Page 34 of Rescue Them

“Not another one,” his mother said when he came in the house.

“No.This little guy needs a foster home, and I thought you could do it.”He set Loopy down, and he ran through the room before sitting at his mother’s feet, tail wagging as he looked up at her.“I have food and dishes for him.He’s house trained and is a really good dog.We just need to keep him out of sight for a little while.Would you take him?”

She rolled her eyes.“You know you could have called me.”

Lyle gently lifted Loopy.“Yeah.But you would have said no.And look at that face.How can you say no to that?”He smiled, and his mother tried to keep a straight face but failed.

“Fine.How long is it going to be?”She sat down in one of the living room chairs, and Lyle set Loopy down.The dog ran over to his mom and jumped into her lap, settling right down.

“He really likes you.”

“Is that such a surprise?I’m very likeable,” she told him flatly.

“Like a porcupine sometimes.”He sat across from her.“What’s going on?”

“They postponed my trip.So I’ll be here in town until my surgery.I’ve been counting on being busy to keep my mind off it, and now I’m going to be sitting here imagining the cancer eating away at me.”Loopy lay down, and Mom slowly began petting him.

“Let me get his dishes and the food.”

“Where will he sleep?”Mom asked.

Lyle rolled his eyes.“He’ll probably sleep at the end of the bed.He’s been in the shelter for a while now, so he’s probably going to be a little needy.It’s natural.”Lyle loved how his mother grumped, but she was already less agitated with Loopy on her lap.

“Okay.He can stay for a while.But this isn’t a permanent thing.”Even as she said it, she stroked Loopy’s back, and Lyle wondered if his mother hadn’t made a friend for life.

Chapter 14

“IS YOURmom okay?”James asked as Lyle pulled up in front of James’s house.He hefted the cooler and put it in the back before getting in the car.

“Mom is fine.I think Loopy will be good for her, especially since her trip got canceled and she’s going to be home before her surgery.She’ll have work to do, but she even admitted that she was counting on the travel to help keep her mind off the surgery.”Lyle sighed.“Which means she’s more worried about it than she’s letting on, and I wonder what she isn’t telling me.”He didn’t move.

“Look, if you want, we can just go to your place.We don’t need to go hiking or anything if you don’t feel up to it.”

Lyle sighed.“Let’s get the dogs and we can go.There is nothing I can do about any of this, and I’m not going to spoil our day with my worrying.”He sat straighter and put the car in gear.“Tomorrow you need to spend the day studying and I only get you to myself for the rest of the day, so I intend to make the most of it.”He pulled away, and James smiled as they rode with the windows down.

Once they had the dogs in the car, they got back on the road.It was a beautiful fall day and the fresh air seemed to do them all good.Lyle drove them up to Pine Grove and parked.It was busy—lots of people seemed to have the same idea they had, but James found a great spot away from everyone else and set out the blankets on the ground.The dogs sniffed the cooler and tried to see what was inside, but Lyle got them settled on the ground, and they knew better than to get into everything.In any event, they were still on their leashes, which were close at hand.

“I made sandwiches.Nothing fancy.”James pulled out what he made for Lyle.“Roast beef with a little horseradish mayo.”

“Yummy,” Lyle said as he took a bite.He grinned and ate the rest of the half sandwich.James handed him a Coke and took one for himself, then ate his own sandwich before lying back on the ground.Lyle did the same, head resting on James’s shoulder.The dogs all gathered around, finding spots near them.Lyle stroked Daisy’s back, and James had Dash right up against him.The other two settled near James’s hips.What a lovely way to spend a quiet afternoon.

At times like this, when he was quiet and still, James’s mind usually ran to the pile of work that needed to be done.But right now his entire attention was on Lyle, on how he smelled and the way he felt against him.James turned his head to the side, and Lyle did the same, their gazes meeting before Lyle shifted slightly and kissed him.“You make me really happy,” Lyle whispered.

That was a different sort of declaration, but James would take it.“Yeah?You make me happy too… and horny,” he whispered.“The big H’s.”

Lyle chuckled softly.“You do the same to me, but it seems every time we try to do something about a certain H, we get interrupted.And it isn’t like we can do anything about it right now.”

Lord, James wanted to.Electricity frizzed though him, and he wanted nothing more than to strip Lyle naked and watch him squirm and cry out his passion from under him.Damn, he wanted that so badly.“I know.But I still want you.”

“I can tell,” Lyle whispered.“Your desire is making itself known, and unless we’re setting up camp, we don’t need a tent pole at the moment.”Lyle grinned, and James adjusted things to be less obvious and more comfortable.“Not that I’m disappointed in the effect, or the view for that matter.

“See.It’s what you do to me.”James told him.

“Well, let me think.My mother is busy, and she has Loopy to care for.The new neighbors have moved in, and they seem nice enough and rather quiet.Debbie and Kevin haven’t been around, and I think they’ve figured out that they should just go on with their lives.So if we’re lucky, when we get back to my place, you and I can have some uninterrupted alone time.”Lyle rolled slightly onto his side and slipped a hand under James’s shirt.

That felt good, and Lyle let it roam across his chest.The man had magic fingers, and James closed his eyes and just let himself feel the intimacy.They were in no hurry, and goodness knows the dogs weren’t.They seemed to have settled in for a happy, peaceful afternoon.

Dash raised his head and growled.The others did the same, and soon all four dogs were on alert.“I have them,” Lyle said as he gripped all four leashes.