Page 52 of Dangers of Love

Twenty-Nine

Eoin

Since I didn’t get backto my place – that still sounded strange to me – until close to noon, I wasn’t surprised to hear Aline when I opened the door. I was, however, surprised to see that she was in the kitchen, standing in front of my stove and stirring a pot of…something.

“I’m almost afraid to ask what’s in there,” I said as I set my papers and my bag down on the counter. “I didn’t think I had anything pot-worthy. Mostly frozen dinners and stuff I could grill.”

The smile she gave distracted me for a moment from the fact that she was wearing one of my shirts. Unsurprisingly, it was pretty much a dress on her, the bottom only a couple inches above her knee. My dick perked up at the thought of what she was – or wasn’t – wearing underneath, but I wasn’t going to give in to the urge to take her right here on the counter. I didn’t know how she was feeling this morning, and her well-being was more important than me being horny.

I filed the idea of fucking in the kitchen as something to do at some point in our future.

“I can’t take any credit for it,” she said as she turned back to the pot and continued stirring. “About fifteen minutes ago, one of your neighbors stopped by to introduce himself and brought you some homemade chicken noodle soup. Like the noodles are homemade too. I couldn’t turn that down.”

I didn’t like that she was usingyourandyou, but I supposed it would take a bit to get used to sayingourandus. Hell, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it. But that wasn’t what I wanted to talk about at the moment.

“And would this neighbor happen to be an elderly gentleman without any interest in his definitely taken neighbor?” My tone was teasing, but my stomach had clenched at the thought of her being here alone when a strange man knocked on the door. What if he had been some Ted Bundy type? Shit like that happened.

“No, Kevin looks like he’s about your age.” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “But I got the impression that his husband is closer to mine since he mentioned Landon being a student at UCLA.”

I relaxed, though it was more because of the ‘married’ thing rather than him having a husband. Just because he was with another guy didn’t mean he was only into men. Then again, there were plenty of married serial killers, and sexuality didn’t really mean shit either when it came to stuff like that since–

“Are you okay?”

Aline’s concerned question cut through my thoughts, and I realized I’d been heading down a dangerous spiral. I gave myself a mental shake.

“Of course.” I gestured to the bag I’d brought in. “I picked us up some Christmas cookies at a bakery on my way back.”

Her entire face lit up, and she ran over to me, jumping up to wrap her arms around my neck. I caught her automatically, a thrill going through me at the complete trust she had that I’d catch her. She planted a kiss on my cheek and squeezed me tight.

“I love Christmas cookies!”

I chuckled at her enthusiasm and barely managed to resist sliding my hands under her shirt to see if she was as bare as she felt. Instead, I used the opportunity to ask a question. “Does that mean you’re feeling okay?”

She slid down my body, and I sucked in a breath as her feet touched the floor, the shirt riding up to show that, no, she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

Fuck.

“I am,” she said. “In fact, I’m actually hungry. Should we find out if the soup tastes as good as it smells?”

I pressed my lips to her forehead. “That sounds perfect.”

As we moved around each other to fill our own bowls, she nudged me with her elbow. “What did you leave at work?”

“Oh, my health and life insurance stuff.” I waved a hand toward the envelope on the counter. “The way Cain has everything set up, even though we’re not married yet, I can put you on my health insurance because of the baby. I wasn’t sure what sort of coverage you had and figured even if you had insurance, having a secondary policy wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“That’s…yes, thank you.” She frowned.

“Should I have not done that?” I asked, working to keep my voice casual. I was so out of my depth here.

She smiled but still looked distracted. “No, that’s not it. Thank you for thinking of it because I hadn’t. Freedom and I have always had insurance through our parents’ policy because we were both single and in college, but I hadn’t thought about whether or not I was still covered after graduation.”

“Didn’t you need to have insurance to go to Iran? I’d think that Neutral Ground would make that a requirement.”

“And that would be why I’m frustrated with myself,” she said with a sigh. “I went to the hospital right after we got back and then went to see Dr. Rhimes last week. Neither time did I even consider that I might not have insurance.”

She made a frustrated sound, and I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it. I know what it’s like to suddenly make a major life change when life throws a curveball or two. No one can prepare for everything.”

This time when she smiled, it looked a little happier. “Thanks.”

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