SURROGATE : Conception (+18) BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

| 29 | The Land of Meat & Marshmallows ||

"Ow! Hot!" Liam shook his burning hand with a frown. What was he expecting trying to remove the hot can from the fire while his thoughts were elsewhere? Mostly still trying to process the responsibilities of running the company.

Could he really have hundreds of jobs under his responsibility? As of now it was really only Morgan directly.

Penelope laughed, catching Liam's gaze. "You realize there's a perfectly good working stove just twenty feet away, right? We could have made the beans in there and brought them out."

He grumbled. "What's the fun in that? OW!" He carefully peeled up the metal lid on the can of baked beans with a fork and smiled triumphantly when the delicious smoky fragrance met both their olfactory senses.

She pulled the hotdogs out the fire and examined them. "All beef?"

"Of course."

"These look good to me. Unless you like yours burnt to a crisp."

"Whatever you do for yours is good for me."

She balanced the roasting stick on her knees while the plate sat in her lap. She opened the buns and laid the hot dogs inside. "What you want on yours?"

"Mmm," Liam frowned in thought. "Ketchup." He wanted to keep things simple because all he really wanted was something to fill the gaping emptiness that was his stomach so that he could return to the previous unscheduled programming.

"That's it?"

"Huh? What?"

"Ketchup, that's all?"

"Yeah."

She handed him his hotdog on a plate and he handed her beans on a plate.

There was a calm silence as they both ate. Much needed sustenance. He was certain his stomach was about to start eating all the other organs around it if he didn't get something in there to calm it down. He skipped lunch and couldn't remember what he ate for breakfast, probably coffee, which wasn't good. He knew he needed to get better at eating more consistently.

"What?"

He looked up at Penelope, who's steady gaze was focused on him.

He shook his head. "I didn't say anything."

Her head fell to the side slightly. "Didn't say you did, but I can hear your brain working way over here. You should oil that thing up, because boy it's creaky."

He laughed out loud before he could filter the response. Hearing her laugh as well brought up his mood. Thinking about work wasn't usually a sore spot, but with Chuck's announcement to retire and partner being up for discussion, it was a lot. That seemed to be the theme lately.

"Well? You gonna tell me or just brood in silence?"

"You're going to keep bothering me until I tell you, huh?"

"Nope." She said, looking away from him as she dusted the bread crumbs off her hands. "You don't have to say a word if you don't want to." She grabbed the roasting stick and stuck it in the fire.

He frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning off the stick." The fire light hit a mischievous sparkle in her eye that made his chest tighten. She rubbed her hands together. "Now it's time for the good part."

He laughed, shaking his head.

"You want one?"

"Nah," he took a deep breath and leaned back on the lounge settee watching her stab the marshmallows on the roasting stick and letting it hover just at the top of the licking flames. He found his water and chugged it realizing how thirsty he was.