"Rufus, come on boy" Jensen whistled for the dog. After a moment it came bounding back, stick in it's mouth. It panted, eyes expectant, waiting for him to throw.
"You think I've got nothing more to do, don't you?" he asked, as he ran his hands through the hair on the dog's neck. His mind drifted. He was supposed to be at Katherine's house soon.
The dog barked at him.
"Sorry. I forgot" he said. "You've got your priorities, too, haven't you?" He flung the stick and grinned as the dog chased after it.
He remembered his conversation with his friend, Matthew at his house earlier that day.
“She said it wasn’t a date? Interesting,” Bonnie had said, and exchanged a glance with her husband, Matthew.
Jensen looked up at his friend’s wife—and then back at Matthew—sharply. “Why do you say that?” he asked.
“Because if she has to frame it as a non date, she was thinking of it as a date.” Bonnie said.
When he blinked at her, Matthew leaned over and smacked his arm lightly. “Jensen, follow along. She’s trying to make her boundaries clear. She’s doing that because she is trying to protect herself.”
Jensen tipped his chair back. “Oh.” he said simply. "I don't plan to hurt her"
Matthew raised a brow. “Well, she doesn't know that. You want her right? And I mean for real, not those other kinds of relationships you usually have.”
Jensen nodded.
"Good. Then go for it" Matthew said. "Just be careful.”
Rufus came running back, the stick in his mouth.
"Come on, Rufus," Jensen said. "Let's get ready. We don't want to be late"
------------------------
Katherine stared at the mess in the living room the next evening. It sure hadn’t taken long for Tim to make it appear as though a tornado had slammed through his toys. It didn’t matter, it didn’t matter, she chanted in her head. This was just a friendly dinner. Still. She couldn’t help herself.
“Tim, can you please put the Legos back in the boxes? We don’t want Jensen to step on them. Or the dog to eat them, for that matter.”
She’d let them leave the plastic containers in the living room. To have it too clean was to risk having him think she’d gone to a lot of trouble for him and it was just a friendly dinner. She was the one who had made a big deal of it and blabbed that it wasn't a date.
Clearly, she had some issues.
The clatter of the plastic blocks hitting the boxes followed her into the kitchen. She’d made mac and cheese as promised. From scratch, using her mother’s recipe. It was a dish Tim loved, and it smelled divine. She had the fixings for a salad, as well. The whole meal was pretty easy, which was good, because she kept getting distracted by the thought of Jensen in her house, sitting and eating at her table.
Deep breath.
The timer went off, five minutes before he was due to arrive. She pulled the steaming dish out of the oven and placed it carefully on the stove top.
“Is it ready, Mom? I'm hungry,” Tim said, standing a safe distance from the oven.
“Almost,” she said with a smile. “Why don’t you wash up and then Jensen should be here. We’ll eat right after that.”
“All right!” Tim shouted as he turned and headed to his room. Katherine's smile slipped. Was she doing the right thing? What if they got attached, something happened and he had to leave? She had no reason to think he was staying. He hadn't said anything about wanting something permanent.
“Just a friendly dinner,” she mumbled to herself, and her pulse jumped when the doorbell rang. She laid a hand on her belly and took a deep breath to settle her nerves as she walked to the door. She pulled it open and flat out forgot to breathe.
The man seemed to look even better every damn day. Lean waisted, narrow hipped six foot dream. The breeze tufted his dark hair until he looked rakish. Why couldn't he be short and dumpy? Or have the personality of a soggy noodle? Or at least not be so blasted sexy. So bone meltingly attractive? He wore jeans and a plaid oxford shirt, and smelled so good she thought she’d tip forward right into him. Rufus stood next to him, tail wagging like crazy.
“Hello,” she managed coolly, despite her jumping nerves, and sounded only a little breathy.
“Hi.” he replied. His voice was amused, and she snapped out of her idiocy and stepped back as Tim came running into the room. He held a bakery box. “Cookies from your store. I got it earlier this afternoon... Penny sold it to me... When you weren't in. I figured that was better than wine, with the kid and all. Is that okay?”
He was rambling too. And Katherine smiled. At least she wasn't the only one feeling so damn self conscious. He smiled back at her and came in.
Katherine accepted the box and shut the door behind him. A glass of wine might very well have taken the edge off this evening. But she was truly touched by his thoughtfulness. “Perfect. Tim loves them. Thank you.”
"Hi Jensen," Tim said. He came closer and zeroed in on the bakery box. “Oh, Cookies!” he said.
A pleading gaze swung from the box to her face. “Can I have one?” he asked sweetly.
“Not until after dinner,” she told him, and nodded to Jensen. “You can put your coat on the back of the chair there. Rufus is welcome to hang out here.”
“Can I pet him?” Tim asked, and Jensen nodded, unsnapping the leash.
“Sure.” He said. He grinned as Tim practically fell on the dog.
“Good thing I had him wash up for dinner,” Katherine said with a rueful little laugh as she started for the kitchen.
“Oh.” Jensen stopped, looked back, chagrin clear on his face. “Sorry. I didn’t think about that.”
Of course he hadn’t; he wasn’t a parent. “It’s fine. Come sit down, Tim ,” she called over her shoulder. “You can pet him after we eat.” To Jensen she added, “You can have a seat.”
But he followed her into the kitchen. “I can’t let you serve me,” he said, when she turned to protest.