"If you don't believe anything else I say, believe me when I tell you that you're safe with me," he said quietly. "I will not allow anything bad to happen to you as long as I'm around. Okay?" He lifted her chin to scan her face with his eyes as though he needed to check and make sure his message had been received.
She smiled. "Roger that," she said softly, and he returned her smile.
"Now, will you let me eat in peace?" he joked. He reached for the bag but she closed her hand around the top of it and looked at him sternly.
"I want my mug," she insisted. "You take me to my mug, and you get to eat."
He sighed. "Your mug is at home. I told you this."
She let an impish smile dimple one of her cheeks. "Then I guess you'd better take me home," she said teasingly, surprising herself with her boldness. She glanced around at his neat-as-a-pin desk. "I think your work here is done, anyway. Don't you?"
He glanced around and laughed. "It's never done. But I don't have any evening appointments, if that's what you mean." He sighed. "You're starting to be bad for my work ethic," he said.
Drew shrugged and let go of the sack. "Okay," she said calmly. "I'll get out of your hair then." She started to stride past him for the door, but he merely laughed at her and grabbed her arm as she passed. He pulled her against his body and gripped her waist.
"No, you won't," he murmured. "Not until I say so."
"You're not the boss of me," Drew returned childishly, automatically lifting her face to his. She waited until he tilted his head to take her lips and then pulled back. "No more until I get my mug!"
"To hell with that mug," he muttered, smirking at her. She turned her face and he sighed, releasing her. "Fine. Let's go. Be careful with my food."
Drew snatched the sack from his desk and followed him out of the office. He locked up and walked through the gym. It was surprisingly busy for a Friday evening, but there were lots of guys around the ring, and as usual, there were also lots of girls. Drew couldn't help noticing the dirty looks she received again as she followed Heath through the gym, and again, he didn't pay any attention to it.
"You out, boss?" Rex asked when they passed.
Heath nodded. "Make sure you and Jameson lock up tight tonight," he said. "This morning when I got here I saw that you missed a lock."
"My bad, won't happen again," Rex replied. His attention was back on ESPN before Heath and Drew even made it out the door.
"I see you're driving yourself around more and more," Drew said, spotting his car parked down the street. "So much for saving gas money?"
He laughed. "Just for today," he shot back. "This crazy girl wouldn't let me out of her apartment last night. Almost made me late for work. I had to drop her off at her job and everything."
"She sounds much too good for you," Drew commented as he pulled her door open for her.
"She is," Heath replied once she got settled in her seat. She smiled up at him and he leaned into the car to give her a quick kiss before shutting her door and jogging around to his side. He started the car and turned on his windshield wipers as a light sprinkling of rain began to fall and pulled off.
Drew felt a little nervous at the prospect of going to his apartment, but it was just her old nerves making their presence known again. She was under no illusions about the huge personal strides she'd been making over the last couple of weeks and she was taking huge risks—for her—and putting herself out there in ways she'd never dreamed she would or could. But she felt that feeling in her gut again, the one that made her feel like she could really trust Heath. She wasn't sure she was there completely yet, but she trusted him at least a little for now.
He pulled up in front of a newer apartment building in a part of town that was made up of mostly middle class citizens. It wasn't far from the gym at all, or maybe it just seemed closer since they hadn't waited forever for a bus or the train. Although parking was always a hassle, and gas prices were just simply too high, and insurance was a bitch, Drew had to admit there was something to be said for controlling one's own transportation.
The apartment building itself was very clean and smelled like a mixture of sawdust and vanilla, a peculiar combination of odors but one she found to be actually quite nice. It wasn't very well lit, as several of the bulbs in the wall sconces were going out, but Heath led her to his first floor unit. He used a little metal computerized chip to unlock his door and with an electronic zing, he pressed down on the handle and stood back to let her in.
She glanced around, immediately noting the lack of décor and also how incredibly tidy it was. She smiled at him as he reached around her to flick on a light.