Page 199 of Smooth Sailing

I tossed my phone on the coffee table, gladly accepting his weight, and curved my arms around him.

“Got something to say,” he announced.

“And I have ears, so have it,” I invited.

He smiled, but it died when he went on carefully, “Don’t like anyone doing my laundry, babe.”

Oh.

“I did laundry for me and Ma,” he explained. “We didn’t have much, so what we had, we took care of it. Got in the habit of bein’ particular about how it’s done. You see how I do it, you’re good with me doin’ it for us both, then I’ll do yours. If not, we can each do our own.”

Well then.

This suddenly became a very Planning Our Lives Together Conversation.

And I was totally there for it.

“If you keep taking all the chores, I’ll gain fifty pounds eating bonbons and doing my nails while watching Real Housewives,” I warned.

His brows shot up. “You watch that shit?”

“Absolutely not.”

His brows went down and he kissed me.

When he lifted his head, I said, “Okay, I’m too dressed up to do a deep clean. I can do that sometime tomorrow. So what do you want to do for the rest of our fun Saturday?”

Before he could say anything, I listed his options.

“You mentioned Japanese gardens, we have a great botanical garden in Phoenix which is fun to walk through and has a fabulous gift shop. We also have an actual Japanese Friendship Garden, though ‘actual’ is that it’s in that style. Obviously, it’s not in Japan.”

His beard twitched.

I kept going.

“Or we could walk Papago Park, which is incredibly beautiful. Or the movie theater is literally a block away, and they have fantastic recliner seats, if you want to go see a movie. There’s also Talking Stick Casino. I’ve tried my luck as far as I’m going to with that, but you said you’ve been to Vegas. If you dig gambling, we can go, and I can watch you have fun. Then there’s the Biltmore Mall. It’s shopping, but it’s an outdoor mall, it’s pretty and they have great restaurants there. We could have a late lunch at Blanco or Zinburger, then get a gelato at Frost.”

“Babe—”

“The Farmer’s Market downtown is lush, but I think it’s closed by now,” I blathered on. “And I can check the AZ Republic’s event site to see if there’s a festival happening or something. We’re getting close to Oktoberfest, and the state fair is on.”

I stopped when I felt my body rocking because he was silently laughing.

“What?” I asked.

“Trying to sell me on Phoenix?”

Oh shit.

I totally was.

I gave him big eyes and belatedly kept my mouth shut.

I got another kiss and he again lifted his head.

“Too hot for my blood to walk outside. I’d do a movie but would prefer to watch that Monty Python flick with you here,” he said, but added, “Though, if there’s any of that shit you want to do, I’ll do it.”

“How about we watch a movie here, then go out and get something to eat later,” I proposed.

---