"Wine or tea?" she asked. "We have that leftover Riesling in the fridge from Sunday." Claire pulled out a pitcher of iced tea for herself and held up the bottle of wine for him, raising her eyebrows in question.
"Wine sounds great," he said.
She fixed their drinks while he washed the veggies. He smiled again at how comfortable they were with these everyday household tasks.
They were making one of his mum's recipes, and he served as Claire's taster during the meal prep. She modified the recipe a bit and added her own flair. When everything was done, they sat down at the kitchen bar and dug in.
"This is scrumptious. I like what you did with the spices. I will not be telling my mother this, but I like yours better," he told her with a wink.
Claire laughed. "Just bringin' a little West Texas flavor to the party. Your mom's a wonderful cook. She showed me some shortcuts I hadn't thought of before. Same reason I love the cooking group; there's always something new to learn."
They discussed different foods they'd eaten, how they preferred their steaks cooked, and other culinary topics throughout the meal until Noah pushed his plate away and declared himself stuffed.
"No room for dessert?"
"Not at the moment. Perhaps later, after I've had time to digest?" He patted his stomach and groaned. "That was truly delicious."
She grinned. "And far healthier than dining out all the time. I don't know why you guys don't weigh 300 pounds with as much as you eat out." She stood to gather their dirty dishes, and he helped with their glasses. Between the two of them, it only took a few minutes to clean up.
Noah considered her statement. She was right. Personally, he used the workout room at their apartment building to keep up his cardio and stave off those extra pounds. The rowing machine was his favorite way to excise whatever stressors were hounding him that day. It also helped that his regular workday easily met that magical ten thousand steps goal everyone strived for.
"Movie time!" Claire's declaration reminded him of their plans for the evening.
His phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. "It's Rick. Let me just check in with him. He's been antsy as we get closer to Peggy's due date."
"Sure. I'll get everything set up and ready to go."
He stepped out onto her balcony and answered. No baby news, just Rick seeing if he'd eaten yet. When Noah told him he had, the call ended in typical Rick fashion. Question asked and answered, conversation over.
"See you tomorrow," Noah said as he signed off and stepped back inside. Claire wasn't in the living area or kitchen. Music played from her bedroom and he followed the sound.
"Claire?"
She was perched on the bed, with her back resting against a cushioned backboard with extra pillows for support and her legs stretched out in front of her. The fairy lights strung above her bed brought out the highlights in her lovely hair. She aimed the remote at the wall to his left. He ventured further into the room and saw the large flatscreen mounted on her wall.
"This is way more comfortable than my crappy couch. Luce and I tested it out before mounting the TV," she declared. Patting the space beside her on the bed, she said, "C'mon. Movie's about to start."
Noah hesitated. Wasn't she uncomfortable with him in her personal space? The little time they'd spent in her apartment had all been in the kitchen and living area, not her bedroom. He watched her wriggle more deeply into the pillows. Apparently not.
"Quite the nest you've created here." He carefully climbed onto the bed and situated himself, plumping the pillows behind him and adjusting them again until he got comfortable. When he finally settled in, he found Claire watching him.
She burst into laughter. "Are you okay?"
"Er, yes? What's so funny?" He reached back and straightened the pillow behind his head.
She bit her lip. "You've never watched movies in bed, have you?"
"Claire, don't you find it awkward to have me in your bed?" He wanted to kick himself for asking the question. He'd spent this past month imagining himself exactly here and now he's second-guessing it? What a tool.
"Oh. No, I hadn't thought about it. This is how I always watch movies." She twirled a stray curl around her finger. "If it's too weird, we can always move the TV. It dismounts pretty easily and I still have the stand. Somewhere around here."
He reached over and gently tugged on her hand, removing it from her mouth. "It's fine. Let's watch our movie."
She gave him a doubtful look.
"Truly." And wasn't he a clumsy oaf for making it awkward when she was perfectly comfortable before he opened his big mouth. Time to change the subject. "What did you pick out?"
"Well, one of my favorites, The 13th Warrior, is streaming, but it's a little too dark and twisty for a first movie, so I picked something lighter that I haven't seen before. What's your take on rom-coms?"
