She stiffened.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Nope. Not buying that.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Are you upset because I’m worried about what all that salt is doing to your arteries?”
“It’s nothing.” She bit her lip. She had to do better than that. “Richard was just always on at me to diet . . .”
“Ah.” He cupped her face. “Look at me.”
She stared up at him. “I think you are beautiful. Just as you are. I don’t want to change a thing about you. This has nothing to do with the way you look, because you are so fucking hot that it’s all I can do not to bend you over the counter and take you. All I want is to make sure you live a long, healthy life. Okay?”
She couldn’t talk past the lump in her throat. She wished she could have that too. She nodded, trying to bring herself under control. Time to change the subject.
“I hope you don’t mind me helping myself.”
“Not at all.” His gaze dropped to her breasts covered by his T-shirt. “I see you helped yourself to a few things.”
“Oh, yeah, guess I should have asked.”
“You’re welcome to any of my stuff, however I didn’t give you permission to get dressed.”
“I can hardly cook in the nude, that’s just asking to get burned.”
“Can’t have anything marring this beautiful skin. All right, you have permission to wear clothing while cooking.”
“Thank you, Sir. Your slave is so grateful, Sir.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Slave, huh? Would you like to try a bit of Master-slave play?”
“Um, I don’t think so.” Bad choice of words. “I would not make a good slave.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’m sure you’d do well with practice and lots of discipline.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. He grinned. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m not interested in that level of power exchange. Now a bit of role play is a different story.” He took a step back, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not cooking now, are you? Lose the shirt.”
“What? Jake, I can’t just walk around naked. It’s still light outside.”
“And that means you can’t be naked? I work the nightshift sometimes. That means there are going to be times we play during daylight hours.”
“Yes, but, we’re not . . . I mean, we’re about to eat.”
She felt flustered. Out of her depth.
“You’ve never eaten naked?”
“Not really.”
“Then today is a big day of firsts for you. Lose the shirt. Now.”
When he used that voice, she was hard-pressed not to obey. She grasped the bottom of the T-shirt and pulled it up and over her head. She placed it on the counter as Jake ran his gaze over her hungrily.
“I’m never going to get tired of the sight of you.” Reaching out, he flicked her nipple. “Damn, we better eat before I forget we’re both starving and take you right here.”
She didn’t think she’d object to that much, but he turned away and grabbed both bowls of soup.