Hot as Hall

Chapter Thirty One

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"It was cute, actually." I hand a dish to Zoe as she towels it off and puts it into the cabinet. We make a good team cleaning the kitchen up after dinner, and I'm shocked that I actually enjoy this. I guess that's not saying much there. By now, I'm convinced Zoe could make walking across hot coals in the desert an enjoyable experience.

"The kids were just trying to make their parents breakfast in bed and were trying to heat up leftover pizza. Just left the foil on and pretty much blew up the microwave."

Zoe cringes as I describe our last call of the day. "Was it at least contained in the microwave?"

"Definitely not." I shake my head, turning the faucet off and leaning back against the counter. "They lost the entire kitchen. Probably some clean up damage into the living room, too."

"Wow! That turns into an expensive slice of leftover pizza."

"Oh yeah," I chuckle. "It reminded me of when we moved into this place. I think we were here maybe two weeks? And James stuffed ramen noodles into all the drains upstairs. We had to replace every piece of flooring, not to mention the damage to the plumbing. It was a nightmare."

Zoe laughs, biting her lip as she shakes her head. "God, kids are cute, but so destructive."

"So destructive." I agree.

"Where are the boys tonight, anyway?" Zoe twists her wineglass between her fingers, a seductive grin on her lips.

"With Gwen, actually. She's making her grand exit tomorrow, and she wanted to take them to dinner one last time."

"I thought she was thinking about sticking around this time."

I shrug. "I did, too, but it's probably best this way. She's never been good at staying in one place and there is no sense in getting the boys' hopes up. And selfishly, my life is easier when she's not around. Not as many fires to put out."

"Isn't your job putting out fires?" Zoe smirks, arching her eyebrow at me as she tosses the kitchen towel over her shoulder.

"Somehow it's not as fun when the fires are in my own personal life..."

The kitchen is sparkling clean, so we settle onto the back patio. It's a beautiful night, but just cool enough that Zoe snuggles in next to me on the swing and I wrap her in my arms. With life getting in the way, we haven't been able to see much of each other since the night of the fundraiser. Even tonight, I have to head into the station at midnight for a pickup shift, so I'm taking full advantage of these stolen moments with Zoe. This moment right here is about as close to perfection as you could get.

She fits into a space in my life that I didn't even know was empty, and with every minute we spend together, I get more and more hooked.

I haven't had much to drink since I'll be heading into work, but between the peace Zoe brings me and the sway of the porch swing, I could fall asleep right here.

"So, how is the new vet working out?"

Zoe's mood shifts, and she stiffens. "It's going pretty well."

"You don't seem too happy about that." Digging my thumbs into her tense muscles, I start rubbing her shoulders out.

"He's good at his job, he's just..." She hesitates, her mind spinning. Zoe isn't quick to let her guard down, and it makes me feel a bit like I'm always guessing. As much as I want her to let me in, I know it's not something I can force, so I wait for her to continue.

"It's going to work out fine." Is she talking to me or herself? "I don't have to like the guy. We just have to be able to work together and, so far, we are."