12. Joshua

Joshua

M abel and I walked towards her house, Esmerelda prancing ahead the length of her leash. As we walked I thought about the minor freakout that Mabel had at the beginning of dinner. I felt bad that I hadn’t been clear that we were going on a date. She wasn’t the only one who was out of practice at this kind of thing.

Then after I cleared up our miscommunication I could practically see her wondering what it meant that we were on a date and obsessing about what might happened next. Mabel might be guarded, but if you paid attention, you could tell when she was feeling big emotions.

I planned to walk her home and just give her a hug when we said goodbye. Clearly she needed time to get used to the idea of dating. But Esmerelda had other ideas.

As we walked up the driveway, Mabel turned to say good night to me, but her dog suddenly raced around us, looping us inside her long leash, then pulling away quickly like she was going to run off.

The movement made the leash push against Mabel’s ankles, pitching her forward into my body. My arms wrapped around her automatically and I resisted the urge to groan at the feeling of those soft curves against me.

“Esmerelda!” she scolded. “What has gotten into you lately?”

I had the strangest feeling that Esmerelda was trying to act as my wingman. Well, wingdog.

Mabel looked up at me, probably to apologize, but the words died on her lips. We stared at each other for a long, heated moment as desire coursed through my body. I lowered my head towards her slowly, giving her a chance to pull away, and when she didn’t, I pressed my lips against hers. They were soft and a little bit cold from the chill in the air.

Her arms looped around my waist and when I ran the tip of my tongue along the seam of her lips, she opened for me immediately. The instant my tongue slid against hers the kiss turned hot, my body lighting up with excitement. Mabel tilted her head, giving me better access, and I backed her up until she was pressed against the garage door and I was kissing her deeply, my body plastered up against hers.

When I finally pulled back so we could catch our breath she whispered, “Wow.”

I took that as a good sign and went in for another kiss. I tangled one hand in her long hair, tugging the strands as I dominated her mouth. I moved my other hand downward so I could cup her ass and hold her tight to me. Mabel rocked her hips against me, trying to get more pressure. My dick was growing hard against her belly, and I knew it was time to cool things down, as much as I was reluctant to do so.

Slowly I pulled back until our faces were only an inch or two apart. Mabel opened her eyes, looking the tiniest bit dazed in the light that burned over the garage.

“Um.”

I knew the feeling. My head was buzzing.

“You’d better go in,” I said. “Be sure to lock the door behind you.”

She stared at me, her gaze considering, and for a second I thought she might invite me in. But then she took a deep breath and took another step back.

“Thanks for dinner, and walking us home. See you later.”

She gave a tug on the leash and Esmerelda came immediately to her side.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go.”

I watched until they got inside, then headed back to my house with a little bounce in my step. I’d had a lot of first kisses in my fifty years on this Earth, but that was hands down the best. It had taken all my restraint not to hike Mabel up and take her right there against the garage door.

But I wouldn’t rush her. I instinctively knew she was worth waiting for.

The next morning I texted Mabel, already missing her.

Joshua: Hi, it’s Joshua. What are you up to today?

Mabel: How did you get my phone number?

Joshua: Your intake forms from when you brought Esmerelda into the clinic.

Mabel: Isn’t that against HIPAA or something?

Joshua: HIPAA applies to human patient privacy, not dogs.

Joshua: Is it OK that I texted you?

Mabel: Yep, I was just surprised. What are you doing today?

Joshua: I asked you first.

Mabel: Oh right. I have a tarot reading client at noon, then I was going to either clean the house or work on some of my freelance assignments.

Joshua: How would you feel about coming over to watch a movie with me tonight? I’ll cook dinner for us.

Mabel: Can you cook?

Joshua: Yes.

Mabel: Can I…

Joshua: Before you ask, yes you can bring Esmerelda.

Mabel: Okay, that sounds fun. How about six?

Joshua: Perfect. Here’s my address. See you tonight.

Mabel: Should I bring anything?

Joshua: Just yourself. And your dog.

After some internal debate, I settled on a menu for dinner and headed to the grocery store. When I got back, I cleaned my house from top to bottom, then put out some bowls of water and dog food in the kitchen for Esmerelda.

By the time I was done, it was time to get ready. I took a quick shower, then put on jeans and a long-sleeved Starlight Bay Veterinary Hospital tee shirt in a burgundy color that more than one woman had told me was a good color for me. Apparently it complemented my skin tone and brought out my eyes. I figured that was good.

Mabel and Esmerelda arrived promptly at six. She was wearing another skirt, this one black with tiny yellow daisies on it, falling a couple of inches above the knee. She’d paired it with black tights, yellow Chucks, a tight black knit tank, and a bright yellow sweater. She should have looked like a kindergarten teacher, but somehow her outfit was sexy as hell.

I couldn’t resist pulling her in for a quick hug. She smelled like oranges.

“I brought wine,” she said, brandishing a bottle. “And cookies.”

“Great. Come on in.”

As soon as Mabel unhooked her leash, Esmerelda took off to explore, her nails clattering on the hardwood floor.

“There’s water and food for you in the kitchen, Esmerelda,” I called.

As if the dog understood me, she headed off to the kitchen. I wondered if she was going to be disappointed to learn it was the healthy dog food we sold at the clinic. Mabel and I followed her into the kitchen. Esmerelda sniffed the food with disdain, then wandered off again without eating.

“What are we having?” Mabel asked, looking around the kitchen curiously.

It wasn’t that exciting. It was your basic galley kitchen, and hadn’t been updated for a while, but it was clean and functional. I’d lived in this same apartment for years. I was long past the point where I could afford to rent something nicer or even buy a house, but for some reason I’d never gotten around to moving. It never seemed important enough to put in the effort.

“I’m making chicken pot pies,” I told Mabel. “It’s my mom’s secret recipe, with homemade crusts and fresh vegetables.”

Mabel looked impressed. “Real pot pies?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anything but the kind you get in a box.”

“You’re in for a treat then. These are nothing like those frozen ones.”

I made a salad while Mabel leaned against the counter, telling me about her day. It was nice. Domestic. By the time the salad was assembled, the pies were ready to come out of the oven. We brought all the food to the dining room and we settled at the small wooden table that I’d picked up from a thrift shop when I was still an intern. Esmerelda immediately went underneath the table to lay down at Mabel’s feet.

“She’s praying to the dog god for us to drop some food.”

I looked up with a forkful of salad halfway to my mouth. “Did you say the dog god?”

She nodded. “Yeah, humans have their own god, so I figured that dogs have one too.”

“Why can’t the human god cover the dogs too?” I couldn’t resist asking, even as I marveled at these strange conversations we seemed to have.

“Please, like the human god is going to focus on things like dropped food and slow squirrels. He’s much too busy for that.”

“But the dog god isn’t?”

She shook her head. “No, the dog god is focused solely on helping dogs.”

“Hmm.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I punctured the pie crust on my pot pie and scooped up a chunk of chicken. It immediately fell off my fork, hit the table, and rolled onto the floor. Before I took my next breath, Esmerelda had it in her mouth, chewing loudly.

“See?” Mabel said smugly. “Esmerelda put out an intention and the dog god delivered.”