THE CAMELLIA TAVERN

CHAPTER 22: CHICKEN AND WAFFLES

Friday, June 26

Waking up in Warrick's arms once more is an absolute dream. This time, however, I am waking up in his bed in Sturvis instead of on his couch in Birmingham. Pardon me, if I choose to see it as a bit of progress.

He said that he'd try with me and a smile creeps across my face as I remember everything from last night. Every touch, every word, every sound is perfectly engraved in my mind. We went further than we have before, but still showed some restraint. I long for the day we don't have to show any, but I know that comes later.

I hop out of bed and head to one of the bathrooms to brush my teeth with my fingers. Luckily, there is also some mouthwash there for me to use since I didn't pack for overnight.

I decide I want to prepare breakfast for him, but quickly discover that he has little to nothing in the way of food. For a guy who owns several restaurants, his kitchen sure is lacking. Then again, if I had businesses in several places and a home in two of them, I don't know that I'd have a lot of time to stock the fridge either.

I take the opportunity to look around his place. Unlike his house in Birmingham, this one has a few more photos here and there. I count three in total, of him and his little sister, Rowan. I have to wonder if I'll ever meet her one day. Given, I made a bit of an ass of myself when he tried to introduce me to his cousin, Addie, but I had my reasons back then. Hopefully, I'll get another chance to make a decent first impression.

I hear him stirring in the bed and go back into the bedroom to see if he's actually waking up. Despite the fact that we ate after midnight last night, I'm actually quite hungry already. I look at the clock by his bed. It's half past nine already, but I'm not surprised that we slept in late.

"Milly?" he calls from the bed.

"Yes, I'm here," I say climbing back on top of the sheets and laying down next to him.

"You hungry?"

"Yes, but you don't have any food in your fridge. Just a few beers and a carton of milk. I was going to make you breakfast, but I can't literally whip something up out of thin air."

He laughs.

"How about we order breakfast in?" he says and it sounds like an absolutely wonderful idea.

He rolls over and grabs his cell from the bedside table, his eyes still trying to adjust to the light from the screen in this dark room. Apparently, he knows exactly where he wants to order from, but I guess a guy with no food in his fridge becomes well-acquainted with the takeout in his town. After all, he can't eat at The Camellia Tavern for every single meal. We're only open for dinner.

"Yes, this is Warrick Travers," he says to whomever answered the other end of the line. "I'd like to place an order for delivery."

I take it that he does order from this place on a regular basis if they know him by name. I have to laugh to myself.

"What do you want, Milly?" he says after he's placed a rather large order already.

"You're ordering from?"

"Early Bird," he says, catching me off guard, but I quickly pull up their online menu on my cell phone and decide on one of the first things I see.

"The Chicken and waffles," I say, still surprised that he's ordering delivery from Early Bird. That place is not what you think of when you think of your typical takeout. It's actually a pretty swanky restaurant as far as Sturvis standards are concerned. It's the place where a lot of graduating seniors go with their parents during graduation weekends for breakfast or brunch.