Page 38 of Promise Me Never

“When? And what for?”

“Friday, I’ll give you the day off. She’s got a date with some guy from a dating app.”

He drops one of my bags; luckily, it’s just ingredients for a salad and a loaf of Italian bread. “Sorry ‘bout that. I could make that work.” He pulls groceries out and helps put them away quietly for a minute. “Is it a first date?”

“I think so.”

“Why isn’t he coming here?”

“That’s what I said. Apparently, she’s going to stay with a friend of hers from college, but I’d feel better knowing you were there, too.”

“Of course, no problem. And I get a day off.” He wipes his hands on his jeans. “Count me in.”

* * *

“What’s all this?” Eli asks as I stand at her back door with my arms full of the ingredients for dinner. She holds the door open as I step past her and into the kitchen. “And since when do you knock?”

“It didn’t feel right to just let myself in while it’s just you. The no knock entry is something that’s been normalized over the years, we’re much newer than that.” When I look up at her, she’s looking at me like a puzzle she can’t quite figure out. “I hope you’re not vegan or something.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, not even close. My roommate is though.”

“Good because we’re having steaks.” And a discussion about boundaries.

“Sounds delicious.” She starts emptying one of the sacks while I do the other. “What can I help with?”

“Wash the potatoes so I can get them on the grill? I’ll go heat it up.”

When I close the screen door behind me, I look back into the kitchen, finding Eli bent over pulling aluminum foil from the bottom drawer. She’s wearing the shorts she was the other day, and I can just barely make out the bite mark I left on her. Despite it being mostly faded, my dick still swells at the sight.

By the time I have the grill fired up, she’s walking out onto the back porch. She hands over the potatoes and wraps her arms around my waist after I get them over the fire. I cup her cheek and tilt her head back, covering her lips with mine as I return her embrace. The way she melts against me makes me want to lock her in my arms for keeps.

She breaks contact first. “I’ll get started on the salad.”

I follow to prep the steaks. We work side by side in silence so comfortable it feels like we’ve been doing this for years together. The more time I spend with her, the more effortless it feels. Her habits of saying off the wall things out of the blue is familiar and entertaining.

“Is this beef from our cattle?” she asks as I season them.

“Yes. Why?”

“Do you ever feel bad when you look into their big, brown eyes knowing you’re sending them off to be butchered?”

“Nope. And we don’t have them all butchered. We keep quite a few heifers for breeding.”

“That’s even more diabolical,” she teases. “Do they have names? I feel like the cattle are the only animals on the ranch I don’t know much about.”

“I haven’t named them.”

“And why are there two donkeys with them?”

“Livestock guardians.”

“I thought that’s why we had the dogs? I didn’t know donkeys could do that.”

“It takes a special temperament for a donkey to bond with a herd. Bingo always preferred to be with cattle, but he’s getting up in age, so Paul bought another young male for him to mentor. His name is Buck, and he’s basically feral. If you’re ever up with cattle, stay away from gray one. The dogs are better for the sheep and goats.”

“I had no idea.” She spreads some garlic butter over the Italian bread. “I feel like I could live here full time and still constantly be learning.”

“Twelve years on, and I’m still picking up new things every once in a while.” I pop the top off one of the bottles of the six pack I brought over. “It’s one of the things I love most about this job. Every day is just a little different than one before, whether it’s the animals or weather. Working on the tractors or snowmobiles.”

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