Chapter 196: A Better Memory

The memory came back immediately. His first day in her home. His first proper shower in what felt like forever. Clean white tiles, folded towels, and a drying rack near the bathtub with a large black bra trimmed in lace hanging from it. Luke had stared long enough to picture Lauren wearing it. He had even caught himself leaning closer before her footsteps sounded in the hallway and she left clean clothes outside the door.

He had forced himself to turn his back on the drying rack and get into the shower. The bra had followed him into his imagination anyway. Lauren followed his gaze toward the bathroom, but confusion crossed her face instead of recognition.

"I want that room next."

Lauren followed his gaze again. "The bathroom? Why?"

Luke almost backed out. Then he remembered the table.

"The first night you brought me home, you left a black lace bra drying in there."

Lauren stared at him, visibly searching her memory before her eyes widened. "You saw that?"

"It was hard to miss."

"Luke."

His face burned, but he was laughing now. "I stared at it for way too long."

Lauren covered her mouth with one hand. "You never said anything."

"What was I supposed to say? Thanks for the room, and by the way, your bra nearly killed me?"

A laugh escaped through her fingers. Luke stepped closer, and the humor in his face softened. "Back then, I was scared you’d catch me even looking at it."

The laughter faded. He took her left hand.

"Now I want you in that bathroom with me."

Lauren’s cheeks flushed deeper. Luke’s heart hammered hard enough to make the confidence difficult to maintain, but he kept going. "I want a better memory of it." Her expression changed.

"Better how?"

Luke looked toward the bathroom, then back at her. "Us."

Lauren was the one who had to look away first. Luke tugged lightly on her hand, and she followed him into the hallway. They made it three steps before Lauren pulled him back and kissed him hard enough to steal his breath. Luke stumbled, recovered, and wrapped his left arm around her waist.

When she finally let him breathe, her forehead rested against his. "You really have been keeping things from me. I thought I knew most of your embarrassing secrets by now."

Luke smiled. "You wanted surprises."

Lauren studied him for a long moment, then nodded toward the bathroom. "Show me."

The room looked almost exactly as Luke remembered it. No black lace bra waited near the bathtub today. White tiles covered the walls and floor, clean towels sat on the shelf, and the mirror above the sink caught both of them as they entered.

Luke glanced automatically toward the spot where the rack had once stood. Lauren caught him and followed his gaze.

"Still thinking about it?"

Luke glanced at her. "You asked."

Lauren’s mouth twitched. "I did not ask you to stare at an empty corner."

Luke laughed, then looked at the mirror. Their reflections stood close together. Lauren’s hair was thoroughly ruined now, his shirt hung crooked across her body, and the flush in her cheeks made her look nothing like the composed café owner who had been making toast that morning.

Lauren followed his gaze, and the room seemed to grow smaller around them. Luke stepped behind her and settled his left hand around her waist. Their eyes met in the mirror. Months ago, he had stood alone in this bathroom trying not to imagine Lauren in a bra. Now she leaned back against him willingly.

He kissed the side of her neck. Lauren’s fingers curled against the edge of the sink as he kissed her again. The mirror made every reaction impossible to miss. Her eyes closed, her lips parted around an uneven breath, and a small shiver moved through her when Luke tightened his arm around her waist.

He had always thought Lauren was impossible to fluster for long. Apparently, he had simply never had the right view. She opened her eyes and found him watching.

"Enjoying yourself, pretty boy?"

Luke’s ears heated, but he held her gaze in the mirror. "Very much."

Lauren’s lips parted, but nothing came out. Luke kissed her shoulder, then watched her reflection again while his right wrist remained safely clear and she let him set the pace.

Soon, her breathing became too uneven for teasing. The cabinet beneath the sink gave a faint rattle when Lauren shifted against it, and her hair slid forward over one shoulder as the loose shirt twisted around her body. Luke kept her close and watched the woman in the mirror lose track of whatever she had been about to say.

"Luke."

He kissed beneath her ear. Her next attempt at his name came out weaker, and Luke smiled against her skin. Lauren caught the expression in the mirror and tried to glare at him, but the look disappeared almost immediately when he pulled her closer again.

A breathless laugh replaced it. Experience had not magically appeared overnight, and Luke still had no idea what he was doing half the time. He was paying attention to Lauren and trusting what she had already told him. She wanted him to choose sometimes, and this time he wasn’t waiting for her to make every decision first. When Lauren tried to turn toward him, Luke caught her gently around the waist before she could complete the movement.

"Stay."

Lauren went still. The word surprised both of them, and Luke’s confidence wavered just enough for him to add, "Unless you don’t want to."

Her eyes met his through the mirror. Then she deliberately placed both hands back where they had been.

"I want to."

Every nervous thought in Luke’s head vanished. He leaned closer and kissed her shoulder while Lauren tipped her head back against him.

"Pretty boy," she murmured.

Luke’s ears warmed again. "You’re cheating."

Her breath caught around a laugh, and Luke didn’t mind the nickname nearly as much as he pretended to. Much later, they stayed in the bathroom while their breathing slowly returned to normal. Lauren leaned back against Luke, her hair hopelessly messy and one side of his shirt slipping down her shoulder. His left arm rested loosely around her waist, and his injured right hand remained relaxed at his side.

Luke looked toward the empty space near the bathtub and laughed under his breath. Lauren opened one eye. "The bra again?"

"Maybe."

She groaned and let her head fall back against his shoulder. Luke felt her trying not to laugh.

"I really did stare at it," Luke said. "I thought you would throw me out if you knew what I was thinking."

Lauren turned her head enough to look at him, and the humor softened in her face. "You really thought that?"

"Back then? Yeah."

Her hand found his left forearm. Luke looked at their reflections. "I don’t anymore."

Months ago, almost everything in her home had felt borrowed. The bedroom, the food, the clean towels, even the right to stand in her bathroom long enough to take a shower. He had been terrified of doing anything that might make Lauren regret letting him stay. Now she was resting against him, completely unbothered by the confession that a piece of her underwear had once occupied far too much space in his imagination.

Luke kissed her cheek. "I like this memory better."

Lauren laughed softly. "I would hope so."

They stayed there another few seconds before Lauren straightened and attempted to fix her hair with her fingers. It accomplished almost nothing. Luke kept watching until she caught him in the mirror.

"What?"

"You look really good."

Her hands stopped in her hair. There was no joke in his voice this time, and another faint flush returned to her cheeks. Luke reached for her with his left hand, but Lauren caught his fingers before he could pull her back.

"Breakfast."

He glanced toward the door. "The toast is probably cold."

"It was cold a long time ago."

"Then we need new toast."

Lauren stepped around him and opened the bathroom door. She made it halfway toward the kitchen before looking back.

"Was the bathroom the last item on your list?"

Luke paused. Lauren saw the answer on his face and groaned. He started laughing.

"I may eventually regret teaching you to say what you want."

"You don’t look very regretful."

Lauren stared at him for a second, then smiled despite herself. "Come eat, pretty boy."

Luke followed her toward the kitchen, already looking at the counter differently. Lauren noticed where his attention had gone and slowed.

"Don’t."

His grin widened. She pointed toward the table. "Food first."

"Fine."

"And then we behave like normal people for at least a little while."

Luke pulled out a chair for her. "How long is a little while?"

Lauren sat down and looked up at him. Neither of them managed to keep a straight face, and by then the original breakfast was thoroughly cold. They ate it anyway.