The Maverick - By Jan Hudson Page 0,55
to go check out the king-size bed in the master?”
“No, I have questions. First I want to know—”
He kissed her, and the questions burning inside her went down in flames. All she could say was, “Mmm.”
LATER, MUCH LATER, THEY showered and dressed, having left the bed thoroughly initiated. Griff wore shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops.
Cass looked him up and down as they waited for the elevator. “Way to go.”
“I feel a little underdressed.”
“Naw. You’ll get used to it.”
“Will my toes get used to these thongs?”
“Sure, they’ll toughen up. What’s in the bag?” She pointed to the small duffel he carried.
“Running shorts and shoes.”
“For running or to wear if your toes give you grief?”
He grinned. “Got me.”
They drove to her houses to check out the renovations. Cass noticed Greg’s truck there, and Griff pulled in and parked behind it.
When they got out, she shaded her eyes and looked up. “Wow, the new roof is almost finished.”
Greg came down the steps. “The roofers will finish it up tomorrow and may get the one next door done as well.” He held out his hand to Griff. “Greg Gonzales.”
“Griff Mitchell.”
“We’re hoping to get a new roof on mine before we have rain.”
“Yours?” Griff asked. “You buy one of these houses?”
“Buying. Good investment I lucked into. Mine is that one down on the corner. I’ll either rent it out or resell it.” To Cass he said, “There’s not much to see inside. We’re demolishing the kitchen and baths. Did you get the tile picked out?”
“I did. I left all the information with Reuben at the tile store. And on Friday I’ll make my final decision about cabinets and fixtures, and let you know.”
“Good.”
Two men came out of the house carrying an old sink and countertop, and tossed them into a big Dumpster between the two houses.
“We’re about to knock off,” Greg told them. “If you go inside, be careful where you step. Things are a mess.”
“We’ll wait for another time,” she said. “I just love to watch the progress.”
Greg gave a two-finger salute and walked back in the house.
“Seems like a nice guy,” Griff said.
“He is. We went to school together. He played football at UCLA for a while. I hadn’t seen him for years until people recommended him for his job, and I contacted him. He’s even joined POAC.”
“You don’t say. Guess I’ll have to sign up, too.”
“Only if you want to. Ready to go grocery shopping? You need to stock up.”
“I don’t need much,” he said.
Famous last words.
They laughed their way through the produce section as Griff piled some of every fruit in the store his cart, along with salads and potatoes. He was in heaven when the found they gourmet soup section. At the meat counter, he selected four giant rib eye steaks.
“Four?” Cass asked.
“I like steak. You think I can’t cook? I’ll cook you a steak tonight.”
“Deal.”
He went up and down the aisles, tossing stuff in his basket like a contestant on Supermarket Sweep. By the time he was finished, his cart was piled high, while Cass had only eggs, bread, peanut butter, coffee and milk in hers. And two oranges.
“We’d better go by your place and stow your things first,” Cass said when they were loading his car. “All that ice cream is going to melt. I don’t understand why you got so much.”
“I like ice cream.”
“But four gallons?”
“Ah, sweetie, don’t sweat it.” He gave her a peck as he heaved another sack into the trunk.
Back at his condo, the valet helped tote the groceries upstairs, and soon everything was put away. Cass reminded Griff that her eggs and milk were still in the car and needed to get into her fridge right away.
“You can bring your things up here,” he said. “Remember, I’m going to cook steaks for you.”
“How about we do the steaks another night? Let’s drop my stuff off, and I’ll buy you a bowl of chili. I need to make an early night of it. I have paperwork to do. We’ve decided to move forward with the frozen chili deal.”
“Great. Does this mean you can retire from the café?”
“Why would I want to retire?” She drilled his belly with her finger. “Come on, cowboy, move it. My eggs are going to hatch.”
“Let me change my shoes first. These flip-flops are a bitch.”
WHEN THEY WALKED INTO Chili Witches, the first person Cass saw was her mother. Oh, crap. Seemed that Gloria and Min had insisted Sunny take the night off to go to Jay’s school pageant.
Gloria turned