Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Lolly

I straighten up when I hear Ander come through the door and I’m really glad I caught the look on his face. I might be a good girl but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to flirt. And I actually feel safe with him. I don’t think he’ll try to sneak into my bed to take what I’m not willing to give. I don’t think he’ll push me to do anything I don’t want to, which makes me want to flirt with him even more…and makes him even more attractive.

“That smells like heaven!”

I find my face splitting into a wide grin. “I wanted to say thank you, for everything, properly. I hope you don’t mind cupcakes.”

“I love cupcakes, sweetheart.” The way he’s looking at me makes me want to preen like a peacock in front of him. “And they smell fucking amazing.”

We eat together and then go into the den to watch a movie together. He lets me pick the movie. By the time I go to bed, he’s all I can think about. Even when I go to sleep, he follows me into my dreams and shows me how appreciative of my cupcakes he is. Hot dreams and dirty thoughts have me jerking awake drenched in sweat and bad ideas more than once. When my alarm goes off I want to throw my phone across the room and snuggle back down into the warm sheets cocooned around me.

By the time I drag myself into the kitchen I’m feeling less than cheery…until I spot Ander at the stove.

“Hey sweetheart, the bacon should be done in a minute. Go ahead and pour yourself a cup of coffee if you want to. I got the mug you like to use out.”

I'm not sure whether to sit and cry or rush to hug him. He made me breakfast which means he had to wake up so fucking early when he didn’t have to. Dinner was delicious last night but this -breakfast- it means…more because he could have been sleeping in. He didn’t have to set his alarm and get up so early. But he did. For me.

I walk over to him and wait for him to turn around. He takes the bacon out of the pan and gives me his full attention. I come close to him, close enough to place my hands on his hard, firm stomach that his t-shirt does nothing to disguise. I meet his eyes and go up on my tiptoes before I lose my nerve.

I place my mouth to his cheek and brush it against the stubble there. When I pull back, he has those turbulent blue eyes searching mine. He waits patiently without pushing me or asking for more. “Thank you. For breakfast.”

I don’t think anyone has ever put so much effort into taking care of me. Not that my friends ignore me or treat me badly, but when it comes to them, I like to take care of them.

“Thank you.” I go up on my toes again and deliver another kiss. And another one. When I come back in for yet another kiss, he turns his head and captures my lips.

This isn’t a gentle kiss but also not one as drenched in need as the one he shared with me in the bed when he was dreaming of someone to hold. His lips take mine as he licks across the seam of my mouth, signaling to me he wants to be allowed inside. He could easily push his tongue in, and I wouldn’t stop him, but he asks with little licks and nibbles. The combination of him asking and the feel of his mouth is a heady mix of arousal.

Once my lips open and give him permission, he surges in, exploring every inch of my mouth. I become just as hungry to find out all the secrets he keeps as he is to find out mine. I get lost in the slide of our tongues against one another, the pant of our breath against each other, the nip of teeth on my bottom lip. All of it makes me forget what I’m supposed to be doing and what I really shouldn’t be doing…like wrapping my legs around his waist when he lifts me up with his big hands holding tight to my ass. My back comes up against the wall as he runs one of his hands up to cup the swell of my breast causing me to grow light-headed and my heart to pound in quick thuds that sound like knocking at a door I didn’t even realize we were standing at, but I am so ready to go through.

It's him who pulls back, ending the kiss, and forcing reality back in the room. It takes me a minute but eventually, I unlock my legs from around his waist. I'm quick to realize afterward, that we are both breathing heavily and he’s carried me over to the table.

We still maintain eye contact, his deep blue orbs pinning me down and making me squirm. His hand remains on my hips like it might be hard for him to let me go. It's the intensity of his stare that has me pulling away, but he won’t let me go, “I didn’t want you to be late or have to rush. And I definitely want you to eat.”

Shit, that makes sense. Damn it. I nod, but he still doesn’t let me go.

“This isn’t over. It’s just an interlude to the main show. Do you understand, baby?”

Baby. He called me baby and when he says it in that voice -the rumbly, sexy one- how can I do anything other than nod for him?

“Good, come and eat.” He lets me go and walks me to a chair as he fills my plate full of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon.

And he follows me to work, or at least the thought of him does. He haunts my mind all damned day. I don’t even mind when Bonny starts talking about brides’ maid dresses. I find myself singing all the way to the farm. I step through the door and find him back in the kitchen making dinner.

“What are you doing?”

“Making dinner for my lady.” Am I his lady? “I’m going to take care of the chores now so I can come be with you.” He kisses me good enough to knock the breath from me before going out the door and leaving me standing in the kitchen with so many questions and hard nipples.

By the time he comes back in, I’ve changed and started dessert -it’s a pie tonight, it won’t be done for quite some time, but I think I planned it just right for me to pull it out of the oven by the time we've finish dinner.

He comes over and wraps his arms around my waist, “You know,” he snuggles into the hollow between my throat and shoulder causing me to laugh at the tickle it causes, “the whole point of me cooking is so you can rest when you come home.”

I laugh again and meet his eyes, “What can I say? I love to bake.”

“Then, by all means, you go ahead and bake until your little heart is content, angel.”

He turns me in his arms and our lips met, mine clinging to his. When we finally pull apart he runs his tongue over his mouth like he is still trying to taste me. “Mm, sugary. Makes me wonder what else will taste this sweet when I kiss it.”

My mouth falls open and all I can do is follow him over to the table…and think about what would happen if he kissed me in other places!