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I heard a gasp from behind me and turned to find a pair of old ladies walking matching Yorkies. “How dare you speak to that young man that way,” one of them said angrily. “Can’t you see he’s handicapped?”
Josh lifted a brow at me with a flirty grin. “Yeah, Cam. Can’t you see I’mhandicapped?”
I rolled my eyes at him before turning to face the ladies. “He’s faking,” I said with a straight face. “He has a real leg, he just left it at home on purpose to get sympathy from people like you. Don’t fall for his act.”
One of the ladies seemed to waver on her feet before the other one grabbed her elbow.
“Well, Inever.”
Josh fake sniffed as he limped up to me, gasping for breath. “I’m sorry baby. I’ll try to do better next time. Don’t make me sleep in the chicken coop again. Please?”
Him calling mebabyhit me right in the gut in the very best way. I reached out for his hand, trying hard to contain my laughter. “We’ll see how well you fry up those eggs for dinner tonight. If you’re lucky, I’ll let you watch reruns ofSpongeBobon television later before it’s time to feed the donkeys.”
“Aww, baby, you know how much I love a good episode ofSpongeBob,” he said, lifting a brow at me as if he’d never heard of the show.
I leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Sorry. It’s the stupidest thing I could think of.”
“Ever heard of the Kardashians? OrNaked and Afraid? OrToddlers and Tiaras? OrFox News—”
“Got it,” I interrupted with a snort. “Next time I’ll just say Dora the Explorer.”
“Ahh, repetitive and catchy. Even better,” he said with a laugh, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him as we walked toward the street corner. I paid close attention to how we walked to make sure I didn’t accidentally bump him into the traffic on Constitution Avenue.
I’d only known the man for a couple of hours, and I already felt completely comfortable in his company. I wasn’t sure I’d ever laughed so much on a date before and this was only the beginning.
* * *
When we emergedout of the Columbia Heights metro station, I explained my decision to purchase a row house near the VA medical center since that’s where the majority of my clients came from. Josh told me that his apartment was in nearby Adams Morgan which excited me maybe more than it should have. My brain immediately went to the bus map and realized it was a quick fifteen minute ride from Columbia Heights to Adams Morgan. How easy would that be if something started between us?
And, god, I wanted something to start between us.
I’d approached this date with such sour grapes, convinced nothing would come of it because we’d been assigned together so randomly. But now here we were, getting along like we’d been paired by an expert matchmaker and comfortable enough with each other to stop and sneak a kiss every block or so.
“Stop or we’re never going to get to your house,” Josh mumbled against my lips. “I really want to get you alone.”
His voice sent shivers down my spine. I forced myself to pull away and lead him down the street to my house. When we passed my neighbor’s house, he was watering his flower pots and stopped to wave hello.
“Holy cow!” Prentiss shouted. “Are you Joshua Lede?”
“Sure am,” Josh said. “You a newshound?”
“I work on Capitol Hill so I can’t help it,” he said with a chuckle. “Fuck, dude. That piece you did with Sam Spanner was amazing. Keep up the great work. You have lots of fans where I work.”
“Thanks, man. That’s good to hear.” Josh waved at him one last time before following me up the steps toward my front door.
“I’m starting to feel inadequate,” I joked. “Maybe I should trot out my stick figure drawings and show everyone you’re not the only famous person around here.”
“I promise to show your stick figure plenty of attention,” Josh rumbled into my ear.
I was so distracted by his words, I almost forgot to warn him about Gus.
“He’s a softie, but he’s also a crotch sniffer. Guard your loins,” I warned.
“I think you mean gird—oof!” As soon as the door opened, Gus came barreling out at us and knocked into Josh’s prosthesis.
“Fuck!Off, Gus! Dammit, get down. I’m so sorry.” I rambled my apologies while mentally kicking myself for not anticipating the excited doggie rocket that would shoot out the door after I’d been gone so long. Luckily, Josh had grabbed for the porch handrail to keep from falling, and by the time I stopped stammering, I noticed he was laughing and squatting down to greet Gus with baby talk and kisses just like he’d had for the dog on the Mall.
“Who’s a good boy?” he crooned.
