“No. I just started two days ago.”
How could I forget? My ordinary world was rocked when she walked through that day, but I’m glad; otherwise I would’ve grown old in this big house by myself. Now I can almost hear the screams of laughter from little ones and see the images of Amie growing big with my child, racing the rugrats through the rooms and landing in a pile on a giant custom-made bed upstairs. After dinner, I’m going to show her around the rest of the house, starting and ending with my bedroom. But first, I need to hear what’s on her mind. “So what’s the problem?”
“Do you have rules, Grey?” She cocks her head to the side, exposing a small sliver of skin at the nape of her neck that I’d like to bite into.
I redirect my attention to the white butcher paper so that I don’t haul her onto the granite counter and have my way with her. “What kind of rules? Like, give Amie all the love and affection she deserves because, yeah, I have rules.”
“No. The ones like no other guy can talk to me at the office.”
“Oh.” Those rules.
“Yeah. Those rules.”
Can she hear my thoughts? That’d suck. Or maybe not. We could speed things along. After dinner, I plan to carry you into my bedroom, strip you down to your birthday suit, suck and bite and kiss every bare inch of your skin before impaling you with my rock hard dick.
I slip a look at her from under my eyelashes. Not a muscle has moved on her face so I guess she’s not reading my mind.
“You can’t just ban people from interacting with me, particularly men. I have rights, you know.”
My fist curls around the package of meat, imagining how good it felt when I punched Rick in the face for saying the very same thing. You fuck her yet? If not then I have as many rights as you do to make a play for that pussy.
In retrospect, not the same thing. I relax my fingers and unwrap the meat that I’ve been inadvertently tenderizing. “I’m making sure your path doesn’t have any unnecessary bumps.”
“What’s an unnecessary bump?”
She’s still eyeing me suspiciously but not running for the door so that’s progress.
“Assholes.” I salt and pepper the pork and turn the burner on under my cast iron pan.
“What’s the definition of an asshole?”
She slides her pert ass onto a kitchen stool and I finally relax.
“Anyone who has a dick that’s not your dad...or, I guess your brother.”
“Being related to someone doesn’t stop them from being a dick,” she replies and her tone is so uncharacteristically bitter that I stop what I’m doing to stare at her. I know she’s got a story to tell but she hasn’t spilled yet. I half-seriously debate getting her drunk and then tugging the details out of her, but I cast that notion aside since the end goal is to make sure she’s happily by my side.
“Sounds like someone disappointed you.” I toss the pork chops into the sizzling skillet.
“No more than anyone else,” she replies. “Need any help?”
“Nope. I got it all under control. We’re going to have stuffing from the box cuz that shit is good. I don’t care what anyone else has to say. These thick loins and some green beans. The green beans are fresh to offset the stuffing.”
The sides of her lips curve up in one of the first real smiles I’ve seen out of her.
“Is it the green beans that make you happy or the pork chops?” I ask.
“I think it’s cute that you’re eating Thanksgiving food in the summer.”
“Cute?” I wince. “I don’t think anyone’s ever used that word to describe me.” Hot. Irritating. Stubborn. But never cute. I glance down to check to see if my dick is still there and am relieved that I’m still all in one piece.
“It’s not a bad thing. Guys can be cute.”
“Guys?” Oh, hell no. I point at my chest with the spatula. “There’s only one cute guy here. That’s me.”
“So you are telling other men to stay away.”
“Of course I am.” I flip the chops over since they’ve gotten a good sear on one side and then nudge open the oven door to let the loins bake.
“Ah ha! You got the cut on your chin fighting over me, didn’t you?”
I shut the oven door and lean against the counter, folding my arms across my chest. “Someone said something not worth repeating and I told him to reflect on his actions.”
“With your fist.”
“Yup. And he was sort of resistant at first and I got distracted.” I tap my chin where the small scratch is healing fine. “Then I paid attention and it’s all good.” Rick got the message and so did everyone else on the training grounds. “Want to tell me what’s really bothering you? And don’t say nothing because it’s clearly something. I’m not just in this to fuck you, honey. I know that there’s more to relationships than the sex. Obviously, sex with you is something I’m looking forward to—a little too much,” I add ruefully, tapping my scratch again. “That’s how I lost my concentration. I was thinking about how next time I would be sliding my cock inside that hot pussy instead of my fingers. But, putting that aside, relationships are about trust. If you trust me enough to allow my dick inside of you, trust me enough to see inside your heart. I think it’s been bruised a bit. Not broken, just a little worn around the edges.”
Chapter 12
Amie
I finish off my last bite of pork chop with applesauce and moan for the tenth time. Any man that can cook this good has to be trustworthy. Right? Even though Grey has addressed a lot of my issues before and during our dinner conversa
tions, I am still leery due to my past. There is no denying that I want him physically and my heart doesn’t seem too far behind.
“Are you lost in that head of yours again?” I look up to see Grey staring at me. “Let me clean up the dishes and I’ll get you some dessert.” He begins to take my plate, but I reach out, placing my hand on top of his.
“Maybe we can skip dessert and you can give me that tour you’ve been so set on first.” The smile he flashes me would curl any woman’s toes. I’m not sure how he’s still single. I’m also not sure how much longer I’ll be able to resist him. I listen to him as he tells me about the house, showing me around. Everything about it really is beautiful. He’s taken care of this place. There are a few things that need updating but I think that will always be the case with a home like this. It doesn’t seem like a chore, though, to get any of it done. It feels like something you would do with pride. It’s the perfect house to raise a family in. Because at the end of the day that is what this house screams. It is meant to house one. To have little feet pitter-pattering across the original floors. It deserves to have the sound of laughter echoing off its walls.
We had a beautiful house growing up but this one holds so much history and looks as though it’s ready for more. This home is where you make memories that will last a lifetime. These are things I haven’t thought about in a long time. Actually I never considered them before I met Grey. I feel a sense of comfort when I’m around him.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t realize Grey has stopped in front of me until I collide with his hard body. His hand reaches out to both steady me and hold me tighter to him.
“My mother was fucking my fiancé,” I blurt out.
“Motherfuck,” he mumbles, then winces at his choice of words. I die. I burst into laughter so hard my whole body shakes. I would fall over with laughter but of course Grey catches me. Tears stream down my face because I’m laughing so hard. It takes me a minute to get it together. Once again when I get myself together I realize I’m in Grey’s lap.