What if the person who had broken in returned? He pushed that question from his mind, refusing to be run off from his own place. Besides, Reno would be there in a few hours. He had to get his place cleaned up and presentable. Baker was a single guy, living on his own. There were clothes strewn about, dishes that needed washing, and his laundry could use a washer.
Hurrying into his apartment, he set the bags on the table in the kitchen, kicked his shoes off, and began cleaning. If his mother was still alive, she’d have a heart attack that he was in a cleaning frenzy. Baker was lazy as hell growing up when it came to cleaning up after himself. Now that he had his own place, he kept it decent, but it definitely needed a good once-over.
He hurried his laundry to the basement and then came back up, tossing the dirty dishes into the sudsy water before gathering the mess on the counter and tossing it in the trash. As he cleaned, Baker smiled to himself. He was going overboard trying to impress Reno.
If he didn’t know any better—and he had no clue what it should feel like—he would think he was in love. Never in his life had he gone through this much trouble when he was having company. Normally, he didn’t care.
He did now.
Baker cared to the point he was mopping the floor. Once he thought the place was going to get as clean as it could get, Baker set about preparing dinner. He was so lost in thought as he prepared the meal that he screamed and swung the knife he had been using outward when he felt someone touch his back.
“Whoa,” Reno said as he slid to the side, avoiding the sharp edge of the blade. “Easy there.”
Baker blinked, his heart in his throat. “Don’t you know how to knock like normal people?” His brows knitted together as he scowled. “How did you get in anyway? I locked the damn door.”
Reno took the knife from Baker’s hand and set it on the table. “Your lock sucks. A two-year-old could pop the damn thing.” He grabbed the chair from the table, twirled it around, and straddled it. “And I did knock, but you didn’t answer.”
Baker’s eyes flickered to the clock on the wall to see it was only six thirty. “You’re early.”
Reno laid his arms over the back of the chair, resting his chin on them. It was such a sexy pose. Baker had a hard time thinking as he stared at the swell of Reno’s biceps, the stubble on his face, and his pretty brown eyes that were outlined by thick, light-brown lashes. Too bad the guy kept his hair cut so short. Baker wouldn’t mind running his fingers through the strands. But it was as short as his dad’s was when he was in the military. “You said to surprise you.”
And that he did.
Going back to what he was doing, Baker once again felt his palms becoming moist and those dang butterflies in his stomach. He was losing his grip on the knife as he tried to slice the pickles. Setting it down, he grabbed a towel and wiped his hands off, trying not to seem so obvious.
“Need help?” Reno swung one leg over the wooden chair, his entire body flexing with the move. He held his breath as his heart stammered. For a split second, Baker thought Reno was coming toward him. His throat dried out and knees felt weak, but then Reno veered over toward the counter.
“Hot dogs and French fries. Damn, I haven’t had this in forever.” Reno picked one of the fries up from the cookie sheet and shoved it into his mouth as he grabbed two sodas from the fridge. “Easy dinner. I like it.”
“Yeah, well, that’s all I know how to cook, easy stuff. If you want fancy then there are some restaurants around town.” Baker caught the moan as Reno pushed in behind him, his scarred hand brushing at Baker’s neck.
“Easy is very good in my book.” Reno pressed a kiss to Baker’s ear, the soft tickle of his breath making Baker ache.
Baker playfully shoved his arm into Reno’s stomach, stopping himself from turning and jumping the guy’s bones. “Liar, you said yourself that you wanted to stalk me.”
Reno’s expression became somber as he stepped back from Baker. He wasn’t sure what he had said wrong, but he wanted the playfulness to return. Baker didn’t want to spend the evening in awkward silence. “If you think getting into my pants is going to be easy, you have another thing coming, buster.”
Lips curving upward, Reno’s hand came forward to swat him on the ass. That was unexpected. But what really took Baker by surprise was how much he liked the tingle in the wake of Reno’s large hand. “I already got into them,” he reminded Baker with a tone that was filled with satisfied pride.
Baker shook his head as he pulled the hot dogs from the oven and set them aside. “I don’t know what you like on yours.”
Reno began making his as Baker tossed his on a bun and squirted some ketchup over the meat. He took a seat at the table. Reno shoved the chair he had pulled away back toward the table and joined Baker. “This reminds me of when I was a kid.”
The light musing in Reno’s tone made Baker smile. Whatever had Reno looking somber was gone. “Not me,” Baker said as he picked a fry up off of his paper plate. “Had this for dinner last week.”
“At least you can bake,” Reno said. “I can’t even do that.”
“I helped my mom in the kitchen a lot growing up. She wasn’t
