Page 9 of Always Be My Baby

“How the hell you manage that?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Blow job.”

I choked out a cough. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, and I have a date for Saturday night, too. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Woman…” I growled, pulling her in close, holding her against me.

Lee reached her hand up from between us to gently pat my cheek, chuckling. “Your eyes got so big, that reaction was priceless. It’s amazing how accommodating people can be when you’re nice to them.”

I glared at her. “You are so lucky I love you.”

With that, she burst out laughing. “Seriously, I looked up the price of the part he said he needed and reminded him of his per hour price, and that he’d been there for forty-five minutes and not the two hours he tried charging us for. I had proof.”

“What proof?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Oh, I had him sign a timesheet when he arrived and sign it when he said he’d finished. Apparently, this is something he does, schedules in for two hours and charges for two hours even if the job only took him fifteen minutes.”

“Damn, woman. It’s a good thing you love me because hearing you turn all brass tacks gets me hot like nothing else. It makes me not ever want to let you go and, well…” I leaned in closer for only her to hear. “I hear kidnapping is still illegal.”

She smiled one of those smiles that touched her eyes. “I am a willing participant, I assure you.”

“Good. Then I’ll make sure to keep you abreast as all the nefarious ideas concerning you come to mind.” I winked at her and she blushed, I read the thoughts going through her mind. It wasn’t hard, her eyes and that naughty blush spoke volumes. The cutest part was the moment she realized that she stood in her restaurant thinking those devilish thoughts about her and I, for all her staff and customers to see. She looked around the room quickly to see if anyone noticed. Judging by how most people tried to cover their snickers when we caught their eyes, they’d seen.

“Love you, Lee,” I said. She did one more quick glance around the room, sighed and shrugged, then tipped her head up to take my lips in a kiss that I was more than willing to give. That was one of the greatest parts about Lee, her bravery. She hated being the center of attention, but it was obvious to the both of us that it wasn’t about to change. Whether she kissed me or not, they weren’t going to stop watching, so she kissed me because she wanted to. And bonus, the new shoes she wore meant she didn’t have to go up on her tiptoes to reach my mouth.

“Do we have anything back there I can grab for lunch?” she asked as she pulled away. “I’m starved. Dealing with the HVAC guy, I didn’t get a chance to eat.”

“Let me get through my afternoon meeting with the servers and I’ll hook you up.”

“You’re too good to me, Girard Eaton. I’m liable to get a big head.”

“Not possible. Besides, fair is fair. You give me a big head every time you walk in the room.”

Then before she could swat me, I swatted her backside to get her moving. The faster I got the meeting over, the faster I could feed my woman.

Lee and I walked toward the kitchen, but I unfortunately had to stop at the service station while she continued on back to her office.

“Lee looks hot today,” Serena said, using her hips to bump mine. “You’re a lucky man.”

I smirked, bumping her back. “Don’t I know it.”

From there, we went through the specials and substitutions for a couple of items we’d run out of. We discussed any issues that arose, making sure each server felt confident suggesting the dishes in question to customers and able to, in turn, answer questions.

Confident we were all on the same page, I scooted into the kitchen to prepare Lee and myself a quick eggs benedict with avocado and sprouts. Her eyes lit up when I walked into her office carrying the two plates.

“You’re joining me?” she asked chirpily.

“Couldn’t miss lunch with the prettiest woman in Michigan, now could I?”

She tilted her chin up, pressing her lips to mine as she took her plate. “Thanks, honey,” she said, and heaven help me, while she was thinking about food, all I wanted to do was lock the door and get down to showing her how hot I actually thought she looked today.

If only she knew what I had in store for her. I couldn’t wait to go on this little adventure with her.

Marilee

We were in the middle of a mini-makeout session after finishing that delicious lunch when Lena showed up in my office clearing her throat to let us know she was there.

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