Page 36 of Seductive Hearts

For me…

… only for me.

And for somebody else, if she had her way.

It was good she woke up when she did, or else I might have spiraled to a dark place where Landon loomed over everything. “Good morning.” Her voice was thick with sleep while she fought to open her eyes. “Sorry if I drooled on you.”

Not exactly the sexiest thing she could say, but it made me smile. “It’s not like I haven’t had your bodily fluids all over me.”

Would Landon ever make her come as hard as she did for me? Would he put in the work like I did?

Get the fuck over it. I had to get a hold of myself.

She sat up, stretching, glowing in the morning light coming through the window beside her. “I’m starving. Do you have anything in the kitchen for breakfast?”

“I have a few things. I usually?—”

“You usually get breakfast someplace,” she remarked, cutting me off and hopping out of bed, giving me a look at her delectable ass before she picked up the dress shirt I discarded on the floor last night as we fell into bed. With her hair still mussed from sleep and my shirt wrapped around her body, she was lucky to make it out of the room without me throwing her to the floor and fucking her senseless.

“Can I help?” I asked once we reached the sunlight-flooded kitchen.

She eyed me warily, taking in my pajama pants. “Don’t know if you should do any cooking shirtless. I wouldn’t want you to get burned.” Something told me she didn’t trust me at the stove. Neither did I, so I let it go.

“What are you making?” I watched her pull flour and sugar canisters from the counter, and then reach into the refrigerator for eggs.

“I was thinking pancakes. Sound good?”

My stomach growled in response. “Only if you make a million. I worked up an appetite last night. But then, you would know.” I couldn’t resist the urge to wrap my arms around her from behind. There was something strangely erotic about smelling my cologne on her skin, the way the sunlight shone through the shirt and revealed her curvy silhouette.

“We do want you to keep up your strength, don’t we?” She flashed a naughty grin over her shoulder, and it occurred to me that I never considered sending her home this morning. That was what I should’ve done. Instead, we were living out this domestic thing in the kitchen, and I didn’t hate it. It felt strangely natural.

She put me to work finding a frying pan, which I fished out of the cabinet under the counter.

The front door opened and closed.

Rose barely covered her mouth in time to stifle a gasp. She turned to me, her eyes bulging over the top of her hand, while someone punched into the alarm code in the entry hall. I could only imagine one person walking in here unannounced on a Saturday morning. I doubted Sienna got up this early, and she’d be in Manhattan now, anyway. Mom would have called first because she had common sense.

My father, on the other hand?

“Outside.” It was a fucking joke, but it had to be done, ushering her through the kitchen and opening the back door so she could scurry out onto the porch. It was a chilly morning, and she was dressed in nothing but my shirt, but I couldn’t do anything about that. It was either let her shiver for a few minutes or face World War III if she were discovered.

“Colton?” The prick’s voice rang out, echoing through the first floor. “Is that you I hear?”

The idea of him heading upstairs and finding Rose’s clothes strewn around the front bedroom helped me find my voice. “In the kitchen,” I called out. There were ingredients everywhere. He would never believe I was the one doing the cooking, especially not for only myself. I rolled my shoulders anyway, standing straight and tall to face him when he entered the room.

He was dressed like he was on his way to play golf, something he had taken up in the past few years because he was determined to become a stereotypical old man. He took in the entire room in a single glance, his gaze lingering on the counter. “What are you doing?” he asked, finally looking my way.

“What do you think? I’m rowing a boat. It just looks like I’m making breakfast.”

He sighed. “It’s a little too early for your sarcasm, Colton. I came out for golf with a couple of clients and thought I would stop in to see how you’re doing.”

Right. “Out of the goodness of your heart?”

His lips pulled together, disapproving as always. “Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Not wrong. Just unusual. What, is it not enough that I’m sending regular reports detailing every aspect of the job? You have to check up on me on the weekends too?” Folding my arms, I had the satisfaction of watching him scowl, irritated that I could see through him.

“What’s this really all about?” I demanded, half my focus on Rose. I needed him out of here, now.

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