Page 48 of Reckless (Adventures in Love 3)
“You’re the exception, baby. I like having you here with me,” he says like he’s read my mind.
“You like having me here with you?” I repeat while my chest warms, that feeling blocking out the urge to ask why he doesn’t like women in his space.
“I do.” He nudges the plate on my lap. “Now eat before your sandwich gets cold.”
Figuring that is his way of saying he’s done with the conversation, I pick up my sandwich and take a bite. Like everything else he’s made for me, it’s delicious.
“You know you’re gonna give me an ego.”
“What?” I laugh as I swallow my bite.
“You moan every time I cook for you, like you haven’t eaten in days and it’s the best thing you’ve ever had in your life.”
“You’re a good cook.”
“It’s grilled cheese. You made us grilled cheese a couple nights ago at your place.” I did do that; it was after us doing exactly what we did today, and I was starving, so I made us something simple that I knew I couldn’t mess up.
“I guess, but yours just taste better.” I take another bite, and then once I swallow, I ask softly, “Are you okay with your sister knowing about me?”
“I’m the one who introduced you two, babe. I’m good with it. I think the real question is—are you okay with it?”
“Yes.” Surprisingly it’s the truth. I might not be ready to tell my best friend about him and me, but I don’t mind his sister knowing about us. Really, him being so willing to tell the woman who raised him about us makes me feel more secure.
“When she and her husband bring the boys up for New Year’s, I’d like you to meet them.”
“I’d like that,” I say, hoping like heck that when the New Year rolls around in a few months, he and I will still be together, because the thought that we won’t makes me feel nauseous.
“Come here,” he orders, wrapping his hand around the side of my neck, and I lean toward him. As soon as I’m close, he kisses me, soft and sweet, then holds my forehead against his. “We’re good.”
“We are,” I agree with a small smile, and he gives my neck a squeeze, then one more touch of his lips, before he lets me go so we can both finish eating. When we’re done, we laze in bed for a while longer, and then I get up and get dressed so I can make it in time to meet Cybil at the shop, even though I want nothing more than to stay with him in bed the rest of the day. The only thing that makes leaving a little easier is him letting me know that he’ll be at my place this evening.
“I thought you said that this was supposed to be easy.” I glare down at Cybil from where I’m standing on the top of a ladder, holding a long piece of paper that is heavier than it looks. Either that or my arms are weaker than they should be and I really need to start thinking about working out.
“I didn’t say it was going to be easy—the website we ordered it from did.” She glares back at me before going back to using a roller brush to remove the bumps and bubbles from the wallpaper we chose for our accent walls. “Maybe we are doing something wrong.”
“Or maybe we should have asked the guys to do this,” I mumble, looking behind me to the shelves that now line the walls. Shelves the guys installed around the store in just a few days. I mean, they still need to be painted, but the work they did in such a short amount of time is seriously impressive.
And then there are Cybil and me. The two of us have been here for almost three hours, and we haven’t even finished covering one wall.
“Neither of us has ever hung wallpaper before.”
“I know.” I look down at her as she uses a sharp blade to cut off the excess paper at the bottom near the baseboard. “But I feel like this is much more difficult than it should be.” I start down the ladder, slowly using the large sponge we bought to go over the paper one last time. When I reach the floor, we both step back to examine our work. “I guess it doesn’t look bad.” I tip my head one way, then the other, like it will help me know if it’s crooked or not.
“I think it looks great.” She wraps her arm around my waist, then rests her head on my shoulder. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”
“I imagine you are. I’m exhausted, and I don’t have a baby who keeps me up half the night.” I rest my head on top of hers. “Do you want to keep going, or do you want to call it a day and get back to this tomorrow?”
