“Beck!”
“Sorry I startled you. I knocked but you didn’t hear me so I used the key.”
Not a lie. Totally the truth.
“Oh…that’s okay. Is everything all right?” she asked with a small frown as she went to him and hugged him. She smelled fresh, like peaches and vanilla.
“I’m sorry I interrupted your evening, I…” Tell her the truth, chickenshit. “I brought you some honey, and…”
She looked up at him in the dim light as she slid her arms around his shoulders. She licked her lower lip as she gazed at his mouth and that was his undoing.
“And…I wanted to see you, even if it was only for a few minutes. Pretty pathetic, huh?”
She shook her head and smiled brightly. “No. Would you like to eat with me? Is Patrick coming over, too?”
Beck shook his head and it was his turn to flush. “No. He laughed when I told him I was swinging by your place.”
She suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Well…but…I don’t want him to feel left out.” Looking at the oven. “I made enough for two, so I’d have leftovers, but I could stretch it for three. Should I call him?”
She looked a little flushed and he tilted her chin so she would look at him. “First, tell me, what were you up to tonight?”
A naughty gleam came into her eyes as she licked her lower lip again. “Having a night to myself.”
Beck chuckled, glad she didn’t seem uncomfortable. “Naked?”
“Uh-huh. I made my favorite food, my mother’s recipe for baked chicken, and I was doing laundry, and…listening to music. Wait! How do you know I was naked?”
Shit.
“I came in right before you went in the utility room.”
“You were watching me?” she asked softly. She didn’t look angry and he noticed the way her voice caught in her throat. He filed that little tidbit for later exploration.
“What were you planning to do after you ate?”
“Um…”
“It must be good and hot judging by the color in your cheeks.”
“I thought I might watch a movie or something and…maybe play a little.” She sounded breathless when she admitted the last part.
Play? Play how? Play with what?
“Beck? You can stay if you’d like. I don’t mind. But Patrick…”
Beck put a finger to her lips and pulled his phone out. He dialed and when Patrick answered, Beck said, “You were right. She’s invited me to stay but she’s worried.” Beck kissed the tip of her nose.
Patrick chuckled and said, “She’s not upset that you interrupted her evening?”
“No. Just worried.”
“Let me talk to her.”
Beck held the phone out to her and she looked like she was fixing to get in trouble. “Hello?”
The conversation was short and he watched the sweep of her thick black lashes as she spoke quietly with Patrick. “It won’t bother you? Can I make it up to you? Yes, it would make me feel better.”
When he and Patrick had talked, Beck had suggested that she felt that way because it was still early in their relationship. This was the first time she’d been alone for an evening with either of them.
She said good-bye and then handed him the phone. “He said that he’s making supper for him and PJ. With PJ, he can’t come over like you could. He doesn’t want me to worry.”
“But you will, won’t you?”
She nodded and Beck had a thought. “What if I promised to sit with PJ so that you can have time alone with Patrick? PJ could stay out at my place and we could play videogames.”
A smile brightened her face. “That would be nice. It would be nice just to all be together in the evening like we were last weekend. Once PJ was asleep, our whole evening was ahead of us.”
He filed her statement away for thinking over later. He’d like more than just a night together here and there. He was starting to want every night.
Bringing him back to the present, she said, “So you saw me nekkid?”
“I did. And you were listening to that sexy music, too.”
She giggled. “I love that song. Now it makes me think of you.”
“Did it get you hot?”
Just as she nodded, the oven timer went off. Lucy said, “You’re in for a treat.”
“I’ll say,” he murmured as he pulled on the end of the sash, so her robe fell open in front, revealing her cleavage and her pussy. Her delectable, womanly scent rose to his nostrils. She shivered when he slid the robe from her shoulders and handed it to her. “I’ll remove the dish from the oven while you go put this up.”
“You want me naked?”