I’ll be home soon enough. Then Julie Andrews and I have a hot date planned for tonight and tomorrow. It’s going to beepic.
Soundsit.
I know. Aren’t you sorry you’ll be missing out?lol
A knock at my open door jerked my attention away from my phone. I returned it to my desk as I said, “Come in,” toGladys.
She entered carrying a mug. “I made you a warm drink with lemon juice and honey. It’s safe for the baby, and it will help with the cough andcongestion.”
“Thank you,” I said, glad for anything that made me feel even the tiniest bitbetter.
I took the mug from her and sipped the heateddrink.
She handed me a piece of paper. “This is the recipe. You should drink it throughout the day. It will also help to keep you hydrated. Very important for fighting acold.”
“Thanks.” And a trip to the grocery store after work was now on theagenda.
She left me with my drink, my report, and my thoughts. My pesky thoughts about how much I missed Josh. I hadn’t seen him since Sunday, four days ago. The team had been away on a pre-Christmas roadtrip.
The good news? They weren’t scheduled for any more until the newyear.
The not-so-good news? Josh would be in Boston until December twenty-seventh.
But if I was lucky, by the time he returned my cold would have vanished and I could give him his Christmaspresent.
In the new black lacy slip that was practically seethrough.
Even Santa’s elf couldn’t topthat.
“Okay,” Trent said, barging into my office a few minutes past noon. “You’ve been here long enough. Time to go home. And if you don’t leave now, I’ll drag you home kicking and screaming if I haveto.”
Noah kicked in agreement.Traitor.
I released a long breath—which when you were thirty-three weeks pregnant wasn’t as long as you would like. “All right. You win. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll go willingly. No kicking or screaming required. And you won’t need to drag me home either. I’ll drivemyself.”
“Five minutes. That’s all I’m givingyou.”
I didn’t need that much time in theend.
By the way—what’s the worst time of the year to hit the grocerystore?
Based on how crazy things were at the one I stopped at, you’d think everyone was getting ready for a zombieapocalypse.
I spent forty minutes in the store just to buy lemon juice and a container of honey. Oh, and there might have been a package of brownies and a new can of whipping cream in the basket too—for those three-o’clock-in-the-morning, emergency browniecravings.
The latest food that I couldn’t survivewithout.
As I stepped onto my floor in my apartment building, a faint yet delicious smell greeted me. The same smell, only a little stronger, also greeted me when I opened my apartmentdoor.
People didn’t break into apartments and take the time to cook the victim a meal before offing them,right?
Because someone was definitely in mykitchen.
Cooking.
“G’day?” I called out, still standing in the doorway. “Is someonehere?”
A rapid heartbeat later, Josh stepped from the kitchen. Which did nothing for my heartbeat—except now it was beating fast for a differentreason.