“Enjoy your bath, sweetheart. Don’t come out until you want to. Today we’re playing hooky.”
Laura wasn’t sure if she was happy or sad that he was telling her there would be no repeat of last night. Lying back as the hot jets flowed over her, she remembered the fire in his eyes and decided she was sad.
After drying off, she slipped on a plain white undershirt that came down to her thighs. She saw he had changed the sheets and, shaking her head, she followed her nose to the kitchen, and found Paul there. It shouldn’t have surprised her that he seemed comfortable in the kitchen, but it did.
“You look much better in that than I ever have. Hungry, sweetheart?”
Blushing, she nodded.
“Is an omelet okay?”
“Sounds good to me. I’m not picky. I still am wondering if I heard you right. Did you really say we’re not going into work today? This from a man who works nearly seven days a week.”
“Yes, smartass. It’s Friday, and a nice long weekend sounds good. I even have Dan taking care of Noah Dalton tomorrow. I work seven days a week because I like it, and there isn’t much that holds my attention for long that isn’t work. Right now, after several days without you, you have all my attention. I got us tickets for that play you couldn’t get tickets to last month. It’s a matinee, but it’s up close.”
“I like having your attention and I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the night,” she said. “Thank you for the tickets. I’ve been hearing it’s great, and am very excited to see it. Oh, this is so good.” She nearly moaned with enjoyment. It was a spinach and goat cheese mix that wrapped around thin strips of onions and red peppers. “I had no idea you could cook.”
“I can take care of myself. In college I burned soup, but after I started to build my business I noticed I was doing way too much takeout, so I took a couple of courses. It’s nice to be able to cook more than a burger and fries.”
They ate, and Laura couldn’t help but watch him. He was so beautiful, and she still felt hot all over at his comment about her having all his attention. Paul’s attention was addictive.
When they finished, he loaded the dishwasher, refusing her help, and pointed her in the direction of the laundry room to see if her clothes were done drying. They were, and she dressed, and then frowned as she made her way back to the kitchen.
“I think I should go home and change. I don’t think this looks nice enough to wear out.”
Paul pulled her up against him, and she gasped as she looked up, caught by surprise. “You look gorgeous and just fine. The show starts in an hour, so you don’t have time. I’m just relieved you wore flats yesterday instead of the stilettos you usually wear. I always worry you’re going to break an ankle in those things.”
She wound her arms around his neck, pulled him down to her, and kissed the edge of his mouth. “I wear the stilettos because you like them. I’ve seen your dick get hard when I wear them with stockings. I also like that they bring me closer up to you.”
“Hell yes, it’s sexy as hell when you wear them, but not every day if that’s the only reason. You’ll wear the flats that make me happy and save the heels for occasional use only.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but his mouth came down on hers. Gentle and tender, his tongue caressed her and enticed her to melt against him. After the last few months he now knew her mouth as well as he knew his own, and he used it against her. Winding around him like a vine, she didn’t know where she ended and he began. When he lifted his head, the loss of him was painful.
“No arguing. You’ll do as I say.”
Lost for words, she could only nod. She put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her out the front door, but all she could think of was that kiss. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was telling her he loved her with that kiss.
***
Later that evening, as he tucked her into his car, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Today had been wonderful. After the play they’d wandered around the city, window shopping until a dress had caught his eye, and then he’d hustled her inside. She’d endured a very brief shopping trip where she put her foot down after four outfits that had still managed to cost a fortune. Per his request, she’d worn the one that had caught his eye, and they’d had dinner at a sweet little Italian restaurant. They’d talked for hours about the play and shared their favorite spots in the city.
Fully expecting for Paul to take her home, she was surprised when he pulled into his own parking spot. Hesitant to ruin the evening, she wasn’t sure how to ask him. It was a little after midnight. He couldn’t intend for her to spend the night when she was still sore from earlier.
“Paul?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I want you to spend the night—and no, I’m not an asshole and thinking we’ll be able to have sex tonight. I just want you to spend the night. I told you this afternoon—you have all my attention, and right now, I don’t want you anywhere but with me.” He got out of the car and came around to her door, and she got out with his hand on her arm. A flick of the car remote and the trunk opened, and the outfits he bought her were waiting.
Laura followed without a word. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she wasn’t going to question it. She was simply going to enjoy it.
As they prepared for bed, it felt comfortably domestic. He came into the bathroom with a wrapped toothbrush, and she couldn’t help her eyebrow lifting.
“My brother Jim and his daughter Cayce come out to visit me once a year, and no matter how often they make the trip, one or the both of them forget something important—usually around midnight, when going out for whatever it is, is way too late. I also have contact solution, tampons and panty liners, and three different types of deodorant.”
She couldn’t help her smile as he made a face about the tampons and panty liners. “Just once a year. That doesn’t sound like very often.” The words
slipped out.
“After a full week it feels like it sometimes. They come to see me for a week and I go twice a year once during the summer, and then I spend Christmas week with them in Seattle. They used to come to Chicago twice a year too, during Cayce’s spring break. But now she’s got more school activities and friends she doesn’t want to be away from. So in the last few years it’s just been once for them, and I go twice. Also, Jim isn’t happy in a plane. He has to pop an anti-anxiety pill to get up the courage just to walk into an airport.”