The pink stain on his cheeks was adorable, but it was his lips that captivated me, from his thin upper lip to the thick bottom one. He was perfect. My fingers traced the lines of his tattoos until sleep weighed heavy on me.
"Just a few more minutes," I whispered as my eyelids began to droop more and more.
"Anything you want, baby," he grumbled and rolled onto his back before jerking back toward me and pulling me into his arms. "Sleep against me. Please. I want to feel you."
I smiled and snuggled up to his side, falling asleep to the rhythm of his heart beating.
*
I woke the next morning to find the bed empty beside me. Worry rolled through me.
I sat up and started to call for him, but the smell of bacon filled my senses, and I dropped back down into the bed, physically exhausted, but emotionally alive. We had so many good things ahead of us.
Tate's offer to be a research assistant at the college had the power to blossom into something else, something long-term. If he could get on with UMN, he would be set. I wasn't truly sure of what his dreams were for himself, but that was going to be part of my plan for the next year – I wanted to pick him apart and learn as much about him as I could.
I had a long road ahead of me seeing that I'd have to see my parents again and discuss what the next few years might look like while I wrapped up school. I was completely prepared for them to reject the idea of helping me, and it might be better if they did. I hated the idea of owing them anything.
Tate's voice brought me from my thoughts as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom. His slacks hung low on his hips, and the dark trail of hair that moved from his bellybutton to inside his pants beckoned a longing deep inside of me.
"Hey. You awake, beautiful?" He moved to the bed and crawled up it to press himself against the top of me over the sheet.
"No, I'm not." I smiled and pulled him down for a long kiss. "Do I smell breakfast?"
"You do. I hope you're hungry. There was bacon and sausage in the fridge, and not the shitty kind." He smirked and kissed me once more before getting up. "Come on. Get up and join me, lazy butt."
"Lazy butt?" I sat up and stretched. "It's ten-thirty? Holy hell."
I hadn't slept past eight since high school. I got up and found a soft white robe in the closet, but nothing else. Why I hadn't thought to bring some clothes up with me the day before was a mystery.
After trying to do something with my wild head of hair, I walked into the kitchen and stopped by the coffee pot, breathing in deeply.
"Did you do all of this?" I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured myself a cup.
"I did." He glanced over his shoulder at me. "Mmm...you look good enough to eat."
"You'd be the one to know." I chuckled and picked up a piece of bacon before sitting down at the breakfast bar and letting my eyes run over the long muscles of his back and perfect swell of his ass.
"I'd better be the only one that knows." He turned and ate a piece of sausage as he watched me. "You want scrambled eggs or fried?"
"Fried. Where did you learn to cook?" I hopped down and walked back to the plate of bacon. After grabbing a couple more pieces, I moved up behind him and kissed his back as I fondled his rear with my free hand. "Did your mom teach you?"
"She did a little, but I actually learned more from Sam's dad than anyone else. You know, I didn't have a dad." He turned and kissed me before stealing a piece of bacon from my fingers and nodding toward the table. "Go sit down before you eat all the meat."
"Bossy ass." I turned and went to sit back down. "When did you move in with Sarah?"
"When I was really little. I don't remember much about the orphanage, to be honest." He finished my eggs and put a plate in fr
ont of me. "I always thought when I finally got my shit together, I would go looking for my real parents, but I don't have the desire to do that anymore."
"Because of Sarah doing such a good job raising you?" I cut into my eggs and dove in without waiting a moment longer. I loved fried eggs and my father was the only one that could do them just right. It would appear that Tate had that magic power, too.
"That and just growing up. I hated them for a long time, but I realize that they were probably just doing the best they could at the time." He shrugged, but kept his back to me. "I think when I finally get married that I'd like to have a few kids of my own, but I'd like to adopt some, too."
"I think that's great." I continued to eat, not realizing that he was looking my way until I got an uncanny feeling that I was being watched. I glanced up and smiled. "What?"
"What do you think about adopting kids?" He grabbed the plate of breakfast meats and sat down next to me, pushing it between us and starting to cut his eggs.
"I like the idea. I would totally be open to adopting some kids." I picked up a piece of sausage as the warmth of him even asking my opinion melted me a little. "I think my biggest concern about the future is making sure that I'm nothing like my mom and dad."