Page 48 of Property of Mongrel

“Same,” I reply. “Let’s head out to grab something to eat, honey, then we can come back here and do whatever. I’m famished.”

“I am too, but I rode straight through to finish my trip, so I’d get back earlier. I think we’re both gonna want to make sure we’ve got sufficient carbs,” he teases.

“Mongrel! You should’ve stopped long enough to eat,” I chide. “You have to make sure to take good care of yourself.”

“Addy, I’m fine, but I’m gonna need my energy in a little bit,” he advises, which has me blushing like a whore in church.

And yes, I know what they look like; my damn mother was one for all intents and purposes, and she took me to church one time, and I was beet red the whole time because of how she acted, flirting with all the men, even those who were obviously married. Shaking my head to clear that memory because she has no place in my life, I look at him and say, “Then let’s go, honey.”

“I like that,” he mumbles, my fingers now laced with him as we leave.

“What?” I ask.

“You calling me honey,” he admits. “My brothers call me Mongrel, my uncle calls me Cam, and my sisters called me Cammy because they couldn’t say Cameron due to their age. “It makes me feel some kind of way.”

I smile as he leads me to his truck. Part of me wishes we were on his bike, but Gretchen told me it ramps up her libido and I don’t think I need any help in that department! Once I’m in, he walks around the front of the truck before sliding in on the driver’s side. “You all set?” he asks as he puts his seatbelt on.

“Ready, Freddy,” I reply, grinning at him. Jesus, if I don’t stop smiling like a damn lunatic, he’s gonna rethink things. Taking a few deep breaths, I ask, “Where are we going for dinner?”

“There’s a place just outside of town that serves huge baked potatoes that you can dress up any way you want. They’ve got chopped pork, chopped beef, chopped turkey, some vegan shit, cheese, sauces, basically all the trimmings. But the best thing on the menu, in my opinion, is their banana pudding.”

“It sounds really good,” I tell him.

Dinner goes off without a hitch and just like our phone calls, our conversation flows as I share what I ethically can about my work week, as well as the fact that Janice is in even more hot water. “And Mrs. Rockmartin told us today that according to what the forensic accountant has found so far, we’ll all be getting a check for retroactive pay that showed as being received by us, but was in fact, siphoned into Janice’s accounts! I don’t know how I could’ve missed it, because I pay attention to my paycheck stub, but somehow, she managed it.”

“It sounds like her goose is cooked,” he remarks.

“I think it’s past cooked and into burnt range,” I retort before giggling. “Yes, I’m pissed off that she did that to all of us, especially because a couple of the therapists are single parents. It’s hard enough to make ends meet sometimes when you’re single, but adding more people to the equation has likely had them struggling, even though we get paid well. But her getting her just desserts is kind of funny because I’m sure she thought she wouldn’t get caught.”

“Well, you’ll be able to do some retail therapy with the ol’ ladies when they start shopping for the holidays then,” he says.

“Definitely, and it means that I’ll be able to pick a couple more kids off the Angel Tree, too.”

“I wanna do that with you if that’s okay,” he says.

“You don’t mind shopping?” I ask.

“I mean, as a prospect, I did a lot of shopping for the ranch. I can handle it for specific periods of time, like two or three hours.”

“Sweet! Sometimes Betty can’t go with me, but I hate going by myself. It’s not as much fun,” I reply.

By the time dessert comes around, I realize that I’m quite full. He sees me looking at my bowl which is only half eaten and laughs. “Eyes were bigger than your stomach?” he teases.

“Yes, and I don’t wanna be in a food coma,” I whine. When he winks at me, I blush.

“Sweetheart, it’s not a one-time thing.”

“Good,” I whisper. “Because I’ve been patiently waiting for you to come home.”

“Then let’s get out of here.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

Mongrel

I know she’s a little nervous because she starts rambling, but hopefully, she’ll calm down once things start heating up. I may not be a woman, but they don’t own the market on the insecurities that wanna creep in when you’re about to literally bare yourself to a new partner. You worry if you’re tall enough, do you have areas of your body they don’t find attractive? What if you’ve been sweating, will they be turned off? So many ridiculous things go through a person’s mind and in reality, if they’ve got chemistry, none of that matters.