From Your Heart by Shannyn Schroeder (12)

Chapter Eleven

Kevin knew he wouldn’t last long. He’d been doing nothing but jacking off to mental images of Kathy for weeks. And now he had her naked in his arms.

He sank deep inside her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She smelled good. Sweet like her flowers. He thought he could die right here, and it would be the perfect way to go.

But his body demanded that he move, that he pump into her, make her come again, tight on his cock. Propping himself up on one elbow, he hooked the other under her knee, opening her wider so he could go deeper.

He pumped his hips slowly at first, long strokes to feel every inch of her on him. Her fingers glided along his shoulders in a lazy motion. He wanted her frantic and wild again, so he picked up the pace and kissed her. His tongue mimicked the movement of his cock, sliding in and out. He sucked on her tongue and nibbled on her lips.

Releasing her leg, he lay so their pelvises touched. His thrusts were shallower, but with each pump, he pressed against her clit. She began chasing him with her hips, seeking release again. He rested his forehead against hers.

Her brandy-colored eyes looked into his, pleading to make her come, but she didn’t say it. His heart raced because she remembered this game they’d played. It was a cat-and-mouse game of who could outlast the other. He smirked and pressed deep inside of her, grinding a slow circle against her clit with his hips. Her eyes widened, pupils taking over her irises, and she bit her lower lip.

“All you have to do is say it.” He twisted his hips again.

Her palm slapped his ass, and she dug her fingers in. “God, yes, fine. You win. Fuck me and make me come already.”

He chuckled and kissed her. He almost always won this game, but it was so much fun. Then he gave her everything he had until her body clamped down around him and pulled him deep. She bowed and arched under him, pulsing all around his cock, pulling his release from him.

Her body milked him through a few more thrusts that were punctuated by tender kisses. He held her close, still inside her body, their chests rising and falling in a unison of gasping breaths.

They lay like that until he could see straight. He rose to dispose of the condom and then returned to her side and wrapped his arms around her.

She turned her head to face him. “I agree. Best lunch ever.”

He laughed and kissed her shoulder. If he had any doubts about whether he would fall completely for this woman, it ended here. “You’re sure you’re okay with this?”

“Except for the fact that you still want me to beg to be able to come, yeah.”

His heart did that weird thump again. “The first orgasm was a freebie.” He sank his teeth into the spot on her shoulder he’d kissed. “Actually, the first two orgasms, if you count the one from the other morning.”

“So this was payback?”

He levered himself above her. “No payback. When I’m buried deep inside you, I want you to be fully aware of who’s making you come.”

“As if I could forget.”

He cradled her jaw, allowing his thumb to caress her cheek. “I know I’m not the only man to ever share your bed. But when you’re wild with need, I want my name to be the one you’re screaming.”

“And you kind of like to be in control,” she said, a little cocky in her assuredness.

“Something wrong with that?”

“Not if you’re into that sort of thing.”

“Are you?” he asked.

She blinked slowly. She’d never complained before, but they were different people now. If she didn’t like what he’d done, she needed to let him know now. His thumb brushed her lower lip and she bit him.

“Never before you. Never since.”

Her teeth on his thumb distracted him, and he blinked to refocus. What was she talking about? His brain rewound to his question. Then the pieces fell together. She’d only enjoyed this with him. That weird thump of his heart was replaced by a full stillness he couldn’t explain.

As if reading his momentary confusion, she added, “Relinquishing control in bed? Only with you.”

He kissed her tenderly then, stealing her breath because his lungs hadn’t worked on their own. Lying beside her again, he pulled her to his side.

“Don’t you have to get back to work?” she asked.

“I have time. How about you?”

“Anna isn’t expecting me until at least two.”

They lay in silence for a few minutes. He stroked her arm and thought about them. And her. When he’d gotten to her apartment today, she’d said they had gotten reacquainted, but for all he knew about who she was, there were still many gaps.

“Why don’t you ever talk about your family?” he asked. She stiffened under his touch, and he had the feeling that he’d just ruined their perfect lunch.

“Not much to tell.”

“I know absolutely nothing about them. We talk about mine all the time. You’ve met my entire family. All I know is that you’re an only child. I know nothing about your parents, where they are, if they’re still alive, why they didn’t have more kids.”

Her fingers brushed his chest hair and then she settled her chin on his chest to look at him. “I’m not sure they planned to have me, so I never asked why I don’t have siblings.”

“Are you not close to your parents? Is that why you never talk about them?”

She shrugged, and he knew she wanted to get out of this conversation, but that told him it was one they needed to have.

“I talk to them. They’re divorced now, so I touch base with each of them every few weeks to check in.”

Every few weeks? Damn. He spent time with his family at least every week. If he wasn’t with them, he definitely spoke to them.

“When did they get divorced?”

“Not until after I went to college. It should’ve been a whole lot sooner.” She turned her head until her cheek was against him. “My childhood wasn’t happy. It wasn’t horrible either. I wasn’t abused or neglected. But I’m also hard-pressed to come up with truly happy memories.”

He stroked her hair and hoped she’d continue. This was a whole new side to her he never knew existed.

“My parents didn’t belong together. I love them individually. But together, they were a mess. I wish they would’ve gotten divorced earlier. We all would’ve been better off.” She swallowed, and he felt her throat work. “They stayed together for me, but in doing so they had no idea the damage that caused.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“It’s okay. Years of therapy later, thanks to Moira, I should be able to tell you about it. They were miserable together. They were constantly at odds. Argued about everything, but not in a vicious, nasty way. They both excelled at passive-aggressive jabs. As a young kid, I felt the tension, but I didn’t get it. By the time I was older, I just avoided them altogether. I did everything right, exactly what I was supposed to do so they wouldn’t have to fight about me.”

“Let me guess. It didn’t work.”

“Of course not. I was a kid, and I didn’t know their problems weren’t because of me. Another little gem from therapy.” She sighed. “Even now, they’ve been divorced for years, but they still make snotty comments about each other when I talk to them. I can’t be stuck in the middle, so I limit communication for my own sanity.”

“Have you ever told them to stop?” It seemed silly to say it. He never thought twice about telling anyone in his family when they pissed him off.

“Not really. I tried once, but it just got ugly. More finger-pointing. I couldn’t stomach it, so I dropped it.”

Things about her started to click into place. The fact that she hadn’t confronted him when she’d thought he’d cheated on her, the look on her face when he caught her in the hallway at the engagement party—she avoided conflict. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember a time when she even disagreed with him.

“So therapy fixed you all up, huh?”

“I’m working on it.”

That’s what she’d been referring to when they were at the block party. He was glad he waited to push to get these answers.

“We never went to therapy,” he admitted. “After my mom was killed, I mean. Or anytime.”

Kathy looked at him, clearly relieved he switched subjects.

“We were all so young, it probably didn’t occur to my dad. Not that he would’ve taken us because”—he lowered his voice to imitate his dad—“who needs that malarkey anyway?”

She smiled. “Kind of scary how well you do that.”

“I should be good at it. I’ve been listening to that man yell at me my whole life.”

“Do you wish you had gone to therapy?”

He shifted his shoulders. “I don’t know. Part of me thinks we wouldn’t be so screwed up.”

“How do you mean?”

“Jimmy is such a control freak. Part of the reason he didn’t want to fall for Moira was because he knew he couldn’t control her. He needs to keep everyone he cares about safe.” He swallowed the rapidly forming lump in his throat. “Like he couldn’t do for our mom.”

Kathy’s fingers caressed his pecs and stroked across his shoulders. “What about you? While I know you like to be in control in the bedroom, I don’t see the same intensity in you as I do in Jimmy.”

He licked his lips. He knew his greatest fear was being left. He’d noticed it first in his younger siblings, the fear of abandonment, long before he recognized it in himself. That fear was why he’d been so angry when Kathy disappeared from his life. But he wasn’t ready to confess that. So he cracked a grin. “I’m the most normal of the bunch. Haven’t you realized that yet?”

He should’ve known better than to think that would fly. Kathy pushed up off his chest, and he missed the warmth of her body. Scooping her hair behind her, she glared at him. “I offered you complete honesty, and you can’t give me the same?” She shut her mouth, opened it as if to say more, but then just turned and got off the bed.

Kevin scrambled to the edge of the mattress and caught her arm. “Hey, I make jokes. That’s who I am.” He paused. “I’m not even sure of all the ways I’m fucked up.”

She turned to face him and said, “But when I asked, something came into your head that you decided not to share.”

“True.” He swallowed hard again. If he wanted a relationship, a real one, he knew he needed to do the hard stuff. “The thought of being left scares me. First it pisses me off, but I know it’s because I’ll feel empty.” He shook his head. “Now I feel like a total wuss.”

He stood, still holding her hand. She stepped close to him, and her perky tits caught his attention. She kissed his cheek.

“I don’t think you’re a wuss. You did the manly thing and told the truth. Thank you.”

He wasn’t feeling too manly at the moment, but he’d take whatever he could from her.

She stroked his cheek. “I promise not to disappear on you again.”

Grateful that he didn’t have to explain that connection, he watched her walk from the room with her clothes in hand.

* * *

Kathy took her time in the bathroom, hoping Kevin wouldn’t follow her. The sex had been amazing, but she’d expected that. Hell, she’d missed that. Everything that came after, though . . . not only had she not expected it, it rattled her. She didn’t talk to anyone about her parents. Moira was about it. With anyone else, she always glossed over it. Past boyfriends just chalked it up to her not being close to her parents and most were relieved they didn’t have to do the meet-the-parents thing.

Somehow Kevin managed to look beyond any easy answers and pushed for more. She wanted to give him more. She just hadn’t counted on it feeling like this. She wasn’t even sure what this was. A strange combination of anxiety and relief.

In that brief conversation they’d learned more about each other—the real, deep-down stuff—than they’d learned the entire time they’d been together before. Her plan to take it slow with him backfired in unimaginable ways. She couldn’t figure out if it was a good thing. Her body was thrilled with the outcome of the afternoon. Her heart was still wary.

She cleaned up and dressed and found her bedroom empty. Kevin’s clothes were gone and she worried that he’d taken off without saying good-bye. Then she shook her head. He wouldn’t do that, especially now that he’d confessed how important a simple good-bye was to him.

She found him in the kitchen, unwrapping the sandwiches she’d bought for lunch. “I thought you had to leave.”

“I have a little more time before anyone starts wondering where I am.” He grinned. “We did have a lunch date after all.”

She sat at her small table across from him at a loss for where to go from here.

He swallowed a bite of sandwich and then asked, “Are we okay?”

Nodding, she said, “Yeah. I’m just—” She waved her hand, still not finding the words.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Surprised me too.”

Looking into his eyes, she saw that he understood. Whatever they shared in bed was intense, even with the joking and games. “Do you regret it?” she asked.

“Hell no. However, if you ever repeat my confession to anyone, we might have issues, but telling you? I’m all good.” He picked up the quickly shrinking sandwich. “Lying naked in bed after amazing sex, you could probably get me to confess anything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. File it away for future use.”

She’d only taken a few bites of her lunch when he crumpled his empty wrapper. He threw away his trash and came to her. “I hate to eat and run, but I have to get back to the office. I have a boss to impress, you know.”

“Taking a long lunch to have sex with your girlfriend probably isn’t the best way to make that impression.”

“No job is worth giving up this kind of lunch. Maybe we should make it a regular thing.”

Laughter bubbled up, but he was serious. “Really?”

“Why not? Our schedules are a little nuts. If we can sneak away for lunch and other festivities, we should.”

The thought made her feel a little naughty, but in a totally good way. “It’s doable. I’m the boss, after all.”

“Excellent. I don’t know when I’ll be off tonight, but I’ll give you a call. Maybe we can hang out.”

“Sounds good.” She rose to walk him to the door.

Before leaving, he kissed her breathless and murmured against her lips, “I won’t be able to think about anything but you this afternoon.”

She grinned, knowing her day would feel much the same. He left and she returned to her lunch, feeling out of sorts because she rarely took a leisurely lunch. But like she’d told Kevin, she was the boss. This was something she should’ve been doing all along.

* * *

Kevin strode into the office and his phone immediately bleeped with a text. The mayor wanted to see him. Crap. He eyed the work still waiting on his desk, work that he’d ignored to run around and do whatever Mayor Park wanted in an effort to outshine anyone else being considered for the position Kevin wanted. He sighed.

Time to go see what Park wanted now.

In the elevator, Kevin adjusted his tie and finger-combed his hair, hoping no one would be able to tell he’d just gotten laid. When he arrived at the mayor’s office, he was ushered in immediately, as if he’d somehow kept Park waiting.

“Kevin,” Park announced, his voice booming a little too much for Kevin’s comfort. No one else was in the office, so he had no one to impress.

“Yes, sir. You wanted to see me?”

“Stop calling me sir. You sound just like your brother when you do that.”

Kevin swallowed a groan. He could go his whole life without sounding like Jimmy and that would do him just fine.

Park pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.” Then, instead of taking his usual seat behind the desk, he sat across from Kevin.

“I wanted to talk about the work you’ve put in on the tourism initiative. I really appreciate everything you’ve done.”

This sounded like he was sending Kevin on his way, so Kevin did what he could to keep calm. He straightened his shoulders. “I’ve done my job, Mayor.”

“No. You’ve gone above and beyond. Way above and beyond. I don’t want you to think that goes unnoticed.”

“Thank you.” It wasn’t a job offer, but at least the man recognized that Kevin had been working his ass off.

“I want to offer you the position of official tourism liaison to the mayor’s office.”

Kevin froze. He couldn’t have heard that right. Park offered him the job?

“I hope you’re interested because you already know everything we’ve done, everything I’ve been looking for.”

“I am. Definitely.” He inched forward on his chair.

“I can’t offer you a pay increase. At least not until we get the new budget approved. But I can give you your own office.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t need time to think about it?”

“With all due respect, sir, we all have to start somewhere, and if my pay doesn’t decrease with this move, what else do I have to lose?”

“I like the way you think.” He stood and extended his hand. “Welcome aboard.”

They shook hands and then the mayor handed him a bottle of champagne. “This is for you to celebrate with your girlfriend. Sheila will show you to your new office so you can get settled. Then take the rest of the day with Kathy.”

Impressed that Park remembered Kathy’s name, Kevin glanced at the bottle. “Thank you again.”

“Don’t get too used to short days, though.”

Kevin chuckled. “I think I already know that.”

“Let that girlfriend of yours know that there will be plenty more social engagements to attend in the near future.” Park went back behind his desk. Before sitting, he added, “Tomorrow, nine o’clock. Be here ready to figure out how to coordinate with our new partners to take the bulk of this mess away from my office. After tomorrow, you should be the only person I have to deal with when it comes to tourism.”

“Yes, sir.”

Park glared at him. “Call me Bill when we’re alone. Mayor Park in front of other people. Fair enough?”

“Absolutely. Bill.” He lifted the bottle in his hand. “Thank you again. What about my current job and the work there?”

“Pass the work on. We’ll see if we need to hire someone else or if the workload can be scattered.”

Kevin nodded and left the office. He wanted to do nothing but run straight back to Kathy and tell her the good news, but he knew she’d be at work. Plus, he needed to get settled in his new office. He stopped at Sheila’s desk. “The mayor said you’d be able to show me to my new office?”

“Congratulations. It’s this way.”

She stood and led him down the hall. The door she opened had apparently been a storage closet at one point. Sheila’s mouth lifted in a smile as she handed him the key. “All yours.”

“Is there furniture? A desk? Something?”

“The IT department is scheduled to be here first thing in the morning. Is there something particular you’d like in a desk? I can order one. Or you can look around online and send me a link to what you want.”

He hated shopping. Although it wasn’t her job to shop for him, Sheila had offered. “As long as it’s a flat surface and has drawers, it’ll work. And if the chair is halfway decent with wheels, I’ll be happy.” It wouldn’t take much to beat the furniture he’d used downstairs.

“Okay. I’ll get that ordered. It’ll take a few days to get it. In the meantime, you can use the conference room.” She pointed across the hall. “And two doors down, there’s a break room with a fridge.”

He took a deep breath. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.”

“No problem.”

For five full minutes, he stood staring into the empty closet. No windows and plenty of dust, but it was his. He’d done it. He’d begun to make his mark on the city. This was only the first step. He had no clue what the next step might be, but he was moving forward and that was all that mattered.

With his bottle of champagne tucked under his arm, he returned to his old desk to figure out who could handle the work he’d left sitting. While he was acquainted with his coworkers, he considered none of them friends. They had a pretty high turnover rate, so it hadn’t been worth his time getting too chummy with most.

Trevor sat at the desk nearest him, so he started there. “Hey, I’ve got a new position, so I’m moving upstairs. Mayor Park told me to pass on my current workload.”

Trevor shot back in his chair. “What? That’s bullshit. We all have our own work to do.”

That was another reason not to make friends here. No congratulations, no “way to go.”

Megan stood from her side of the cubicle wall. “Did I hear that right, Kevin? You got the promotion?”

He nodded and she eyed the bottle under his arm.

“Are you sharing?”

“Not with you guys. This is for my girlfriend.”

She pouted. “Since when is there a girlfriend? Sheesh. You go running around with the mayor and everything changes.” She walked around to his desk. “Can I have your chair? Mine has a squeaky wheel.”

“Take whatever you want as long as you take some work with it.”

“Deal.” She tossed a file folder on the chair without even looking at the contents and wheeled it all back to the other side. Still standing, she asked, “So how’d you do it?”

“What?” he asked while looking around at who else he could drop work onto.

“Get the promotion. I kind of thought we were all anonymous down here.”

“Choose not to be anonymous. Talk to everyone. Know their names and what they do. Look for opportunities.”

For the next few hours he looked for opportunities to leave. He’d tried to get out of work early like Park had suggested. But as he packed up the few things that he kept at his desk, he talked to his coworkers and dumped current projects on them. No matter what he did, someone else had a question or needed something.

The only thing he had going for him was that he was sure Kathy was still at work. They’d taken a long lunch and he knew she’d stay until closing. He glanced at the clock. It was just about time for her to turn the lock, so he texted her.

Her text was followed by a series of emojis that he didn’t even try to decipher. As he walked to his car, he thought about calling his family, but they would want to celebrate with him too. Tonight he wanted Kathy all to himself. He’d wait until the weekend to tell them.

* * *

Kathy raced back to her apartment. Kevin must’ve gotten the promotion he’d been working so hard for. It was the only thing that came to mind when he mentioned celebrating. She was so happy for him. That he wanted to celebrate with her made it extra special. This was the kind of thing that the old Kevin would’ve wanted to go to a bar to celebrate with every person he knew.

That he chose a quiet night alone with her said a lot.

At home, she cleared her coffee table in the living room so they could be comfortable while they ate and then she checked her fridge. Kevin was a beer drinker, but she didn’t normally keep much on hand. She checked the clock. There wouldn’t be time to run to the store to grab some for him. Maybe she could run out while they waited for the pizza after he got here.

Then she looked at herself. She wore the same clothes she had on earlier and she’d worked all afternoon in them. Although the shop was air-conditioned, she’d done a lot of running around, including handling a couple of deliveries because they’d been behind. She really wanted to wash up. As soon as she thought about how quickly she could shower, her doorbell rang.

She opened the door to Kevin standing in the hallway holding a bottle of champagne.

“Wow. You weren’t kidding about celebrating.” She swung the door wide for him to enter.

He stopped just over the threshold and leaned in to kiss her. “This is a gift from the mayor to welcome me to my new position as tourism board liaison.”

“I knew it.” Kathy jumped and wrapped her arms around him. “Congratulations.”

His arms came around her. “Thanks.”

She stepped back. “I was going to run out and grab you some beer while we waited for pizza. I don’t have any.”

“Nuh-uh.” He tugged her close again. “I came here to be with you. I don’t need beer.”

“You don’t like champagne.”

“You do. I’ll drink water. Or pop. I don’t care.”

“This is your celebration. You should get what you want, what you like.”

“I like and want you.”

She sighed. “You’re being impossible. This is huge. You should’ve insisted we go out to celebrate.”

“We can do that later after I tell my family. Tonight I want us.” His arm snaked around her waist and he nuzzled her neck.

Even as her brain fogged over at his touch, his words sank in. He hadn’t even told his family yet. He’d only told her.

She had no idea how to feel about that. Special, definitely. Wary, a little. It wasn’t like him to exclude his family from anything important in his life. “Don’t you think you should call your family and tell them?”

“I’ll tell them this weekend,” he said against the sensitive skin on her neck.

She melted into his touch for a moment and then pulled away. “Let’s order dinner. I’ve been working all day, and I need a shower. Then I want to hear all about the new job.”

“Shower sounds good.” The look he gave her let her know he was mentally undressing her.

She rolled her eyes. “Out of all the words that just came out of my mouth, the only one you heard was ‘shower’?”

“That’s the only one that leads to you being naked.” His grin was purely sinful, and she had no way of resisting.

“Fine. Order dinner and meet me in the bathroom.”

He was dialing before she even made it to the bathroom. She stripped and stood under the water, washing quickly. She might not have beer on hand to make Kevin’s night, but a blow job in the shower would certainly make up for it. Moments later, as she was rinsing the shampoo from her hair, he stepped into the tub.

“I thought you were waiting for me.”

“I said meet me here. I said nothing about waiting,” she said with a pointed look.

He edged nearer to get under the spray. This tub was definitely not made for two. One day, when she had her own house, she was going to invest in the most awesome bathroom. He threaded his fingers into her tangled curls and brought her close for a kiss.

If the water hadn’t already been hot, the kiss would’ve created enough steam to fill the room. His erection prodded her stomach and she stroked him. He groaned into her mouth.

“It’s almost as if you didn’t get off with me just this afternoon. Too much stress with your new job, huh? Need a release?” She pumped faster with her fist and his hips thrust into her palm. “Here. Turn this way.” She angled him and then lowered herself.

She took him into her mouth and his palm slapped against the wet tile. “Fuck,” he groaned.

“Better than a six-pack of beer?” she asked from her position on her knees in front of him.

“Fuck yeah.”

Water cascaded down his shoulders in rivulets over his torso, but he blocked most of the spray from hitting her. She should’ve been cold, but when he looked at her like that, with nothing but heat and lust in his eyes, she was warmed from the inside out. She licked the head of his cock and down the shaft, enjoying toying with him a little to make up for what he’d done this afternoon.

She took him fully in her mouth again and sucked on him. He braced one arm on the tile and the other tangled in her hair again, this time guiding her at the pace he wanted, and she let him. Like she’d said earlier, Kevin liked to be in charge in the bedroom, and for the most part, she got off on it, so she let him. Even if it hadn’t been her thing, tonight she would’ve given him this.

But with each time she was with Kevin she was finding that his way seemed to be her thing more and more.

She sucked and licked and stroked him until he came on a string of curses. He sank back until he was leaning against the wall. Kathy stood, kissing her way up his body, loving the feel of his muscles quiver under her touch.

“That was fucking amazing.”

“The water’s getting cold. Towels are in the cabinet. Pizza should be here soon.”

He grabbed her wrist. “It’s your turn.”

“I don’t need a turn. Tonight is your celebration. See you in the living room.”

She closed the shower door behind her and dried off quickly.

“I’m gonna smell like a chick after this shower. You need to get some manly soap if I’m going to be spending more time here.”

Kathy bit down on her smile. She loved the idea of him spending more time in her apartment. “What’s wrong with smelling like a chick? I thought you liked the way I smell.”

The water turned off and the door slid open. “I like the smell on you. Doesn’t mean I want to smell like you.”

“Boo hoo.” She wrapped her hair in a towel, and he swatted her ass as she scooted out the door. In her bedroom, she tugged on a tank top and a pair of shorts. The doorbell rang as she let her hair fall from the towel.

“I’ll get it,” Kevin called.

She eyed him standing in the middle of her living room with a towel wrapped on his waist. “Yeah, I don’t think so. Sometimes I have a delivery girl.” She pointed at him. “And it’s just unfair to show that to some girl who can’t have it.”

His chuckle was low and self-satisfied. Kathy grabbed her wallet and went to the door. It was a teenage boy standing in the hall who seemed very interested in Kathy’s braless chest, so she opened the door a little wider. Kevin stood behind her. “Can you take the box, hon?”

“Sure,” he answered, shooting the delivery guy a dirty look.

Kathy paid him and closed the door.

Kevin set the pizza on the table. “And you were worried about me showing something off? That kid’s going to be spanking himself to images of your tits for the next month.”

“I’m fully clothed.”

“Wearing no bra.” He cupped her breast and pinched her already hard nipple.

“I don’t sleep in a bra. I saw no point in putting one on now.”

“I’m not complaining. I love this. Just don’t answer the door like that if you don’t want me to answer in a towel.”

“Fair enough.” She plopped down on the couch and flipped up the lid on the box. “Now tell me all about your new job.”