Lay Low

6: Porterhouse & Cherry Garcia

ERIC

Inviting Sookie over was a spur of the moment kind of decision. If I was being perfectly honest, work was kind of boring when she wasn't around. I liked talking to her. She held her own with the guys although they were careful not to get too far out of line with her. Of course there was a healthy amount of checking her out but it was a lot of look but don't touch.

Des was cool about a lot of things but Sookie being made to feel uncomfortable wasn't one of them. Not only could it cause legal problems down the line, but he also had an eight-year-old daughter. Ariana was rapidly approaching the age where boys were going to pay attention to her appearance. Jace, his son, was barely out of diapers but I knew he was trying to teach the kid manners.

Not that I wanted to sexually harass Sookie, exactly, but there was definitely something going on with us. I didn't know if it was just flirting, trying to figure out what was going on or if we were trying to avoid the inevitable. Personally, I thought it was a big mistake to dip my pen in company ink but something about her was making me reconsider that idea. It was unique to her, though.

Beers were cold and the grill was hot by the time Sookie arrived. She crept around the side of my house like a spy might, sticking to the shadows and ducking under the windows. I admired her willingness to keeping up my nonsense. When she knocked on the door I went over to it and asked, "What's the code?"

Spies had secret codes, right?

"Just the tip," she replied in a horrible Russian accent. It was followed by a not so secret giggle.

I laughed at her choice and opened the door for her.

"Say word and you get whole enchilada," I winked as she stepped inside.

"Mmm, you know I love Mexican," she smirked.

"Well no one wants the whole borscht," I said.

"True story," she nodded. Sookie held up the grocery bag. "Porterhouse and Cherry Garcia."

"I like that combination. Ever had a Black and Blue?" I closed the front door behind her.

"Can't say I have," she answered, looking around.

"Blue Moon and Guinness," I explained. "Interested?"

"I am. Mario can use a break," she smiled. Sookie followed me to the kitchen, setting the bag down on the counter when we got there. She pulled her cardigan off and hung it on the back of one of the chairs. "Ready to get dirty," she told me, rubbing her hands together.

"Who's Mario?" I forced myself not to check out her tits. It wasn't easy.

"I named the Malibu while I was on my way over here," she smiled. "He feels like a Mario."

"Huh. I wouldn't have guessed the Malibu was a Mario." I took the grocery bag from her to pull out two rather large porterhouses. They looked pretty good. "Pepper crust okay?"

"Yep. Do you have a plan for sides?"

"I mentioned Black and Blues, right?" I smirked as I ripped off the saran wrap on the steak packages.

"You can't have steak without a side," she said, shaking her head. Sookie took it upon herself to walk over to my fridge, opening it so she could put her face in there to see what I had.

"Sure you can."

I'm not staring at her ass. I'm not staring at her ass...

"Do you have any pasta or noodles? I can make mac 'n cheese," she replied without looking back. She started reaching in to pull cheese and butter out.