by Lauren Dane
“I’m in,” Maybe said.
“Me too,” Rachel said. “Now, getting back to the question, which was about you taking a few weeks off.”
“Yes I am. From my mother. But I’ll be at the gallery. There’s a new installation coming up so I want to be there or who knows what they’ll do?”
“So now you can finally quit being the Walda-keeper and shift to the gallery full-time. But you can still take a week or so. I mean, what did they do for the last three months without you there?” Maybe asked.
The gallery was her baby. Sort of. Cora had spent a lot of time and effort in creating a space that had a voice. A unique voice in a very rich local art scene. “Call me fourteen times a day?” She’d pretty much done the job over the phone and online anyway. But that? That’d felt like it should have. She’d wanted to be involved. It fed her creative hunger in a way few things did.
“Okay then,” Rachel said. “Over the last several years you’ve mentioned here and there that you want to run the gallery full-time. Why not finally make that shift? Then someone else can handle your mom.” Rachel’s severe look had Cora’s denials dying in her chest. “It’s unfair that they’d expect you to keep on like this indefinitely. Oh sure, they all thank you for doing it—and they should—but none of them has stepped up to help you out. Not on this. Plenty of people can be your mom’s personal assistant/manager/keeper. For the right kind of money,” Rachel added at Cora’s expression. “You’re irreplaceable because no one will be as perfect as you. That’s a given. But Walda’s not the only diva in the world. We can help you find the right solution.”
Maybe leaned over to squeeze Cora quickly. “You want to defend your family. But I promise you we aren’t attacking them. We’re your best friends and it is our god-given right to take your side. And to tell you the truth.”
“So let’s skip the part where you tell yourself you’re selfish for wanting something for yourself. Who but you knows Walda works better when lightbulbs are this or that wattage? Or that she likes nutmeg in her coffee? And so what if you do? She’s a grown woman, not a toddler. She can express her wishes to someone else. It’s not like she’s shy,” Rachel said, deadpan.
No, Walda wasn’t shy. But beneath all the feathers and bright colors and whatever else she did, her mother wanted to be loved.
Of course Cora felt selfish. And guilty.
“It’s on the list of things I’m thinking about,” Cora told them both. “Thank you for caring about me enough to make me face this stuff. But I’m done with facing it for now. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me what’s been happening. How was your show last weekend?” she asked Maybe, who played drums in a punk rock band.
As Maybe excitedly filled her in, Cora leaned back, tucked herself under a blanket of her own and let being with her friends wash over her.
CHAPTER FOUR
That time you walked in
And the universe shifted...
I’ve been falling ever since.
OF ALL THE things from his childhood, Beau had come to terms with the way he’d been raised when it came to a usual lack of nervousness. He’d been a spokesperson, a face for Road to Glory from a very young age, which had given him a natural sense of ambition and ability. A gift of relating to people.
But as he wrestled the box with all the ingredients for dinner out of his trunk, he realized the butterflies in his belly were all about her.
It was fucking delicious.
He didn’t even have to look at his phone for the number of her town house because once he entered the circular courtyard he knew immediately which porch was hers. It just had the most life around it. An overflowing planter on either side of the steps framed them artfully.
And on each step, words had been painted.
I am the light of a thousand stars
I am cosmic dust made human.
As he got to the top step, he caught sight of her through her front window. She stretched up to light candles dotted across a mantelpiece. He couldn’t see anything but the grace in the movement, lost his other senses for a bit as his heartbeat seemed to thunder in time with the blood pounding in his cock.
He managed to hit the doorbell, and when she opened up to him, her smile lightened his nervousness. She looked at him like she knew him. And wanted to be with him anyway.
“Come in!” she said as she stepped aside to admit him. “You can put the stuff on the table.” Cora indicated a stout, round table in the nook just to the left of the kitchen.
He managed not to rush, no matter how much he wanted to hug her. Beau even managed to get his coat off and slung over the back of one of the chairs before he said hello and pulled her into an embrace.
She hummed, low and pleased, and a shiver rode his spine.
“Good evening,” he murmured as he brushed a quick kiss over her brow.
“You smell good. What are you cooking for me tonight?” she asked him as she started to poke through the crate.
“Thank you. You not only smell good, you look good.” She wore a bright yellow sweater with faded blue jeans and thick socks. Cora looked like a fucking flower. Pretty and fresh and sexy all at once.
She blushed and he found it incredibly appealing.
“So I, uh, do you like pasta? I was thinking linguine with clam sauce for the main. Some bruschetta with mushrooms and parsley and another with roasted and marinated red peppers and garlic.”
“Yum! I like all those things. I have a feeling I’ll be overeating. I grabbed some wine, red and white, and some Prosecco just for giggles. I wasn’t sure what you’d be making and it’s not like a bottle of wine won’t find another use if I don’t drink it tonight. Oh, and there’s beer too.
“I didn’t know what you’d be needing, so I just made sure the counters were extra clean,” she said with a shrug. “Cooking stuff is in the cabinets and under the stovetop there.” She pointed. “Use whatever you find. Ask if you don’t see something.”
“Perfect.” He washed his hands while she poured them both a glass of red wine.
“I’m a rebel. I wear white after Labor day and drink red wine whenever I please.” She toasted him, clinking her glass to his.
“I like a little rebellion. We can have white later with the pasta, if you like. Red would be fine, as well. Basically, anything you want because I aim to please.” He tied on an apron and began to get to know her kitchen, setting the oven to get the bruschetta started.
She cleared her throat before speaking. “Can I help in any way or just watch you prepare a feast for me and fantasize about you kissing me?”
He didn’t stop himself from bending down to kiss her. Intending it to be quick. But once she sighed softly, he couldn’t keep it quick. Instead he backed her to the counter and settled in, tasting, teasing, sipping at her until his skin felt too tight.
Cora slid her tongue along his as she pressed herself closer, her hands at his waist, fingers hooked through the belt loops of his pants to hold him there.
She was sexy. Sweet and hot. Like nothing he’d experienced.
It rattled him enough to break the kiss, but in two breaths he had to go back for another kiss.
Because he needed it. Her taste was dark and rich and utterly irresistible. He wondered if the rest of her tasted as good.
With a groan, he pulled away when the oven preheat timer dinged.
Cora cocked her head, her smile gone feline and satisfied. “Well, okay then. You can find me available for kisses anytime.” The slight slur of pleasure in her voice was a caress along the back of his neck.
“Now I’m ready to get back to work. You just sit there, keep my wineglass filled and be available for more kisses in case I can’t get along until I have another.”
“Right-o.” She hopped up on one of the stools facing him across her kitchen island.
He sliced mushrooms
thin as he tried not to stare at her mouth, but she made it difficult because she talked a lot, smiled a lot, laughed a lot.
It was really only the fear of slicing into his finger instead of the veggies and herbs that kept him from drooling over her like a cartoon dog.
That made him snort, catching her attention.
“Do I amuse you?” she asked, a teasing note in the words.
“Absolutely. So what did you do today? What have you been up to over the past seventeen years? You only hit the highlights last night.”
“Today I had coffee and doughnuts here with Maybe and Rachel, and then I went into the gallery for a few hours.”
“I need to stop by the gallery and check it out. I’m curious and always looking for something new. Up until now, my art guidance has come from Gregori. Fortunately, he knows my taste so he rarely steers me wrong.”
Her eyes lit as she beamed at him. That’s when her dimple came out and had him licking his lips for another taste of her.
“That’s such a mistake to reveal to someone who runs a gallery.” She sipped her wine. “I had a meeting with a new artist today. She’s got a show coming up with us and I’m amazed at the stuff she does. We like to focus on regional artists, give them space and a voice. She came here with her family from Cambodia when she was an infant, so her stuff, which is mixed media, has this sense of roots and ownership of gender and identity that blows me away. She used to be a chemist for the state department of fisheries and one of her kids encouraged her to take early retirement and give her art more time. And she did. That was three years ago.”
He liked the way she talked about art. A lot like he suspected he sounded when he talked about food. As she described the pieces she planned to put into the show, the passion for what she did seemed to flow from her.
“Sounds fantastic. I’ll definitely cruise by the opening.”
“Oh gosh, please do. Not only do I think you’d like her work, it’s nice to be supported by your friends. The opening should be pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself. Which naturally I do because I’m speaking. Anyway, I throw a good party. I’ll make sure you get an invite.”
Her kitchen was well stocked but not overdone. The town house wasn’t huge, like the condo he was in. But it was comfortable. She’d made excellent use of the space she did have.
It was warm and accessible, a lot like her, so that wasn’t really a surprise.
He found all the tools he needed—which meant he could leave all the stuff he’d brought just in case in the trunk of his car. She kept his glass filled and did an excellent job of rubbing garlic on the bruschetta when he asked it of her.
By the time they settled in at her table, it was nearly eight, but he was warm from the wine and the exertion and though he’d snacked as he’d worked, he had quite the appetite for the pasta.
“Would you be weirded out if I took a picture of this? I mean it looks like art,” she said.
Pride filled him. “Not at all. I’m flattered.” And he was.
She went to grab her phone, took a few pictures and then put it away again, giving him all her attention once more.
Mesmerizing.
After she ate and moaned with joy at whatever it was she tasted, his ego was about to explode. That and his dick. He was grateful his lap was hidden by the table.
“Tell me about the words on your porch steps,” he said. “Where’s the quote from?”
“Do you like it?”
He nodded. “Very much.”
“It’s mine. I’ve been writing snippets of poetry since I was a kid. That’s part of a poem called ‘Star Stuff.’ I change it up from time to time. Paint new verses when it appeals to me.”
“Lots of layers to you, Cora Silvera.”
“Like an onion.”
He stood and began to help her clear the table and clean the kitchen, over her protests that he’d cooked so she would clean up. It also enabled him to be close enough to brush against her as they moved around, wiping counters and filling the dishwasher.
“Come through to the other room for a while. Tell me how long you’re going to be in Seattle.” She took the bottle of white wine along with her into the living room, where he joined her, settling on her overstuffed couch.
“I’m here for...well, for the next while. At least a year. Likely more. Love the weather and all the stuff to do outdoors. My friends live here—including you. It’s a food culture I really like. And I’m done with New York and LA. Not for visits—I still love both cities. Both were great for my career. But it’s time for something else. Seattle seems a good place to be somewhere to land. Finish this cookbook.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. There’s a cherry walnut cake for dessert but I’m pretty full,” she said, voice lazy as she leaned against the cushions.
“We should do something else until we digest dinner.” He took her hand, threading his fingers with hers, and tugged her toward him. “I can think of a few ways to spend some time.”
“Yeah? I think maybe we have some of the same ideas on that.”
“Let’s compare notes.”
Before he knew it, she was on his lap. And like he’d figured, she fit him.
Perfectly.
“Let me know when I get too heavy,” she said, her lips so close to his, the heat of her made him a little light-headed.
“When that happens, I’ll get on top. I like being on top.”
With a laugh, she nipped his bottom lip, tugging it sharply. “I’m not surprised by that.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The way your mouth skates over my throat
is burned into my skin.
A WAVE OF dizzy delight flowed through her as he leaned her back against the arm of her couch, never losing contact. It terrified her nearly as much as it excited her. In another person she might have found it too much. But while intense, it met her own intensity. Her own want of him.
He didn’t flinch from what he wanted, instead, once he was sure she was on board—which was scorching hot in and of itself—he took it.
Nothing had ever seemed so sexy to her.
He didn’t rush to her mouth, instead he sent hot, openmouthed kisses from her temple down to the hollow beneath her ear.
It was... Well, whatever he was doing to her, it set her aflame.
He seemed to radiate sensuality and every bit of it was focused on her. Added to the sheer physicality of him—that ruggedly handsome face with those gorgeous eyes and the mouth she was currently very fond of—it was as if the universe had detonated a sex bomb right there on her couch. Sporting a seriously impressive erection if the ridge under her thigh was any indication.
Cora dug her fingers through his hair as he teased kisses down her throat. She wanted to take a big bite of him. Wanted to leave a mark.
He hadn’t even touched her boob yet and she was this mad for him.
“I want to gobble you up,” she said, shoving back at him, twisting a little to climb into his lap, facing him. In her position, he was less intimidating and more deliciously big and tall in a hot chef/lumbersexual way.
And...she could also confirm that the ridge against her thigh was indeed a very healthy hard-on.
Yay!
He groaned, pulling her closer until she groaned in return, grinding herself against him.
It wasn’t quite a frenzy, but their chemistry seemed to sizzle and rise, humid with sex. Pumping her full of desire.
His hands slid to her waist, gripping and holding her against him as he rolled his hips.
At the very end of his movement upward, he dug in just a little harder, brushing against her clit just right, even through the denim.
She gasped as a burst of pleasure brought stars behind her eyelids.
And when she opened her eyes, it was to find him watching, naked greed for her on his features
.
It was humbling. It was giddy wish fulfillment. And it was flat-out hot. Shivers of delight rode her skin as he reached up to grip her by the back of her neck and brought her to him for a kiss.
Heat roared from his fingertips up to her lips, where he slid his tongue over and then into her mouth, and got busy devastating her with deft nips, licks and kisses.
In all those fantasies she’d had back as a young woman she’d had no idea what he was truly capable of. Of what he was capable of evoking in her.
Hot damn.
He wanted her as much as she wanted him. More than that, there was something else, something extra between them, that only seemed to stoke the heat.
* * *
CORA DIDN’T WANT to stop whatever was happening. She wanted to ride it out with him. Wanted to jump into whatever storm they were making.
She sucked his bottom lip and pressed herself to him, grinding herself over his cock.
He moved to lean her back, pushing her coffee table out of the way with a foot until they landed on her rug.
“You with me?” he asked her, his voice full of briars and thorns.
“Yes!” She pulled him down to her to get at his mouth again. The slight burn on her neck his beard had left behind was something she felt to her toes and straight to her clit.
He broke from her mouth long enough to angle his free arm under her shoulders to bring her where he wanted, but also to give her some protection against the floor at her back.
Not that she’d have complained.
Cora squeezed her thighs together, needing a little more sensation. Orgasm had been building since before she’d even opened her door to find him on her porch. Before he’d made her a meal and kissed her into oblivion.
By that point, her whole body seemed to be an erogenous zone. He’d pushed every single one of her buttons, including a few she hadn’t known she possessed.
He grumbled, “Mine.” Before reaching down to cup her through her jeans. The heat of his hand—a strong, big hand—brought a shudder of pleasure and a thrust of her hips seeking more.
* * *
