32. Time With My Girlfriend

32

TIME WITH MY GIRLFRIEND

“ I didn’t know we were having company for breakfast,” Laurel said the next morning when she came downstairs. She’d heard a voice and thought maybe Easton was on the phone, not that Abe was in her kitchen getting a cup of coffee.

“I didn’t know you had coffee this good here,” Abe said. “I might have to knock on the door and say I’m out of it myself more often.”

She smiled and went to get a cup. She made it before she went in the shower and said she’d take care of breakfast when she was done getting dressed.

Easton always seemed to get up first and in the shower before her.

“I don’t make it this way during the week,” she said. “It’s a weekend treat.”

“Dang it,” Abe said.

“My cousin knew I was here this weekend and texted to see if he could come bum breakfast off of us.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Seriously? Or do you two need to talk about something else?”

“Nope,” Abe said. “I wanted breakfast and thought I’d get a chance to see my cousin and his girlfriend together. My mother has been asking me questions I can’t answer.”

“Questions like what?” Easton asked, frowning.

“She wants to know how things are going with you two. It’s not as if I talk to Laurel much. She hasn’t come over looking for a cup of sugar like I hoped. I even bought a bag.”

She laughed at the impish look on his face. “Did you really?”

“I did,” Abe said, nodding his head.

“Jerk,” Easton said.

“Hey,” Abe said. “I needed to be prepared.”

“I have dropped dinner off to you a few times,” she said.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Easton said.

“Are you jealous?” Abe asked. “It’s not like she brought it into the house. She saw me pull in, shouted out the window to hang on, and then brought it outside. I probably stunk to high heaven from working and she only wanted to see me in the open air.”

Laurel grinned. “I didn’t notice,” she said.

She thought of last night when Easton wanted to shower first and it didn’t bother her. Maybe the cousins shared that thought, but she didn’t notice anything other than what she said.

A nice male musky scent that drew her in.

She wasn’t so delicate that a little bit of sweat on a man bothered her.

Nope, it turned her on.

Like animals releasing their pheromones in the wild.

She’d probably sweated more than Easton last night with the way she was on the dance floor, but it didn’t seem to faze him either.

“I need to find a woman like you,” Abe said. “Do you know anyone as hot as you who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty or care about a little bit of sweat?”

“Don’t tell my girlfriend that she’s hot,” Easton said. “What is wrong with you?”

“I’ve got eyes,” Abe said. “It’s not the first time I’ve said it.”

“But not in front of her,” he argued.

“Boys,” she said. “I only have eyes and the heart for one Cooke. It’s the one who is sharing my bed. But that doesn’t mean I can’t cook breakfast for them both or be nice to his family.”

“See,” Abe said, smirking. “She has eyes for you.”

“And heart,” Easton said. “Tell Aunt Carrie that.”

“Oh,” Abe said, looking between the two of them. “You might have just made her day.”

If she had any doubt that Easton only said he loved her after a wild bout of sex, it was wiped away with him admitting it in front of his cousin.

It saved her from having an uncomfortable talk about it too.

She’d been a bit worried about it last night and maybe she wanted to throw a hint of it out there this morning and was glad she did.

“What do you two want for breakfast? I’ve got bread, toast, and eggs.”

“Do you have maple syrup?” Abe asked. “I haven’t had French toast in a long time.”

“I can’t believe you not only invited yourself to breakfast but you’re putting a request in too,” he said.

“I have to report back to my mother and then get a lecture on why I’m still single. I think I deserve some compensation in the form of breakfast. I’m saving you that call.”

Easton laughed and then looked at her. “He makes a valid point. I can cook if you want.”

“Nope,” she said. “I’ll do it. You two catch up. Ignore me. Do I need to make some more coffee?”

“If it’s not too much work,” Abe said. “That’d be great.”

“Dude, you’re a mooch,” he said.

“It’s my cousin’s girlfriend. She knows I’m next door if she needs anything,” Abe said.

“She doesn’t need anything from you. She fixed your damn dishwasher. It’s more likely you’ll be calling her to fix something else.”

She started to laugh and saw Abe blush. “Sorry about that. I should take you out to dinner as a thank you.”

“Not alone,” Easton said. “You can do it the next time I’m in town. Take us both out for interrupting my time with my girlfriend.”

She listened to the two cousins going back and forth, only catching partial words as she went about fixing their breakfast, and realized she’d never experienced this before.

Never this contentment or joy.

Hours later when she kissed Easton goodbye and told herself not to rush next weekend to get there so she could see him again. To occupy her thoughts, she called her aunt.

“Hi, Laurel. How was the wedding?”

“It was great,” she said. “Wonderful. The couple is so in love.”

“You didn’t have any bad feelings or memories rush in over what should have been for you?”

“God no,” she said. “It was the best decision of my life to drop Philip.”

“I agree one hundred percent,” Aunt Helen said. “But you spent months planning your wedding. You’ve got that dress still.”

“I didn’t plan much of that wedding so it didn’t bother me. I had very little say in the matter.”

“Which wasn’t right,” Aunt Helen said.

“Nothing was right about it. I should have realized it long before I broke it off. I’m going to sell my wedding gown. Do you think Dad will be upset?”

“Not in the least,” Aunt Helen said. “He’d be happy to burn it for you.”

She laughed. “That thought crossed my mind, but it’d be a waste. There is someone out there who will love it and get it for a bargain. It’s not like I can get the full price for it. I think I can sell it back to the shop, but we’ll see.”

“Whatever works for you,” Aunt Helen said. “Can I ask why you are willing to do it now?”

“I’m in love,” she said and twirled around the living room as she said those words.

“I can hear it in your voice,” Aunt Helen said. “I’m happy for you. Was it the wedding that made you realize it? Seeing other couples in love and knowing you had that now?”

“That was part of it, but I’ve been feeling it for a while. I wanted to see how things went with us living apart and just having the weekends together. It’s going well.”

“That’s good to know. Do you talk much during the week?”

“Once or twice. Not long when we do. It’s more along the lines of texting. Neither one of us are people who just chat for the sake of it. If we have something to say we do, if not, it waits until we see each other on the weekends.”

“Do you guys do much when you’re together? You haven’t said and I haven’t wanted to ask too much. Your father is always asking for information.”

She sighed. She should have figured that. They were giving her space to figure it out on her own but wanting to know at the same time.

“The first weekend I was there, we went to dinner with his best friends. They are great and so nice. I actually text with Nicole, that’s Liam’s wife.”

“That’s nice,” Aunt Helen said. “It gives you a good idea of what he’s like with his friends.”

“Nicole works with Easton too, so they are close on more than one level.”

“She’s an attorney too?” Aunt Helen asked, laughing.

“She is and nothing like I have judged them on. I don’t need you to tell me those things.”

“I’m glad you learned that.”

“I’m pretty smart,” she said. “The next weekend I was there we went hiking. I had an issue with work and felt horrible about it and had to spend some time dealing with that.”

When she’d met with Denise the following Monday, she’d written her up and said the next time would be a final warning. She hated to do that to someone who’d been there for so long, but an employee shouldn’t be in the position that didn’t take responsibility or do their job.

Lily and she had talked it over and felt this was the fairest thing to do. Give Denise one more chance before she’d be on the way out.

Denise had been stunned by the conversation, apologized a few times, and even shed a tear.

It was as if she had no idea that was a possibility or that Laurel could do that to her.

Now everyone knew and many were giving her a wide berth at work. It was fine with her. Being the boss wasn’t easy and she never expected it to be.

She wasn’t there to make friends and they knew it now.

“How was Easton about that with your job?”

“Fine,” she said. “He didn’t seem upset over it. There are times we are together and there is something he has to stop and take care of. I don’t care either. It happens. Then this weekend we had the wedding, but he came on Thursday night late. Enough time to get ready for bed, then worked from my place on Friday.”

“That’s nice. Then you had Friday night together,” Aunt Helen said.

“We did,” she said. “We went to dinner on the water and relaxed. Yesterday was a long day and this morning his cousin Abe showed up for breakfast.”

“That’s odd,” Aunt Helen said. “Do you know why?”

“I think the two of them had to chat about a few things. I know that Easton takes care of any of the legal or business issues for Cooke’s Landscaping. But I think they talked more about Abe’s mom. His Aunt Carrie has wanted to know how things were going with us and Abe stopped over to watch.”

“Watch?”

“It was funny. The two of them together are a riot. I like Abe as a person. He actually brings another side out of Easton. The same side that Easton has when he’s with Liam.”

“Ahh,” Aunt Helen said. “Not the stuffy legal side?”

“He’s not stuffy. I was so wrong there. I know it.”

“I’m glad,” Aunt Helen said.

“Things are going well. You can tell Dad that.”

“Or you can call and let him know yourself.”

She let out a sigh. “It’s hard to talk about those things with him. You know that.”

“I do. But all you have to do is say you’re happy. Happier than you’ve been in a long time. Those are the things that are important to your father.”

“I can do that,” she said. “Is he home?”

“He is.”

“Then I’ll call now. It was nice talking to you.” She hung up with her aunt and then called her father. “Hi, Dad. Am I interrupting you?”

“Nope,” her father said. “I was going to go mow the lawn soon and do some yard work. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Just wanted to tell you how happy I am. That things are going well with me and Easton. Better than I ever thought possible. He’s a great guy.”

“I’m glad to hear that. So I don’t have to worry about breaking any bones?”

“Never,” she said. “I thought you liked him.”

“I do,” her father said. “Doesn’t mean I don’t worry he’s going to break your heart, but you have to decide if you’re even willing to open your heart again.”

“I have. I did. I love him. He loves me.”

No way she was confessing much more than that. Not how they said they loved each other or all the tingles she felt in her body when she thought of Easton. Not just sexual either. Emotional ones she didn’t know she was capable of even having!

“He should love you. You’re a great person. A special person.”

“So is he,” she said softly.

“I’ve heard all I need to,” her father said. “I’m happy for you. Just hope it stays that way.”

“Me too,” she said. “But I’ve got a good feeling about this. And I’m not rushing.”

“Even better,” her father said.