Page 47 of Absinthe Dreams
“Thanks,” I said.
“Maybe let it cool off a little,” she said with a slight giggle.
“Smells fuckin’ good,” I said. “Got a little ahead of myself.” I took another drought of the cold beer and smiled. “How are you single?” I asked. “You sure know how to treat a fella.”
She almost choked on the bite of food she had carefully blown on several times before putting the bite in her mouth.
“I’m a doctor,” she said with a shrug, and I raised an eyebrow.
“You say that like it should explain everything,” I said and couldn’t keep the smile from creeping onto my face.
She was cute, sexy, and a whole bunch of other things that I was really starting to like.
“I mean, it does! Doesn’t it?” she asked.
I laughed and shook my head, trying another bite of food after blowing on it liberally. It was really fucking good.
“Well, between the brutal schedule and all the schooling in front ofthat, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for socializing except with other doctors. I guess the guys on rotation with me just didn’t really appeal.” She shrugged.
Interesting.
We chatted amicably throughout the rest of dinner, and I caught her yawning as she rose to take our dishes to the sink.
She cooked, so the least I could do was clean up. I got to my feet, my body paining me from its overuse of the day, but I ignored all that and slipped into the kitchen behind her, grasping her wrist before she got the chance to pick up a dish to rinse it.
“I’ve got it,” I said. “Go get ready for bed.”
“Oh, are you sure?” she asked, and her green eyes were wide as she looked up into mine.
“Absolutely. Go on now.” I gave her a light little shove in the direction of her bedroom.
She smiled and left me to it, calling out, “Okay, Charlie boy! Time for bed.”
I rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher to the low sounds of running water and beneath that, Genesis moving around in her bedroom.
I felt myself sigh and eased into the domesticity of it all. It was entirely too fucking comfortable.
As in, I could get used to this. As in, it was a real nice reprieve from having to beonall the time…
The weight of the tiredness in dealing with Ruth and his bullshit all over again, even after thinking we’d firmly put his ass in our dust trail, was something I couldn’t describe. I was ready for this motherfucker to be dead for good. Ready for the world to spin on without him.
Slippery fuck.
If it was one thing he was good at, it was hiding. We hadn’t been able to pin him the fuck down for shit. He was always on the move and never stayed any place more than a single night.
By comparison, finding the fuckin’ mouth breather that was terrorizing Genesis would be easy. You would think…
Axe was on it for me, and if anyone was the man for the job in catching a serial killer, it was Axe. Pretty sure he was one himself.
I finished putting up dinner and getting everything into the dishwasher. It wasn’t loaded enough to run it yet, so I closed things up tight and let it go.
I went back into the living room and settled onto the couch with another gusty sigh, and the cat jumped up next to me.
“Hey, buddy.” I gave his soft tabby fur some pets and asked him, “Don’t you wanna hang out with your mamma?”
He gave a soft little mew and purred harder, head butting me in the side of my knee before flopping down against the length of my thigh. I chuckled and petted him some more, figuring eitherhe decided he liked me, or that he somehow had it into his furry little head that he was punishing his mom for not letting him outside.
Either could honestly be true.
