Chapter 10
TEN
Dutch
“Don’t stare at me like that.”
Mouse gave his fifth huge sigh as he dropped his head onto his paws. He was laying on the threshold of the kitchen, staring longingly at the salmon that had been simmering in the garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach.
I glanced at the clock.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to feed this woman or if she would actually show up at ten like we’d discussed.
“It’s not a date.”
Mouse whined and inched a little further into the kitchen.
“Hey.”
He put his head down with a huff.
“You had your dinner. And it was the good stuff. Not kibble.”
The cashier at the local pet store had seen me coming a mile away. Mouse sniffed around through the treats and the vast array of bags of food. I’d walked out of there with a dog bed the size of a damn mattress as well as food, toys, dog shampoo, and a sturdy leash.
“You’re still not my dog.”
He whined and his tail swished over the hardwood floor.
“All that is going with you back to Phoebe’s house.”
He barked as if in reply.
“I’m not kidding.” I shook the pan to make sure the fish wasn’t sticking to the bottom. I checked the vegetables and potatoes I had under the broiler, then pulled out the smaller pan I’d made just for Mouse.
I’d looked up some dos and don’ts for dogs and garlic was a big no.
Raw vegetables were great to add to their food, but Mouse had turned his nose up at that option. Maybe roasted with a little chicken broth would change his mind. I checked the time again and turned the salmon down to simmer.
I had a feeling Phoebe didn’t exactly pay attention to a schedule.
I snagged a yellow and green bean off the tray, popping one in my mouth and tossing one to Mouse.
He snatched it out of the air, chomping happily on it.
“Like it better that way?”
He wagged his tail and started to come into the kitchen. Then looked down and backed up, sitting prettily on the edge of the room.
“Learning. Imagine?” I threw a carrot his way and he caught it neatly. “Only passes muster with a little seasoning. I don’t blame you.” I nibbled on one of the beans. “Not bad, actually.”
I put some into his bowl and set it down. He fell on it like I hadn’t fed him an hour ago.
A knock on the door had me glancing at the clock. Nearly ten on the dot. I opened to door to find her wearing a butter yellow cropped sweater with a pair of well-worn jeans torn in all the right places that made my mouth water.
“Did you keep my dog alive?”
“Where is your coat?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “In my truck, Dad.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not your dad.” I nudged the door wider with my foot.
She breezed in. “Don’t want me to call you Daddy? Got it.”
My hands fisted under my arms.
“Lighten up.” She smacked my arm.
Mouse gave a happy bark and trotted over to see her. She crouched to greet him and gave a delighted laugh when he licked her face.
“Did you have a bath?” She dug her fingers into his dense fur.
“He needed it.”
Mouse tucked his head over her shoulder. She laughed and fell into a heap on the floor with him as he wiggled into her lap. She tried to push him back, but he was too excited to see her and she ended up on her back, her giggles filling the house.
I dragged him off her and she grinned up at me, her blond hair fanned out on the floor. The fact that I could picture the same thing on my bed made me frown down at her.
She sat up and attacked her boots. Mouse tried to help with the laces and they ended up playing tug, but instead of damaging her boots, he gently deposited them near the bench.
She glanced up at me. “Maybe he really did belong to someone. I was talking to my friend Jenna about how Mouse seemed like a stray, but now I’m not so sure. I’d feel terrible if he belonged to someone and they were missing him.”
Mouse licked her face. She pushed him away with a laugh. “Okay, okay. I missed you too.”
“Do you have a vet around here?”
She nodded and held a hand up to me. “Help.”
I reached down for her and she squeaked when I hauled her up.
Mouse, still in play mode, shoved her into my arms.
She landed against my chest and I automatically banded my arm around her back. “Sorry.” She turned those dark green eyes up at me, her fingers digging into my thermal shirt. I could see the fatigue under the laughter. “I overdid it a bit today.”
“Your appointment?”
She nodded. “I was finishing an installation.” She closed her eyes and dragged in a deep breath. “It smells amazing.”
It certainly did.
Like honey and something warm out of the oven.
I cleared my throat. “Hope you like salmon.”
“Definitely. You didn’t have to go to so much trouble. I would have been good with grilled cheese.”
“You told me to cook for you, I cooked.”
Her wide mouth curved. “Do you always follow orders so well?”
“No.” I set her back.
“Hmm. Interesting.” She slipped away from me and made a beeline for the kitchen.
I followed her. “I figured a decent meal would be a thank you for helping me yesterday.”
“How neighborly of you. I knew you could do it.”
I rushed around her as the timer went off. “I had to cook for myself anyway.”
“Right. I’m coming over to eat all the time if this is what I’ll get.” She lifted the top off the pan and groaned. The smokey scent of sun dried tomatoes and garlic filled the kitchen.
I eased her aside and opened the oven to take out the potatoes and asparagus.
“I’ll be smelling like garlic for days.” She rubbed her hands.
“It’s good for you.”
“Bonus.”
I pulled down shallow bowls and made her a plate. “Sorry I don’t have a table yet.”
“All good. We can eat on the couch.”
I handed her a fork. “Would you like a glass of wine?”
“That sounds nice.”
“Go on in. I’ll bring it with me.”
She nodded and wandered into the living room. Mouse trotted after her and hopped up on the couch next to her. She quietly admonished him as she folded her legs under her, tucking herself into the corner as he put his head down on her thigh.
She stabbed up a forkful with a hum of appreciation. “This is amazing.”
I brought in two glasses of wine and handed her one. “Glad you like it.”
She did a little wiggle of her shoulders. “Beyond like.” She took a sip of the wine then set it on the end table. “I demand the recipe,” she said around a bite.
“Just something I threw together.”
“Doubtful. Did you go into O’Dwyer’s?”
I nodded. “They had a surprisingly good butcher, but I went with the salmon in case you didn’t eat meat.”
“That was sweet of you. I’m an equal opportunity carnivore.” She took a bite of the flaky fish. “This is like butter though.”
“San Francisco has a lot of great fishmongers.”
“A bachelor that cooks. Or have you been married?”
I shook my head. “I got close once, but she ended up getting a job in Perth.”
“Australia?”
I nodded.
“You didn’t want to go with her?”
I took a sip from my wine. “She didn’t want me to.”
“Oh. Ouch.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. We just got comfortable with each other. Not in a good way.”
“How so?”
“There had never been a reason to break things off. Brenda was super smart and on paper, we looked perfect for each other.”
“On paper?”
“Yeah, we had similar interests and circle of friends. How we ended up together. We met at a dinner party.”
“How positively adult of you.”
I laughed. “It was very adult. My first truly adult relationship. Not a hookup at a convention or vacation fling.”
“Convention? Just what do you do, Dutch?”
I looked down at my bowl, surprised to see it half empty. It had been a while since food had actually sounded good to me, let alone tasted good. “What do you do?”
She stabbed a potato and nibbled on it. “Keeping secrets?”
I took a fortifying sip of my wine. “My job is boring.”
“Programmer? Game designer?” She picked up her glass.
I shook my head.
She sat back, tapping one finger along the stem of the glass. “Drug buyer?”
I set my glass aside and had another bite of fish. “Only in my youth.”
She snorted, then looked around the room. “You have eclectic taste in reading. Researcher?”
“Closer,” I said after I swallowed.
“Librarian?”
“I thought about going into library sciences, but no.”
She patted Mouse’s head then stood up. He stretched out in her space on the couch, happily snoozing. She took the bowl with her as she went to my bookcases. “Folklore, serial killers, myths, a few legends in here.” She tipped her head to the side to read the spines.
I finished my bowl and set it aside, then leaned forward on the couch and linked my fingers between my knees. She was getting closer to my own books.
I’d hidden them on the lower shelf of the bookcase, not wanting to look at them.
I should have left them in the boxes.
She set her bowl on the shelf and I itched to get up and move it, but she turned with a slim white book in her hand. “Author?”
“What gave it away?”
She waved the little white book. “No one keeps a Strunk & White The Elements of Style unless they have a love of writing.”
“Guilty.”
At least I used to. Now it was just a wide open void of silence. Words usually filled my head at all times of the day. After talking to her earlier, the ideas had burned in my mind like a fever, but when I’d opened my notebook they dissipated like ash.
She turned back to the bookcase, then crouched to look through the books at the bottom.
“Atticus Dutch.” She squawked loud enough that Mouse popped up from his snoozing. She turned with three of my books in her arms. She held one up with my photo on the back with the foggy Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
“Pretentious photo. Pretty sure my agent convinced me to use that shot.”
And the food I’d managed to eat roiled in my gut.
Christopher always had an angle for my career. At least when it suited him.
Until it hadn’t.
She set the books on the coffee table, then sat down right in front of me dragging me back into the now. “Successful author seems like a pretty great job.”
I stared into her eyes of moldavite. The deep, rich green luring me closer.
I could get lost in her.
Maybe I’d feel something again.
I leaned into her.
Her gaze dropped to my mouth before she licked her lips. The flash of pink and her honeyed scent lured me closer.
“I’m about to do something stupid.”
She touched my cheek. “Does it cancel it out if I’m willing to do something stupid too?”
I cupped the back of her neck, my fingers twisting into her silky hair as I met her in the in between. Where the air was warm from our dinner and her scent wrapped around me like a promise of softness.
It had been so long since anything like that had touched me.
I was bound to mess it up, but maybe just this one time.
For a minute.
“Just one,” I whispered against her mouth.