“What?” He asked in a normal voice.
“Shh!” I smacked his knee. “I heard a growl.”
“What did I say about slapping, pushing, and poking?” Still using his normal voice, as though he wanted to be eaten. Oh, well. Sometimes you had to let the stupid ones get taken out so you could get away. I patted his knee. I’d miss him.
“There’s nothing in there, at least nothing that growls.”
“Huh. I thought for sure...” I turned my attention back to the coconut-vanilla dream in my hand. I took another big bite, savoring every morsel. Something flicked my nose, and my eyes flew open. I bolted up, standing on the bottom stair. Aiden was just sitting there, his finger in his mouth.
“Jumpy much?” He motioned to the cupcake in my hand. “That is good. Can I have a bite?”
I stepped down to the ground, moving away. “No.”
“I bought them.” He actually sounded offended that I wouldn’t share.
“And you gave them to me. Ergo, ipso facto, they are mine.” I slowly opened my mouth wide, intending to cram the rest in.
“Don’t you do it!” He stood, and I bolted.
Running around the side of the house toward the ocean, I dodged a pine and hurdled over a boulder. Clearly, evasive maneuvers were required. He was not getting my cupcake. I barely made it halfway to the cliff when an arm came around my waist, snatching me out of the air. I hung off his arm, shocked, and then I shoved the rest of the cupcake into my mouth, laughing too hard to swallow.
He spun me around and started licking the cupcake from around my mouth. I stilled, swallowing awkwardly. What? Holding my face between his hands, gaze intent, he leaned forward, licking and nibbling at my mouth. My eyes drifted shut, reveling in the feeling of his lips on mine, soft and warm. When he deepened the kiss, my arms snaked around his neck and I pushed up on my toes. The heat from his hands sliding up and down my back seared.
He growled and grabbed my butt, crushing me against him. Parts I didn’t even remember, that I wasn’t sure were still in working order, jumped to attention. Damn, the man could kiss. I’d never been kissed like this before. Not once.
Too soon, I was bumped and knocked off-balance. I stared up into Aiden’s dark, lust-filled eyes. What? Bump. I looked down to find Chaucer leaning in to me, pink frosting on his nose.
“Noooooooooooo!”
Chapter Fourteen
Aiden
I didn't want to think about how much money it was going to cost to keep her in cupcakes. I flashed back to the monthly bills for Alice’s designer dress, the caterer, the ballroom. I shut down all thoughts of Katie and cupcakes. Not again.
Still, watching her eat and moan... Stop. Her divorce wasn’t even final. Her husband was planning to take the house. She probably wouldn’t be living here in a couple of months.
God, she felt so good, pressed up against me. Those little sounds she made in the back of her throat. That shocked look on her face when I’d licked the frosting off her lips...
And what the hell was with her asshole husband not letting her eat? I crushed the steering wheel in my hands.
It happened. I got it out of my system. It was done.
Hours later, after only a few reminders to get her the hell out of my head, I was driving back up Old Farm Road with dinner. I pulled up to Pops’s house, my gaze drawn in the direction of her place.
Pops walked out onto his porch. “’Bout time. I’m weak with hunger.”
Chuckling, I climbed the front steps, handing him the bag. “I thought we’d try the new vegan place.”
He stopped in his tracks, staring at me.
“What? It just opened. And I heard it was good.” I went inside, dropping my coat on the back of the couch. “Are we eating in here? I want to watch the game.”
Pops was still standing on the porch. “Boy, you better be kidding.”
I walked into his kitchen, leaving him outside. When I came back a few minutes later with a couple of beers, he was in the living room opening the boxes, finding burgers, fries, buffalo wings. I think I might have ordered nachos, too. I hadn’t had time for lunch and was starving.
We sat side by side, watching football and eating silently. The silence had never seemed odd before. There was nothing to say, other than the occasional groan over a pathetic play, but after spending time listening to Katie chat away, the silence seemed strangely oppressive.
