She needed to get back home and do some cleaning. Her days weren’t full of cleaning and working now that the cabin was finished, but she still liked to maintain a schedule. Having Griz here meant her time in the evening would be taken up. She hoped he would come by at night.
When she stood, Griz jogged over. “Hey,” he said, his smile wide as he moved closer to brush a kiss over her cheek.
“I should head home. I need to take care of a few things.”
“Sure. I’ll walk you.”
“You don’t—” she started but didn’t finish because of the look on his face. He was going to walk her back no matter what.
The women stood and gave her hugs before she tookoff. Griz’s friends told her they were glad she’d come to lunch. She was happy to have met these people. If they asked her to join them again, she would.
Griz held her hand as they made their way back to her cabin. She glanced over as the sun shined on his face. He really was a good-looking man. He was tall, muscular, and he had a dark beard, dark eyes, and shaggy hair, but there was a kindness in his eyes. When he smiled, it’s like the sun was shining on her.
“You’re so beautiful.”
His words caused laughter to bubble up. “You don’t have to say that.”
He stopped walking and pulled her to a stop. “You are absolutely beautiful. It’s not because we were friends as kids. Just looking at you makes me want you.”
His words didn’t feel fake or insincere. He thought she was beautiful. She reached out and ran her fingers over his shoulder.
“I think you’re very good looking.”
His lips spread into a huge smile. “You think I’m sexy.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why else would I have sex with you?”
His laughter felt good. They continued walking, and he started talking after a moment. “Guys are simple and dumb. They’d have sex with anything if they felt horny. Women are much more discerning. I’ve always been discerning enough to have at least a small amount of standards, and I learned early on my hand was good enough.”
“I worked in construction. I’ve heard so much crap from guys.”
“I bet you have.”
“So tonight, are you coming over?”
“Yes. I want to see you tonight. I want to feel you.”
Heat rose, and she knew she had a huge smile on her face. “Good. Because I want to feel all of you.”
“I’ll be over after dinner.”
“Good. I can’t wait.”
Griz kissed her goodbye, and she keyed open the door. She stepped in and headed over to the kitchen to clean up the last of the mess she’d made baking cookies. It wasn’t much, but she needed to load her dishwasher.
She picked up the baking sheets that she’d left out cooling and paused. Something felt wrong. She held the metal sheets and turned around slowly. Something felt off but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She stored the cookie sheets in the drawer under the oven, still feeling like something was off. She moved to the sink and froze. What the hell? Had she washed out the bowl before she left to head to lunch?
No. There was no way she had. She moved to the cabinet where she stored the bowl and found it in the stack of bowls. She grabbed it, staring at the clean bowl.
She’d washed it. But she swore she hadn’t. Could she trust her memory? She had a good memory for important things, but stuff like washing clothes, cleaning toilets, and washing dishes were done without thinking about them. She didn’t have to consciously consider her need to clean dishes, she just did them. She easily could have cleaned the bowl out and put it up then forgotten she’d washed it. Maybe not easily, but it could have slipped her mind.
She grabbed her coffee mug and loaded that into the dishwasher, not liking that she’d forgotten about washing the bowl.
The thought of seeing Griz and meeting his friends must have thrown her off. She finished picking up stuff in the kitchen, which was much less than she’d thought she left out, and then gathered her sheets, wanting the bed tobe clean now that she knew Griz would be in her bed again tonight.
After she started the sheets in the wash, she vacuumed the floor in the main rooms and bedroom. She probably needed to mop the kitchen and bathrooms but wasn’t sure if she wanted to take the time.
