Kept (Castile Family 2)

“We have to go to a wedding this weekend,” I remind Cullen as Neil sets down steaks for both of us. The food is okay here. The distance from my place is what makes it ideal most of the time.

I cut a piece of my steak, bringing it to my mouth.

“You should be my date.”

I pause for a moment. “To the wedding?” That sounds messy. I love messy. Reality television is my vice, but that shit happens at a distance. It isn’t all up in my space. I couldn’t date my sister’s soon-to-be brother-in-law. “The last man who tried to date me caught on fire,” I inform him before taking the bite from my fork. There, that should spook him off.

Cullen raises an eyebrow at me.

“I’m serious,” I add because I don’t think he believes me. “He did.” I cut another piece of steak. It was only kind of my fault he caught on fire. This is why I don’t do desserts. I told the restaurant this before they hired me. No desserts. Ever.

This is how Johnny Boy went up in flames. He was okay but still. He caught fire about thirty seconds after asking me out. I’d just gone to light the top of the baked Alaska. I’d poured way too much whiskey on the cake before I lit the thing. The fire kind of saved my ass from the awkward no I was going to have to give him. I’m not dating anyone that has ‘boy’ attached to their name. Nickname or not.

“I believe you.” He picks up his own fork and knife to cut his steak. “A little fire never scared me.”

Yeah, but Cullen is starting to scare me. Or at least the shit he’s making me feel is.

Chapter 2

Cullen

My woman is bloodthirsty and I love that. To think I was clowning Maddox this morning for being so ass over heels in love with a woman he barely knew. He warned me my time was coming. I should’ve paid attention to my little brother. He’s always been preternaturally good at predicting shit, which is why he’s made so much money in real estate investment. He can look at a row of rundown apartments in a shit neighborhood that looks like it’s on the verge of death and see new growth buried ten feet deep.

Apparently, ten feet deep in my callused heart was a seed of love for one Mad Chef who burned her last date. That was a good thing, though. Saved me the effort of tracking him down and scaring him off.

“Can you cook?” she asks between bites of her steak.

“Is it a requirement?” I’m a thousand times better in the kitchen than Maddox, who can’t be trusted to even boil a pot of water. My sister, Savannah, isn’t much better than my brother. And my mom, bless her rich heart, hasn’t stepped inside a kitchen since she was maybe ten and that was because her nanny fell asleep and my mom got hungry. We’re not a family of cooks. We’re a family of credit cards and in-house chefs.

“Not necessarily, but I want to know who I’m dealing with. On a scale of one to Jean Georges, where do you fall?”

I polish off the remaining steak and pat my mouth with a napkin before I reply. “Definitely on the lower end. I’m not French for one, two, I can’t even pronounce half his dishes, and three, my best skill in the kitchen would not be cooking. It would be eating.”

She chokes on her beer. “E-eating? You mean food, right?”

“No.” I shift in my chair, leaning over the wooden table until my face is only inches from MJ’s. “What you’re seeing right now in that head of yours that is turning you pink is exactly what I mean. We both know I’m not talking about food.”

The cheek beside mine reddens. I wonder what her tits look like right now, all rosy and flushed. If we weren’t sitting in a damn bar I’d find out. “You almost done?” I ask. My cock is rock hard and in need of relief. If it’s not going to be in her mouth, then I’ll need to take him in hand.

“I told you I set someone on fire, right?” she says faintly.

“Yeah.” My tongue snakes out and traces the curve of her ear. “What’s that got to do with me?”

“I could set you on fire.”

“Not to be corny, MJ, but you already have.” I dip inside the shell and lap at the sensitive whorls and circles.

“M-my man has to know how to cook,” she says.

I draw her lobe between my teeth. It’s soft and warm. I flick the tender skin between my teeth. “I can make a few things and what I don’t know you can teach me.” I give her one last suck before drawing back.