Rusty is excited for Valentine's Day: he has a couple of surprises in mind for his lover that he knows will do much more than please; everything from sweet to kinky to ensure a memorable holiday. Locked away in their basement for a night of uninterrupted fun, they miss a surprise of an entirely different nature …
Kiss Me Quick is a collection of short and sweet stories from authors familiar and new, celebrating the season of love. Come and enjoy these tales of misunderstandings, lonely singles, pining lovers, and so much more! Because if there is one thing that is never in doubt, it's that LT3 knows the way to your heart, and these stories are a straight shot.
Rusty's Surprise
By Zach Sweets
Published by Less Than Three Press LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.
Edited by Samantha M. Derr
Cover designed by Megan Derr
This book is a work of fiction and as such all characters and situations are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.
First Edition February 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Zach Sweets
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 9781620041291
To my beloved husband, thank you for your patience when the people in my head take all my time. This story is dedicated to you. I love you with all of my heart.
Rusty's Surprise
Kiss Me Quick
Zach Sweets
The cell phone vibrated in Rusty Barton's pocket, and he took it out. It was an alert to let him know that it was noon. He planned to leave work early that day so he could prepare a big surprise for his lover, Hal Jarvis. The feelings inside him were nearly out of control. He was so excited to see Hal's face when he surprised him. Shutting down the computer, he gathered his paperwork and put it in his briefcase. He bumped into one of his co-workers, Tom.
"Hey, I'm leaving now. Close everything up when you're done, alright?"
Tom said something, but it was too fast for Rusty to read his lips. His co-workers often forgot that he was Deaf. He spoke fluently, but he had to read lips to be able to communicate with other hearing people.
"Sorry, you have a good day." He waved and went onto his business.
"Bye." Rusty knew that wasn't exactly what Tom had said. He was tired of Tom and his other co-workers changing their story when they didn't want to repeat it, or wanted to avoid talking to him. Most of them were probably jealous of him since he'd been promoted as a manager for the construction company. Right now, he didn't care; he wanted to go home and get everything ready before Hal got home from work.
The day was surprisingly warm for February in Kansas. They lived close to the Missouri borderline in a city called Lansing. Normally, it would have been in the low forties, but today it felt like high fifties. It wasn't that he was complaining, but it just struck him as odd. By the time he reached the parking lot to get to his car, he was already sweating a little so he took off his jacket before climbing inside. He was probably the only person who owned a car instead of a truck at his job.
Leaving at noon was the perfect timing to beat the traffic. It took him under twenty-five minutes to drive home. During the rush hour, it'd take him around forty to forty-five minutes.
When he arrived home, he pressed a remote that opened the garage door and parked inside it. He loved living in this house with just one floor and a basement. He used to live in a two-story house, and it was a pain in the butt to ascend the stairs just to get to the bedroom to sleep. The garage door closed, and Rusty went inside straight to his bedroom to change into something comfortable before he got everything ready for Hal's surprise. It had been a while since he'd done something to surprise Hal. The last time had been Hal's birthday. He remembered that day very well, and Hal had been the happiest Rusty had ever seen him.
He went to the kitchen to get all the ingredients for the meal. He decided to make one of Hal's favorites: a tomato vegetable casserole. He took out yams, potatoes, red bell peppers, carrots and a red onion. He peeled the carrots, potatoes and yams, and then cut them into half-inch pieces. He also thinly sliced the red onion into rings and removed the seeds from the bell pepper. All the ingredients were put inside the casserole dish which he then put into the oven.
While that was cooking, he peeled and sliced some granny smiths for the home-made apple pie for their dessert. He had made the pie crust last night since Hal had asked him to make it for their Valentine's Day. It was a tradition for them as well. Once the apple was layered in the pie dish, he covered it with pie dough, sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, drizzled caramel on top, and then put it in the oven.
It'd take the casserole and pie around forty minutes before it was ready to be served. While it was inside the oven, the light flashes alerted him that someone was calling his videophone. He went to the office next to dining room to turn on the television to see who was calling. It was Hal, calling from work.
<< Hey honey, going to work late? >> He smiled. Every time he saw Hal, he always smiled. He loved to see his man. Hal was his world. They'd been together for five years now.
<< What are you doing home early? I tried to call you at work. >>