Back To Country (Country Love #4)(17)
"Hey, Nash!" Both of us turn our heads toward a doorway to our left at the voice of the nice cowboy who carried everything in for me. "Table's set. Smells mighty good in here." He smiles.
Nash turns his head back at me. "Well. I'm sure you didn't bring enough food for this bunch."
I smile back. "Actually, I have this habit of cooking enough for a small army. There's plenty." WHAT? What am I saying! No! I brought this to be alone with Nash. I shouldn't have cooked so much food.
"Oh, well...." He tilts his head, a look of disappointment shadows his gorgeous face but a softness replaces it quickly.
I nervously fiddle with my fingers wrapped together in front of me. "It does make good leftovers too." Shit! I don't think I'm helping.
"C'mon, ya'll, before it all gets cold. The guys are already here." Double shit! "Luis is fixin' up a plate to take up to Manuel," the nice cowboy says and then he winks. The look on Nash's face just turned into more disappointment but then changed quickly as he smiles. "I even brought out some beers." My eyes move from Nash's to the cowboy in the doorway. "Unless you'd rather have wine? I can open up a bottle." He gives me a wink. His eyes move to Nash and then he stands up straighter, wiping the smile right off his face. I look at Nash and see a very quick glance of him scowling at the guy. Hmmm, jealousy? Nah!
"Yes. Would you care for a glass of wine?" Nash asks sweetly.
I look at him and smile. "Actually, I'd love a beer." His smile grows. He puts an arm around me, his hand laying on my lower back as he guides me toward the now empty doorway the cowboy was standing in.
"A woman after my own heart."
He leads me into the kitchen, full of talking and clatter. I stop when I see six cowboys sitting at a large table, piling food on their plates. "Oh."
"I'm sorry," Nash says as he walks to the refrigerator. A French door refrigerator, at least 35.7 cubic feet, stainless steel, with the freezer on the bottom! It's over three thousand dollars! Not that I would know that. And oh, my Lord! A KitchenAid 30 inch double wall oven that has to be over twenty-five thousand dollars. "Are you okay, Tina?" Is that a Kenmore gas stove? I tilt my head in confusion. It's so old and out of place with the other amazing appliances. "Let me get you that beer." I watch Nash walk around a huge breakfast bar and notice the granite counters match the ones all around the appliances adjacent to it. I look back at the oven. Seriously sticks out like a sore thumb. "I'm sorry the guys are here. I can ask them to leave if you'd like." My eyes focus back onto Nash's. Everything looks new here down to the beautiful large oak table and chairs. Well, except for the stove. So weird.
"No. Um – that's okay. The more the merrier." Shit! I sound like a slut.
"Here." He takes my free hand and leads me over to the table. "Guys!" They all stop, some with plates being held up and spoons full of food. They turn their heads and now I feel like I'm in the spotlight, a place I'd rather not be. "This is Tina. I know some of ya'll have seen her in town at the coffee shop. She's part owner. Tina – this is Bart, Sam, Jim, Mark, and Luis. That there is Roy. Just hired him the other day from over in Pilates." The guy Roy raises his cowboy hat in greeting before taking it off and setting it on the floor next to him, smiling with very white straight teeth. I haven't seen him before. Gotta say he's very nice looking. What do they feed those cowboys over in Pilates?
"Nice to meet ya." The guy who helped me smiles.
"Howdy," Roy says, still smiling.
"Thanks for the decent meal." One of them smiles.
"Please to meet ya," another one says.
They all talk at once so I just smile at each of them. It might take a bit to put names with their faces. Well, except for Roy. By the way they're acting, you'd think there's never been a girl here before.
"I'm takin' a plate up to Manuel," the guy Luis, I think, says and starts piling food on a plate.
"Allow me." Nash pulls out a chair, and I sit down, glad that I didn't trip over anything getting here. He sits down beside me and all the talking and clanking starts up again. Before I can move or speak, Nash moves closer and leans into me, the smell of musk, of freshly clean and him overpowers me. I feel his hand on my thigh and look into his eyes. "I'm sorry 'bout this." He smiles that smile and my soaked panties just disintegrated. "If I'd known you were comin' out, I'd told them to eat at their house out back tonight." He squeezes my thigh. Oh, my God! I'm never gonna make it through dinner!
"Uh...." I clear my throat, trying to push the lump down. "It's okay." I smile, but I'm so out of my comfort zone. Actually, my comfort zone would be at home, in my PJs, eating some Ben & Jerry's while watching a romance movie.
He moves in closer until I can feel his warm breath against my ear. "I'll make sure as soon as they're done eatin', they scram outta here." I swallow hard and only nod, unable to speak without sounding like Minnie Mouse or possibly Kermit the Frog as that lump still seems to be lodged in my throat. He winks as he sits back up and then everyone passes the food around like they haven't eaten in years. I can't help but smile at all the sounds they make as they eat. It warms my heart.
Chapter Seven
Nash
A helluva surprise to find Tina standin' just inside my front door. Gotta say, she looked so out of place. Like a scared animal. Damn adorable. That's what I like about her. She's not pretentious. Genuine. She's a bit shy but it only makes me work harder for her attention. Makes me want to take her in my arms and keep her safe. Guess that's not all I'd like to do with her. Not havin' sex in so long is makin' "takin' things slow" more than a little rough. I don't want to scare her away by comin' on too strong. But I gotta tell ya, I'm a man that's about to come undone. It can't be healthy to go this long without some release. Can it?
"Great spread, Miss Tina. Thank ya," Bart says.
One by one, the guys start takin' their plates over to the sink, all noddin' at Tina. Bart smiles at Tina and a little twang of jealousy sparks inside me. Bart's a pretty handsome fella. Tina smiles back, and I see a light blush on her cheeks. The guys head out the back door as I start loadin' up my hands with silverware and glasses. I start washin' them while Tina begins pickin' up her dishes that hold very little food left on them.
"If you have some containers, I'll put the leftovers in them for you all to eat later." She walks over and sets them on the breakfast bar then goes back to the table for more.
Gotta tell ya, she made enough for this small army with more to spare. And the food? It was amazin'. Bein' so young when Ma passed, we never had a woman around the house to cook up some good meals. Guess we've always been a house of bachelors, never knowin' a good tastin' meal unless we went out to eat. Which wasn't a lot. We lived so far outta town that it didn't make sense to go there to eat very often so we were stuck tryin' to make meals on our own.
I give her a smile and open the cabinet door that holds a bunch of miss matched plastic containers. We clean in silence but not uncomfortable. It's like we're in sync the way we both move around the kitchen, wipin' off counters and the table, loadin' the dishwasher, and puttin' everythin' away. I've never felt such a connection with a woman before. I look over, watchin' her wipe off the breakfast bar. Her bottom lip sucked into her mouth as she concentrates. I wanna suck on that lip. Bite it. Fuck! I need to get laid!
"There!" She stands from her hunched over position and smiles. Tiltin' her head, a light blush spreads slowly across her cheeks. I don't think and walk over, grasp her arm and pull her toward me, not hesitatin' to move her straight into my arms and press my mouth against hers. This is wrong. I should go slow. But I can't stop myself. Her lips are warm, soft. This isn't helpin' my situation. I thought she'd back away or push me back. Instead, I feel her arms wrap around my shoulders, her hands movin' up my back and around my neck. Her fingers push up over my short hair, her nails scrapin' lightly against my scalp. Damn, that feels nice. With Blair, it was all about her pleasure. Never mind. No! I won't let her enter my head when I have this sweet woman in my arms. A moan leaves her mouth, and my cock hardens to a painful degree. Didn't know it was possible to get any harder than it already was.
"Damn, you taste so good." I moan as I kiss across her jaw and latch onto the soft skin of her neck.
"Nash." She moans, movin' her head back a bit so I can get to more of her soft skin.
Her body fits against mine perfectly. She's soft and slim. I guess it's her small waist and her hips that I find my hands holdin' onto. Damn, I need to stop but can't seem to. She feels too good. "We should stop," I murmur against her neck. She moans in response. I make my way back up to her mouth as I move my hand around her neck, underneath her soft long hair and pull her head to the side so I can deepen the kiss. Her lips part and I take the invitation, greedily. My tongue moves inside her luscious mouth, tastin' her sweetness. I hardly notice her hand movin' around my back, fistin' my shirt. I barely feel her tug my hair. I totally notice her taut nipples brushin' against my chest through her bra. I let out my own guttural moan and tilt my head, kissin' her harder. I feel like I've gone too far but she isn't resistin'. She isn't pullin' back. I should stop. Be a gentleman. But I can't seem too. Damn, man. This has been a long time comin' and you are horny as fuck. I pull back, only a bit, and kiss her lips softly. Tenderly. Her eyes open and she smiles. So, I kiss her again. Leanin' back a little more, I smile at her as I rub her back.