjoy, and I will keep telling Dad that he needs to join the twenty-first century.” His mom let out a soft laugh. “I know things at home are not the same as they were when we were all little and you had your hands full, but he wants the same girl sitting next to him on the couch while he watches the game.”

“I suppose so.”

“Of course he does. Someday, my kids will be sitting on that couch with you.”

She gave him a somewhat misty smile. “Yes, honey, they will.”

He took her hand again. He still remembered holding her hand when he was little and learning to cross the street, ride a bike, or when his parents were chaperones at his senior prom and he asked his mom to dance. Someday, he’d walk her up the aisle to her seat when he married the woman of his dreams.

He hoped that woman was Kendall.

KENDALL HEARD THE front door of Drew’s house slam and heavy footsteps on the staircase landing outside of his bedroom. She’d awoken when Drew’s dad called out to his wife while he was looking for a clean pair of shorts, and she got into the shower as quickly as she could. If she was going to encounter Drew’s parents, she’d prefer to be fully dressed at the time.

Drew opened the bedroom door and hurried across the room, wrapping his arms around her.

“My parents are on their way to the airport. I love them, but it was time for them to go home for a while.” She grinned as she rubbed her face into his chest. “Did you get some sleep?”

“I did. Did you?”

“I smelled your perfume all night. I hated wasting a minute with you.” They held each other while minutes passed.