“That smells amazing.”
“I hope it tastes amazing, too.”
“I didn’t know you cooked.”
“I like cooking. It’s cathartic.” He turns back to his task, and I can’t help watching him. He has a great ass and the apron he’s wearing is sexy as fuck.
“At least let me set the table,” I offer.
“Fine, dishes are over there.” He points to a cabinet and I set to work.
Chapter Eighteen
Kent
Tabitha…there’s something about her. She’s different but in a good way. I would never have thought about approaching her at a bar, she’s not my normal type. Yet, she’s unleashed something in me, something I haven’t felt in years. It hits me suddenly that this woman…is like my muse. Hell, maybe she’s more than that. She’s thrown me completely off-balance. Shit, maybe I just needed my world flipped upside down. I need her at my games. I feel foolish, more foolish than I did in middle school when I asked my first girlfriend out.
“Tabby?”
“Yeah?” she calls out from my dining room.
“Will you come to my games this week?”
Her head pops around the corner. “Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Thanks.”
We work in silence as I finish the meal. It’s comfortable silence, the type I seldom get even with family. Who am I kidding? My family is never silent. I smile at that thought.
“Whatcha thinking about over there?” Tabby asks as she pulls a serving dish out of my cabinet and sets it on the counter. She looks so…carefree, which I know she’s not. Damn, I haven’t even been thinking about everything she needs to be doing with her studio.
I shake my head. “Just thinking about my family. Hey, do you need help with anything?”
Tabby raises an eyebrow, and I chuckle. “I mean, you lost a lot of stuff in the fire. Have you replaced it? Did you get a check yet form your insurance company? What can I do to help?”
She places her hand on my arm, and I freeze.
“Whoa there, big fella. It’s all under control. I’m used to taking care of myself, so don’t worry your pretty little head.”
“Big fella?”
She shrugs and looks up at me. “I mean, look at you.” She motions up and down my body.
“Pretty little head?”
She grins and pats my cheek. “You’re pretty and you know it.” She spins around and walks back into my dining room, and I watch her luscious ass sway as she goes.
I put the spoon down and follow her. What am I doing?
Before I can answer my internal monologue, she swivels around and nearly runs into me.
“Oh!” she squeaks before I take her face in my hands and lean down to kiss her. She doesn’t move at first. Her body tenses and I don’t know if it’s from surprise or because I just overstepped my boundary.
I pull back and look down at her.
“I…I’m sorry, shit, no I’m not. I’ve been wanting to do that for a few days now.”
She bites her lip and sucks in a breath. “No…it’s OK. I…was just surprised, that’s all.” She looks up at me. “Do it again.”