The next morning, tender and hungry, Mimi slid out of bed to find the music coming from the living room. Toes tucked into her fluffy slippers, she wrapped a thick robe around herself and went looking for Adam. Something smelled good. Breakfast. Every step reminded her she was sore in the strangest of ways.
Her nose drew her through the house to him, handsome as hell, standing naked in front of the stove wearing one of her aprons. His broad back tapered to narrow hips and powerful thighs. On the stove, pancakes turned golden on the griddle. Bacon lay heaped on a plate next to a carafe of orange juice. Tip toeing forward, Mimi snagged a piece of bacon. Adam spun around and caught her with it between her lips. Mouth full, she managed to mumble, "Morning."
"Good morning." He pointed with the spatula to where he had put plates on the table. "Grab those?"
Unable to resist, she looked him up and down. It wasn't reasonable for a man to be so handsome. She wanted to bend over and bite his butt when he turned back toward the griddle. Taking an aggressive bite of her bacon instead, she went to gather the plates.
Oblivious to her ogling, Adam asked, "Do you want eggs?"
***
Later at work...
Trying to hide behind the desk monitor so she could daydream was useless.
"You were late this morning." Jen sidled up close to Mimi with a teasing grin. "Care to tell me why?"
Mimi arched her brows. Even though it wasn't an office appropriate conversation, she couldn't resist sharing. "Adam spent the night."
Tugging her chair closer, Jen whispered, "You didn't, you hussy. I'm scandalized. Tell me everything."
Mimi wrinkled her nose at her friend. "We went to the courthouse yesterday."
"Oh my God, did you take a picture?"
"No, I didn't, but you can take pictures on Sunday for our social media if you want, in between reading our vows and catching my bouquet."
Tapping her fingertips, Jen said, "But you were here yesterday afternoon?"
"We did it during lunch."
"And you came back to work?" Jen placed her coffee cup on the counter. "Have you lost your mind? You should be on your honeymoon or something. If you got married yesterday, why are you getting married again on Sunday?"
"Yesterday was just to make the lawyers and the bank happy, so we could buy the farmhouse before they put it on the market. Sunday is for the family."
"Have you decided what you are going to wear?"
"I hadn't thought about that yet."
"Mimi, you have four days."
"We aren't making a big deal about this. You don't have to bring a gift or anything. Adam and I are getting a cake from the grocery store bakery."
"You aren't. Let me call my cousin."
"What, why?"
"She makes cakes on the side. If she doesn't have a wedding this weekend, you might be in luck. But she won't have time to do anything fancy."
Mimi reached for her phone to pull up a cash exchange app. "How much will it take? I can transfer money to you."
"Stop it. This is my wedding gift." When Mimi started to argue, Jen raised her hand to cut off any disagreement. "I'm going to text her right now." Focused on her phone, Jen swiveled her chair away from Mimi.
Instead of arguing, Mimi reached for the pile of adoption requests on the desk. They had printed out the good ones. So many people had contacted them since their posts went viral. Their adoption numbers were off the charts for the month.
When the office phone rang, Mimi picked it up automatically. "Good Morning, this is Red River Rescue. Mimi speaking."
"Get the afternoon off." From the first word, she knew it was Adam. Silence followed instead of an explanation.
"But I have things I need to do here."
"Trust me. Do it." Before she could explain why it was an impractical idea, the line went dead. He'd hung up on her. Pursing her lips, she glanced Jen's way.
Very pleased with herself, Jen said, "I would recommend her caramel cake if she gives you the option."
"Anything would be great. Thank you." Rolling her pencil on the desk uncertainly, she asked, "I know it's last minute, but do you think you could handle things without me this afternoon?" When Mimi flipped open their schedule to double check what was happening, Jen reached over and closed it.
"Carl and I will be fine, Ms. Newlywed. Was that Adam? Can't he wait a few hours to get his hands on you again?"
Heat rushed into Mimi's face. Is that what he had planned?
***