Blood Brothers Page 0,104

He's not sick or watching sports, the only two circumstances men don't necessarily have sex on the brain."

Gage laid bacon in the heated skillet. "Somebody make some toast or something. And we're going to need another pot of coffee."

"I've got to take Lump out. I'm not just letting him out on his own."

"I'll take him." Fox leaned down to scratch Lump's head. "I want to walk around anyway." He turned, nearly walked into Layla. "Hi, sorry. Ah...I'm going to take Lump out. Why don't you come along?"

"Oh. I guess. Sure. I'll just get my things."

"Smooth," Gage commented when Layla left. "You're a smooth one, Fox."

"What?"

"Good morning, really attractive woman. How would you like to trudge around with me in three feet of snow and watch a dog piss on a few trees? Before you've even had your coffee?"

"It was just a suggestion. She could've said no."

"I'm sure she would have if she'd had a hit of caffeine so her brain was in gear."

"That must be why you only get lucky with women without brains."

"You're just spreading sunshine," Cal commented when Fox steamed out.

"Make another damn pot of coffee."

"I need to bring in some wood, feed the generator, and start shoveling three feet of snow off the decks. Let me know when breakfast is ready."

Alone, Gage snarled, and turned the bacon. He still had the snarl when Quinn came in.

"I thought I'd find everyone in here, but they're all scattered." She got out a mug. "Looks like we need another pot of coffee."

Because she got the coffee down, Gage didn't have time to snap at her.

"I'll take care of that. Anything else I can do to help?"

He turned his head to look at her. "Why?"

"Because I figure if I help you with breakfast, it takes us both off the cooking rotation for the next couple of meals."

He nodded, appreciating the logic. "Smart. You're the toast and additional coffee."

"Check."

He beat a dozen eggs while she got to work. She had a quick, efficient way about her, Gage noted. The quick wouldn't matter so much to Cal, but the efficient would be a serious plus. She was built, she was bright, and as he'd seen for himself last night, she had a wide streak of brave.

"You're making him happy."

Quinn stopped, looked over. "Good, because he's making me happy."

"One thing, if you haven't figured it out by now. He's rooted here. This is his place. Whatever happens, the Hollow's always going to be Cal's place."

"I figured that out." She plucked toast when it popped, dropped more bread in. "All things considered, it's a nice town."

"All things considered," Gage agreed, then poured the eggs into the second skillet.

OUTSIDE, AS GAGE PREDICTED, FOX WATCHED Lump piss on trees. More entertaining, he supposed, had been watching the dog wade, trudge, and occasionally leap through the waist-high snow. It was the waist-high factor that had Fox and Layla stopping on the front deck, and Fox going to work with the shovel Cal had shoved into his hands on their way out.

Still, it was great to be out in the snow globe of the morning, tossing the white stuff around while more of it pumped out of the sky.

"Maybe I should go down, knock the snow off some of Cal's shrubs."

Fox glanced over at her. She had a ski cap pulled over her head, a scarf wrapped around her neck. Both had already picked up a layer of white. "You'll sink, then we'll be tossing you a lifeline to get you back. We'll dig out a path eventually."

"He doesn't seem to be spooked." She kept an eagle eye on Lump. "I thought, after last night, he'd be skittish about going out."

"Short-term doggie memory. Probably for the best."

"I won't forget it."

"No." He shouldn't have asked her to come out, Fox realized. Especially since he couldn't quite figure out how to broach the whole job deal, which had been part of the idea for having her tag along.

He was usually better at this stuff, dealing with people. Dealing with women. Now, he worked on carving down a shovel-width path across the deck to the steps, and just jumped in.

"So, Cal said you're looking for a job."

"Not exactly. I mean I'm going to have to find some work, but I haven't been looking."

"My secretary-office manager-assistant." He dumped snow, dug the shovel back down. "We never settled on a title, now that I think about it. Anyway, she's moving to Minneapolis. I need somebody to do the stuff she does."

Damn Quinn, she thought.