Chapter 23

CHAPTER23

She really was adorable, Eric thought as he stood in the doorway, watching as Morgan grumbled to herself, pouted, and then finally, glared accusingly at the bureau that his great-grandfather built when the hidden compartment didn’t suddenly reveal itself.

“Do you want help?” Eric asked as he shifted his attention to the reason that he came up here.

That fucking window.

“No,” Morgan mumbled sadly, making his lips twitch as he took in the cheap vinyl window that someone thought would be a good idea to replace the original patio doors that led to the balcony with.

He’d been hoping to put this off until later, but he needed to get a better look at that balcony. With that in mind, he made his way across the bedroom, only to feel his lips twitch when Morgan mumbled, “Stupid bureau,” as she joined him by the window.

“Were you able to find any of the compartments?” Eric asked as he examined the window, noting that whoever installed it hadn’t bothered to seal it right before moving onto the large gap between the frame and the windowsill. He-

Couldn’t help but wonder why Morgan was releasing a long-suffering sigh.

“I can’t believe that you’re already breaking a rule.”

“And what rule would this be?” Eric asked as he went to open the window, only to realize that it was sealed shut. It definitely had to go, he decided as he focused on the small woman sending him pitying looks.

“The one that helps you adore me,” Morgan said, nodding solemnly as she pushed her glasses back up her nose before gesturing for him to get on with it.

“Does it involve a kiss?” Eric murmured as he reached for her.

“That really went without saying,” Morgan said as he pulled her into his arms and nearly groaned. She felt so fucking good in his arms.

“Did you find the secret room?” he asked with a teasing smile as he kissed her forehead.

“Why are you toying with my emotions?” Morgan asked as she reached up to run her fingertips over his jaw like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

Christ, he felt like a starved man for her touch and couldn’t seem to get enough. Every gentle caress of her fingertips threatened to drop him to his knees. For so many years, she’d kept her distance, and now…

“When?” Eric asked as he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, loving the soft sigh of pleasure that she released when he did it.

“When, what?” Morgan asked as she reached up and cupped the back of his neck so that she could pull him back down for another kiss, making it really fucking difficult to remember that they were supposed to be taking this slow.

He wanted to make this perfect for her and if he gave into the urge to pick her up and carry her to the bed only a few feet away…

He had a plan, Eric had to remind himself when he felt Morgan’s lips part for him. He’d fucked up a lot of things in his life, but he wasn’t about to fuck this up, too. She meant the world to him and he wasn’t about to risk pushing her for too much too soon and he sure as hell didn’t want her to think that this was just about sex for him.

He wanted her.

All of her

“When did you realize that you adored me?” Eric asked, wondering how he’d missed the signs that she saw him as anything more than just a friend.

“I’m afraid that’s privileged information,” Morgan whispered against his lips, reminding him why he loved her so much.

“You’re really not going to tell me?” he asked, only to groan when she moved closer.

“I don’t feel that it would be in my best interest to tell you that,” Morgan whispered with a teasing smile, brushing her lips against his one last time before she stepped back.

“Then, what can you tell me?” Eric asked, clearing his throat as he grabbed the tape measurer from his toolbelt and focused back on the reason that he came up here.

“That working in this house knowing that it’s filled with furniture that your great-grandfather made is going to be one of the most difficult things that I’ll ever do,” Morgan said with a solemn nod.

“Don’t forget the hidden room,” Eric said with a teasing smile that had Morgan sadly mumbling, “I know,” as her shoulders dropped in defeat as her gaze began moving around the room, looking for a hidden door that wasn’t there.

“I love this house,” Morgan whispered with a sniffle.

“I know you do, baby girl,” Eric said, unable to help but smile as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “This is probably a bad time to tell you that we’re going to have to find another room to crash in tonight.”

Frowning, Morgan looked back at him before her gaze found its way to the window. “That bad?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Eric said, pulling the measuring tape free and held the end out to Morgan, who took it without question and made her way to the end of the room while he made his way to the other side.

“Were you able to take a look at the balcony from outside?” Morgan asked as she released her end of the measuring tape.

“Couldn’t get to it with the trees in the way. I’ll pick up a chainsaw when I head into town to order the patio doors,” Eric said as he measured the height of the room.

“I could do it on my way to the grocery store,” Morgan offered with a shrug.

“You’re going to the grocery store?” Eric asked, throwing her a questioning look as he marked the halfway point on the wall.

“I thought I’d make dinner tonight,” Morgan said, making him frown, mostly because she was really fucking bad at it and hated cooking, but if she wanted to cook for him for their first date…

Then, he was going to make sure that he devoured every inedible bite that she put in front of him with a smile on his face.

* * *

How doyou tell the man that you’ve been in love with your whole life that you’ve been lying to him for the past ten years? Morgan couldn’t help but wonder as she took the apple pie that she’d made out of the oven and placed it on the counter.

Not that she’d really been all that interested in learning how to cook, but she’d wanted to surprise Eric with his favorite meal and a cake for his sixteenth birthday. Since her mother didn’t know how to cook or have any interest in learning, that left Home-Ec, which, unfortunately for her, filled up before she had a chance to sign up. She’d tried teaching herself from cookbooks, but that ended with several burns, ten stitches, a healthy fear of pairing knives, a scar on her elbow, and a new oven after the last one burst into flames when she tried making brownies. After her parents banned her from the kitchen, which was understandable considering what happened when she tried to make pancakes, she did the only thing that she could think of.

She betrayed Eric.

Not that visiting her best friend’s grandmother would be considered an act of betrayal to anyone sane, but she was talking about a Bradford here. Eric’s grandmother was an amazing cook and an even better baker, which meant the Bradford boys looked for any excuse to drop by her house. If Eric ever found out that she went to his grandmother’s house every day after school while he was at football practice or work and didn’t bring him home any of his grandmother’s homecooked meals…

He would never forgive her.

Then again, he probably wouldn’t forgive her when he realized that she could actually cook. Not that she’d planned on hiding it from Eric, but once the rest of the girls at school started shoving baked goods at him with the hopes of enticing him, she’d realized just how pathetic she would look. So, she’d kept her mouth shut, learned everything that she could from his grandmother, and made sure that he never found out.

He-

Looked really confused, Morgan couldn’t help but notice as she watched Eric glance from her to the apple pie and back again before shifting his attention to the bowl filled with apple peels and cores on the kitchen counter, the flour on her apron, and the dirty pans in the sink. She watched as he struggled to make sense out of what he was seeing as his gaze shifted to the pan of homemade macaroni and cheese with ham sitting on the stove and then back to the pie before finally shifting to her.

“Eric, I…” Morgan started to explain, only to have her words trail off when he narrowed his eyes on her.

That was followed by Eric walking over to the counter, grabbing a fork and stabbing it into the macaroni and cheese, all while glaring at her. Shaking his head in disgust, Eric raised the fork to his mouth and-

“Oh, God…” he managed to get out as he was forced to grab onto the kitchen counter when his legs threatened to give out.

That was followed by another bite and a loud moan that had her smiling. That is until he turned that glare back on her. After shoving another forkful of macaroni and cheese in his mouth, Eric grabbed a plate and angrily scooped most of the pan of macaroni and cheese onto it and when he spotted the loaf of freshly baked bread on the counter…

“Consider this the divorce,” Eric bit out in disgust as he grabbed a cookie sheet and placed the plate on it along with the loaf of bread, the homemade honey butter that she’d made, and with one last glare in her direction, he grabbed the potholders and carefully placed the apple pie on the cookie sheet before picking it up and heading for the door with a muttered, “Traitor.”

“There’s ice cream,” Morgan pointed out, only to watch as Eric suddenly went still, turned around, and with one last glare in her direction, grabbed a spoon off the counter, the vanilla ice cream from the freezer and shoved it under his arm before once again storming off, making sure to glare at her the entire way.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Morgan said, slowly exhaling as she made her way back to the stove, grabbed her backup potholders, opened the oven, and suddenly found herself moved aside and watching as Eric grabbed the lasagna she’d made out of the oven and stormed off, leaving her standing there wondering if she should tell him about the cookies.