Page 105 of Holiday Star
I nod my assent, impressed yet again by the man’s culinary skills. I mean, seriously, is there anything hotter than a man who knows his way around a kitchen?
I think not.
“I enjoy seeing you like this,” I tell him, taking in the relaxed set of his shoulders and how his eyes turn up in the corners.
“What? Cooking for you?” he teases lightly.
“Well, yes, but it’s more than that. You look at home here, in the kitchen. Like this is the place where you can let go. Where you’re the most authentic version of you.”
He ducks his head, pleased and somehow embarrassed by what I’ve said.
I stay quiet after that, observing Caleb as he works. He hums, moving quickly from one dish to another. A few minutes later, Caleb spins to me, extending a spoonful of the sauce he’s been working on. “Try this. Tell me if it’s too salty.”
I’m sitting on the kitchen counter, my legs dangling. Doing as he asks, I take the buttery mixture into my mouth and moan softly, “Yum. Not too salty. It’s perfect.”
He moves closer, standing between my legs, nudging them aside with his hips. “I like making you moan like that,” he leans in and whispers into my ear, his voice low and sexy. His words are electric, sending a jolt of lust through my body.
“Oh, yeah?” I tip my lips up to his. Caleb’s cinnamon taste mixes with the taste of the sauce in my mouth as we kiss. It’s a delicious combination. His skilled tongue strokes mine, turning the kiss into something deeper and more desperate.
I wrap my legs around his back and lock my ankles, pulling his pelvis to me. His growing erection fits tight against my core, the contact making it ache with need.
“If you like to make me moan…then keep cooking for me,” I whisper, my voice breathy.
A chuffing laugh from him ends as I pull him in for another passion-filled kiss.
There’s a new smell mixing in. Something…burnt. Caleb swears and steps back so quickly that I end up kissing air for a second.
Once he’s moved the lightly smoking pan with the potatoes out of the oven, he wags a finger at me and warns, “If we keep this up, the food’s going to be ruined.”
“Okay.” I clasp my hands in my lap, attempting to look demure. “I’ll behave myself.”
Caleb moves back to me. He places his hands on the counter, one on each side, and leans in. He’s pure possessive confidence when he growls, “Later, when I fuck you, you better not behave.”
He’s not even touching me, and yet those words make my thighs clench so tightly that I whimper.
Oh boy. How much longer until “later?”
I keep my promise and don’t distract Caleb the rest of the time he’s cooking. It doesn’t take him long to have the meal completed. He somehow manages to have all the food finished at the same time, a trick I’ve never been able to master.
We carry the warm plates back out to the balcony.
“This looks amazing. I can’t wait to dig in,” I tell him. He holds my chair out for me and helps slide it in once I’m seated.
“Mmm. Me too.” Caleb doesn’t hide the languid gaze that he sweeps over my body, lingering on the swell of my breasts and the bare skin of my legs. “I’m starving,” he drawls with his voice low and his eyes heavy-lidded. My stomach plunges, butterflies erupting when he flashes that slow, sexy smile and murmurs seductively, “absolutely ravenous.”
69
Dinner was delicious. We climb into the back of Caleb’s limo, our date almost over. I glance to the front of the car, but our driver is hidden. The shiny black privacy divider is up, separating us from him.
“I still can’t believe you have your own limousine, like you don’t even rent it, you own it.” I half walk, half crawl over the long bench seat to join Caleb on the other side. He opens one arm so I can tuck myself in next to him. Once I’m seated, that arm settles over me like a warm blanket.
“I hardly ever use it.” His lips press a soft kiss into my temple. “Just brought it out tonight in an effort to impress you. You know, fancy and all that.” Another kiss. “Did it work? Did I impress you?”
I screw my face up, pretending to think. “Impress is an awfully strong word,” I say slowly. “I’d say that you were…adequate.”
“Adequate!” He’s mock indignant. Without warning, he scoops me up, drags me across his lap, and lays me down on the seat, stretching me out flat. He’s climbing over me, arms and legs braced along the outside of my body, wobbling as he tries not to fall off the edge of the narrow surface.
He shuffles up until our eyes are aligned. Staring down at me hungrily, Caleb growls, “I’ll show you something I’m good at, a lot better than adequate.” His mouth comes down on mine, hard and demanding.
