Natalie spent most nights of the following week at Joe's. She kept telling herself that it was just for saving herself the commute, but she couldn't help feeling giddy every time she pulled up in front of Joe's house and entered the kitchen where Joe normally would be busy preparing dinner. Even though she never ate more than a few bites, she appreciated him cooking what he assumed she liked. And Natalie had to admit that he was an excellent cook and appreciated that he just kept preparing meals, even though he was well aware of her difficult relationship towards all kinds of food.

They had quickly fallen into a morning routine: Waking up early, having a quick fuck, taking a shower and briefly planning their evening over a mug of coffee in the kitchen before Natalie left for work.

"How about we go on another date tonight?" Joe asked. "It's Friday, let's celebrate the weekend, alright?"

"Umm, no, I'll stay in Albany tonight," Natalie said while filling her travel mug with coffee at the coffee machine.

"Oh, okay," Joe said and looked down on his cup. After a few seconds he lifted his head and asked: "Will you come over tomorrow or on Sunday?"

Natalie turned around to faced him and smiled. "I want to do a few things tomorrow and I'll visit my friend for her birthday tomorrow night. But I'll see you on Sunday."

Joe nodded. "Alright then, have a nice party."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, her husband left her a few weeks ago, I think we'll all just get drunk and complain about the asshole men in our lives."

Joe pursed his lips, causing Natalie to chuckle. "Present company excepted," she said, playfully nudging Joe with her shoulder. "Hey, listen, we're having a good time, and I am not going to let those last days of Joe Caputo in town go to waste, okay? Just have to do a few things I had planned a while ago but I'll be back on Sunday."

Joe bent forward and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, anticipating her movement away from him. "Hey, don't get all girly on me, alright? "Natalie said. "See you on Sunday then, beer can," she shouted grabbing her purse and walking out of the house to her car.

On Sunday, Joe woke up early. He got up and first went to the gym. He had noticed how he was feeling much better with regular exercise, and now with Natalie permanently on his mind, exercise was both taking his mind off of her insanely sexy body as well as helping him improve his stamina.

When he had first asked her out, he hadn't been entirely sure whether she would accept. Then he found himself getting more and more excited the closer he got to the actual date. Then the date itself had gone completely different from what he had planned, but it had turned out to be even better. Who would have thought that a karaoke night would lead to them discover they felt more for each other than their mutual like-hate friendship they had fostered over the past year or so?

On his way back from the gym, Joe picked up a few groceries including stocking up on red wine, as he knew Natalie liked it.

Back home, he made himself a sandwich and took a break on his couch. He checked his phone for a message, but as expected, there was none. He went to open his favourite porn site, but when he heard the first female moans he immediately closed it again. Suddenly it felt like a betrayal towards Natalie, he thought. How silly, there wasn't really going anything on between them, nothing new. But still, they had somehow bonded in a new way by being around each other so much for the past ten days.

With a sigh, he lifted himself up, retrieved a beer from the fridge and went to the garage which he planned to clear out before moving to Missouri. After looking over the many things piled up during his almost twenty years of staying at the place, Joe put on a Springsteen playlist on his phone and decided he would begin with the oldest stuff and go forward in years.

"Hello Joe. If I was you, I'd lock my door, unless you want to have anyone barge in at anytime," he suddenly heard a snarky voice from the garage door.

"Jesus, Natalie, what are you doing here? What time is it?" Joe had been rummaging through the boxes in the back corner of the garage, boxes that had been sitting there for decades. "I didn't hear your car."

"It's 2.30, and no wonder you can't hear anything with that crap noise on. Do you mind putting it out?"

Joe had walked up to her and leaned in to kiss her on the mouth. He noticed, how Natalie flinched before giving in to the kiss. But Joe did not stop, slid down his arms down her sides and grabbed her ass with both hands. "Hello gorgeous," he whispered into their kiss and felt Natalie's lips widen into a smile.

"Hey beer can", she replied. "And just so you know, you're actually tasting like one."

Joe took a step back and decided to overhear her remark. "Damn, Natalie, you look really hot."

"Oh come on, you're just want to get laid," she replied, but he could tell she liked his eyes on her. And she was hot as hell. She was wearing a tight-fitting blue jean and a loosely knit navy sweater through which he suspected seeing the fabric of her black lace bra. She had tied her hair into a loose bun which he had never before seen on her and she was hardly wearing any makeup.

"You bet I do. But I really like that Sunday afternoon no frills look on you, Nat," he said.

"You need any help in clearing out this mess?" Natalie said while looking around.

"Oh no, I'm fine with you being around and cheering me up while I clear out whatever shit is in here."

Natalie chuckled. "Not that I would actually touch a thing in here. Just got my nails done," she replied and sat down on an old deck chair before dusting it with her hand. "Now back to work. The sooner you start, the sooner I might give you your reward," she said, gesturing towards the many boxes still not touched.