Page 26 of Until Joy

Graham huffed out a deep breath. “You got me there, Doll. But I’m going to help.”

“I like that idea. Then we can spend time in the close confines of your kitchen.”

“Oh, you want to get close to me, do you?”

“Maybe a little,” I murmured, biting my lip.

He opened the deck door, allowing me room to slip by. I went into the kitchen and turned on the water so I could start rinsing plates.

“Stop for a moment, will you?” Graham put his hand over mine.

I stopped and looked up at him. His eyes were warm and gentle. “You know we’re not doing anything more than relaxing on my armchair and binging whatever show you want to watch, don’t you?” he asked.

“But—”

“No buts. I want to do this right. Take things slow. We’re still in the get-to-know-you stage, and I want to snuggle.”

I giggled. “You’re so full of shit.”

He cupped my cheek with one hand and pulled me close with the other. “I’m not. This is too important. You’re too important to rush.”

A relieved breath whooshed out of my mouth, and he grinned. The bastard realized he was handling me exactly right.

“Now, leave the dishes in the sink, and follow me to the living room.”

“We at least need to soak them.”

He shook his head and grasped my hand, tangling our fingers together. I soon found myself on his lap as he sat back in his favorite piece of furniture.

Okay, his only piece of furniture.

He handed me the remote. “You decide.”

“You must really like me if you’re giving me the remote,” I teased.

“Glad you’re catching on, Doll.”

Chapter 8

July had shut down the clinic early for the pool party, and she had hired two of the techs from a nearby vet to watch over my charges for the afternoon and evening shifts. There was no way I was getting out of going. Plus, I was Miss Laverne’s ride.

“I still don’t understand why you’re insisting on wearing that shirt and shorts. The bathing suit you showed me was a knockout,” Miss Laverne said for the twenty-seventh-one-hundredth time.

I grinned over at her. “I told you. I didn’t want to outshine you in your pretty dress.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with your young man, if you can come up with such pretty lies. Now, November told me to park close to the house; she’d make sure there was space for your car.”

Miss Laverne was right—there was plenty of room right close to the house, and I slipped right in.

“Everybody’s going to love the cakes you baked,” she told me. That, too, was another phrase that was on repeat.

“I promise, I’m not nervous anymore.”

“Then why are you still sitting there, since you turned off the engine three minutes ago?” the older woman asked.

“Did I ever tell you that you notice too much?”

“You might could have once or twice,” she said with a smirk.