CHAPTER FIVE

 

JACK

 

THE DOORBELL RANG, STARTLING HIM. He wasn’t expecting anyone. People rarely came here. Usually only when he found a new friend. It had been a while. His last friend had occupied the cage.

Jack hurried to the door. He moved the ancient curtain covering the heavy, leaded glass of the front door. Callie smiled, gave him a peppy wave.

He gave her a smile back. It took him a split second to craft one, not that she’d have noticed. He let the curtain drop and unlocked the door.

What the hell was she doing here?

“Hey, Jack!” she said. “I was driving up to Sam Merkin’s place and I figured I’d stop by. We got that food you wanted for Casey. No grains. So . . .” She shrugged and held it out.

He knew he should be neighborly. So, he smiled at her, took the bag, and stepped back.

“Come on in,” he said. Though her being in the house was the last thing he wanted. He did a cursory glance around and found everything fine for her to come inside.

He moved toward the kitchen and felt her following. Casey, hearing a new voice, came trotting out. That was Callie’s cue to get down on one knee and rub his big head vigorously, all the while accepting sloppy wet kisses.

“Such a good boy,” she kept saying as Jack watched.

Casey had shown up as a stray. He thought having a dog would be a good idea for when he brought friends home. He thought it made him look complete. So, he kept Casey. Casey loved Jack as much as anyone could, Jack thought.

He was not easy to love.

“What do I owe you, Callie?” The prompt was to get her out.

He had cleaning and planning and thinking to do now the woman had moved in across the road. If he was going to make a move on her, it should be before anyone even realized she was there. Less suspicion.

Callie looked up and shrugged. It made her loose crop top slide down off her shoulder. He saw clearly she wasn’t wearing a bra. The soft fabric of her top caressed her small tea cup-sized breasts. Her full nipples were clearly outlined.

He looked away. He didn’t want to see that. He could hear his mother in his head, She’s probably unclean, Jack, don’t mess with her . . .

“Nothing. You can pay next time you come in. I was out here anyway and I figured I’d pop in so he could have his food as soon as possible. Because it’s good for him, yes, it is,” she said, the final sentence coming out as one long string of cooing baby talk.

“Well, thanks. That sure was kind.”

She stood and gave him an awkward little bow. Callie was on the shy side. Her showing up like this was entirely unexpected and that threw him off. Jack didn’t like to be surprised. He liked to be the one doing the surprising.

“How’s the writing life going? Any new technical manuals lately?” She leaned against the door jamb.

Jack told different people different things. All of them boring. He’d learned the lesson from reading an article many years ago. A former CIA agent said that, when people asked, he told people he worked in a toll booth. Because no one ever asked any questions beyond that. It was too boring to care about.

Jack’s go-to occupations—that could all be done simultaneously should people compare notes—were technical manual writer, proofreader, website developer, and reselling online. All of these things were believable, things he’d actually done at some point, and could do if anyone were to put him on the spot.

In reality, his mom had left him a sizeable estate, his grandfather had left him the farm, and he kept whatever happened to be on his guests at any given time.

It was a living.

“Fine. I had one for a blender.”

“Oh, a big company?”

She was flirting with him. It hit him like a cotton wrapped fist. She was batting her lashes, shifting her stance, lowering her gaze in a coy way.

Jesus. This was uncomfortable.

“No. Some knock-off. No big deal. Listen, I have a lot of cleaning to get done.”

“Company coming?” She looked a bit upset.

“No. Just OCD.” He didn’t smile when he said it. It wasn’t entirely untrue. And maybe Callie would be turned off by such a thing.

No such luck.

She reached out and touched his arm gently. Jack had to focus on not flinching.

“I understand. I’ll get going.” She bent to give Casey one last pat, thus allowing Jack one last gaze down into the gaping maw of her loose top. Her small pink nipples were hard.

He looked away.

“I’ll see you in town,” she said.

He nodded and ushered her to the door. He didn’t want to prolong the encounter but had to act like a normal person. “Sure, I can’t pay you now for the chow?”

She turned and flashed her toothpaste ad smile at him. “I’m sure. I’ll see you at the store.”

He realized it was all designed to see him again. He’d have to make sure and call Bruce, the owner, and pay him via phone.

He’d have to let her cool off before he saw her again.

Plus, he had bigger things to worry about than her schoolgirl crush. Like the girl across the street.