13. Chapter Thirteen #2
He smiled. “This is amazing. Thanks so much.”
“My pleasure.” I plopped beside him. “Today has been rather long.”
“Early to bed?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I’ll stay up for the next feeding. You head to bed as soon as you’re ready. I can do the nighttime feeding.”
Soren yawned as he grabbed the cob of corn. “Nope. I get middle-of-the-night feeding. Will you do early morning?” He bit into the corn, and butter dribbled down his chin.
I grabbed a tissue and mopped it up.
His gaze caught mine. His pupils grew wide.
Yeah. That happened more and more. Even I understood what was going on. Biology. The science of attraction. “Sorry.” I muttered the words.
He offered me a wicked grin. “I will never say no to you touching me. Even if it’s because I’m a slob making a mess of things.”
I put the tissue on a coaster. “You’re not a slob.
Butter melting off corn is totally made to be worn.
” I was not going to address the touch comment.
We were still feeling our way around that.
His tenderness often brought me to tears, and his restraint appeared genuine.
He never pushed. He only ever accepted what I could offer.
Of course, I still worried what I could give him wouldn’t be enough and, in the end, he’d give up on me.
He winked. “This truly is delicious.”
“I barely did anything.”
“Oh, you bought it, cooked it, put it on the plate, and delivered it. In Tibby’s mind, you are the ultimate hunter and gatherer. She worships at your feet.”
Swear to God, the dog snorted.
I laughed. “Well, if she’s happy, and you’re happy, then I guess all is right in the world.” The setting sun skimmed across the lake. “What a beautiful night.”
“And mild, too. Do you want to come with us for our walk?”
“Sure.” We did that sometimes. Made certain the kittens were okay and then headed out for a walk down by the shore.
The rest of our meal was filled with silences, anecdotes about our day, a funny story I hadn’t heard about Tibby in puppyhood, and my recounting the email I’d received from Quinta with her travel itinerary. “They want to drive up and stop in Napa before they get here.”
“Romantic.”
“Not too many vineyards in Louisiana. I hadn’t realized, but Laurent is from New Orleans.”
Soren grinned. “Okay, we have to make plans to visit. I’ve always wanted to go there.”
I gestured to the kittens. “I think I’m pretty committed for now. And you’ve got Tibby.”
“I would bring her with me, of course. We could find a cat sitter. Either we could take them somewhere. Or someone could come and stay here.” Soren sighed. “That was a brilliant meal.”
“You’d just let some stranger stay in your house?”
He cocked his head. “To take care of Peaches and Jack? Of course. Now you’re working less, or should I say a bit less, taking a weekend off sounds more possible.
We’d wait until the kittens were older, of course.
And New Orleans in the dead of summer would be brutally hot.
Fall is hurricane season. So, winter? I’d suggest Mardi Gras, which is in February, but I don’t see you enjoying crowds. Unless I’m wrong—”
I shook my head. “You’re not wrong. No to crowds. So New Year’s is out as well.” Slowly, I started to warm to the idea. “Maybe mid-January? A reprieve from the winter here, but when the city might be less busy?” I rubbed my forehead. “I can’t believe I’m considering this.”
Soren leaned over to peck my cheek. “I like that you are. Time to walk Tibby.” He rose, grabbed both our empty plates, and headed into the kitchen.
Tibby followed him while I checked on the sleeping kittens. “I’m crazy to consider this. You know that, right?”
Peaches cracked an eye, squinted, then went right back to sleep.
They were awake more and more. Their mobility was much better.
Soon it’d be time to properly introduce them to Tibby.
This didn’t concern me nearly as much as it once had.
Every time I interacted with the lab, she demonstrated her gentle nature.
Soren said she’d been a hellion as a puppy.
As opposed to Sleepy, her brother. Who would literally fall asleep in training sessions.
According to Soren, he’d considered swapping them.
Sleepy’s owner brought a lab home to tire out her children.
Instead, the dog just slept all the time.
Soren had sought a lab because of their gentleness.
He’d miscalculated the amount of energy they could store and then explode with.
I smiled at the story. Soren would never have swapped for another dog. So clearly, from day one, he’d been enamored of his girl. Sighing, I rose. I creaked a little, but it’d been a long week.
Tomorrow’s Saturday and I don’t have to work.
Desiree would handle the manager role—cash and so on—while Cody would take the lion’s share of the work in the store.
He swore everything would be perfect for Monday morning when I returned.
I believed him. Or rather, I wanted to believe him.
Still, Desiree had me on speed dial if anything went wrong.
I could be there in just under thirty minutes.
I need to breathe. I need to trust my team. I need to walk with the gorgeous man with the cute dog and maybe, just maybe, kiss him.
On that thought, I joined him for a walk during the sunset.