Page 64 of Good as Gold
“You must be hungry, though. I’m a terrible hostess.”
I raise an eyebrow at that. “Actually, I disagree.”
She laughs.
“The food is right in the kitchen, yeah? How about I make you a plate?” I punctuate this thought with a kiss to her neck.
Wait, is that allowed now that we’re done?
“That would be nice.” She runs a lazy hand down my chest, and it feels fantastic. So I guess the little bubble we’re in tonight hasn’t burst yet. Though I’m afraid that the moment I get out of this bed, it will.
Not bothering with clothes, I reluctantly rise and pad into her kitchen. I unpack the food. It’s from Pim’s Noodle Shop, which is unfamiliar to me. It smells amazing. There’s a big portion of pad Thai and a green curry with rice.
I put each of our plates in the microwave for thirty seconds, and I refresh Leila’s lemonade glass before carrying her dinner into the bedroom.
When I arrive, Leila clutches the sheet to her chest and sits up against the headboard.
Oh man. The sight of her looking rumpled and well fucked makes my cock stir. “Thank you,” she says, her voice husky. And I can’t help but notice the trip her gaze takes down my body and back up again.
“I parked behind the building,” I say suddenly.
“Mmm?” she drags her eyes off my body.
“My rental car. I hid it. So I can spend the night, and nobody will really notice.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks pink up. “Good idea. Aren’t you eating, too?”
I go back to the kitchen for my own plate, and together we have dinner in bed.
She gives me a sideways glance, and I can tell she’s overthinking things again.
“What?” I demand. “I can hear your gears turning from here.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “This is nice. I mean, eating takeout together.”
“Well, yeah. We’ve done that before. It’s just that we’re not usually naked.”
She bites her lip and then changes the topic. “What’s the restaurant scene like in Aspen? I bet it’s better than here.”
“Well, sure. But they’re feeding literally the richest, pickiest people in the world. I’ve had some amazing meals. Lots of food I can’t even pronounce. But the downside is you don’t even want to try to eat out in Aspen on a big holiday weekend. There are weeks when the town is so overrun with tourists that it’s better just staying home.”
“Ah.” She tucks a noodle into her mouth and licks her lips.
My tired dick twitches again.
“The locals party on Sunday nights and Monday nights. Even after Sean settled down with Cara, that was still our time to eat out or hit the bars.”
“Fascinating.” She smiles. “Tell me the truth—it’s fun to spot celebrities, right?”
“I guess? They’re just people, though. Once I was finishing up at a urinal when this guy unzips next to me. And I’m, like, that’s the cop on CSI.”
She laughs. “And what’s the town like?”
“Beautiful. Little old buildings, just like in a cowboy movie, with the mountains shooting up right at the end of the street. But the younger people who work in town can’t afford to live nearby anymore. Sean and Cara bought a little house seven years ago, and I was worried that they overpaid. But that place is worth two million now.”
“That’s got to ease her mind,” Leila says.
“Yeah, but she’s got a mortgage, and her daughter needs to stay in the school district another year. She can’t sell…” These are things I worry about in the darkest part of the night. “They had a life insurance policy, but it was small, because we’re expensive to insure.”
