Page 8 of Slapped Into Love

ChapterFive

Ryan

Fuck,I wanted to hear that whimper she madeagain.

Repeatedly.

Whilenaked.

Inmybed.

Not fully clothed in this damn elevator while she was thinking about the fucking Jacuzzi tub in her place that was bound to be an exact match for mine. A tub I wasn’t going to be able to look at without picturing her in it. Just thinking about it made me hard as fuck. I adjusted myself when the doors opened before I followed her off theelevator.

“Which way?” she asked, with a glance over her shouldertowardsme.

If it’d been a split second earlier, she would have busted me with my hand on my cock. It would have been another strike against me—one I didn’t need if I wanted the chance to ever see her naked again. Schooling my face into an expression that I hoped was at least semi-innocent, I jerked my head to the left. “Your unit isn’t too far down. Thisone’smine.”

I released the handle of her suitcase and rapped my knuckles against my door with a smile on my face. It’d be virtually impossible for her to avoid me from such a close distance. But as I snagged the handle and moved past the apartment between hers and mine, my good humor quickly vanished. “And there’s a fireman in between us,” I grumbled. A single fireman. Hell, at least three quarters of the complex was filled with single guys. Firemen, cops, hockey players...this place had ‘em all. Something that I’d never minded; not until Tamaramovedin.

“A fireman, huh?” she echoed with a gleam in her brown eyes as she unlocked the door to her unit. “That’ll come in handy if I have any incidents in the kitchen, so I don’t end up burning the wholeplacedown.”

I peered into the grocery bags I was carrying for her and found the basics—a bunch of cartons of Greek yogurt, sandwich fixings, protein bars, almonds, granola, cherries, beef jerky, coffee, water, and sports drinks. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything dangerousinhere.”

She flipped on the lights as she walked inside the apartment. It was fully furnished; an option I hadn’t even known they offered. After she dropped her carry-on and purse onto the couch, Tamara turned around and reached for the groceries. I reluctantly let her take them from me, rolling her suitcase next to the coffee table before following her to the kitchen area. I leaned against the counter while she unloaded her items and put everything away except for the sandwichstuff.

“Is that what you’re having fordinner?”

“Yup. It’s been a long day.” Her gaze drifted over my shoulder at the door, and I had a feeling that she was about to ask me to leave—something I didn’t wanttodo.

“Which makes a healthy dinner even more important.” I shook my head slowly and made an exaggerated tsking noise, hoping to distract her from wanting me to go. “I’m sure you know better than to skimp on meals, what with your gold medalsandall.”

“Of course I do.” She rolled her eyes and huffed. “But I spent thirty-one hours traveling due to delays and didn’t make it into town last night like I’d planned. I don’t have the energy to do a big shopping trip and cook dinner. Or to dealwithyou.”

“Could you find the energy if it meant I was going to feed you a hot, nutritious meal in fifteen minutes flat?” I pointed at the package of sliced, deli turkey. “Dealing with me has to at least be worth not eating that for dinner,right?”

“Hmmm.” She tilted her head to the side and tapped her finger against her cheek like my question required deepthought.

“C’mon, I owe you after I was such an ass earlier. Let me pay you back in food.” But only because we weren’t in a place where I could do so in orgasms. I’d forgo dinner to feast on her pussy without a second thought, even if I was starving. That’s how badly I wanted another tasteofher.

“I guess I could eat a real meal if I didn’t have to cook itmyself.”

She didn’t sound too sure about her answer, so I didn’t give her time to think about it. I scooped up the deli meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and mustard and tossed them into the fridge. Then I tugged on her hand and led her out the door and down the hall to my apartment. As I flipped the light switch on the wall, I sighed in relief when I remembered that the cleaners had come today while I was at the rink. Maybe my luck had shifted from shitty to good when it came toTamara.

“Grab a seat and get comfortable while I wow you with my cooking skills.” I waved towards the two bar stools at the kitchen counter while I walked past them to grab ingredients from thefridge.

“I’m not too sure about the wow-ing part, but comfortable sounds goodtome.”

I turned and quirked a brow at her. “Is that doubt I hear in yourvoice?”

“It could be.” She propped an elbow on the counter and rested her cheek on her palm. “Or it might just be sheerexhaustion.”

“This is where my secret weapon comes into play.” I pulled my George Foreman grill from the cabinet, set it down, and plugged it in. “Dinner will be ready in less than tenminutes.”

“You’re a cheat. That’s not cooking. It’s not even grilling. Did you have to turn in your man card when you bought that thing?” shelaughed.

“Hey! I can grill with the best of ‘em. Charcoal or gas,” I grumbled. “But I don’t always have the time. At least this way, I can eat right during season without having to order out allthetime.”

“You might have a point there,” she conceded as she aimed a smile my way. Finally. I didn’t even mind that it’d come at the expense of her making fun of me. “I’d say that I should get one except my mom would spot it in an instant, and then I’d never hear the end of her lectures on cooking things therightway.”

---