She laughed and placed Aubrey in the living room with some toys. “Okay, keep on eye on Aubrey while I heat the grill.”
Nolan began the process of washing the produce, all the while watching Aubrey as she played quietly with her favorite toys, and he was struck by how calm he felt in such foreign surroundings. By all rights he ought to feel as if he were ready to jump from his skin but in fact, the opposite was happening. Don’t analyze it, a voice warned. Just enjoy it. Shannon returned and went to her cupboard to pull a dusty bottle of wine. She looked at him in question, almost nervously, as she said, “Drinking alone seems so pathetic. I’ve had this bottle of wine for quite a while now but since I never have anyone to drink it with, I’ve kept it in the cupboard.” She bit her lip, unsure and Nolan gently took the bottle from her hand. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly as she said, “Never mind—“ but Nolan was already expertly popping the cork. “Oh!” Her cheeks colored as she emitted a small laugh. “I’ll get the glasses,” she said and he grinned at how cute she appeared when she was flustered.
She poured the wine, saying, “I don’t know if it’s good wine or not. I won it in a raffle.”
> Nolan took an exploratory sip, swished it in his mouth for her benefit and finally swallowed in approval. “Tastes good to me,” he announced. “I’ve never been a wine snob. If it tastes good, I drink it. I don’t care about the vintage or the price tag.”
Shannon smiled and her face lit up with such beauty that Nolan had to wonder why he hadn’t chased her down that morning, begging her to come back to the bed. How could he have let her walk away without so much as a phone number? Damn, he’d been an idiot. “Tell me about Shannon Garrity,” he said as he chopped tomatoes. “Tell me something I don’t know…something shocking.”
She glanced at him from beneath her wine glass, her blush deepening. “How shocking?” she asked and the breath left his lungs. Oh God, he wanted to know every deep, dark secret she’d ever held to her breast. He forced a negligent shrug that belied the intense longing he was suffering and she released a shaky sigh, saying, “Well, I’m allergic to strawberries. I puff up like a blowfish and I itch like crazy until I can get some allergy medication.”
“Oh, come on,” he chided her playfully. “You can do better than that. I mean something truly shocking, though the strawberry allergy is good to know in case, Aubrey is also allergic. For the record, I’m allergic to garbanzo beans.”
She made a face. “Eww. Who eats them in the first place. So gross.”
“Well, thankfully, I’m not a huge fan either but my entire life I had to avoid a three-bean salad because people always seem to put garbanzo beans in it. Ruined many a family outing,” he said with mock sadness. She laughed and poured more wine. Nolan accepted the refill but joked, “Careful, I’d hate to think you’re trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me — which I wholly support, of course.”
She laughed and wagged her finger at him, though her cheeks had blazed. “None of that, look what happened the last time.”
Nolan’s gaze strayed to Aubrey and he said with a shrug, “I don’t know, seemed to work out pretty well. She seems like an awesome kid.”
“She’s the best,” Shannon agreed, her eyes sparkling but wary. “However, I’m not looking to give her a sibling anytime soon.”
“Good point,” he agreed, though his heart had taken a leap at the idea. He mentally shook himself. No more pitstops in Crazytown. The very idea of…a delicate shudder tripped down his spine but he covered well by returning to the salad, saying, “Okay, Grill Queen, get ready to show your skills because my salad is going to win awards.”
Shannon laughed and grabbed the meat to put on the grill. “Tough competition but I think my grilling skills are going to make your salad look like amateur hour,” she boasted as she disappeared out the door.
Nolan popped a piece of lettuce in his mouth and chewed. This felt too good. Too easy. Maybe it was the wine. He tossed a few croutons down his throat, hoping to soak up some of the alcohol. The last thing he needed was to give into his baser urges and ruin the entire evening. He was determined to be on his best behavior, no matter that Shannon appealed to him on every level. Shannon reappeared, and he fought to keep his gaze anywhere but on her lean body including the cutest pair of tits he’d ever seen. Bee-stings, that’s what they were. He remembered them well. He distinctly remembered sucking the pearled nipples into his mouth and how Shannon had arched and moaned, gasping as he’d coupled his attentions to her breasts with a finger slipped deep inside her wet and ready core. No! Don’t go there. Too late. “Are you okay?” Shannon asked as she pulled plates from the cabinet. “You look a little flushed.”
“I’m good,” he said quickly, wondering how he was going to hide his growing erection. Perhaps he could hide it behind the salad bowl. No, that wouldn’t look weird at all. No weirder than him springing a boner while shredding fresh spinach leaves. Ugh. “Um, I think Aubrey might need a diaper change,” he lied. “I figured it was best if a professional handled the situation.”
To his relief, Shannon laughed and walked over to Aubrey and picked her up to check. “Nope, all clean,” she said, adding, “You know, diaper duty will be part of the deal. You’ll have to learn eventually.”
“True. Is there a class I should take or is it pretty self-explanatory?”
“It’s not that hard, I promise. I’m sure you can figure it out but I’ll let you off the hook for now.”
“Thanks,” he said, smiling. Finally, his cock had settled down — talking about changing potentially poopy diapers had definitely helped — and he could breathe easier. “Salad’s done,” he announced with flourish. He was pretty proud of his greens, if he did say so himself.
“I’ll go get the steaks,” Shannon said, lifting Aubrey and sliding her into the high chair before heading out with the plate and tongs. She returned a second later with two smoking hot and delectable steaks that made Nolan’s mouth water.
“I think I’m in trouble,” he admitted. “That steak smells like heaven.”
“I warned you, I had skills. We should’ve made a wager. I could’ve come out on top,” she teased.
On top. He groaned privately as his obnoxious man-brain supplied all sorts of ways for her to be on top of him specifically. Was he suddenly regressing to a seventeen-year-old twerp who couldn’t wrangle his sexual drive for one blessed night? He didn’t realize he was frowning until Shannon called him on it, worried. “I was just kidding. I’m sure your salad is wonderful.”
He chuckled, embarrassed. If only his worries were about the quality of his salad. “I’m just starved. I’m about to start gnawing on the wood fixtures if we don’t dish up soon.”
“Oh, well, don’t do that or else I’ll never get my deposit back,” she quipped with a flash of a shy smile. She handed him a plate. “Here, you can have the bigger steak.”
He watched as Shannon began cutting tiny pieces of meat for Aubrey and shredding the salad into smaller, toddler-sized bites and he was struck by how the simple scene made his eyes inexplicably water. He thought of the meals he’d had as a child growing up in the Buchanan household and he couldn’t recall a single time the family had eaten together. He looked away, discomforted by the tightness in his chest. Not everyone had an idyllic upbringing, he thought trying to shrug it off but that tight feeling remained until he felt compelled to rub his sternum. Determined to shake off the melancholy that hovered at the edge of his thoughts, he dug into his steak and was rewarded with a pretty fucking amazing mouthful of meat. “Damn, that’s good,” he murmured around the hot bite, he added without pausing, “You win.”
Shannon laughed without false modesty. “I knew I would. My dad could grill anything and he taught me everything he knew. The competition was stacked from the start.”
Nolan grinned and kept eating. A man could get used to this. If it was true that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, Nolan had just lost more than a wager.
Dinner seemed to fly by and soon enough, after plenty of laughter and friendly banter, it was time for Shannon to put Aubrey to bed. She paused, holding a sleepy toddler and looked to Nolan. “Did you want to put her to bed?” she asked tentatively, knowing she was taking a big risk in inviting Nolan to do something so personal to her.
“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted, swallowing what was likely a lump of pure fear if his expression was any judge. She smiled and handed Aubrey over to him. “It’s easy. Usually, we do bathtime first but since she’s already so tired, we’ll forgo the bath tonight. Follow me,” she instructed as she showed him to Aubrey’s room. The crib dominated the tiny bedroom but it was cute and cozy in warm shades of pink and lavender. “I usually read her a story in the rocker and by the end, she’s usually out. Do you think you could handle that while I clean up the kitchen?”
Nolan stared at his daughter, a slow, adoring smile spreading across his lips and Shannon had to steel herself against the butterflies that erupted in her stomach. Was there anything sexier than a man holding his child with obvious love in his eyes? Oh goodness, her ovaries were kicking in high gear because seeing that look in Nolan?
??s eyes just made him ten times sexier than he already was.
“I think I can handle that,” he said, nodding as he sank into the rocking chair and accepted a book from Shannon. “The Pretty Pink Princess,” he read in a soft voice as Aubrey listened with rapt wonder, leaning against his chest as if Nolan was a part of their routine and not a stranger. Tears stung Shannon’s eyes as something heavy dragged on her heart and she backed out of the room before she started crying. If Nolan were a normal guy, maybe it would’ve worked out between them but Nolan was more than just a good guy she’d hooked up with. In fact, she wasn’t even sure he was a good guy at all. The stories she’d heard…they just didn’t gel with the man she saw in her daughter’s bedroom, reading a silly story to a toddler as if it were the most fascinating story in the world. Her father had always taught her to judge people by their actions and thus far, Nolan’s actions had been pretty above par. So what did that mean?
She didn’t know — all she did know was that Nolan had suddenly jumped a few notches on the sexy meter and she was trying hard to remember why it was bad idea not to throw her baby daddy down on the sofa and have her wicked way with him.
That would be bad, right?
So bad.
And so, so, awesome.
-8-
Nolan emerged from Aubrey’s bedroom fifteen minutes later and the softness in his eyes was the final straw. Shannon’s gaze traveled hungrily across the wide planes of his shoulders and down to the hard ridge of his stomach, knowing from past experience that a slightly furred trail of hair disappeared behind his zipper and lead straight to a cock that haunted her dreams and refused to leave her memory. Really, it was like fighting a losing battle, she justified to herself, as she poured fresh glasses of wine and met Nolan in the living room. He hesitated at the wine, saying with open regret, “I have to drive. I probably shouldn’t…”
“You don’t have to leave just yet, do you?” she asked, her heart beginning a rapidly accelerated beat as her adrenalin hummed with pent up sexual tension. It’d been so long. Her vibrator was good for a quick release but it didn’t compare to the feel of a man between her legs — specifically Nolan.