Page 81 of Bartholomew
“Ollie, do you think this is enough food for tonight?” Delilah called from the kitchen, pulling my thoughts back to the present. My brothers were coming over for dinner tonight, Ruth included, and Delilah had been bustling around the house since dawn under the guise of ‘readying the house’. She had spent the entire day cleaning the house from top to bottom as though the house wasn’t already spotless. But it gave her a purpose, I supposed.
I made my way to the kitchen, breathing in the smell of something delicious.
“Whatever you’ve made smells incredible. I’m sure there will be enough, dear,” I explained. Turning the corner into the kitchen, I saw she had made not one, but three casserole dishes full of something. “Is that lasagna?” I asked, my mouth watering.
“It is, and the garlic bread will go into the oven as soon as our guests arrive,” she explained. I peeked over her shoulder, watching her spread thick layers of seasoned butter between the slits in the bread she had made.
“I’m sorry, is that homemade bread, too?” I was nearly whining, salivating like a fool at the incredible meal she had made. She simply nodded, and I kissed her neck.
“Ollie, stop that,” she giggled, squirming away from my kisses.
“Never. I need to shower my incredible wife with love and praise, especially after she’s concocted such a feast for us.” There was that word again. It seemed to be making its way into my vernacular more and more often. Was that a sign? Did that mean that what I was feeling was, in fact, love?
I shook the thought from my head, not ready to ponder on it any longer this evening. We had family coming over and I needed to focus my attention there. The plan was to corner Malachi regarding his own plans of marriage. We needed to get him on board with a marriage, and quickly. This plan needed to get moving. He’d been nothing but reluctant thus far and, at least, Levi and I were tiring of it.
“I could marry you all over again for this meal alone,” I complimented her, searching for a fork to take a bite before our guests arrived.
“Bartholomew Temple! Keep your hands off the dinner until our guests are here and dinner is being plated. Neanderthal,” she scolded, smacking my hand as I opened the silverware drawer.
“Your Neanderthal,” I corrected, pulling her to me and planting a kiss soundly on those luscious lips of hers.
The doorbell rang, alerting us to our guests’ arrival.
“Saved by the bell, darling,” I teased.
“Oh? And what would you have done, anyway?” That bratty attitude of hers kept me on my toes, and I craved it. I loved that sass. I swatted her squarely on the ass, making her jump, and utter an adorable little yip of a noise.
“There would have been more where that came from, firefly,” I threatened with a smirk. She rolled her eyes, making me want to pull her out of the kitchen and bend her over my knee until I turned her ass cherry red and had her pussy gushing down her thighs. Fuck, I needed to taste her again. Maybe I could convince her to put that on our own private dessert menu later tonight.
I left her there in the kitchen, finishing the garlic bread as I answered the door.
“Hello, brothers,” I greeted, seeing all four of my brothers and my sister-in-law standing on the front porch.
“Let us in, it’s freezing out here,” Malachi grouched, his face already set in its perma-scowl.
“Nice to see you, too, Kai.” I rolled my eyes, letting them all into my home.
“Where is Delilah? I bought something for her,” Ruth stated, her face flushed red with the chilly night air.
“She’s in the kitchen, finishing up dinner,” I explained, wrapping her up in a big hug. I really did like her so much better than my brothers. Though, truth be told, Levi was much more fun to be around now that she was in the picture.
We all made our way to the dining room, Ruth joining Delilah in the kitchen.
“So, Malachi, have you decided to take Mother and Father up on the proposal?” Levi asked.
“Fuck, bro. We aren’t even sitting down yet,” I complained. For as smart as the fucker was, my brother could sure be a dumbass. “Maybe ease into it?’’ I suggested, rolling my eyes in annoyance.
“Or he could just fuck right the hell off,” Malachi grumbled.
“Calm down, Kai,” Ruth chastised, coming into the dining room with a steaming plate of garlic bread. Delilah followed directly after her, placing one of the casserole dishes onto the center of the table.
“Lasagna?” Zeke asked, perking up at the delicious smell wafting from the center of the table.
“Yes, lasagna,” Delilah confirmed with a smile.
“I hope you made more because lasagna goes fast with us brothers,” Gideon teased, his fork already in hand. I had to roll my eyes. It was true, the fastest way to my brothers’ hearts was through their stomach. A fact Delilah seemed to know before ever having met them.
“That’s why I made three of them,” Delilah smirked with a wink.
