Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
The corner of his mouth rose into a sexy half smile. “No, baby, I would not go if you asked me not to. This relationship is based on trust and honesty. If you asked me not to go, I’d honor that. But I do think we should invite him here.”
I pulled in a deep breath and held it for a moment before I slowly let it out. With each second of breath leaving my body, I allowed everything that Tanner was saying to absorb into me. “I’ll call him tonight and invite him to visit.”
A wide smile erupted across his face.
I held up my hand. “Don’t get your hopes up, Tanner. He’s a busy man, and I don’t think I’ve ever known him to just drop everything and leave town, unless it was work related.”
He winked and then pulled me into him so that I was forced to wrap my legs around his body. “I have a feeling you’re wrong on this one.”
“Oh, really?” I said as I pressed my mouth to his. Tanner lifted me off the counter and started walking down the hall to our bedroom.
With a laugh, I drew back from his mouth and asked, “Where are you going?”
“To our room, to make love to you.”
My body ached instantly for him. “What about dinner?”
“Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours. I can be fast when I need to be.”
I sat on the front porch and stared out at the lake. It was cold outside, but I was bundled up and warmed still from Tanner making love to me earlier.
My eyes closed, and I drifted back to his mouth moving slowly over me. His hands had explored my body like it was the first time he’d ever seen me naked. The words he’d whispered in my ear made my entire body shiver, and it wasn’t from the cold air.
“Hungry?” Tanner asked as he stood next to me on the porch.
I stood and smiled as I made my way over to him and back into the house. “Starving!”
Tanner had made lasagna, and boy howdy, did my man know how to cook.
“I’ll grab the salad,” I said.
“I made a lemon vinaigrette that’s in the fridge.”
Pausing, I looked in the refrigerator and shook my head. “What, you just whipped up a vinaigrette while I was on the porch?”
He laughed. “It wasn’t hard…remember, I had a good teacher when it comes to cooking.”
That I had no doubt believing.
“After dinner, I have a little surprise for you.”
I set the salad and dressing on the table and smiled up at him. “Really? Do I get any hints?”
“No, you have to wait and see.”
I pushed my lip out into a pout, and Tanner laughed. He placed the lasagna down on the table, and then started to cut us each a piece while I held out the plates. “Not even one hint?”
“No, not even one hint, and stop pouting. All it does is turn me on and make me want to push everything off the table and take you right here.”
My lip drew in, and I gently bit down on it as I tried to ignore the way my lower stomach pulled with desire at the mental picture Tanner had painted. “That would be a shame since you spent so much time making this delicious meal.”
He winked. “It’s a sacrifice I’d be willing to make. We can always have frozen pizza.”
I laughed and shook my head as I used the tongs to put salad on each of our plates.
I took one bite of the lasagna and let out a long, soft moan. Tanner grinned. “I take it you like it?”
“Like it? Tanner, this is amazing!”
“It’s the homemade ragu. It’s a recipe my mother got from her friend Tina. She’s Italian and makes some of the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“I love authentic Italian food, and I can honestly say I haven’t had a sauce this good ever before!” I replied before I shoved another forkful in my mouth.
“Word of warning, don’t ever tell Tina you’re eating jar from a sauce. She’ll drag you into the kitchen to cook up a pot of ragu on the spot, then send you home hours later with jars of it. Each time she converts a jar sauce lover to fresh ragu, she says she’s doing the Lord’s work.”
I closed my eyes and moaned again as I let each spice from the homemade ragu settle in my mouth.
Tanner and I spent the rest of our meal in a comfortable silence. I knew he was leaving me to my thoughts about my father. A part of me knew that what Tanner said made sense. Maybe all those years of distance was my father’s own mechanism for keeping himself from being hurt again. It still didn’t make it right. I would never be able to get back all the moments I wished my father had been there for me.