The dial on his Luminox dive watch read one in the morning. “C’mon, Alisha, we’ve got to get moving.”
They’d made a bed on the floor with towels and catching a few hours sleep made a big difference in his book. If only they had time to make love again before they worked their way through the checklist.
Nah, he told himself. If I open that door, we won’t get anything done tonight. He threw back the towel covering him and scooped up his naked lady. Felt funny to call her that, but she was. This was a good time to be labeling their status.
Her hand batted at him. “Stop. I want to sleep.”
He moved quickly through the house until he was at the pile of their clothes. As he placed her on her feet he asked, “Do you want to face Kevin and Julie in four hours when they show up at 0500 and this house isn’t finished, or do you want to get moving while I follow all of your instructions?”
Alisha bit the corner of her thumb playfully. “Pfftttt.” She stuck her tongue out at him with a proper raspberry and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “You know I choose Kevin and Julie. Let’s get after it. But I want to discuss that ‘follow all my instructions’ idea once we’re done for the day.”
He blew her an air kiss. “As you wish.”
Jonah was genuinely amazed at how organized Alisha was as they went through the list. It was going to be close, but they could make this happen. He picked up a tool belt, adjusted it to fit, and then secured it around his hips. Reviewing the list, he indicated two items and said, “I’m on it.” And with that, they both went to work.
• • •
Alisha came up behind him and put her arms around his body.
“Yyyyyesssss,” he said in a low voice. “How can I help you?”
“My mind is spinning with questions,” she admitted, coming around to face him.
“Like…”
She put her hands on her hips. “What now? What about tomorrow?”
“We get married and move to support my next assignment, or we get married and you stay here and I come back on my open weekends.” Jonah spoke as if he were ordering pizza, like this conversation was the most normal thing in the world.
Jonah put down the hammer and picked up the piece of art and hung it on the wall.
“Am I what you want? What do you truly want from us?”
“I need to be able to communicate with you,” she replied quickly. “The sex is electric. That’s never been a factor for us, but we barely stay put to talk. We have to make that work, and when we argue we have to promise to stick with it until we get to that common ground.”
“You’re talking about ‘Rules of Engagement.’ I’m good with that. Let’s pound them out now and add to them as we need to.” Jonah put out his hand. “My word is my bond.”
“As is mine.” Her spirit settled into the comfort of his as they figured out the details of what they each needed. She shook his hand and then reached up for his kiss. This item topped the list of her personal “needs” list.