Page 14 of Refurbished

I left his words hanging and pulled out the treats I’d made for him. “I’ve been making you sweets, but I figured you might like something a little different. Dried fruit?”

He grinned at me, and I liked how it looked. “Wow. You spoil me. I like the sweet treats, but this is probably a good change.”

“Good. How are the boys?”

“Great.” He looked at me shyly. “Are you still interested in meeting the bears the next time you come?”

I smiled. “Yes. For sure.”

“I wondered. Well, I was going to ask even before you came in here looking like that.” He motioned his hands up and down. “Would you be interested in maybe a picnic over in the deer enclosure? If you want, we could watch the fawns? Have a meal?”

My heart was doing somersaults in my chest. “Yes. Definitely. Would be neat. Like a date? Probably not a date. Could be a date.” He cocked his head, and I stopped talking.

“Okay.” Then he walked out of the room.

Chapter seven

EION

Standing in front of Orlando again, I wasn’t proud. Being around Angus short-circuited my brain, and the only way that I could handle it was to walk out on him. It was a perfectly normal conversation until he asked if it was a date. He wasn’t wrong; the picnic, the deer, the cubs, all made it feel like a date. I had been comfortable with it being a date. Until he asked.

When I left the nursery room, I was afraid he would see exactly what he did to me. The way Angus looked today made him easily the hottest man I had ever seen. The vest under his sports coat held his body tightly, the color perfect. I couldn’t form words because all the blood had gone to my dick. I had to stand there and pray he didn’t see how hard I was—it felt obvious. I couldn’t recall a time that someone had affected me like that. Not even my ex-fiancé had that kind of effect on me.

There would be a time I’d have to share that I wasn’t someone he’d want in his life. But for now, I had to admit this felt good, and having someone want to spend time with me was something I didn’t realize I had missed. It had been a long time since I was interested in someone. There was something about Angus that got a rise out of me in all the best ways. “I did it again. Walked out. There is going to be a point where he won’t tolerate it.” I looked at Orlando and hoped he would tell me it was okay.

I pulled up the camera feed, and he sat in the nursery, his raccoons in his lap. Watching him with those babies made my already excited heart beat even harder. He was a good man. “Orlando, I like him.” The giraffe pushed against my head, which I decided was his way of telling me to keep going, or maybe he was telling me to quit running away any time I got nervous around him. Barnaby was leaning his head against my leg, trying to calm me.

I took another look at my phone, and he was gone. Sitting on the table were bags of dried fruit and a plastic container, which I assumed were the treats for the animals. He kept bringing stuff for my menagerie, which was amazing, but he also thought of me. Barnaby circled around my legs, clearly sensing my rising anxiety. “You seem to like our visitor. Now I have to get my shit together before I run him off. Why do I find this so hard?” Both animals looked at me like I had lost my mind. It didn’t stop me from continuing the conversation, though. “Did you see him today? Holy shit. Hot, sexy. I’m not too proud to admit to you both that he made me incredibly thirsty.”

Remembering how he looked brought my cock back to life. Nobody has captured my body’s attention like this man. Ever? Usually, big muscles didn’t do it for me, but something about how he carried himself made me feel like he wasn’t a gym bro. Those muscles were his armor.

In the nursery, I picked up the fruit, and a Post-it note was attached.

I’m looking forward to our date!? On Tuesday. Here is my number: 989-313-1726. Let me bring something, or text me any time you want, for any reason.

He gave me his number. I took the treats and, mindlessly, gave Barnaby a bit. Then I headed back to Orlando; he deserved a snack after listening to me rant. The giraffe gobbled up the granola bar and nudged at me for another one. “No more. Should I call him?” He nudged me again. Did that mean yes? I’ll text him and thank him for the fruit. Then I had a better idea. I returned to the nursery. I took a picture of North and South. They were cuddled tight, both of them snoozing happily. I didn’t bother telling him who the message came from. The picture made it clear.

EION

They are happy kits.

Then I attached the picture. About three minutes later, I heard my phone notify me of a message. Very few people texted me, so I knew it was Angus responding to the picture I had sent him.

ANGUS

Tell them Daddy says Hi.

Attached was a selfie at just the right angle, a smile on his face, cocked head, and raised eyebrow. The picture didn’t do him justice, but my memory filled in the blanks, which made him just as sexy.

“I’d call him Daddy,” I mumbled to myself. Even though we seemed to be around the same age, he had a daddy vibe. My thoughts were getting out of control, but there was no way he didn’t clock how I responded to him earlier, plus the picture of him looking sexy as fuck was not for the raccoons. I shook my head. What was wrong with me? These thoughts were totally out of character, but Angus was making me think things, and he knew exactly what he was doing—at least I hoped he did. I saved the picture because I would look at it many more times.

EION

I’ll let them know

With my chores finished, I took a breath and realized I was feeling happy. It wasn’t something I had felt in a long time, and a big reason for that was because of the hot guy—I needed to stop thinking of him like that—who was sweet and kind. Somehow, he had pushed himself into my life.

At the end of the day I sat at my little table, and took another look at the picture Angus had sent me. When I saw it, I smiled way too much. I turned the screen toward Barnaby, and he sniffed at it, then at me. “What do you think?” He woofed softly and returned to his dinner. I allowed myself to admit how much I looked forward to our ‘date’. Fortunately, I had the animals to serve as my wingmen, and I knew he liked them.