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Exerting the smallest pressure, she nudged me toward the patio, then snapped her fingers at Elvis. “Come on, boy. Time to go inside and see Frank.”
As if he’d understood everything she’d said, Elvis bounded to his feet and rushed toward the house.
With an arm around her waist, I walked Catie across the yard to the house. “He’s pretty well trained, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “But I think I’d still invest in some kind of fencing for him. I suspect he swims…most dogs do, but I worry about him getting in the water.”
“I was planning to check into that tomorrow. In the meantime, we probably should be with him whenever he is outside.” I usedwemeaning both of us. Because I had plans to keep Catie here all the time.
She let my comment slide as we crossed the patio. “That dog does seem to love being outside.”
I nodded and pushed open the slider. Elvis streaked past me and made a beeline for where Frank was under the bench, washing his paws. Elvis nosed his way into the low space and lay down, his snout scant inches from Frank’s front legs. He woofed, and Frank let out a lazy noise, a cross between a meow and a yowl.
“Glad you found everything to start the coffee,” I commented as I noted she’d left three matching cups on the counter.
“Hope you don’t mind my snooping through your cupboards and pantry. It was tricky finding the grounds.” She nodded toward the silver, air-tight cannister next to the pot.
“I planned on being up before you and fixing you breakfast. Sorry about that.”
“No worries. We can fix breakfast together. After which, I do need to get home. I have some work to catch up on.”
“Do you work every day?”
“Since I freelance, yeah, I do. More projects equals more money. Plus, Carrie is in a rush for the artwork on the fundraiser. She texted me yesterday for an update, and I told her I’d have something for her to look at today.”
“Well, damn. I was hoping to have you all day long.” Disappointment crowded out the bliss I’d been feeling since I greeted her with a kiss.
“You’re welcome to come watch me work, but I promise you will be bored within ten minutes. Worse than watching paint dry. I tend to zone out whenever I start on a new project.” She grinned. “Plus, I need total silence. I hate distractions. I’ve been known to silence my phone, or leave it in a drawer in the kitchen. Naomi hates when I do that. Speaking of Naomi, she was probably going out of her mind since I didn’t check in with her yesterday.” She pointed to her purse where she’d left it on the kitchen desk. “I can’t believe I ignored it this long.”
I handed her a carton of eggs and a stick of butter. “I’ll make toast.”
“Sure, sure, take the easy job.” She set the carton on the counter, then started opening drawers, looking for the proper utensils.
“I will guarantee that your eggs will be better than anything I can fix.” I rooted in the big SubZero fridge. “Found it!” I stepped back, a box of precooked bacon clutched between my fingers.
With an unconscious ease, she located a mixing bowl and a cast iron skillet. The skilletclunkedwhen she set it on the gas cooktop and turned on a flame.
I was whistling as I loaded slices of bread into the fancy-schmancy toaster.
“Will I need to make extra for James? Does he come up to have breakfast with you?”
“Normally he might. But since I had company last night”—I kissed the tip of her nose—“he might stay away, not knowing if I have company still this morning.”
“Considerate of him. But if you want him to join us, I’d be okay with him knowing I spent the night. I’m sure he could tell I’d still be here today.” She laughed as she cracked an egg into the bowl and reached for another.
I squeezed her shoulder, then stepped over to a phone on the wall. I dialed the extension for the guest house. After a moment, James answered.
“Hey. Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes, if you want to come up and join us.” I waited while he hemmed and hawed around a bit, then I beamed a smile at Catie. “It’s fine. She doesn’t mind.”
She rolled her eyes at my less-than-subtle way of letting James know she’d spent the night.
“Consenting adults, and all that crap, right?” she mumbled, the sound barely masked by thesnick-snick-snickof the fork against the walls of the bowl.
After I hung up, I crowded against Catie’s back, wrapping my arms around her as she poured the eggs into the skillet. The soupy mixture sizzled loudly and steam rose from the pan.
“He’ll be here in ten minutes,” I murmured as I nuzzled my nose against her neck.
She kept stirring the eggs, but angled her head to the side, exposing more skin for me to caress, and reached her free hand up and around my neck. “Mm, I guess you better get that bacon started.”
