Page 54 of Bullet
“I’ll make you some breakfast then, as recompense,” I said, and she nodded in agreement.
Walking into the kitchen, I got a pot of coffee started, and then pulled out some eggs, the leftover baked chicken, cheese, and onions. My skills in the kitchen were nothing like Laura’s or even like Harry’s who had picked up some tactics from his dad, but I was passable. I had to be to make sure Darrien ate. I worked over the next twenty minutes getting a few omelets made with the chicken and cheese and threw in some onions for crunch and flavor.
The smell of the food must have been enough of a draw, because I heard my bedroom door open, followed by Laura brightly saying, “Well, good morning.”
“Good morning,” Harry said. I was wearing his shirt, so as expected, when I looked out through the kitchen doorway, he was shirtless, but Laura didn’t seem to mind, apart from her eyes bulging a little bit at how fit he was. He passed Laura and walked into the kitchen, coming up behind me and looping his arms around my waist. “Smells good in here.”
“Hope you like omelets,” I said.
“They’re my favorite. You stole my shirt and none of yours fit me.”
“Oh, please tell me you tried though?” I replied and he chuckled before kissing me on the neck. “Stop that, I’m cooking, and I won’t get my security deposit back if I burn the place down.”
“Fine.” Harry pulled away from me but gave me a quick swat on my ass before leaving and heading down to the bathroom.
“Um, oh my God,” Laura called into the kitchen once the bathroom door was closed.
“Yeah. He’s real.”
I carried our completed omelets over to the table as Harry walked back out of the bathroom, and then poured us each a cup of coffee and brought those in as well. We ate in silence for the first few minutes, then Laura looked up and asked, “So, what are the plans for today?”
“I don’t know,” I said, looking over at Harry. “I wanna spend more time though.” He frowned at that. “Oh, I don’t like that expression.”
“Sorry, it’s not you. I want to spend more time with you, too, but I’m having dinner with my dad today. I’m meeting his girlfriend. I’m supposed to go over a little early so that I can get to know her.”
Harry’s dad had a girlfriend? He hadn’t mentioned that to me. Maybe he was feeling a little uncertain about her. “Oh, well that’s okay,” I said. “We can see each other this week again though, right?”
“Yeah, of course,” he said. “Just try and keep me away from you.”
My heart jumped up again. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“All right,” Laura said. “You guys are too cute and it’s making my sadly-single ass jealous, so I’m leaving for work.”
“You work weekends, too?” Harry asked.
“Yup. Training to be a parole officer. Crime doesn’t take Sundays off,” she quipped.
Harry nodded. “So I’ve heard.”
“I’ll clean up the plate,” I told Laura. “You go.”
“Thanks, babe, see you later. Harry, this was lovely,” she said.
“It was. Thanks again for the amazing dinner,” he called after her, then she collected her things, slipped on a pair of her black heels, and left. “Hey, you know what?”
“Hm?” I replied.
“Why don’t you come with me today?” Harry asked.
“With you… to your dad’s?”
“Yeah. You brought me to meet Laura, I’d like you to meet my dad. Besides, I could really use the backup. It’s like you said last night, me, dinner with strangers, especially strange women… you pretty much hit the nail on the head.”
Harry wanted me to meet his dad? That felt so heavy and definitive, but for some reason, it didn’t freak me out. A smile rose to my face and I nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
He suddenly backed off a little. “I don’t want to pressure you or, if that feels like too much, you don’t—”
“Harry,” I cut him off. “I’d love to come.”
