Page 10 of Sizzling Nights

"This guy right here has your back. And, he's had mine a time or two, so we're all good. We help each other out and that will always be the case."

Her voice was soft when she repeated. "Thank you."

Theresa turned to Marco and smiled. "Thank you. I do appreciate all you've done and are doing for me."

He smiled in return because it was hard not to. "You're welcome. We've got you."

She nodded and smiled.

Mitch turned toward the door. "I'll let you know once we've installed the cameras at the house. Oh, and one more thing, I need your cell phone. They've obviously gotten this number, so I have a new one for you."

He pulled a new cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. He waited for it to boot up, then handed it to her.

Theresa handed her phone to him, and the swallow she made didn't escape him.

Mitch shook his head, "I won't get rid of this. I'm going to monitor any calls or texts coming in from them though."

He did some button pushing, then connected the two phones with a cord. "This will transfer your phone numbers and texts to this phone."

"I appreciate that. I don't have many on there."

Mitch nodded. "Then it won't take long."

The information transferred, and Mitch handed her the new phone.

"There you go. Are you two working tonight?"

Theresa gasped and looked at her watch. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw the time. "Yes. I have to be there at eleven to set up for lunch."

Marco nodded. "I go in at the same time."

"Okay." Mitch opened the door. "I'll text you, so I don't interrupt you at work."

Theresa stepped closer to the door. "Thank you again, Mitch. I do appreciate it."

He grinned at her and then nodded to Marco. "See you later."

He disappeared from the doorway and Marco turned to Theresa. "Are you hungry?"

Her hand pressed against her tummy. "A little. Now that I'm settling in."

"Good. Let me whip something up, then we can get ready for work."

"Thank you. May I help?"

He chuckled. "I appreciate that, but the kitchen is my domain. Now that doesn't mean you can't cook when you want, but I'm sort of a solo chef."

"Okay." She smiled softly. "Maybe I'll go and take a shower, so I'm not tempted to help you."

He nodded. "Good idea. Breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes."

She nodded and headed to the spare bedroom, which was now her bedroom. He turned and sauntered to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, he looked inside and began pulling out eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, and milk. He'd had his kitchen custom-built when he had this place designed. His mixer was in a lower cabinet, on a shelf. All he had to do was open the cupboard door, lift up the shelf the mixer sat on, and raise it to counter height. It was his favorite detail in this kitchen.

He busied himself making breakfast, excited to have someone to cook for in his home. He had planned to have his friends over for dinner, as a sort of housewarming party, but he worked most evenings and on the nights he didn't work, he liked playing pickleball, running, or reading. So, he'd not found the time to entertain. And now that he thought about it, entertaining wasn't really his thing. He enjoyed his friends, but pulling everything together for a party seemed like a lot of work outside of his bailiwick.

He heard the shower shut off and began assembling some of their breakfast on plates. He flipped the bacon in the pan, then pushed the pan to the back of the stove. It would finish cooking in the hot grease while he prepared everything else.

Pulling some plates from the cupboard, he set them on the side of the counter where the bar stools would allow them to sit and eat. He almost never...actually, he'd never eaten at his dining room table. Turning his head he looked at the beautiful piece of furniture and shook his head.

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