Page 51 of Flirting With Fire
Mom was in the kitchen eating cereal when I let myself in. “Hey there, I didn’t know if I’d see you this morning.” She leaned to one side to glance behind me. “No Dex?”
“I said I’d be back,” I pointed out. “I need a clean uniform. This one is covered in dirt and dust. Dex has to work, too. Is there any coffee left?” I looked hopefully at the pot.
“I’ll make a fresh one. You get ready. Have you had breakfast?”
“No. But cereal will be fine.”
Ten minutes later, I leaned against the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. “You don’t usually have this,” I said.
Mom pinked a little. “It used to be your favorite.”
“It still is,” I admitted. “I said to Dex I’d move in over the weekend. I need to get the car from the shop and arrange for my stuff to be shipped from Chicago.”
“Make a list of what you need to do, and I’ll help,” Mom said, practical as always.
I smiled at her. She was the best. I might not have a cranky old foreman, but I had my mom and she always had my back. That didn’t mean to say I was going to tell her about smacking Dex in the face. I wasn’t that stupid.
Chapter Fourteen
Dex
I’d helped Meyer move his things in over the weekend—what little he had until his other belongings arrived—and now we were back at my house cooking up some quick burgers on the grill. As he flipped the patties, I stole a peek at his nicely rounded ass that was meant to live in a pair of tight jeans.
Or the palms of my hands.
It turned out to be fortunate that Meyer didn’t have much to move in. We’d spent most of our time fooling around. And since he didn’t have a mattress or much in the way of furniture either, he’d been staying with me. I took a long pull on my beer. Yeah, I didn’t have a problem with that.
Meyer peeked over his shoulder. “Do you like a little pink in your meat?”
I snorted beer through my nose, then bent over, coughing and choking until I could barely breathe. Once again, I was being smacked on the back by my dream date to be kept from passing out. I needed to come up with a new schtick. This one would get old real fast.
“S-sorry.” I coughed once more in my fist and wobbled on my feet.
Meyer grabbed my arm. “Come on, cowboy. Let’s get you settled before you face plant on the cement.” He chuckled. “See? I’m still taking care of you.”
I wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but I hoped it wasn’t a dig. I’ve always been a tad too sensitive, prone to bursts of unnecessary hurt feelings. Most of the time, it was me taking something the wrong way. This certainly explained how my perception of mine and Meyer’s relationship in high school had become so twisted in my addled brain.
Meyer rubbed my shoulder, and I peered up at him from where I sat on the patio chair.
“Sorry again. I have a feeling your question is pointless now.”
He drew his eyebrows together. “Huh?”
I pointed to the burgers. “I sense we’ve reached well-done at this point.”
Meyer‘s jaw dropped, and he rushed over to the grill before sliding the spatula beneath each burger and depositing them on a plate. He turned to me and laughed.
“Food’s ready.”
I laughed along as he brought the patties over. He’d made some of his jalapeño chile lemonade earlier, and it was already in a pitcher on the wrought-iron table with the frosted glass top that was a part of my childhood history. I made a mental note to scrape off the peeling paint, wipe away the rust, and repaint it. Somehow, it didn’t seem right to let it go untended. I was finding myself getting the urge to spruce the place up.
Meyer sat close to me like he’d been doing at every meal. “I think we have everything,” he said, handing me the hamburger buns. “Oh, wait. I didn’t bring out the pickles.”
The way one eyebrow dipped slightly lower than the other, his lashes that were curled a bit too much for such a masculine man, and the tip of his tongue running across the edge of his front teeth when he concentrated very hard made me crazy. As ifmy heart might burst out of my chest at how perfect he was, and how he was here, next to me, in my home, and we were sharing a meal as if we were family.
My breath caught, and I lowered my head. I needed to slow my roll, not expect anything from him. We were getting to know each other as adults, figuring out what our new relationship meant. Now was the time to enjoy ourselves—and there’d been no shortage of enjoyment. We couldn’t keep our paws off each other.
Meyer had been taking inventory of all the burger condiments and toppings and seemed to have reached a conclusion as he rose from the table.
