“Have you even moved since I left this morning?”

I rolled my head to the side to see my cousin, Rachel, come into the room. “I got up to piss an hour ago.”

She rolled her eyes and dumped her plastic bag unceremoniously on my legs. “Thank you for that.”

I moved my legs a bit so the bag moved from my legs to the couch I was stretched out on. “What’d you buy?”

“Some vegetables. The stuff in your fridge is rotten. How long has it been in there?”

I shrugged. “I dunno,” I said through a yawn. “A while I guess.”

“You’re going to get sick if you don’t eat right,” she said in her most adult voice and then pushed my feet to the side so she could sit on the couch.

“You sound like Mom. Is she telling you to get me to eat my fruits and vegetables?”

“As a matter of fact, she is. And take vitamins. I bought you some and they still sitting on the counter unopened.”

“Yeah I forgot about those.”

“One of these days you’re going to get sick from how you treat your body.”

A groan escaped me and I shoved my foot into her hip. “You’re no fun when you try and be all responsible.”

“Get your disgusting feet off of me,” she replied, pushing at my feet again. “Have you even showered today?”

“As a matter of fact, I have, thank you.” I swung my feet onto the ground and sat up. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I yawned again. “What time is it?”

“Six o’clock. Are you planning on staying on this couch all night too?”

I laid my head on the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “No. I’m waiting for Cassie to call me.”

“Cassie?”

“Cassandra Reyna.” Is it stupid that I feel cool just saying her name and letting Rachel in on the fact that I know her?

“Since when do you talk to Cassandra Reyna?”

I turned my head to give her a bored look like this was old news. “I went for dinner with her in New York.”

She didn’t look impressed. “Uh huh.”

“And she’s moving out here. She’s out here looking for a place to live. She called me yesterday to get Jerry Luther’s number.”

Rachel was now focused on the game show I had previously been watching on TV. “Oh.”

“And we’re going to hang out tonight.”

“Oh.”

Would it kill her to show a little interest in this? “She’s opening a store on Rodeo Drive, you know.”

She didn’t take her eyes off the TV but a smirk settled across her face. “Just let me know when you’re done gushing over her.”

I snorted and stood up. “You know, I didn’t even invite you over here.”

“Go put those vegetables in the fridge.”

Heaving a sigh, I grab the bag and go to the kitchen. It’s not like I have anything better to do.

Not that I’d admit it, but I’ve been waiting around all day for Cassie’s phone call. I know her flight didn’t get in until like four this morning and she probably crashed in her hotel before meeting with Jerry at nine and didn’t have a chance to call me. But it’s past six now and I’m getting anxious. I don’t want to seem overeager and call her since she did say she’d call me but I’m almost at that point. Seriously, all I’ve done all day is lay around and I can’t spend my night doing that. I need to get out of the house.

I’ve been sitting by my cell phone for six hours waiting for it to ring. But of course it’s as soon as I’m in the kitchen that it rings.

“Justin!” Rachel yells.

I didn’t pull my head from the fridge. “What?!” I yelled back.

“Phone!”

I yanked my head from the fridge and let out a few curses when my shoulder hit the door as I slammed it shut. I jogged through the house back to the den even though I knew my voicemail was going to kick in before I got there.

“Missed a call,” Rachel said when I made it to the room.

I grabbed my phone from the hand she had stretched above her head. “You could have just picked it up.”

“True, I could have.”

I rolled my eyes and flipped the phone open. I smiled when I saw the missed call was from Cassie and immediately hit the call back button. Raising the phone to my ear, I began to walk out of the room. It rang twice before her voice came over the line.

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s Justin.”

“Oh hi.”

“Sorry I missed your call. I was in the other room.”

“That’s fine.”

“So how are you? You’re here, right?”

“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t call you when I got in but it was so early and I wanted to sleep before going house hunting.”

I wandered down the hall and into my office. “I figured. So how’d it go? Did you find any potentials?”

“Better than that. I bought a house.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That was fast.”

“I know. But I needed a place by next week and I kind of fell in love with it.”

“Where is it?”

She rambled off an address that was about fifteen minutes away from me and I smiled. Perfect. We weren’t going to be too far from each other. “That’s a good area of town,” I said, sinking into the leather chair behind my desk.

“It’s a really nice neighborhood. And it’s not too far away from where my store will be.”

“That’s good.” I propped up one leg on the desk and leaned the chair back. “So are you there now? Or are you at your hotel?”

“I’m actually at a hardware store getting paint.”

“Wow, you really waste no time. Do you already have possession of the house?”

“Yeah I didn’t think it would go through so fast but the people were anxious to sell it, I guess.”

“Are you going to paint all by yourself?”

“I was planning on it.”

I could hear a voice in the background and then her muffled voice responding. I waited patiently for her to come back on the line.

“Sorry. I’m just going through the register.”

“You got all your paint?”

“Yeah. Now I’m just going to have to find the time to paint.”

Balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear, I cracked my knuckles and stretched out my fingers. “We could do it tonight.”

“Tonight?” she questioned.

“Sure. You promised you’d hang out with me, remember?” Please let that still be the plan.

“I remember. But you want to paint?”

“Why not? Have you eaten?”

“Not since lunch.”

“I can pick up some Chinese or something and we can paint.”

“I didn’t really bring anything that I can paint in.”

“I’ll bring over a t-shirt. Come on, are you really going to pass up on free labor?”

A giggle came over the line. “I guess that would be stupid of me. Okay well that sounds good. What time do you want to do this?”

“I can come over whenever. I’m just sitting at home right now.”

“I’ll probably be back at the house in twenty minutes. Do you know how to get there?”

“Pretty sure. Chinese food okay with you?”

“That would be great.”

“Preferences?”

“Whatever you want is fine with me.”

I dropped my foot from the desk and stood up. “Well I’ll order it and then pick it up on my way over.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face as I left the room. I had been pretty sure I would see her tonight but now that I actually knew I was, my mood was pretty high. Spending the night with her is going to be great. Even if we’re painting, which is one of my least favorite things to do. If we’re alone together, there’s not going to be any interruptions and I can actually get to know her.

“What’s a good Chinese food place?” I ask Rachel when I found her in the kitchen.

She looked up from the newspaper. “I dunno. Don’t you have any flyers around here?”

I began to rummage through my stack of take out menus. “Do you have any old shirts around here?”

“No. Why?”

“I’m going over to Cassie’s new house to help her paint and she needs something to wear.”

“All I have here is my concert t-shirt from the Guns N’Roses concert and there’s no way I’m giving you that to paint.”

I pulled out a take out menu and opened it. “I’ll find one of my own.” I spread out the menu and then leaned over the counter, resting my forearms on the surface as I scanned the options.

“So is this like a painting date?”

I didn’t look up. I already knew if I did I’d find her smirking at me. “No. I’m just helping her out.”

“Since when do you offer to help someone paint? I thought you hated the smell of wet paint.”

“I’m just trying to help her out.”

“Sounds like you’re just trying to get in her pants.”

This time I did look up at her. “What would your mom say if she knew you said those types of things?”

“Probably the same thing your mom say if she knew half the things that come out of your mouth.”

My eyes returned back to the menu. “At this point, Cassie and I are friends, if that. Acquaintances. I don’t sleep around with people I don’t know.”

“So do I get to meet her?”

“Why would you get to meet her?”

“Well if you’re interested in her then you should let me meet her. I’ll give you my honest opinion about her.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. You’re too honest sometimes.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

I smirked. “I’m gonna order some food to take over to her place. Do you want me to get anything extra for you?”

“Nope. I’m leaving right away. We’re still going to the gym tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah but later in the day. I don’t know how long I’ll be out tonight.”

“Probably all night if you get your way, right?”

Sometimes it’s not even worth responding to her comments. This was one of those times. “See you later, Rach,” I call over my shoulder as I leave the kitchen, her laughter echoing behind me.

I ordered the food and then went upstairs to my room and changed my clothes and five minutes later I was on my way out of my house. It was close to seven once I had picked up the food and made my way to Cassie’s house. Pulling into the driveway, I parked beside a rental car.

The house wasn’t huge but it looked nice from the outside. Lights were on inside and it looked inviting. She had made a good choice.

I walked up the front steps and, balancing the bag of food in one arm, I rang the doorbell. Only a few seconds passed before I heard the lock turning.

This was the first time I had seen her dressed down and it was a cute look on her. She had her hair pulled back into a high ponytail and had on a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, her toes poking out from under the denim. There was minimal makeup on her face and she looked pretty and fresh.

“I come bearing food,” I said, holding up the bag as I stepped into the house.

Her face broke into a smile. “Great. I’m so hungry. The kitchen is in the back.”

I followed behind her, smiling a bit as I watched her ponytail bounced with each step she took. “I might have gotten too much food. I didn’t know what you’d like.”

“I love all Chinese food. I’m sure we can manage to eat it.”

We got to the kitchen and I put the bag on the counter. “So do we eat first or do I get a grand tour?”

“Mmm…quick tour and then we’ll eat,” she decided and then started to wander out of the kitchen. Realizing this was the tour, I quickly fell into step beside her.

“The whole place seems really weird right now because it’s so empty and white in here,” she said as we walked through the bare dining room and living room. “I’m hoping once I get some paint on the walls and all my furniture moved in it’ll feel more normal.”

“Where are you living right now?”

“I have an apartment in Seattle. It’s a pretty good size but I don’t think I have enough stuff to fill the house with. I might have to go furniture shopping when I get out here for good.”

“When’s that going to be?”

“If all goes right, probably sometime next week.”

We climbed the stairs to the upper level. “That’s so fast.”

“I know. Everything’s moved so fast the past couple days that it all feels like a blur. I can’t even believe I’m here right now.”

“Well I for one am glad you’re here,” I said as we reached the top of the stairs. “It’s going to be great with you living in LA.”

She turned to give me a half smile. “I hope so.”

I followed her into the large bedroom at the end of the hall. “Is this the master suite?”

“Mm hmm. Isn’t it nice?”

“Yeah, it is. It’s pretty big.”

“I know. But that’s perfect. I have a big canopy bed and a big dresser so I need a big room. My room in Seattle is kind of small and it’s so cramped.” She looked around the room and wrapped her arms around her midsection. I had seen her take that position a couple times since I’ve met her. It must be a security thing.

“So yeah, that’s basically it. The outside needs some work but I’m not going to worry too much about that right now.”

I nodded and was going to suggest my landscaper when her stomach growled loudly, breaking the silence of the room. She blushed a bit and I began to laugh.

“Maybe we should eat before you die of starvation.”

She let out a small laugh and pressed her palm to her cheek. “The tour’s basically done anyways. Unless you really want to see the linen closet.”

I led the way out of the room and downstairs. “I can use my imagination.”

Once we were in the kitchen, both of us realized at the same time that we had neither dishes nor anywhere to sit. So we ended up in her dining room, on the carpeted floor, passing the boxes of Chinese food back and forth between each other. And you know, there was something about sitting in the empty room on the floor across from her and talking over take out that was perfect.

That’s one of my tests. If I can have a good time out on the town with a girl, that’s great. But if I can have just as good of a time sitting around and doing nothing, that’s even better. Dinner at Carrabba’s was amazing, but this was better. She seemed a bit more relaxed and was smiling and laughing. At one point I said something that must have been funny and she burst out laughing and a snort escaped her. She was completely embarrassed but I thought it was cute. My mom does the same thing when she really gets laughing and I’ve always thought it was great. My mom was really going to love Cassie.

I had to stop myself at that point because I was getting way ahead of myself. I needed to get through this night first before I start planning meetings between Cassie and my mom. That can definitely wait a month or two.

We talked for a good hour before she mentioned painting. I had kind of been hoping she’d forget about it and just decide to hire someone to do it. I mean, really, why waste your time painting when you can get someone else to do it? But hey, I told her I’d come over and help her and I try to keep my word when possible.

Cassie was basically swimming in my t-shirt but she still managed to make it look good by tying the loose fabric in a knot on her lower back. This would be why this girl is a fashion designer. She can make anything look good.

She had gotten this light blue color for her living room and we went to work on painting that. After ten minutes I was already tired to it but she seemed to be having fun and we were having some good conversation so I dealt with the tediousness of painting the wall.

I like to think I’m pretty good at reading people and if I’m reading Cassie right, she’s interested in me. She’s flirting a little and I’m flirting right back. I still haven’t really sat down and figured out what I’m wanting with her, but I have figured out that I have the tiniest of crushes on her and she’s pretty amazing. And really, if I want to start something up with someone, she would be a good option. Everything about her fits my criteria.

The room took longer to paint than either of us had anticipated and it was close to eleven by time we finished the first coat. I have to admit, it looked pretty good for a couple of amateurs.

“I really wasn’t sure about this color in the store,” Cassie said as she surveyed the room, her hands on her hips. “But it looks really good on the walls.”

“It’s a good choice,” I agreed. “Very fresh and spring like.” I went over to stand beside her. “Could always be an interior decorator if this whole fashion thing falls through.”

She bumped her hip against mine. “Don’t say that. You’ll jinx me.”

I laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about being jinxed at this point, Miss Rodeo Drive.”

She smiled and left my side to go get the paint supplies. “You’re going to give me a big head if you keep saying that.”

I helped her carry the brushes to the kitchen. “So have you figured out which day you’re going to have movers get your stuff down here?”

“I think I’ll try for next Friday. I’d like to put it off longer but I have to be here for the remodeling of the store and that’s scheduled for Monday.”

“You should give me a call when you have a set date and I can help you unpack and all that shit,” I said as I turned on the faucet and washed off the roller brush, the water turning blue as it swirled down the sink.

“I might just take you up on that.”

“And I can give you a good tour of the city.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She came up beside me and reached in the sink to wash off a brush. Her hand slid against mine and I looked over at her, studying her face. I had come over here tonight mostly to see if we worked well together. We had had a good time at Carrabba’s but I wanted to see if I could get to know the real girl. And I feel like after tonight I got a glimpse of it. The way she talked and the things she said reminded me of myself and I really liked that.

While her eyes were cast down toward the sink, I took the opportunity to really study her profile. She’s not just pretty, she has this classic beauty about her. She almost has an Audrey Hepburn look about her. She just has the kind of face I could stare at all day and not grow bored of.

She must have felt my stare because her eyes cut to me so suddenly that I couldn’t even play it off that I wasn’t watching her.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

I was about to make up some excuse when I smile spread across my face. “Actually, you do.”

Her hand immediately went to her cheek. “What?”

I couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “You have some blue paint on your nose.”

Her cheeks darkened slightly. “I do?”

She looked completely embarrassed and the fact that she was blushing was cute. Still laughing, I reached for a paper towel and wet it. “Hold still.”

Her brandy colored eyes stare at me as I gently rub the paper towel over the tip of her nose and I can’t help but stare back at her. There is an obvious connection here and there’s no point denying it anymore. The hand holding the paper towel slowly falls to my side and we’re left looking at each other. Figuring I won’t get an opportunity as perfect as this anymore, I lean in for the kiss. It would have been perfect but right before our lips met, she pulled her head back.

Ouch. There’s an ego bruiser for you.

I jerked my head back. “I’m sorry,” I quickly said, hoping my embarrassment wasn’t showing. Not to sound too cocky, but it isn’t often I get rejected like this.

Cassie bit down on her bottom lip. “It’s okay.”

“No, I shouldn’t have done that. I just misread the situation.”

She looked down to the sink and then back up at me. Her cheeks were still a bit flushed. “No, it’s just I have this thing.”

“Thing?”

“I don’t kiss anyone until I’ve known them for at least three weeks.”

That was the last thing I expected her to say and all I could do was stare at her. After a moment of silence, she looked to the side again.

“It’s stupid.”

I quickly jumped in. “It’s not stupid. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

“It’s just this thing…”

“It’s completely respectable.”

She managed a small smile and then turned back to the sink to continue to rinse off the brushes. I leaned my hip against the counter, facing her. In my head I did some quick math.

“So the first time we met was last Saturday. So we’ve known each other for officially a week.”

A smile quickly came to her lips but when she looked up at me, she had a straight face. “That’s right.”

“So March third will be the date when we have known each other for exactly three weeks.”

She rested her palms on the edge of the sink and turned to look at me. “That would be correct.”

I smiled and raised my eyebrows. “Just making an observation.”

She laughed softly and then went back to the brushes. “I see.”

So we don’t kiss for two more weeks. That’s not so bad…Okay, it kind of sucks but I can deal with it. Anticipation always makes things better.

The paint brushes were soon clean and once the water was off, she turned to me. “So I don’t want to come across completely rude, but I need to go to bed. It’s been a really long day.”

“Hey, completely understandable. You’re driving back to your hotel?”

“Yeah.”

I kind of still wanted to just hang out but the poor girl looked like she was about to pass out. Taking the initiative, I started towards the front door and she followed.

“Thanks so much for helping me paint.”

“It was no problem. It was great to hang out with you.”

She gave me a smile. “Yeah, it really was. And I’m definitely going to take you up on that offer to help me get settled in here next week.”

Perfect. “Just give me a call when you have the dates figured out and we’ll make it happen.”

“Great.”

We were in that slightly awkward moment at the end of a night when there was the question of what the next move should be. Deciding to take a risk, I stepped forward to hug her. She accepted it warmly and some relief went through me. I don’t think I could take much more rejection tonight.

She felt really good to hug. Her body fit into mine perfectly, her head coming just up to my shoulder. I pulled away after a second, but noted in my head that she hadn’t made any move to back away. Looking at her face, I found her cheeks again flushed.

I risked my next words. “So I understand your kissing thing, but where are we on a kiss on the cheek?”

She wet her lips and smiled. “I think that would be okay.”

Returning the smile, I leaned forward and brushed my lips against her warm cheek softly and fleetingly. She was still as I pulled back and opened the door.

“I’ll talk to you later.”

I took one last glance over my shoulder as I left the house and saw her pressing her hand to her cheek while she closed the door. A grin spread across my face. I may not be able to kiss her, but I can definitely secure myself into her life without it. And I think that kiss on the cheek may have just done it.