Page 90 of Love Without Control

“Fuck’s sake. Keep that information to yourself. And go wash your hands.”

“I just washed them, boss.”

“Wash them again,” I barked, striding over to the ingredient bins to get started. It was going to be a busy day, which was good. I needed something to keep my mind off where I wanted to be this chilly morning. At home, in bed with my wife.

The realtor, Clint, showed up about noon while I was helping Maria stock the glass bakery case with muffins and cookies. As soon as I saw him, I pulled out the pan with the syrup-topped almond cookies—his favorites—and lifted an eyebrow in question.

“A dozen of those, black coffee, and a couple minutes of your time,” he answered.

Donning a fresh plastic glove, I asked Maria to pour the coffee while I boxed Clint’s cookie order. When it was all ready, I grabbed my own cup, a pink mug with fluffy clouds and theSweet Heavenlogo on one side, loaded everything on a tray, and headed to his table.

“Clint,” I greeted, placing a saucer with two warmed cookies in front of him. The rest were in the pink box, ready for him to take home. After unloading the tray, I took it back to Maria and returned to sit in the white iron chair across from the realtor. “What’s up?”

He already had half a cookie in his mouth and dabbed at his lips with a paper napkin before swallowing. “Dane, good to see you. I wanted to talk to you about the property.”

My nerves rose and prickled my skin. Eden loved that house, and I hoped he had good news for me. “Yeah?” I asked warily.

“The Corrigans have accepted your offer. They’re ready to sell as soon as possible, so—”

“Eden and I will go to the bank tomorrow. We want it.”

Clint grinned. “That’s great news.” He nodded his head, covered with a thick mat of gray hair. “I’ll let them know and get started on the paperwork on my end.”

“When can we take possession? There are a few things we’d like to change before we move in.”

“About a month,” he assured me, taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s a beautiful house. I hope you and Mrs. Osbourne will fill it with children one day.” He must have noticed my startled look because he quickly backtracked. “I mean, if you want kids. Some people don’t, and that’s fine.”

“We’re… still newlyweds,” I managed to say, suddenly thinking of little ones in the big backyard of the butter house. A boy and a girl with Eden’s blue eyes and my dark hair.

Forcing a smile as Clint picked up his box and told me he’d be in touch, I couldn’t get that image out of my mind.

Does she even want kids? Better yet, would she want kids with me?A family was something I’d only thought of in some abstract, way-in-the-future possibility. It wasn’t anything I sat around dreaming about, only something that would inevitably be forced on me by my father.

But now my life was my own. Luca Cappitani no longer controlled me. Well, I guessed technically he did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had to change my name, disguise my appearance, and go into exile with the woman he’d tried to buy.

My stomach turned at the thought, as it always did when I thought of my father having Evie Bouvier as his plaything. But the feeling was even worse now that I knew her, now that I was falling for her.

I stared down at my now cold coffee and let that revelation sink in.

I’m falling for her. My wildcat. My Eden.

Eden was excited about the house, and we celebrated with pizza, wine, and a delectable sixty-nine in the bedroom. But by the time we moved into the home in mid-February six weeks later, we hadn’t progressed past oral and foreplay.

I was certainly ready, but she… wasn’t.

Two nights after we moved in, we had just christened the couch, and Eden was lying sated and smiling with me kneeling between her knees. I kissed up her stomach and neck until I was hovering over her. She’d sucked me off, but I was already hard again after going down on her, and I pressed my erection against her belly.

“I want to be inside you, baby,” I told her quietly, nuzzling my nose against the peachy softness of her cheek. She inhaled quickly and let the air out slowly, and I wedged myself onto the couch until we were facing each other. “Talk to me, Eden. Is there a reason you don’t want me?”

“I do want you,”’ she replied, squishing her eyes shut like it hurt her to admit it.

I swiped a sweaty strand of hair away from her forehead. “I don’t want to pressure you. I’m just trying to understand.”

She finally lifted her lids, and I read the conflict in her blue eyes. “I don’t understand it myself. I want you but…” Her lips rolled in between her teeth. “I’ve only had sex with two guys.”

Giving her a gentle smile, I felt myself relax a bit. “I don’t care if you’re inexperienced, Eden. I promise we can go slow.”

Two little lines appeared between her eyebrows. “It’s not the physical that’s holding me back. It may sound stupid or naive to you, but I have to have an emotional connection. I only have sex with someone when it really means something.”

---