"I can make peanut butter and jelly," I offer.
"Naked?" He raises his eyebrows.
"If you'd like," I purr.
"I'd like."
His stomach rumbles again. "All right, I'm going," I scold to his abdomen.
I climb out of bed, pull my hair up into a bun, and traipse into the kitchen butt naked, as requested.
I pull two plates out of the cabinet, a knife and spoon out of the cutlery drawer, and go on a hunt for the peanut butter. I find it in the pantry. Organic, of course. The jelly I swipe from the fridge as I make my way back to the island. Baz's kitchen isn't big, and I paid enough attention when he cooked to become familiar with my surroundings.
I place two pieces of bread on each plate and swipe some peanut butter on one side of each. Baz makes a naked appearance just as I'm about to add the low sugar, organic strawberry jelly. He spies over my shoulder with his hands resting on my hips as I smear the jelly on top of the peanut butter.
"That might just be the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've ever eaten." He picks up the knife and sucks off the remnants by pulling the sharp edge through his lips. I don't know why, but that just totally turned me on. The action was just so raw and masculine.
"You haven't even taken a bite. How could you have already decided that?" I hand him a plate.
"Because you made it." He smacks my ass before he walks away. I look up at the ceiling and smirk.
Baz grabs two glasses and the carton of milk from the fridge before he sits down at the table. I cut my sandwich into fours and then join him.
"Um, excuse me." He glares, insulted.
"What?"
"You, sit here." He points to his lap.
"Do I?"
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"Since now." He snatches my wrist and pulls me down on top of him.
"You're bossy when you eat peanut butter and jelly." I pick up half of his sandwich and feed it to him.
"I get hangry." He takes a huge bite.
"So I see." I suck some jelly off the corner of his mouth.
"Quit that. You know what will happen."
"I do?" I play stupid.
"Yes. I'll end up licking peanut butter off your pussy."
My eyes flash. "Is there something wrong with that?" I feed him another bite. He chews and swallows before he answers.
"No. But I want to bury my face between your legs at the spring."
"We can always just bring the peanut butter with us." I pick off a piece of bread from my sandwich and suck it from my fingers.
"I like the way you think." He kisses me ardently. "Stevie." Baz suddenly clears his throat. "While we're out, maybe you should do something with your hotel room."
"My hotel room?"
"Yeah." The subject seems to make him uncomfortable. "You're wasting money not staying there. I thought maybe you could check out and, I dunno know, just stay here." He looks down and circles his finger around the edge of his plate.
"You want me to stay with you?"
He shrugs one shoulder. "You've been here for three days. I didn't want to bring it up because I didn't want to give you a reason to leave. But I don't think we can avoid talking about the inevitable."
My lips curl into a smile on their own accord as I decide right then and there I need to tell Baz everything. Who I am and why I'm here. I'll explain strategically, and hopefully he won't freak out. I'll figure out who wants him dead and why. And then instead of killing him, I'll kill them.
"Okay," I agree. My chest lights up from my decision. "I'll stay." I lift his chin so he looks up at me. "But we have a lot to talk about."
Baz nods. "We do." There's something swimming in his eyes that says he wants to confide in me, too.
We finish eating then shower and dress.
I've never felt happier or more scared. This conversation with Baz is going to be painful. I fiddle with my gold ring as I run through twenty different scenarios in my mind. How to begin, how to explain. How to rebound when the conversation takes a turn for the worse.
My phone rings in my backpack, startling me out of my thoughts.
"Shit." I drop the bag on the kitchen table and pull out the phone. G flashes on the screen. I debate answering it, but I know Regina is the one person who can give me the answers I need.
I inhale a breath and swipe right. "Hello."
"Where the fuck are you?" Regina chomps through the phone.
I turn to see if Baz has come out of the bedroom. I hear him whistling "I Am the Highway" completely out of sight, so I slip out the front door. He'll be able to hear her loud mouth a mile away.
"I'm still in Colorado."