Chapter 185: Important Reasons

The afternoon passed without incident.

By closing time, Luke’s feet hurt more than his wrist, which he decided counted as a successful day.

Lauren turned the sign back to CLOSED and locked the front door while Luke finished wiping the nearest table one-handed.

When she came back toward the counter, he glanced at the empty café.

"So?"

"So what?"

"First day back."

Lauren looked around. "We survived."

Luke waited for the rest.

She rubbed the heel of one hand against her forehead.

"And I’m exhausted."

That answer sounded much more believable.

Luke smiled. "Successful, then."

"Ask me tomorrow."

The rest of the staff had already finished their sections and gone home, leaving the café quiet except for the hum of the refrigerators and the occasional sound of traffic outside.

Before they went upstairs, Lauren disappeared into the back room and returned with a small cash box and a stack of receipts.

Luke watched her settle behind the counter, then pulled out a chair.

"Can I help with anything that Shaw won’t classify as attempted self-destruction?"

Lauren looked at the receipts, then at him. After a moment, she slid several across the counter.

"Put those in date order."

Luke stared down at them.

"Seriously?"

"You asked."

"I was hoping for something requiring judgment."

"You’ve had enough judgment calls for one week."

Luke gave her a look but started sorting.

For the next several minutes, they worked without talking much.

The task was stupidly simple, yet sitting there while Lauren counted the day’s register felt better than he expected. Every so often she muttered a number under her breath or stopped to check a receipt against the screen.

Luke watched a loose strand of dark hair fall across her cheek. She pushed it back without looking up.

No one needed her to interpret a vision. No alarm sounded, and nobody rushed through the front door bleeding.

It was just closing time.

Luke had spent so long wanting his life to become exciting that he hadn’t expected ordinary exhaustion to feel this satisfying.

Lauren finished counting the register and found him looking at her again.

She didn’t immediately say anything.

Luke noticed her noticing.

"What?"

Lauren leaned against the counter.

"You tell me."

He looked down at the receipts.

"I was just thinking this is nice."

Her expression softened.

Luke expected a joke about his exciting new love of accounting, but it never came. Lauren looked around the empty café instead.

"Yeah."

Her gaze lingered on the front windows, then moved toward the tables.

"I missed it more than I thought I would."

Luke nodded. "Me too."

"You hated working here at first."

"I hated being told where everything went."

"You still put half the cups in the wrong place."

"That’s a system problem."

Lauren almost smiled, and this time Luke let the conversation end there.

She locked the cash box while he gathered the sorted receipts.

When he handed them over, their fingers brushed.

Neither pulled away immediately.

It was ridiculous considering how many times they had already kissed, but the tiny contact felt different after what Lauren had said earlier.

Luke looked at her hand.

Lauren did too.

Then she took the receipts.

"We should go upstairs."

Her voice was perfectly normal, almost too normal.

Luke stood. "Yeah."

They finished the last of the closing routine and headed upstairs.

The apartment felt different after spending the entire day below, quieter and much more private.

Luke kicked off his shoes near the door and stretched, trying to loosen the tension between his shoulders.

Lauren’s attention immediately shifted toward his wrist.

Luke noticed.

"I’m okay."

"I know."

That wasn’t the answer he expected.

Lauren removed her coat.

"I was checking."

Luke watched her hang it beside the door.

"Still."

She glanced back at him.

"Does it bother you?"

Luke thought about the question.

"No."

Lauren waited.

He looked down at the support around his wrist.

"Sometimes I get annoyed because everybody keeps looking at it before they look at me."

Her expression changed.

"But you don’t."

"No."

Luke met her eyes. "When you do it, I know why."

Lauren didn’t answer immediately.

She walked closer and briefly touched the edge of the support, careful and familiar, then started past him toward the kitchen.

Luke caught her left hand.

Lauren stopped.

His fingers almost loosened, but he kept hold of her.

She looked down at their joined hands before slowly turning toward him.

"What is it?"

Luke stepped closer.

"I don’t know."

A small crease appeared between her eyebrows.

Luke let out an embarrassed breath. "I mean, I do. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to say."

Lauren’s face softened.

"You don’t have to say anything."

That helped.

Luke moved closer until Lauren had to tilt her head slightly upward to meet his gaze.

His heart began beating faster. He could smell coffee on her clothes after the entire day downstairs, but Lauren stayed exactly where she was.

Luke slid his left hand around her waist.

She let him.

The quiet permission sent warmth through him, and he leaned down and kissed her without waiting for another signal.

Lauren responded immediately.

Her arms moved around his neck, and Luke pulled her closer while keeping his injured wrist safely away from her body.

The kiss deepened as Lauren’s fingers slipped into his hair.

Luke’s thoughts stopped being particularly useful.

He stepped forward, and Lauren moved backward with him until her hips touched the edge of the kitchen counter.

Luke broke the kiss long enough to breathe.

Lauren looked up at him, her cheeks slightly flushed.

For months, she had been the one who could lean closer, lower her voice, or touch him in exactly the right place and leave him struggling to remember how conversations worked.

Now she looked affected too.

Luke stared for a second.

Lauren noticed.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

This time, she let him keep the answer.

Luke kissed her again.

Lauren made a quiet sound against his mouth, and his hand tightened instinctively around her waist as she pressed closer.

The movement sent another rush of heat through him, and suddenly every medical restriction Shaw had given him felt personally offensive.

They had kissed plenty of times, but this felt different.

They were home. No mission waited for them, and no emergency was about to pull Lauren’s attention somewhere else.

His left hand moved slowly along her side.

Lauren caught his wrist.

Luke froze as embarrassment hit him hard enough that he almost stepped back.

Then Lauren rested her forehead against his. She was breathing faster too.

"Hey."

Luke looked at her.

"Sorry."

Lauren’s fingers tightened gently around his wrist.

"You didn’t do anything wrong."

He searched her face.

"Then..."

Her gaze dropped toward his supported right arm.

Luke understood, and his shoulders sagged.

"Shaw."

Lauren nodded.

For a few seconds, Luke simply rested his forehead against hers.

Then he muttered, "I really hate that man sometimes."

Lauren laughed under her breath.

"He kept you from making your hand worse."

"I know. That’s the irritating part."

Luke looked at her again.

"How much does ’avoid strenuous activity’ actually cover?"

Lauren stared at him.

He managed to look serious for perhaps two seconds before his mouth twitched.

She covered her face with one hand, and Luke started laughing.

"I’m asking for medical reasons."

"No, you’re not."

"I could be."

"You can ask Shaw."

Luke’s laughter stopped immediately.

"No."

Lauren lowered her hand.

"Then you’ll have to survive the uncertainty."

He groaned.

She was still smiling, but the amusement faded when she touched his cheek.

"You’ve waited this long."

Luke swallowed.

"So have you."

Lauren’s fingers stopped against his face.

Luke had expected another teasing answer, but none came.

For several seconds, she seemed uncertain about what to say, and Luke felt a small spark of satisfaction at finally being the one who had caught her off guard.

"You didn’t have an answer."

Her eyes narrowed.

He probably should have stopped there.

Instead, Luke smiled.

"That’s new."

"Careful."

The warning was quiet, and his pulse jumped anyway.

Lauren leaned forward and kissed him again.

Slower this time.

There was no attempt to overwhelm him. Her hand stayed against his cheek while the kiss lingered, and Luke let himself enjoy it rather than worrying about what he should do next.

When Lauren finally pulled away, he followed her slightly before catching himself.

She noticed.

"Go shower."

Luke blinked. "What?"

"You smell like coffee."

He looked at her clothes.

"So do you."

Lauren glanced down at herself. "Then I’ll shower after you."

Luke opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Lauren’s expression changed as she realized exactly where his thoughts had gone.

"Luke."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You didn’t have to."

His face heated.

She could still do that to him.

Lauren walked toward the hallway before he recovered enough to answer.

Luke stayed in the kitchen for several seconds, then looked down at his injured right hand.

His smallest finger moved when he ordered it to, and the second followed. The others still lagged behind.

A few days ago, Luke had wanted them to recover because he hated feeling limited. He wanted his spear back. He wanted Reinforce, Arcane Thrust, and Powerforge.

Those were still excellent reasons, but they were no longer the only ones.

Luke flexed his fingers again.

"Come on," he murmured. "We’ve got important reasons now."

Lauren’s voice came from the hallway.

"I can still hear you."

Luke looked toward the doorway.

He didn’t answer.

He just smiled.