Culinaria L'amore

Culinaria L'amore Chapter Twenty-Nine

When I finally parked the flashy black car in the nearly empty parking lot, Harrison was leaning against the hood of his Volkswagen, looking cool and collected wearing a nice v-neck vanilla sweatshirt and dark washed jeans. Simbah started barking excitedly and with a rustle, hopped out the open window, making me panic and unbuckle my seat belt and chase after him.

"Damn it, Simbah." I cursed when my hands came away from his muzzle covered in grass and chocolate while hearing Harrison's chuckle.

Standing up, I huffed, wiping the stickiness in a baby napkin. "Thanks for coming Harrison. It means a lot."

"No problem." He said with ease, grabbing my puppy and holding him in his arms, not minding the mess Simbah was.

"Don't do that. You'll get your sweatshirt dirty."

Harrison merely shrugged flashing me a bright smile as we headed towards the entrance of Waggin' Tails. "Not a big deal. It's an old ratty sweatshirt anyways. Come on in you go. I'm assuming we're washing this dog? Because if we aren't, I highly suggest you do."

Laughing, I opened the door to the grooming store, welcoming the smell  of shampoo and dog treats. "Are you a mind reader?"

"No, I just have the ability to feel the chocolate and greasy bag of fur in my arms." he replied easily.

I winced, suddenly gloomy about the fact that I had paid Simbah less attention than I should have, mainly because I had been moping over Garrett's changed attitude to me. "Yeah, well, here we are. Let's get to work."

Grabbing a plastic tub and a bottle of nice smelling dog shampoo, we headed out to the back where it was empty except for a smoker and set everything down.

"So are you doing the washing or am I?" Harrison asked, rolling up his sleeves.

I grimaced, imagining the mess that Simbah always made when he took baths. "If you don't want to have a shower and smell like dog, I suggest standing one hundred meters away."

"Ah, whatever. It's not like I'm busy anyways. I'll help."

My heart warmed as Harrison grabbed the hose and set the squirming dog gently into the tub.

"Well, let the fun begin." I muttered as Harrison turned on the hose.

One minute later, both Harrison and I were soaking wet as Simbah bounced around us, barking excitedly.

"Oh that little brat." I grumbled good natured.

Harrison cracked up again as Simbah left dirty little paw prints on my t-shirt, me with sopping wet hair and Harrison in no better condition.

As I turned away to set Simbah down, I was surprised to see him strip off his sweatshirt, dumping it on the ground, only wearing a see through white wife beater. Blushing, I fixed my hair and turned on the hose, trying to ignore Harrison as he came over and started scrubbing the Scottie behind the ears.

"Well, this is entertaining." Harrison muttered as I wrestled with the dog, my shirt and jeans sopping wet with soap and oily water. "Here, give me the damn dog."

"Thanks." I replied with a gulp, trying to avoid staring at his chest as I passed over Simbah. Since Harrison was just as wet, I could see his quite attractive abs which were defined as the soaked fabric clung to his tan skin.

"Damn it." I thought angrily as I wrung out the towel. "Garrett just declared his undying revulsion and hate to me. Shouldn't I be more upset before drooling over another man's chest?"

Guilt replaced my frustration as my ribs started aching again, a constant reminder of Halloween night and the moment when Garrett told me that he didn't like me in the same way that I had like him.

"Well, look like this little boy's done." Harrison interrupted my thoughts, setting down the leashed and quiet Simbah.

When I looked up, a fiery blush erupted on my face as I noticed that Harrison had taken off his white wifebeater as well, leaving him with a very nice, naked chest for me not to stare at. Looking away quickly, I carried the tub to the bushed and dumped out the water.

"Uncomfortable seeing me not wearing a shirt?" Harrison asked, closer than I expected, causing me to jump and drop the tub. Watching it roll away, I refused to look into his eyes.

"Um, of c-course not. Why would I be?"

"You liar liar, pants on fire."

"My butt is not on fire."

"But it sure is hot." Harrison replied teasingly.

Slapping his chest slightly, I ran after the tumbling tub, glad to not be so suffocatingly close to Harrison.

"Hey, Kirsten, I was joking. Kirsten. Seriously. We're just friends, I get it." He muttered apologetically, grabbing onto my arm and hoisting the tub over his shoulder.

Before I could reply, a Waggin' Tails employee spotted Harrison and me.

"Young man." The old woman shouted furiously, stomping over to where we were. "No shoes, not shirt, no service! What are you trying to do? Create a distraction?"

Hysterical laughter bubbled up in my chest but I managed to restrain it with a small grimace as she shooed us and the dog away, Harrison scrambling to put his clothes back on.

********************

Digging around in my truck, I finally extracted some old clothes for Harrison found at the very recess of my trunk. My chest hurt from laughing so hard as Harrison glared at me, pink tinging his tan cheeks.

"Here, take these and go change in the bathroom where the psycho old lady can't see you." I ordered, slamming the trunk door closed.

He nodded his thanks and headed to the shop again as I entered my car, turning on the heater and snuggling in to my sweater. November chill had finally caught up in Colorado and some of the water on  Simbah's back had frozen into clear droplets, the poor guy shivering in the towel that I gave him. I wanted to childishly stick out my tongue and tell him "I told you so", but instead just smiled and ruffled the unruly hair on his neck.

Minutes later when Harrison reappeared in my friend's old sweats and his sweatshirt that had been blown dry, I started the engine, nervousness making my hands shake slightly.

"So, what's up, Kirsten?" Harrison asked, closing the door behind him and bringing in the smell of soap of figurative comfort.

Sighing, I took one deep breathe before spilling all. My strange relationship with Garrett; Amelia and the rape; and my father's death.

To my immense surprise, Harrison stayed silent as I relayed the horrifying events that occurred in the past two months; either from patience or horror, I couldn't tell.

When I was done, my breathing was coming out rapidly and my hands clutched the driving wheel so tightly that my arms were shaking from the effort.

All Harrison did was whisper, "Oh Kirsten," and comfort me with a long hug that made the tears start falling.

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