Page 19 of A Mate For Matrix
“You’ve got it bad,” K-Nine quipped, ignoring Matrix’s sharp words. “You have imprinted on her.”
“Enough already with the imprinting,” Matrix growled. “In case you’ve forgotten, we have a Crawler to kill. Must I remind you that we are just as likely to end up dead? You saw what they did to the Triterian forces.”
“We can’t. If we do, this planet, which includes Jana and the kittens, would perish,” K-Nine stated. “We will kill it and take Jana and my kittens home with us.”
“‘My kittens’? Did you seriously just call them ‘my kittens’?” Matrix asked in disbelief.
K-Nine stood up and shook. “Every Despairing Wolfhound needs a pack. I have mine now,” he retorted.
Matrix watched as K-Nine trotted away. He shook his head in disbelief. The cyborg mutt had lost the few brain cells that were not replaced during his cloning.
Since when did my life become this confusing? he wondered.
He shook his head as he took off after his partner. They would both be lucky to get out of this mission in one piece. The thought of what would happen to Jana if they weren’t successful was enough to put a little more urgency in his step.
“Hello, Jana,” Herman Marker greeted as he stepped away from his car.
“Mr. Marker,” Jana replied. “What can I do for you?”
Herman looked at Jana with an affable grin. He had been thinking more and more about her since his wife, Mary, had died almost three months ago. He found that life was lonely without a woman in it.
Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of eligible women in Glennis, at least none that he hadn’t known for forty years. He reached up and straightened his tie. He was looking for someone new, someone fresh, and preferably someone young enough to care for him. He knew from listening to Mary that Jana was a sweet young woman who had old-fashioned values.
“I was just stopping by to see if you needed anything,” Herman replied, sniffing the air. “It smells like you might be preparing dinner,” he added with a hopeful smile.
“Lunch—and we just finished,” Jana replied, leaning against the post holding up the roof.
“Oh,” Herman replied with a downward droop to his lips before he frowned. “We? You have company?”
Jana straightened and pushed her hands into her pockets. Herman couldn’t help but admire the way it pulled her thin, cotton shirt tighter across her bosom. He might be old, but he wasn’t dead. During the last three years of Mary’s life, she had been too frail to want any type of physical comfort. Herman had missed that. There was nothing like holding a woman in your arms and having a little fun.
“The kittens,” she said.
“Oh yes, pets. I remember you asking if you could have them here,” Herman replied with a look of distaste, pulling out a handkerchief from the front pocket of his button-up dress shirt. He wiped the sweat from his brow before replacing it. “Would you happen to have a glass of tea or water…?”
He watched the uncertainty flash across her face before it was followed by a sigh. A smile lit his face when she turned and waved her hand for him to follow her. He climbed the steps with a renewed bounce.
“I don’t have any tea, but I have some iced lemon water,” Jana said, opening the front door and stepping inside. “Be mindful of the kittens, they like to pounce on you when you least expect it.”
“Thank you for the warning,” Herman replied, looking warily around the room. “How many do you have?”
“Three,” Jana replied with a grin. “Biscuit is the gray one, Honeybun is the golden one, and Butter is the cream-colored one.”
“You named them after food?” Herman asked with a puzzled expression as he stepped into the kitchen. Almost immediately, his eyes lit on the apple dump cake. “That looks good.”
The grin on his face grew when she motioned for him to have a seat at the table. Now, he would turn on the charm.
If she plays her cards right, she might not have to pay rent for a while, he thought appreciatively as she reached up for a plate and glass, his gaze locked on her full breasts.
Jana sighed heavily and motioned for her irritating guest to sit down. She opened the cabinet and pulled a small plate and glass out before walking over to the refrigerator to get the pitcher of chilled lemon water. She calmly poured a glass of the refreshing water and scooped a generous serving of the apple dump cake onto the plate. Placing both in front of him, she moved around the table and sat down.
A few seconds later, the first kitten appeared in the doorway. It didn’t take long for the other two to follow. Jana leaned over and scratched Honeybun between her ears as the kitten rubbed against her leg.
“Those look just like the kittens I found under the shed out behind my house,” Herman commented, taking a bite of the still-warm cake.
Her eyes widened at the connection.
“This is very good. You know how to cook?”
