REESE
“It’s late,” I said. “Let’s stick with something quick and easy.”
“I feel like you’re in a rush to get back to bed.”
“Busted,” I said. I pulled the carton of eggs from the fridge and a package of sausage links.
“Can I help?”
“Nope. You’re my guest. I’m taking care of you.”
“Thank you,” she said with a swipe of her hand across my bare back. “I’m going to check on the dogs and put their beds in there. Is it okay if they stay in that room or should I find another?”
“Are you going to put them outside?” I teased.
“No. This is a strange property. They wouldn’t know where to go.”
“Fine,” I said with an exaggerated sigh.
“Reese, you said you were okay with this,” she said.
“I’m kidding,” I said. “I don’t mind. They’re not nearly as drooly and hairy as I thought.”
“No, they’re not,” she said. “They’re very good dogs. When I first got them, I couldn’t say the same. They were hot messes.”
“And you cured them,” I said.
“I wouldn’t say cured, but I gave them a home and I made sure they knew they were loved,” she replied. “The latter was the hardest part. They’d both been through so much, they didn’t know how to be loved.”
“Is that even possible?” I asked.
“Oh, it is,” she said. “Imagine if you’d been beat your entire life. Never had a warm bed to sleep in and ate whatever you could find. Drank crappy water and had to fight for every little thing they could get.”
“Sounds bad,” I said.
“It is,” she replied. “Terrible. It takes them a long time to realize they are not going to get kicked out on the street. They aren’t going to have to fight to get their next meal. They will never be forced to sleep outside on a cold, snowy night. And no one is ever going to abuse them.”
“So, how do you fix them?” I asked. I cracked eggs into a bowl while the sausage sizzled in a pan. I was genuinely curious about them. I wanted to understand how she did what she did.
“Are you asking because you want to know or are you just pretending you’re interested because you think it will help you get laid?”
I turned to her with a spatula in my hand. “Woman, you’re wearing panties and my shirt, nothing else. I’m standing here damn near naked in my kitchen. We’re going back to bed after I feed you. I already know I’m getting laid.”
“Oh, you’re very confident,” she said.
“Just stating the facts. Will you please grab me a beer? I’m very thirsty tonight.”
“All that excitement,” she said and walked to the fridge.
“Bottom shelf,” I said with my eyes on her ass.
She bent over, wiggled that sweet ass for a few seconds, and then stood up. She pulled a bottle from the top shelf. “It wasn’t on the bottom shelf.”
“I know,” I said. “I just wanted to see you look for it.”
“You’re bad!”
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against me. I kissed her before taking the beer. “Thank you.”