Hosed (Happy Cat #1)(41)

At least not anytime soon.

“I have an idea,” she whispers against my lips.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“I’m not going to give it a clown face. I’m going to do something even better. But it’s going to be a surprise.”

I smile down at her. “Then let’s glove up and get going.”

Thirty minutes later, Cassie has all the pieces for the base of her own giant metal dildo laid out on the grass. She hands them to me one at a time, giving instructions on how she wants them joined together, but insisting she isn’t ready to learn to weld just yet.

“Baby steps,” she says, handing me a faded blue piece of sheet metal she’s just finished hammering into a half circle on one of my shapers. “I’ll learn to play with fire next time.”

Next time. I like the sound of that. I like it so much that I have to kiss her again. When we come up for air this time, her lips are swollen and there’s a hungry look in her eyes that makes me want to offer myself up as her appetizer, main course, and dessert.

“I just realized something,” she says. “I won’t be able to surprise you with the face unless I weld it myself.”

I arch a brow. “That’s what you were thinking about while I was kissing you?”

Lids drooping to half-mast, she shakes her head. “No. That wasn’t what I was thinking about. That part came after. During the kissing part I was thinking of…other things.”

“What kind of other things?”

“Help me figure out how to make my surprise,” she says, lifting her nose into the air. “And maybe I’ll tell you.”

I smile. “I’ve got super glue. Won’t hold it forever, maybe, but it’ll do until I can solder it all in place later.”

Cassie claps her hands. “Perfect!”

And it is perfect.

Every minute with her.

By the time the sun slips behind the horizon, we’re nearly finished. I get to work on clean up, collecting the leftover scrap and disposing of the pieces too small to recycle into something new, while Cassie puts on her finishing touches.

“Okay, you can look now,” she says, granting me permission to check out her masterpiece. The moment I lay eyes on the thing I burst into laughter. I can’t help it, but thankfully Cassie seems pleased by my response.

“It’s a unicorn,” she announces happily. “A unicorn dildo!”

“I see that,” I say, still chuckling. “I like the rainbow mane.”

“The paint is a little sloppy since I was in a hurry,” she says, grinning up at the multi-colored spikes she’s affixed to the head. “But I kind of like it. The messiness is working for me.”

“Me too, but you didn’t have to rush. I’ve got lamps in the shed. We could have turned them on and kept working after dark.”

Cassie turns to me, threading her fingers together in front of her paint-spattered cut-off jeans, holding my gaze a long moment before she says in a softer voice, “I didn’t want to keep working after dark.”

My pulse leaps in my throat. “No?”

She shakes her head as she starts across the grass toward me, every step making my heart beat faster. “No. I wanted to do…other things after dark.”

“Toast marshmallows over my fire pit?”

She shakes her head, stepping deliberately over a hammer I missed during clean up. “Two guesses left.”

“Help take George for his evening walk?” I ask, my voice going husky as she stops in front of me, close enough for me to count the specks of blue paint scattered across the bridge of her nose and dotted on her glasses. She’s so cute, it’s almost painful to look at her, and I have to fight the urge to imagine her wearing those paint specks and nothing else.

I’m pretty sure I’m reading the look on her face correctly, but I don’t want to make any assumptions or do anything to pressure her into making a decision she’s not ready to make yet. I want this to be her call.

“One guess left,” she coos, clucking her tongue. “Really, Ryan, you’re pretty awful at guessing games.”

“I am.” I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, letting my fingers linger on the delicate skin behind it before I pull away. “Maybe if I had a hint?”

“A hint…” Her lashes sweep down, fanning across her flushed cheeks before she looks back up at me, a Mona Lisa smile on her face. “What has two arms, two legs, and would like to wrap all of them around you as soon as possible? Hint—her name isn’t George.”

“Could it be Cassandra Mae Sunderwell?”

She nods, her face going pinker but her gaze never wavering from mine. “It is. Take me inside? I’m ready to learn what all the fuss is about.”

“You’re sure?” I ask, fighting to keep my hands to myself until every shred of doubt is swept away.

“I’m sure,” she says, sliding her hands around my neck.

A beat later, my lips are on hers as I sweep her into my arms.





Twenty-One





Cassie





* * *



I’m breathless and drunk on Ryan’s kisses even before we make it to his bedroom. He kicks the door shut and settles me on top of a homemade quilt on his king-size bed, following me down and aligning his body with mine.