I could feel him trusting me more and more. And I knew I was falling hard for the man. It was scary how much I thought about him. How much I genuinely cared for him—that was something that was new to me.
His feelings and his state of mind had suddenly become a top priority to me. And I knew I would do whatever I had to for him to feel comfortable at all times with me.
After showering and dressing in some shorts and a T-shirt, I headed to Ashton’s room to knock on his door. “Are you up and ready to make breakfast, Ashton?”
He opened the door with a smile on his handsome face. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt too, he and I matched perfectly. “I am. I was just waiting for you to let me know you were ready.”
We headed downstairs to the kitchen to see what kinds of supplies were available to us. “Are you a good cook, Ashton?”
His wide shoulders shrugged. “I’m not sure. No one has told me that I am. But then again, I haven’t cooked for anyone else in a while, only myself. I like the food I make though.”
I found it a little sad that he hadn’t cooked for anyone. “At my apartment, we generally only cook when we want to. When we do want to, we cook enough for all of us. I haven’t made anything for breakfast in a long time. But breakfast isn’t hard to make anyway.”
I was singing a different tune as soon as we walked into the gourmet kitchen—I was in over my head and knew it immediately. I spun around in a circle. “Ashton, I don’t even know where the fridge is.”
“These rich people’s houses have appliances configured right into the walls.” He found the fridge, which was the same color of the wood-paneled wall, and opened it. “See?”
The next thing that had me befuddled was the range. “And how about that thing? Can you work it? There’re so many burners and knobs, it looks like you would need a college degree just to cook on it.”
His lips pulled up to one side as he looked it over. “Ah. We’ll get the hang of it. Come on, let’s decide what we’re going to make. We’ve got eggs.” He handed me the carton, and I placed them on the island countertop.
“I wonder if they have stuff for us to make pancakes,” I said as I began to push on the wall to see if I could find some hidden cabinets somewhere. I found a pantry full of food. Next to it was another area, where all kinds of fancy cookware and cooking devices were kept. “Holy hell, being rich means you’ve got everything in the world at your fingertips.” I spotted a Belgian waffle maker and grabbed it, taking it back out to the kitchen.
Ashton had taken out milk, cheeses, some cream, and all kinds of jellies and jams. “Oh, a waffle maker. I like waffles better than pancakes. Glad you found that, Nina.”
“What I didn’t find was waffle mix. But there were all the ingredients in there to make up some batter.” I pulled out my cell to look up a recipe. “Flour, sugar, baking powder, you name it, they’ve got it. Now to find a recipe. For the record, I like waffles better too.”
“I’m thinking waffles, scrambled eggs.” Ashton reached back in the fridge, pulling out a package of bacon and a tube of breakfast sausage. “Which one, bacon or sausage?”
“Well, to be honest, I can’t cook bacon to save my life.” I was terrible with the stuff. “I love it, but I always burn the hell out of it.”
“I cook it in the oven, and it always comes out perfect.” He smiled at me then tossed the sausage to me. “Can you make some sausage patties then?”
“I can do that.” I caught the package of breakfast meat and placed it next to the waffle ingredients. “I think two types of meat and two entrees is plenty for us all. Don’t you?”
“You bet.” He went to the oven, which was built into the wall. After studying it for a moment, he pushed some buttons, and it began to heat up. “Now to find a cookie sheet and a bowl to mix the eggs in.”
Jerking my head to the hidden room of cooking utensils, I said, “In there. Everything you could ever need is in that little room off the back of the pantry.”
His awe was obvious as he went into the deluxe pantry. “Holy crap!”
“I know, right.” I laughed as I thought about how someone who was used to have so many things at their disposal would survive with the few items I had at my apartment.
When he came back, he had a weird looking copper pan with a rack built into it. “You will never guess what I found in there, Nina.”
“If you’re talking about the thing in your hand, you’re right. I couldn’t possibly guess what that thing is called or what it’s used for.” I looked the thing over as he sat it on the countertop.
“Watch this.” He took the bacon out of the package, then laid it in strips over the raised rack. “Tada! This will turn out even better than the way I make it at home.” He went to the sink to wash his hands, which I noted with appreciation.
A man who knows his way around a kitchen and knows when to wash his hands is my kind of man.
“What do you call that thing?” I wanted to know because I was going to buy him one the next time there was a reason to give presents. If it wasn’t out of my price range.
“I don’t know,” he said as he looked at it. “A bacon rack maybe.”
Taking a quick picture of it with my cell, I gave my excuse, “I’ll ask social media. Someone out there will know.”
Ashton went on to his next task of finding a bowl to mix the eggs in. He came out with three different kinds of syrups. “You can put these out with your waffles.”
“Did you see any whipped cream in the fridge?” I found a measuring cup and put some flour in it. “I’d like to have that available for the waffles too. Oh, and fresh fruit too. Was there any of that in there?”
“There were some strawberries. But I didn’t see any whipped cream.” He looked at the pint of cream he’d put on the countertop. “I can make some sweet cream out of that, though.”
He was a good cook. “Can you really?”
With a nod, he smiled. “I can. So, you get those strawberries and cut them up, and I’ll make the cream.”
“We’re a pretty good team, I think.” I moved past him to get to the fridge to find him briefly blocking my way while he gave me a peck on the cheek.
“I agree.”
All I could do was smile like an idiot as I kept on moving, not wanting our first kiss to be interrupted by the sound of the oven dinging or people coming to eat.
But he had me in a whirlwind of emotions and feelings.
My hands trembled as I took the strawberries out and placed them on the counter. “The knives,” I said as I looked around the room.
Ashton turned around then came right toward me. He stopped right in front of me, putting one hand around me. Our faces were so close, I could feel his warm breath on my lips. Then he brought his hand back with a small knife in it. “Here ya go.”
As quick as he came to me, he was gone. And I was breathless and damp in some very interesting places.
I tried to think of some way I could return the favor. I spied an outlet near him where I could plug in the waffle maker. Picking it up, I walked over to the outlet. The oven dinged. Ashton grabbed the rack of bacon and walked away.
Quickly, I abandoned that idea, plugging the waffle maker in where it made more sense. Near where I was working.
“Did you happen to see a mixer when you were back there?” he asked me as he walked toward the pantry.
“The only one I saw was that huge red thing that had its own table back there.” I tried to think of the name I’d seen on it. “The Kitchen something or other.”
“Oh, yeah,” he called out. “I see it. Damn, that’s going to be a bitch to clean.”
“Not to worry, Ashton. We won’t be the ones cleaning up. Their maid will.”
He popped his head out to look at me. “No way. We get to cook, and there’s no cleaning involved?” He looked positively stoked. “What a win for us! I’d cook way more often and try a lot of different things if I didn’t have to clean up afterward.”
A little smile moved o
ver my lips. I could just imagine us in the future, him doing the cooking, me doing the cleaning. An even trade that he and I could both live with, if we were ever able to move things further. “I don’t mind cleaning. It’s the cooking that’s the real chore to me. I actually find it relaxing to wash dishes in hot soapy water.”
“Shut up!” He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “I swear you can read my mind. Come clean with me already, Nina. This is too much.”
“Don’t be silly. I know you’re exaggerating.” I pulled open a drawer and found a wire whisk. “Here, you can use this to stir those eggs.” I tossed it to him.
He caught it and winked at me. “We really do make a great team, don’t we?”
“I think so.” With a skip in my step, I thought everything was going so well. I headed to the pantry to get some cooking spray and tripped over my own feet. “Shit!” I was headed to the floor, face first.
A pair of strong hands grabbed me by the waist. “Whoa.” Ashton pulled me back up as he chuckled with his deep voice. “Getting a little tangled up in yourself there, aren’t ya?”
I couldn’t take in any air. His hands on my waist, his body right behind mine, it was all too much. My senses were on overload. My mouth began to water, my lips tingled. This was it.
He was going to turn me in his arms, and we were going to have our first kiss.
I just knew it!
His lips brushed against my neck. “Nina ...”
Laughter came trickling into the kitchen. The others were up and just about to walk in.
Well, damn!
Chapter Ten
Ashton
I was going to kiss her. I had her in my arms; my lips were on her neck. And then they showed up.
Never in my life had I been so disappointed to see my friends.
And with their arrival, and their eyes on us, our great teamwork in the kitchen came to an end. It was a fiasco with them watching us. I dropped the eggs, Nina overfilled the waffle maker, making a huge mess on the countertop that Julia told us not to worry about.
All I really wanted was for them to leave us alone.
And as we placed the burnt bacon, the chewy waffles, and the unsweetened cream that tasted like crap on the buffet table, I knew Nina could be the one for me.
Well, the other one for me.
I had found true love once, and now it seemed I was being offered a second chance.
As we sat at the breakfast table, barely eating the meal we’d had such great hopes for until it all went awry, Nina took all the ridicule right along with me. “Yeah, yeah,” she said to them all. “It was going well until you four showed up. That’s all I can tell you. Right, Ashton?”
With a nod, I agreed. “It was going well.” I cut my eyes to look at Nina, who was suddenly blushing.
I knew she was remembering the near-kiss we’d almost shared. I knew she would’ve kissed me right back. There was a tablecloth hiding us from the waist down, so I moved my hand over her knee and felt goosebumps pepper her satin-smooth skin. It made my dick hard, simply touching her like that.
Nina made me feel like a whole man again. I’d lost that man. But she had found him, somehow.
I had no idea how she had managed to punch through all the armor that surrounded my heart to set it free again, but she had. And I was ready to let it all down.
Artimus had planned out all of our time for our last day. “We’ve got shopping at the local markets next on our itinerary. And don’t even think about saying you don’t have any extra money to spend.”
Nina was quick to say, “I really don’t, Artimus. I can just stay here while you guys go. Or I can go and just window shop, I guess. I don’t really like window shopping, though. It’s like, when I have money, I can’t find anything I want. When I don’t have any, I find so much that I want.”
“I’ll stay here with her. I don’t need anything, and I hate to buy things I don’t need.” I was just making any excuse I could to get to be alone with her again.
Julia had brought a bag with her, and it was near her feet under the table. “We’ve gotten you all some little gifts to say thank you for being our guests for the weekend.” She put a small pink bag in front of the ladies and small black bags in front of Duke and myself. “Go ahead. See what we’ve given you guys. You know you’re our very best friends in the whole world.”
Lila whined, “I feel bad now, you guys. We didn’t give you anything. We would’ve brought wine and a cheeseboard, but you have much better wine than we could buy anyway.”
“And cheese,” Duke added.
Artimus stepped in. “Don’t even think about that. You gave us the pleasure of your company for the entire weekend. You could’ve done anything you wanted to, and you chose to spend it with us. Now enjoy what we’ve given you and stop making a fuss.”
Nina nudged me in the ribs with her elbow. “Thank you, guys. This is an unexpected and very nice surprise.”
“Yeah, thanks, Artimus, Julia.” I gave them my thanks, with Nina’s urging, even though I didn’t think they needed to give us anything. “Just being your friend is enough for me, but the present is appreciated.”
Lila peeked into her bag. “What’s in here?”
Duke reached into his bag then pulled out a bottle of 80-year-old scotch. “Whoa!”
“Keep digging,” Artimus coached him.
I watched as Nina and Lila each pulled out bottles of rare and very expensive bottles of wine. And when I pulled out the largest gift of mine, I found the most expensive bourbon money could buy.
The girls got some jewelry; Lila, emeralds, Nina, sapphires. Duke and I got watches. And at the very bottom of the bag were prepaid Visa cards. The holders they came in told us there was 5000 dollars on each card.
“Shut up!” I shouted as I stood up.
I didn’t bother holding back; I went to Artimus and hugged him, then picked Julia up and swung her around as she yelped, “Ashton Lange!”
Everyone followed suit, hugging and thanking our hosts for everything, including the fun-filled weekend. And we all told them how they didn’t have to do that every time we came for a visit.
So, with money in hand, how could we not go along with our hosts to the markets?
That meant that alone time with Nina would have to wait once again, and that I’d have to keep my hands more or less to myself. It didn’t feel right to make any move, other than holding her hand as we walked around the shops.
Her hand moved over a gorgeous silk wrap. There were blues and greens woven through it, and it would look great on her. She pulled up the price tag. “Oh, no.” She quickly put it back.
I picked it up to see what the issue was. She’d just gotten a nice little bit cash, after all. “Nina. It’s just five hundred dollars. You can afford that.”
“No way!” She looked at me as if I was nuts. “Are you crazy? That’s way too much for anything like that.”
The way the saleslady looked at her made me cringe. We were shopping in the Hamptons. People around this place didn’t balk at prices if the item was worth it.
The woman waddled up to us, her nose turned up. “I can assure you that the wrap you’re looking at is an item that you could use with many other articles of clothing. It could work with everything, from adding a little splash to a black cocktail dress, to wearing it around your waist when you’re in a bikini. It serves many purposes and would add to your wardrobe, I can assure you.”
Nina looked at me over her shoulder. “Something this pricey wouldn’t quite match the rest of my wardrobe. Thank you, though.”
Nina walked away, and I leaned in to whispered to the saleslady. “Put it on hold, and I’ll be back for it in a little while.”
With a smile, she took it off the rack. “Thank you, sir.”
With a nod, I left to catch up to Nina, who had already made it to the next shop. I bumped her shoulder with mine. “You know, if your wardrobe needs some punching up, now is the time to do that. You’ve
got more than enough money to do that right now.”
She looked around. “These prices are all outrageous.”
I had to agree, but she needed to get some things for herself. She deserved to treat herself. “Okay, how about the main things a woman needs in her closet?”
“Like?” she asked, with a shake of her head.
“You tell me. I’m not a woman.”
Tapping her chin, she thought about it. “I like to have a good pair of boots for the winter. Those things can be very expensive if you want good quality that will last.”
“And what about that little black dress that lady back there talked about?” I reminded her. “An expensive one would see you through many years. And each time you wore it, you could change up the look with an accent piece.” I knew I was making progress when her head started swiveling around.
“Yes, you’re right about that.” She went to a rack of stylish dresses and began looking through them. But then her eyes went to me. “And what about you? What are some things that you need and haven’t bought for yourself in a while?”
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I had no idea where to start. “My apartment could use some homey touches.”
That was no joke. I had one sofa. I had bought that brand new, though. It was nice, a dark leather piece. My windows had miniblinds on them, but I had never bought curtains to make it look homey.
My apartment wasn’t my sanctuary. It was the place I lived, and that was about it.
It was in a nice building. And the small two-bedroom, one bath, was very nice. All hardwood floors, tile in the kitchen and bathroom, granite countertops throughout the kitchen and bathroom, all the bells and whistles. But it didn’t feel like home. Mostly because I hadn’t ever made it into a real home.
Natalia would’ve made it a home.
I shook my head to clear it. I couldn’t be thinking about that. My life was changing, moving forward.
Julia and Lila showed up with their husbands, and the girls went crazy over all the clothing. We men were put on the back burner, and Artimus told them that we would be doing some shopping on our own. All they needed to do was give him a call, and we would meet back up.
Dirty Desires Page 6
