Falling For You

s i x

Dawn arrived all too soon, waking me with its caress of warm toned rays, as they filtered through the gap in the curtain. Guess it was no longer storming outside. I stretched, pushing the covers down with my feet. I could hear Levi moving about in the kitchen, whatever he was doing I hope it involved coffee.

I climbed out of bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom, in hopes of heading straight into the bathroom without being caught. My hand settled on the doorknob and just as I was about to give do a little victory dance, the sound of footsteps behind me quickly had me freezing like a cat with its paws caught in the treat jar. I grimaced and turned to face him, forcing myself to smile as I thought about the dry drool and crusty eyes I was without a doubt currently rocking.

Dressed in a black shirt and jeans, he somehow looked as dashing as he did when he was fully decked out in a suit. It wasn't fair, he probably washed his face vigorously with a bar of soap and called it a day. My eyes zeroed in on the slight flex of his bicep as he took a sip of this drink.
"Sleep well?" 

"As well as someone can after wrecking their car," I responded, still transfixed by the sight of him.

"I heard you snoring."

I knew he was lying as I did not snore but the thought still horrified me. "Maybe you're confusing me with yourself."

"I don't make any noise when I sleep." He grinned behind his mug. "Go freshen up."

I scowled at his retreating form. Go freshen up. As if I wasn't literally on my way to do just that. I quickly used the bathroom and changed and then padded out to the kitchen, taking a seat across from him. He slid a mug of hot coffee across the table to me and I welcomed it with open hands, and took a sip, relishing in the feeling of the caffeine hitting my bloodstream. He grabbed a piece of toast and buttered it then placed it on a plate which he pushed towards me. The unspoken act of domesticality warmed a deep, neglected part of me. 

"Do you think you'll be able to take me to my author's cabin?" I asked after finishing off the toast.

"What's the address?"

I rattled off the address left in the email and his brows furrowed. "That place doesn't exist. The last number for the cabins is 80. Anything past that is just land."

I bit the inside of my cheek as I leaned back in my chair. "But that's the address he left me."

"I don't know what to tell you."

I rubbed my forehead. Did Theodore lie to me? For what reason? Because he didn't want to be found? What was the point if even adding an address to the email then? Too many questions and not enough answers and Iris was a woman who loved answers. "Shit."

Levi stood and grabbed my plate and mug then headed to the sink. "We should focus on getting your car towed out of here. Hopefully you can get compensated by your job for the damage."

I winced at the mention of my job. I probably couldn't since this was not an official work trip. The amount of money it would take to get that dent out overwhelmed me. Was every editor going through this with their authors or was this some type of karma specially reserved for me?  I glanced at Levi, washing our dishes and was filled with gratitude.
"Thank you," I found myself saying.

He placed the dishes on a dish towel to dry and turned to me. "It's not a problem. Seems like fate  throwing us together."

My eyebrows raised. "You believe in fate?" My voice carried the tone of disbelief. Levi kept surprising me at every turn and I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"I think there's a certain something in play. We can't just all be here for no reason right?" He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Let's get going. We can just go take a look for now."