Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)(24)

I smiled and turned his script back to him. “Looks exciting.”

“You know, I really like the writers. They’ve got a good storyline going, or as far as I can tell they do, anyway.” He put my coffee in front of me and I felt like Pavlov’s dog, nearly drooling at the sight of the cup.

“Thank you,” I sighed, then took a satisfying drink.

“You’re welcome,” he said, a smile tugging at his lips as he sat down across from me again. “I’ll buy you coffee every day if I get to watch you take that dreamy first sip.”

I gave him a flirty smile, but then took one more sip. “I slept for crap last night. This coffee is going to get me through the fittings I have scheduled this afternoon.”

“Measuring more inseams?” He waggled his eyebrows at me and I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me.

“No, no inseams.” I blushed at the memory of kneeling in front of Riot, measuring tape in hand, praying he couldn’t see my hand shaking as I took his measurement. That was the day that had started everything between us, and I was glad I could look back on the memory with a smile. For the last couple of months, every memory that included Riot had sent me into a panic. I loved thinking about him, remembering the good moments between us, and having no apprehension.

“Do you have any plans this weekend?”

I shook my head. “None. I was just going to stay home and get some work done.”

A slow and easy smile spread across his face. “My little sister’s birthday is this weekend and my family is having a party. Would you like to take a trip to San Francisco with me?”

Suddenly, I didn’t need coffee to wake me up. Riot was asking me to go away with him for the weekend. One day after we’d started talking to each other again. I was wide awake. My heart rate picked up and my mind started working overtime. Sure, I wanted to spend time with him, wanted to explore where our relationship could go from here, but I didn’t think it would be going to San Francisco for the weekend. He must have seen the panic in my face, or noticed the way my entire body tensed at his question, because he immediately tried to soothe me.

“Hey, Kal, listen. It was just a suggestion. I thought it would be fun to get away. No pressure.”

“I’m sorry. That just really surprised me.” I felt terrible. First, because I didn’t want him to think I didn’t want to spend time with him, and second, because as soon as he started to tell me it was okay if I didn’t want to go, I wanted to go. Sure, my first reaction was terror, but once I thought about it for a moment, spending a weekend with Riot somewhere new sounded like the perfect way to ease back into whatever it was we were trying to build between us. “So, does your family know you’re inviting a woman to the family gathering?”

“No. But they’d love to meet you, so I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem.” He eyed me warily, which made me feel even worse.

“Where would we stay? At your parents’ house?” The idea of seeing the house Riot grew up in made my belly warm, then the feeling spread throughout my body. Even though I’d fallen totally and madly in love with Riot months before, we’d actually learned quite little about each other. All he really knew of me was what I showed him, and all I knew of him was what I was able to surmise from a brief yet entirely passionate long-distance relationship.

“Well, unfortunately, since I haven’t RSVP’d yet, all the rooms are spoken for, so we’d have to stay at a hotel. Obviously, we can get two rooms… if you’re worried about…”

His voice trailed off and I wanted to end his misery. “I think it’d be really fun to go to San Francisco with you.”

“Great,” he said on a sigh, obviously relieved. He smiled as he brought his coffee to his lips, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“How old is your sister turning? What is she into? I need gift ideas.”

“She’s kind of a nerd,” he said in a big brother, teasing-with-love kind of way. “I usually just get her a gift card to her favorite bookstore and call it good.”

“That’s very male of you.” I rolled my eyes at him, but then I smiled as a small laugh escaped my lips.

“What’s wrong with a gift card?” he asked, feigning offense.

“Nothing is wrong with a gift card, if you’re going for a completely impersonal gift. But if I’m meeting your family for the first time, I want to bring something that doesn’t scream, ‘I stopped at a grocery store five minutes ago to get your birthday present.’”

“Ouch.” His hand came up to cover his heart and the wounded look he wore, with just one edge of his mouth tipped up, was absolutely adorable. Then his face went blank as he picked up his coffee again. “My sister loves my gift cards.”

I laughed, then lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’m sure she does.”

“I don’t want to monopolize all your time, but do you have plans on Wednesday evening? They’re playing that new scary thriller movie at the lot theatre. Wanna go see it with me?” His eyebrows were raised, eyes trained on me as he waited for my answer. Generally, I hated scary movies. When I was a teenager I’d loved them, enjoyed scaring myself silly with my friends at the movie theatre or late at night during a sleepover. But once I hit adulthood, I realized serial killers and ghosts were just one more thing to fear that I didn’t need, and found myself hating the entire genre of film. However, sitting in the studio’s movie theatre plush seats, built like love seats, didn’t sound like a bad way to spend an evening. Especially if it meant I could be close to Riot.