Page 17 of Her Braun
"Hey, I know you're here for another few hours," she tried not to hate the sound of that, but she did, "but I've already got my painting clothes on."
She wasn't sure what he was saying at first, but her mind cleared up pretty quickly in her head.
"I don't know how you'd feel about letting me into your house while you're not there, but-"
She rolled onto her hip and pushed her lab coat out of the way to dig into the pocket on her scrubs. "I trust you." She pulled her keys out and held them out to him. "Besides, you know how bad the door locks are. If you wanted to get in, you could probably just push up the sash windowpane and climb in."
Kay could tell by the wincing look on his face that he didn't like hearing that.
It was one of the hundreds of things she had on her list to fix about her house.
And she'd get to them.
Eventually.
She held out her keys and he took it from her. "I'm pretty sure I put my clothes in the hamper before I left this morning, so just ignore... whatever you see that might just be my... underthings."
"Underthings?"
Kay looked at him and saw the humor in his eyes. She shrugged. "It just feels... weird to saypantiesin front of you." She'd whispered the P-word in front of him and it felt odd to even suggest it.
Gibson leaned in, jingling her keys in his hand. "You don't want me to think about your panties?"
She dropped her face into her hands. "I can't believe I said that."
She heard his laughter, but it didn't feel like it was at her expense. Instead, it felt almost intimate.
"I'll avert my eyes."
She looked up at him and saw the sweet humor in his eyes. "You don't have to do that," she demurred, "I just worry you're going to think I'm a slob."
"I think you worry too much about what I think about you."
She didn't know how to react to that.
She did worry about what he thought.
Probably too much, but he didn't seem to be as worried about it.
That, she'd have to ponder later.
Her phone alarm sounded off and she sighed. "Sorry to embarrass myself and run." She slipped her shoes back on and got up on her feet. "But it's time for me to head back to work."
He was standing at her side, having gotten on his feet at the same she did. "What time are you going to be home?"
She looked at him and wondered why it sounded so... domestic, as if he was going to add the word, 'dear' onto the end of it. Kind of like those old black and white shows she used to watch on TV land when she was younger. "I'm set to clock out at five. If I can get out of the door on time, I should be home at six. Will you still be there?"
He nodded. "I picked up the paint and have it in my truck, but I'll still need to tape everything off and paint. As long as it doesn't rain this afternoon, it should all be dry tonight before you go to sleep."
Her phone pinged a reminder alarm.
"Sorry, I've got to go."
Gibson leaned in and for a moment she thought he might kiss her, but he stopped when the door she'd walked through swung open.
"Kay? You coming?"
She saw Xiomara Ortiz, another doctor in the trauma rotation looking out at her. She lifted her hand. "Yeah."
