I have a missed call on my cell phone when I walk out to my car after work, but this time I recognize the number.

I call him back but he's clearly not looking at his phone when he answers with a harsh, "yeah?"

"Hello, Joshua." I practically croon in an effort to contradict his tone.

"Donna?" I hear him fumble the phone and then come back a little more clear. "Donna? Are you there?"

"I'm here." I try not to laugh at the state he sounds to be in. "I saw that I missed your call?"

"Oh. Um, yeah. I didn't know if you had plans later tonight?"

"Well it's 10:30 now, so no, I can't say that I have plans later tonight."

"Right." He's silent for a moment.

"Would you like to come over?" I ask, knowing that's most likely exactly what he wants and saving us both a little bit of time. It will make the 4th time this week we've seen each other.

"Ahkay." I can hear him smile through the phone. "Did you eat yet? I can pick up some Chinese on the way."

"Sounds great," I admit. "I'll see you in 30 minutes?"

"Kay."

I get home as quickly as possible and toe off my shoes, wishing I had time to take a shower. But before I can even contemplate what to do next he knocks on the door. I answer with a tired smile. I really am exhausted. I'm not quite sure why I thought it would be a good idea to get together tonight.

"Hi." He leans in to kiss me softly before stepping inside and placing the bag of takeout on my counter as I lock up behind him.

He furrows his brow and studies me closely as he drops his backpack in the entry. "You look tired."

"Gee, thanks." I roll my eyes. Just what every girl wants to hear.

"Hey, wait." He turns me around and has the decency to look sheepish. "I just meant that you seem tired. And I should know… I'm tired too."

"It was a long day," I admit. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

He pulls me close. "Why don't you go take a hot bath?"

"I don't have a tub," I sigh.

"Oh. That's right. Well, next time you have a long day we need to end up at my place. But for now, how about a hot shower? And some comfortable pajamas? I'll warm up the food and find something on TV."

I blink a few times, staring at him with what I'm sure is an odd expression on my face. He raises his eyebrows at me in return before slowly kissing my temple and gently taking me by the hand.

"Come on." He leads me into the bedroom and starts the shower for me.

"Would you like to join me?" I flirt.

"That's not what I was trying to imply," he tells me shyly.

"I know. But I'm offering."

"Kay." It doesn't take him long to make up his mind and grin at me as I take his hand and lead him towards the shower. And it doesn't take me long to have forgotten about my long shift at work and focus on the man steaming up the shower with me.

Later, long after the water has run cold, we step out and towel off. He stops as he's rubbing the water out of his hair with a towel and kisses me for a rather long time. It's not the kind of kiss that leads somewhere, but rather the kind that allows you to remain content where you are in that moment.

He grabs my robe from the hook on the back of the door and opens it for me to step into before turning me to face him and gently folding the tie ends over one another. He kisses me gently once again and grabs his discarded boxers and undershirt before heading back into the kitchen.

We reheat the Chinese and sit on the couch to eat it, clicking on the TV to find something to watch in the process. We settle on an old black and white Abbott and Costello movie, and Josh tells me about watching these as a kid. His grandfather, he explains, found them to be very funny

"Did you spend a lot of time with him as a child?" I ask, curious.

"Well… yeah." Josh gives me an odd look. "He lived with us."

"Oh. I didn't realize." Though Joan is my best friend, I certainly don't know everything about her childhood.

"My father's father," Josh clarifies. "He died when I was 6. Just before…" He trails off but quickly clears his throat. "Anyway. We spent a lot of time together. He'd give Joanie and I a little treat, usually a marzipan candy that he kept hidden away on top of the refrigerator, and we'd watch these movies. He stayed with me during the day after Joanie started school. He taught me all sorts of things, and relayed to me the history of our family."

"That sounds nice," I tell him softly, gently placing my hand on his leg. "He must have been very special to you."

"He was." Josh gives a fond smile. "We were very close."

Though his reputation may portray him otherwise, it's clear to me that Josh feels things very deeply.

"What about you?" he asks.

"What about me?"

"Were you close to your grandparents?"

"A normal amount, I suppose. My mother's parents live in Nebraska so we'd see them for the major holidays. And my father's parents were in Florida, so we'd drive down there for a week every year."

"From Wisconsin? Isn't that… far?"

I laugh a bit. "Well, yes. But my family didn't typically jet off to tropical vacations. We'd load into the back of my parents station wagon and drive for a solid day. My dad would refuse to stop unless we were out of fuel, my sister would complain that she was bored, my brother would get carsick and I'd be stuck in the middle. Pretty typical vacation." I give him a grin to let him know that though I'm complaining, the memories are still quite fond. I just think it was likely very different than how he and Joan grew up. Though she's never outright said it, I get the feeling that their upbringings were quite privileged.

"That sounds nice," he tells me, taking another bite out of his carton of food. "So, you have a brother and sister."

"Yeah." I smile. "Rob is an electrician outside of Chicago. He and his wife have two little girls. And Lilli is a first grade teacher in Madison. She and her husband have a new baby boy."

"Rob and Lilli." Josh nods his head as though he's trying to commit their names to memory. "Got it."

"Well technically," I tell him as a stab a piece of broccoli with a chopstick, "it's Roberto and Lilliana."

"What?" He gives me a smile and a little laugh. "And Donna?"

"Donnatella." I admit, blushing a bit. I'm not sure why I even brought up the topic. I hate my given name.

"Donnatella." It rolls gently off of his tongue as though he's considering it. "Donnatella."

I take a shaky breath in and immediately reconsider my earlier statement about disliking my name. I think I'd like anything that he said to me in that tone of voice.

We talk through the rest of the movie, Josh telling me about his passion for baseball and naysaying my love of the Brewers. When the credits roll he flips off the tv and helps me gather the empty containers of food.

"Come on," he yawns and stretches. "Let's get to bed. We've both got early days."

I don't make a big deal out of his actions, but I smile softly to myself. I guess this means the stay over is implied.

As soon as we lay down, we both seem to miraculously forget how tired we were a few minutes before.