Page 32 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 8
He laughed. “I was more talking about the artistic nature of it. Honestly, Rodin didn’t quite capture my essence. Made my bulge too small.”
My eyes gravitated to the crotch of the statue. His naughty bits were covered by a cloth skirt, but there was still a pretty impressive bulge. If the real thing was bigger than that, then I was in for a treat. But not until I helped him break his curse.
Which reminded me…there was work to do. And food to eat.
“Where’s the kitchen?” I asked, holding up the takeout bag.
He pointed through an archway on the far side of the foyer. “Right through there. I’m gonna go change, but I’ll be right back.” He gave me a quick kiss and then ran up the stairs.
I walked through the archway and into the kitchen. It was attached to a massive great room with a sweeping view of Central Park. I’d never seen such a beautiful view of the city before. For a few seconds, I just stared.
I thought I heard a noise, but when I spun around, Tanner wasn’t there. Just his beautiful kitchen. I set the takeout bags down on the granite countertop and started searching the kitchen for some plates and utensils. But with how many cabinets there were, it felt like a freaking treasure hunt. One was filled with pots and pans. Another was a baker’s paradise - flour, powdered sugar, bread pans, cake pans, sprinkles... And on mythird try I opened the fridge. The fridge! What was it doing disguised as a cabinet?
“Where are your plates?” I called into the cavernous great room.
“One sec,” yelled Tanner, but by the time his voice reached me it was little more than a whisper.
How big is this place?
After checking all the uppers, I tried the floor length cabinet next to the double ovens. I’d thought the secret refrigerator would be the most ridiculous part of the kitchen. But nope…I was wrong. Because this cabinet was actually a secret entrance to a spiral staircase.
What the hell is down here?I leaned in and peered down the staircase. It was pretty dark, but I thought I could see some shelves of wine.
Eh, I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine.
And I really wanted to explore. I looked over my shoulder, but Tanner was still missing. It was his fault that I was snooping. He hadn’t given me a proper tour.
The temperature dropped a good ten degrees as I descended the spiral staircase into a wine cellar that would not at all have been out of place in a Tuscan vineyard. It was so authentic that for a second I even thought I heard people in the distance speaking Italian.
I scanned the walls in hopes of finding a box of my favorite Deep Red Blend, but of course there were no $14.99 boxes of wine here. It was all bottles and casks. I couldn’t imagine what he needed full casks of wine for, or how he had gotten them up here, but whatever. Having casks of wine wasn’t nearly as extra as his dragon slaying statue.
What goes well with gochujang chicken nuggets?I was pretty sure white wine was supposed to be paired with chicken, so I grabbed a bottle of white and headed back up to the kitchen to continue my search for plates and utensils. Eventually I found them both and started plating.
I was halfway done scooping out the rice when Tanner wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Plating dinner,” I said.
“I can see that.” His breath was hot on my neck.
“I know it’s weird to put takeout on real plates. But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. I mean, do you really want to eat out of something that was just manhandled by some rando? If some dude came in here and touched all your plates, you’d wash them before using them. So the same principle applies to…”
“You don’t have to convince me,” said Tanner. “I’m not a barbarian - I would never eat takeout out of the container when perfectly good plates are available.”
Was he serious right now?!Yeah, I’d definitely found my soul mate. “Then why’d you ask what I was doing?”
“Because that bottle of wine you chose is worth $15,000.”
“Oh…”
“I’m joking. That vintage is only like $1000. But seriously, don’t plate the food yet. I don’t want it to get cold.”
“Huh? That doesn’t make sense…”
In one motion, Tanner spun me and hoisted me onto the counter. His lips were on mine in a second. He grabbed my ass and slid me to the edge of the counter, my legs spreading as his torso pressed against mine. My skirt definitely would have torn if it wasn’t so short. Instead, it just rode up even higher.
“Aren’t you hungry?” I was somehow able to say between kisses.
