Page 130 of His Wild Seduction

But the bread was much better now. It started right after Ellie delivered her tips and pointers, and I was forever fucking grateful to her for helping Meredith, Sofia, and Destiny.

As were Marat and Adrik.

Seriously, we were looking at stock options for the pharmaceutical companies that made antacids with all the damn hard sourdough we were eating.

At least there were other options at these gatherings, too.

I mean, man could not survive on bread alone or whatever the fuck that saying was.

Each week, the women baked and tested, complained, and pouted, and sometimes cheered over their varying degrees of success. And each week, one of us—I was talking about the husbands, the men—took turns with the cooking.

Adrik grilled. Marat sauteed. As for me, well, I sucked at cooking, but I could place a catering order like a motherfucking pro.

I got teased a little about not actually making anything, but no one was complaining today, I noticed with pride.

I grinned as I looked at the veritable Italian feast I’d ordered from Fiorino’s Deli. Their fresh mozzarella was some of the best I’d ever had.

Platters of cured meats imported from Italy, fresh and aged cheeses, containers of salads, pickled vegetables, sundried tomatoes, hot peppers, olives, and more covered the table.

Next to all that deliciousness was a basket of homemade sourdough bread. And one focaccia that was made by my wife.

It was fucking amazing. The best thing on the table in my not so humble opinion.

She’d drizzled olive oil and sea salt on top and added fresh rosemary sprigs before baking. For someone who claimed instant noodles were the only thing she could make, Meredith was turning into quite the little baker.

Pride oozed from every pore when I thought of my wife.

Amazing woman. My better half in every possible way.

Whoever came up with that saying was a real genius.

Anyway, it was a great lunch. And surprisingly, I was having a great time. Go figure.

Great food. Great people.

My favorite part, of course, was feeding my Wife bite by bite from my plate until she was full. She was digesting now with her friends, and my heart contracted inside my chest as I watched her laughing.

It was all so domestic.

So very Brady Bunch.

Especially for an ex-ops guy who ran a security firm and sometimes still got his hands dirty.

I grinned.

Now that I had Meredith in my life, with my ring on her finger, I had to admit, I didn’t mind domestic.

Not one bit.

In fact, I had plans to discuss just how domestic my wife wanted to get. Watching Michaela and Lucy run around Marat’s backyard gave me all sorts of ideas about my Little Red, swollen with our baby.

Fuck.

She would be such a wonderful mother. Meredith was the most caring person I knew. She’d look gorgeous pregnant and later nursing a baby.

But I still didn’t know how she felt about it.

Maybe it was time I asked.

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