Maybe it was just best to enjoy the moment, he thought to himself as he felt himself start to drift off. He really didn’t want to fuck things up by rushing any other facet of their already strange relationship.
Chapter Seventeen
Elle sat in her office going through last month’s food purchase receipts trying to decipher why they had been charged for forty pounds of beef tenderloin they hadn’t received, when Sara popped her head through the door.
“Hey,” Sara asked, “why are you still here? Don’t you have a date?”
Over the past couple of weeks Jim had been preparing to take time off from work for his parents’ visit, so he’d been working really long hours. They’d talked each day but hadn’t spent much time together. Elle was looking forward to rectifying that situation tonight.
“Yeah. I’m about to leave now. I need to stop by the grocery store and pick up a couple of things, then I’ll head over to his place.”
They had exchanged keys about a week ago, so she’d start on the meal. Hopefully it would be ready about the time he came home. She’d felt a little weird about just letting herself in, but he’d told her to head on over and relax.
Sara raised her eyebrows and asked, “You’ve got a key?”
Nodding, Elle said, “Yeah. I feel like he doesn’t like to spend time at my place because it’s so cramped. I really need to have a huge garage sale before the baby is born. Otherwise I won’t have space for a crib.”
“Well, that’s as good of an excuse as any that you could come up with to stop Irene from buying swap meet junk for you,” Sara said.
“If only I could come up with a reason for her to not buy shit for my yard.”
Laughing Sara said, “I’m out of here. You need to get out, too. This is the last night you have with your man before his parents show up. Right?”
“Yep,” Elle said, grinning. “He’s been working long hours too, so I haven’t seen very much of him lately. He’s probably about to get jumped the second he walks in the door. I planned lasagna because it tastes better the longer it sits.”
Elle’s hormones had been going crazy. Her boobs were starting to get bigger and even more sensitive. She’d been hornier than she’d ever been in her entire life, too. Jim had been too busy the last couple of weeks to enjoy either of those developments.
Sara grinned and asked, “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. The other night when you guys stopped by, some of the looks he was giving you were downright obscene! I almost had to cover my virgin eyes.”
Snorting, Elle said, “Virgin?”
Sara shot her a dirty look that dissolved into a grin immediately. Prior to her relationship with Deacon, Sara had a strict three-month limit, no-strings sex rule.
Her face more serious now, Sara asked, “So have you told him you love him yet?”
“Almost,” Elle said. “I was going to the other night and I chickened out.”
“The man’s heart is in his eyes every single time he looks at you. He’ll not only say it back, but he’ll actually mean it too,” Sara said.
“I hope so,” Elle said. “Maybe tonight. I don’t want to just blurt it out, though.”
“Wuss.”
“Totally,” Elle agreed with a smirk. “On that demoralizing note, I’m going to head out. Thanks.”
“Enjoy your evening,” Sara said, laughing as she walked out of Elle’s office.
Logging off her computer, Elle gathered her things and left for the day. On the way to the grocery store, she thought a little bit about what Sara had said. Maybe she should just say it. It’s not like they had done anything in a normal fashion so far. Why start now?
Forty minutes later, Elle let herself into Jim’s house armed with lasagna fixings and her overnight bag. She set the groceries on the counter and took her bag upstairs to Jim’s room. She changed into a significantly lower cut top than the one that she’d worn to work and fiddled with her hair.
Satisfied with the results, she moved downstairs and started to prep for the meal. What she’d learned about the food side of the catering business definitely influenced how she cooked at home. She gathered up her ingredients and portioned them out. Next, she chopped the onions, minced the garlic, and sliced the mushrooms. Opening the cans of crushed tomatoes, she set them aside.
Poking through cabinets, she located a large sauté pan and a sauce pan. Setting them both on the stove, she turned the heat up to medium high. She put some olive oil in each one and waited for them to heat up.
Splitting the onions, garlic, and mushrooms evenly between the two pans, she started to gently brown them. She dumped the tomatoes in the sauce pan and broke apart the small packages of veal and pork that she had purchase. After she had added that to the sauté pan, she seasoned both pans liberally with salt and black pepper. She added some red pepper flakes to the sauce pan and finally dumped in the tomatoes.
Sighing woefully, Elle decided to forgo the usual slug of red wine in the sauce. She knew most of the alcohol cooked off but she didn’t want to take any chances. She had been reading pregnancy books for the last couple of weeks. She was off caffeine, most types of fish, booze of any kind, and a slew of other things.