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I laughed. “Sorry, I had some things to take care of in Knoxville.”
“What things?”
“I wanted to make sure I had a gun in case somebody decided to pay us a visit when we stayed at your place.”
“Well, I have a gun. You should have asked.”
I frowned. I wasn’t expecting that. Not a schoolteacher.
“Don’t give me that look. My dad was in the Navy, remember? He taught me and my sister how to shoot. He thought having a gun was a smart thing for a woman on her own. I agree. And before you ask, yes, I know how to use it, and I used to go to the gun range on a regular basis, I just haven’t found one around here.”
“What kind is it?”
“Sig Sauer P365.”
“Not bad.”
“We’ll go out to the range next week. After your bruise heals.”
“Yeah, I can think of better things for us to be doing in the meantime.”
“Let me guess, visiting Chaos.”
She sucked in her lower lip, and I smiled.
“At the moment, that is number one on my list, but just by a smidgeon. Normally making love with you would be number one.”
“Glad to hear it was a close call.”
“Speaking of calls, I talked to Kizzie. She said that Chaos isn’t eating well. I want to stop by my house before going over to the vet’s and get Chaos her food. Can we do that?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” She stepped up and kissed my jaw, but I wasn’t letting her get away with that. No way. I pulled her into my arms and gave her the kiss I’d been dreaming about all morning long. Marlowe caught fire in my arms, and I was in heaven.
“When you said get her food, you know I just thought you were getting some cans of special dog food, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” I poured some of the pumpkin puree into the mixture of ground chicken, fish oil, steamed vegetables, and rice. Kai came into the kitchen and put his chin on my shoulder.
“Do you cook all the meals you make with this kind of precision?”
“For just me? No. For someone else? Definitely.”
“How much longer is this going to take?”
“We’re close to the end,” I promised him. When it was almost done, I added a quarter of a teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of sugar.
“What in the hell did you just put in there?” Kai demanded to know.
“Chaos loves pumpkin pie. I give her a slice every once in a while. That’s why I chose this recipe, because it calls for pumpkin puree. So I add a little cinnamon and sugar, just so she has a little bit more of a taste of pie.”
“You are such a softie,” Kai said as he nuzzled my ear.
Thank God the boiling water part of the process was done already.
“So will you make me special treats when I’m sick?” he asked me.
My heart jolted. The very idea of him being around when he was sick made me joyous. “I don’t know, what kind of patient are you? Are you the stubborn kind who won’t do as they’re told? Petulant? Whiny?”
