Nico turned back to go outside. “Sorry about the floor.”
“I’m not worried about the floor,” Stone told him, grabbing his arm and urging him deeper into the house.
“I shoulda gone home to change.” Nico placed Jäger on the floor. “Mrs. Jeffries called. Asked me to come by and cover her plants. Begged me, really.”
Jäger took off for parts unknown.
Stone grinned. “I didn’t realize you make house calls. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“She’s eighty-seven and calls me up every year to have me add somethin’ to her yard. Devoted customer. I couldn’t tell her no.”
“Here, let me take your coat. I’ll toss it in the dryer.”
Nico shrugged out of his coat. His shirt and jeans were both dark from the water.
“You wanna jump in the shower to warm up?”
Nico started pulling off one boot. “Nah. I’ll be—”
“At least change into somethin’ of mine,” Stone told him, gesturing toward the bedroom. “I’ve got sweatpants and shit in the closet.”
Nico swallowed, his gaze sliding toward the bedroom.
“Go,” Stone said firmly. “Bring back the wet clothes. I’ll toss them in the dryer, too.”
He hesitated again, but only for a moment before doing as he was told.
It was impossible not to watch the man walk away, admiring his ass in those damn jeans. The guy looked good enough to eat.
Thankfully, Stone had the presence of mind not to follow him. Instead, he carried Nico’s jacket to the laundry room and opened the dryer. When he turned around, he nearly stepped on Jäger, having to dance around the little guy to avoid a collision. He laughed as he leaned down and rubbed his little head.
“I’m gonna have to pay attention, huh? You’re just so damn little. I don’t—Oh, shit,” Stone huffed, hurrying back to the kitchen island. He lifted the lid on the grill and found the steaks hadn’t burned. Thank God.
He flipped them once more before closing the lid. When he looked down, he found Jäger staring up at him with those big brown eyes, his little nose twitching as he sniffed the air.
“What’s up, little guy? You need somethin’?”
Realizing the puppy was wet, Stone grabbed a hand towel out of the drawer and rubbed the water off Jäger’s back and head.
“Better?” Stone laughed when Jäger attempted to steal the towel.
Footsteps sounded on hardwood, so Stone stood tall. Nico approached wearing a pair of dark gray sweatpants and a dark blue long-sleeve T-shirt. His hair was mussed as though he’d just crawled out of bed. He tried to remember if that was what Nico looked like when he woke up in the morning. He honestly hadn’t been paying attention when he’d stayed over. Too many other things had been going on. But now he had a raging desire to spin the man around, lead him back to the bedroom, get him into the bed, and keep him there until morning simply so he could do the comparison later.
“Dryer’s in there,” Stone told him, gesturing toward the laundry room at the far end of the kitchen. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Starvin’. Skipped lunch when I realized the weather was turnin’ bad.”
Yeah, they were expecting ice on the roads tonight. That was never a good thing around these parts. Because they didn’t get snow on a regular basis, there wasn’t an abundance of salt or sand trucks to take care of the roads, so getting out in it was a gamble.
“How do you like your steak? Before you answer that, you should know they’re well past raw, so medium or well?”
“Medium-well’s fine.”
“Good. Me, too. Food should be ready in—” Stone’s words died when he saw more headlights coming toward the barn.
Nico’s attention also shifted to the window. “Expectin’ company?”
“Nope.”
