Page 290 of Safe With You

Everything was already done. The chairs were pushed in, the register was closed, and the lights over the café side had been dimmed.

There was nothing waiting for me to help with.

I was just there because she asked me to be.

I made my way toward the back.

Luna’s office door was open, and I found her sitting behind her desk with her attention fixed on her laptop.

She didn’t notice me immediately, so I leaned against the doorway and let myself look at her for a second.

Her curls were pulled up tonight, a few loose around her face. She reached for something beside her laptop without looking and nearly knocked over her water bottle.

I caught it before it hit the floor, and she looked up at me.

“Jesus.”

“Good to see you too.”

She pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”

“You were very distracted.”

She shook her head, but she was smiling when she closed her laptop.

“You made it.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I’m not.”

The answer came quickly, and then she caught herself. I did too, something warm settling low in my chest.

Three nights ago, she probably would’ve added something to that—a joke, an explanation, some little protection against sounding like she expected me.

Tonight, she just let it stand.

I pushed away from the doorway. “What are we doing?”

Luna looked at me. “I don’t know.”

“You called me.”

“I know.”

“Told me to come see you.”

“I remember.”

“And you had no plan?”

“I wanted to see you.”

There it was again, simple and direct.

I walked toward her, and she watched me the entire way.

By the time I stopped in front of her desk, the teasing expression she had a second ago had softened.