Dirty Chef

Isla took over after Jack. “Our baby girl is named Elizabeth after you and my stepmom,” she told Ma with a smile.

That was sweet. And given that Isla’s stepmom’s name was Chloe, I assumed it was her middle name.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to cry.” Yeah, Ma cried.

Pop cleared his throat loudly. “Beautiful names for two beautiful children. Now, let’s eat!”

Thirteen

Alessia Rossi

I’d forgotten how much I loved Grady Night. It’d been months since our last one, and today was shaping up to be the best one yet. Possibly because it was starting to look a lot like I had a future with the man next to me.

He was as boisterous as ever, catching up with his brothers and poking fun, but he never let me forget his close proximity. A hand on my thigh here, a nudge there. The hottest little moment was probably when he took a swig of his wine and shot me a quick wink. Winking was usually cheesy and dumb, but that bastard pulled it off.

He knew he was flustering me, and he freaking loved it.

“Alessia, darling,” Elizabeth said, “did you get our reservation for Valentine’s week?”

“I did,” I assured her and smiled. “I’ll make sure to give you the table you prefer.”

“We’re looking forward to it,” she gushed. “The pictures you’ve posted look quite exciting.”

I grinned. “We’ve had a blast planning it.”

Adam chose that moment to leave a conversation with Jameson and Jack and jump into ours. “Best part was creating the desserts.”

Heat bled across my cheeks, and I stuffed my face with some brisket to…I didn’t even know, not even his food could distract me from the memory of that evening.

Only his smirk told me he knew the effect he had on me. He nodded at his father next. “The dessert’s got booze in it, so if you’re gonna liquor our mother up, maybe you should tell us your intentions.”

I slapped his arm.

Jack furrowed his brow. “Perhaps he shouldn’t.”

Elizabeth laughed and put a hand on her chest. “You boys are so silly.”

I agreed, and one of her silly, silly boys had evidently bought a baby crib today. Could we talk about that? Before my heart exploded?

Fucking sigh.

* * *

When the table was cleared and everyone outside was waiting for dessert and coffee, I found myself alone in the kitchen with Adam. He pressed me up against the counter and kissed me breathless.

“I can’t keep my hands off of you.” He swept his tongue into my mouth and squeezed my ass to prove his point. “Fuck. If I didn’t have plans, I would’ve cut the evening short and taken you home.”

“I would’ve let you,” I replied, gasping when he pressed his cock against my lower stomach. It was unbelievable I had that effect on him, and I kind of, accidentally, blurted that out to him.

It made him slow down, and he wouldn’t let me hide my face.

“That’s on me,” he said soberly. “I’ve made you believe I’m into…” He wouldn’t say it.

“You have another type, is all.” I failed to come off as casual.

God, I felt stupid.

He shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily. His jaw ticked too. “No. My type is you.” He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks, his eyes imploring. “I was already obsessed with you, Alessia. When you asked me what kind of women I was into, I went with your opposite only so you wouldn’t figure out that I was hung up on you.”

I spluttered and shook my head, unable to grasp what he was saying. For how long… I mean, it’d been so many years.

In disbelief or not, my confidence soared. It was such a relief.

“Okay,” I exhaled, smiling nervously despite how much better I felt. “I want—wait.” The fog cleared up further, and I remembered what he’d said. “You have plans?”

He grinned quickly and brushed the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. “Let’s circle back to what it is you want.”

Oh, two could play this game.

What I wanted was for him to be mine in freaking writing. I wanted things set in stone, I wanted to belong to him, I wanted to hear him say it was me he wanted for life, and I wanted to know if he’d hit himself in the head and if that was why he’d suddenly bought a crib.

But I could save that for when we got home. For now, I locked eyes with him and sucked the tip of his thumb into my mouth. I swirled my tongue around it and watched his gaze darken.

He slid his thumb in deeper, and I grazed my teeth lightly along the digit.

Then I brought a hand to his cock and stroked him outside of his jeans.

“Fuck,” he whispered.

It was a big house… Three floors to get lost in.

When I heard a throat clearing, I’d never been happier to have Adam’s large frame blocking me. Mortification flooded me. Adam’s hand dropped to my hip, and he whipped his head around to peer over his shoulder. I found myself sneaking a peek too. Crap. It was Justin. Jameson’s boyfriend. And well, Alex’s…something. All I knew was that there were five people living together in Alex and Jameson’s cabin over in Westslope, and there were only two beds.