shuhaige
59
“Where did you learn how to cook like this?”
I finished chewing and shrugged. “My mom taught me a lot. She can make anything taste yummy, but I think most of it came from all the years Hannah and I spent in this apartment. She was homebound with endless studying to do, so I had lots of time to experiment. And, as you know, your sister sugarcoats nothing, so when my creations sucked, she told me, and I got better.”
He took another bite, groaning before he said, “You know I come from a family of eaters-not just my immediate family, I mean, but my cousins are all a bunch of foodies as well. I’m saying that because I can tell the difference between someone who cooks just to eat and someone who cooks with love.”
I smiled before I took a sip of my wine. “Thank you. I really do love it.”
He was quiet for a moment, staring.
His gaze hitting every spot again.
“I think it’s time.”
I sucked in some air, holding it in my lungs. “Time for …”
He chuckled. “I told you that wasn’t going to come until lesson five, and we’re now on four.”
“And here I thought, you were going to budge.”
“I am. I’m giving you something I’ve never given to another woman.”
My heart started to pound the same way it had earlier tonight when I was in his arms. “So, you don’t want me to come up with a fantasy for this lesson?”
“No. This one is all on me.” His thumb swiped his lip even though there was nothing on it. “Next Friday, after work, I’m going to pick you up. I need you to pack an overnight bag.”
“To stay at your condo?”
“We won’t be sleeping at my place. But that’s the only detail I’m giving you.”
Camden
“I
‘m dying to know where we’re going,” Oaklyn said from the passenger seat of my car minutes after I picked her up from her place.
She’d asked the same question every time I saw her this past week-when she popped over to my place for a quick dinner, during the lunch we had at her apartment when I was able to sneak away from work, even when we talked on the phone.
From the moment she’d gotten into my car, I’d kept her hand locked underneath mine, resting on the gearshift. But now, I lifted it toward my mouth, kissing the back of her knuckles.
Even her fingers smelled like tangerine and blueberry.
God, this fucking woman.
It was taking every ounce of strength I had not to skip right to lesson five and finally get the chance to be inside her. Once I reached that point, I could be with her whenever I wanted.
She certainly wouldn’t mind if we fast-forwarded things.
Hell, she’d all but fucking begged for it during lesson three.
But, damn it, I couldn’t.
I wanted things with Oaklyn to be different.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
And I didn’t just want to tell her that she’d changed me, that she had made me realize she was everything I wanted, that there was no way I could imagine my life without her.
Those were things I wanted to show her.
Completing lesson four and slowly moving to five was one of the ways I could do that.
Along with everything that I had planned for tonight.
Still keeping her hand near my mouth, I quickly glanced at her. “I think you’re going to like it. No, fuck that. I know you’re going to like it.”
“I already do.”
I turned at the light, moving our hands back to the gearshift. “You know, Hannah came into my office today and mentioned that she’d invited you out with the girls and you couldn’t make it. It’s funny; she always used to bring you up, and most of the time, I didn’t pay attention. Now, I’m on full fucking alert.”
She laughed. “I told her I was going out with Mystery Man.”
I gave her another quick peek. “She’s still letting you get away with calling him that? And hasn’t demanded a name? I’m shocked.”
“I think she knows I’m not ready to name him. That would make things more serious, and she thinks things are just super low-key between him and me. If I tell her we’ve progressed, the questions will come fast and hard.” She squeezed the side of my hand with her thumb. “I hate lying.”
“I know, baby.” I sighed. “It’s only for a little longer.”
“Did she ask you what you’re doing tonight?”
“Of course.” I slowed at the light. “She wanted to know why I wasn’t hanging out with Declan and our cousins.”
Her brows rose. “What did you tell her?”
I chuckled. “Well, if I told you that, it would ruin tonight’s surprise, so ask me that question in a little while.”
“Deal.” I felt her eyes on me while I started driving again. “The Hollywood Hills, huh?”
My area of town was where we’d now entered.
I had known she’d have questions once we got here, and I didn’t blame her. We weren’t surrounded by hotels, like some of the other areas in LA, and now that we were in the residential section, she had to be wondering why she needed an overnight bag.
I held off answering and just smiled, knowing she was still looking at me, and when I pulled up to the gated entrance and entered a code, I said, “We’re here,” and I finally glanced at her.
“Here?” She gazed through the windshield at the large house that was nestled on the side of the mountain. “I don’t get it.”
“You will.” I got out of the car and grabbed our bags and met her at the passenger side, linking our hands. “Come on. We’re going inside.”
We walked up the driveway, and I opened the front door by entering another code. Leaving our bags on a bench in the foyer, I slowly took her deeper into the house.
“What do you think?” I asked as we passed the office that sat just off the foyer, followed by the dining room, and we stopped once we reached the massive kitchen. From here, the open floor plan extended into the large living room, a built-out deck, and an infinity pool, all overlooking the Hills.