Page 48 of Wild Tides
My phone buzzed as I finished pulling the potatoes, broth, and cheese from my shopping bag. I tugged my phone from my back pocket.
Lee: Interested in some kitchen help?
The offer was pure Lee – gruff on the outside, soft beneath. He wanted to be part of my world, even in something as ordinary as dinner.
Vi: If you’re up for it.
Dr. Underwood didn’t want him overdoing it on his ankle. But selfishly, I didn’t want to cook alone tonight. I wanted him beside me, even if all he did was supervise.
His kitchen offered ample evidence that he rarely cooked. Mostly protein bars and quick-fix meals. While it was the opposite of how I’d been raised, part of me could understand. It was too much effort to cook just for me. I loved cooking for others. It was one reason I kept replacing roommates. Living alone was never for me. Not after growing up surrounded by love, my siblings, and my Gran.
Lee knocked on the sliding door before poking his head in. “It’s just me. If you’re cooking naked, don’t cover up for my sake.”
“Wishful thinking, Murphy.”
He leaned against the entryway between the kitchen and living room, arms crossed over his broad chest. No boot and bare feet. He’d showered and changed since I saw him this morning, neatly trimming his beard. The scent of his soap wafted toward me. Only the overpowering aroma of the bacon in my frying pan kept me from floating toward him like a besotted cartoon. Lee Murphy couldget it.
His blue eyes crinkled at the corners. Maybe he saw the edge of lust in my eyes.
I cleared my throat. “Did you come here to stare or to work?”
“Honestly? To stare. But at the risk of getting booted from your kitchen if I don’t make myself useful, I’m happy to help.”
“Charmer.”
“Tell me where you want me.” A hint of challenge broadened his smile. He knew exactly what he was doing. Tempting me. Good kitchen hygiene kept me from asking for what I really wanted: him on his knees. I cleared my throat again, reaching for a glass of water at my elbow.
“If you want to take over for me at the stove, I can start cutting potatoes.”
He prowled forward, his gaze locked on mine. Each step deliberate. A buzz like a drunken bee zoomed around haphazardly, knocking against my ribs, filling my chest as I stood my ground. In the kitchen, I was Queen.
He slid around me, his bulk caging me against the stove. His body just brushed mine, but it was enough to make me feel like he’d kicked the hive inside. Flicking off the stove and tugging him back to my bedroom sounded much better than finishing dinner. His hands landed on my hips, his thumbs rubbinginto the tight muscles in my lower back. He leaned down and whispered, “Just tell me what you need.”
Dammit. If I gave in to what I really needed, dinner would be late.
“We don’t have time.”
He seemed to catch the direction of my thoughts. Maybe because he’d already stroked his hands from my hips over my thighs with gentle pressure, his fingers dangerously close to my center.
“I can be quick,” he offered quietly, dropping a lingering kiss on my neck. Heat raced down my spine. My fingers fumbled, dropping the knife onto the cutting board.
His lips against my soft skin melted me like butter in a hot pan. I could feel the will to finish dinner before our friends arrived dissolve into a puddle. Fuck it.
I stepped to the stove, turning it off before shoving Lee gently backward toward my bedroom. “You have ten minutes.”
Lee’s grin broadened, the sheer delight in every line of his handsome face making want to give twenty. “Challenge accepted.”
He scooped me up, tossing me over one big shoulder with a soft slap to my ass. A laugh burst from me, cut off abruptly as he kicked my bedroom door closed behind us and dropped me onto my bed.
“Your ankle,” I chided, concerned that carrying me was too much for his still-healing body.
“I’m fine,” he said.
Wasting no time, he unsnapped and shucked my jeans off, removing my underwear in one rough motion before dropping his own in a puddle around his ankles. Naked from the waist down should have been awkward, but any thoughts of how silly we looked fled as he dove for my thighs, urging them apart.
“Do we need to set a timer?” he muttered, stroking soft hands from my knees over my quads. He pinned me in place with the heat in his gaze. Greedy and sure. His confidence only made me more eager to take everything he was offering. I quivered, already wet.
“I trust you,” I bit out, arching toward him.
