Page 42 of Sensuous

My phone stops buzzing and then the missed call notification comes up on the screen before I put it back into my purse. “It was Emma from the show. We exchanged numbers just in case either one of us needed a pep talk. She must be feeling bad after what happened with Angus and the haggis today. I’ll call her when I get home.”

“Can you believe he had her make that? There are Scots who don’t know how to make haggis well, and he forced her to do that. No wonder someone took his knife. He’s an asshole, and that was a dick move.”

“I know! It made her look bad. I thought I had said all the right things when we were all leaving today, but she’s probably feeling terrible about the whole thing. Haggis. Gross.”

“And here you were probably thinking chicken bourguignon was bad,” he says with a look in his eyes that makes me feel like he’s undressing me in his mind.

Not that I’d hate that. Not at all.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Alex

We talkabout work and the reality show as I clean up the dishes and start the dishwasher, almost like we’ve been together forever. That’s how it feels with Kat—like we’re made for one another.

“I didn’t make a dessert,” I say with a smile.

She gives me a pout, almost as if she’s truly disappointed. “Oh. I guess you’re not a guy who likes sweet things?”

I lick my lips at what I have planned and shake my head. “No, I do. I just hate making them.”

With a nod, she says, “Me too. I’m definitely not a great dessert chef. That’s for sure. I just figured with how you look that you avoid sugar and all of that.”

“I avoid nothing in life, including sweet things. I just prefer them a different way. Ready to have dessert?”

Kat’s face twists into a look of pure confusion. “But I thought you just said you didn’t make anything.”

As I walk over to take her hand, I chuckle. “I didn’t. That doesn’t mean we can’t end our dinner with something delicious, though.”

She still looks unsure about what I mean, but she takes my hand and doesn’t protest when I lead her down the hall to my bedroom. Right before I open the door, she quietly says, “Oh, I guess you must think I’m pretty dim at this moment, don’t you?”

Turning to look back at her, I smile over my shoulder. “Not at all. Ready?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a man ask me if I was ready to walk into his bedroom like it’s a thrill ride or a marathon I’m not sure I’ve trained enough for.”

Her comment makes me laugh, and I turn around to kiss her softly on the lips. “You’ve never had me.”

After opening the door, I flick on the light and grab a piece of black silk cloth off my dresser. Kat walks in behind me and stops in the center of the room. Looking around at my very ordinary bedroom with its beige walls and white down comforter covering the bed, she smiles.

“You had me thinking this was going to be some wild sex den or something with the way you were talking there a minute ago.”

“Were you expecting something straight out of a brothel?” I ask with a laugh at how cute she is right now.

“No, but you asked me if I was ready, so I didn’t know what to expect once you turned the lights on.”

I walk behind her and slide my arms around her waist to pull her back against me. In her ear, I whisper, “I keep the décor pretty normal. I save the wild for the actual act.”

Kat sighs as she leans against my chest, her head lolling back on my shoulder. “Wild, huh? Okay. Give me your best.”

Oh, I intend to.

“I’m going to put this over your eyes,” I say as I hold up the black silk in front of her. “Don’t be worried. I promise I won’t do anything you won’t love.”

A tiny hint of fear flashes in her eyes. “Promise me, Alex.”

As I slide my hands up her sides, grazing her breasts on my way up to her head, I nod. “I promise, Kat. I would never do anything to hurt you or scare you. Trust me.”

For a long moment, she looks into my eyes like she’s searching for the truth to my claims. She doesn’t have to worry. Sex is all about pleasure for me. Frightening her would work against what I want.

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