Page 17 of Merry & Wild

We spendthe rest of the night taking naps in between John checking on things, and then coming back to make love to me again.

The storm hasn’t let up a bit, and the first signs of light are starting to come in through the windows.

“I have a gas stove,” John says as he pulls his jeans on but doesn’t button them up. He also doesn’t pull a shirt on, so he’s now standing in the kitchen, looking all rumpled and sexy. “I can make you some breakfast.”

“What do you have in the fridge?”

He winces, so I scoop his shirt up, pull it on, and join him in the kitchen to check it out for myself.

I open the fridge and bite my lip.

“How do you survive?”

“I eat breakfast at the bunkhouse a lot,” he admits. “Lucky is a hell of a cook.”

“Lucky?”

“My main ranch hand out there.”

“How many do you have?”

“Four right now,” John replies and pushes his hand through his already tousled hair. “More in the summer.”

“Well.” I turn back to the contents of the fridge and quickly make a plan. “You have bread and eggs. This bacon still looks decent.”

I open a drawer and nod.

“And you have butter. Do you have milk, by any chance?”

“I can run over to my parents’ and get some.”

“Do that, and I’ll make French toast and bacon.”

“Hey, that sounds really good.” He pauses to kiss me, tipping up my chin with his finger. “You’re handy to have around, Miss Joy.”

“Well, thank you, sir.” I laugh as he walks away, headed for the bedroom to get dressed. “Go fetch those things, and I’ll get started on this.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

By the time he returns, I have the cast-iron skillet heated and the bacon sizzling.

“Mom says hi,” John says as he sets the milk on the counter.

“You told her I was here?”

“She asked why I needed milk, and I told her. I’m a grown man, Joy. I’m not going to lie about what I’m doing out here.”

“Well, I don’t want you to lie. I just?—”

For the first time since I’ve been with him over the past twelve hours, his eyes go cold.

“You just don’t want anyone to know?”

“No! Of course, I don’t mind if people know. I guess I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“I like you,” he says and turns to stoke the fire. “I like you alot.I plan to keep seeing you after this weekend, and that means you’ll probably run into my parents once in a while.”

“I like you, too.” I pour milk in with the eggs and the cinnamon I found in a cupboard and give it a whisk. “And I like your parents. They’re nice people.”

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