Page 30 of Moore to Love

“You say the sweetest things,” she sighed.

Settling my palm on her lower back, I guided her over to the table and helped her onto one of the chairs. “Only because they’re true.”

“You’re very convincing.” She traced her fingers over the tines of the fork in front of her. “I’m starting to believe you might be right.”

I was determined to get her to see her the way I did, but I knew it might be slow going. So I accepted the small victory and focused on enjoying the time we’d been able to steal tonight.

Circling the table, I lifted the dome off the plates as I sat down. “It isn’t pasta Bolognese from Trattoria, but I didn’t want you to think I was a one-trick pony.”

“It looks fantastic.” Lifting her fork, she took a bite of the spaghetti and let out a little hum of pleasure that hit me in the cock. “And tastes even better.”

“I’m glad you like it.” I twirled some of the noodles onto my fork. “I have a limited repertoire in the kitchen. This is one of the few recipes of my mom’s that I’ve mastered.”

She paused with her fork in midair, her eyes going wide. “You set all of this upandmade dinner?”

“Yup, but I cheated because I already had the meatballs in my freezer,” I admitted.

“Please tell me that you’re for real because sometimes you do stuff that makes me wonder if you’re too good to be true.”

I reached across the table to hold her hand, staring deep into her eyes as I swore, “You can count on me, baby. I’m in this the same as you are.”

“I just…it’s hard to remember that sometimes,” she confessed. “I don’t want you to pay for Thad’s mistakes, but this is scary.”

Hoping to lighten the mood, I murmured, “When you have doubts, just remind yourself that I would be risking life and limb if I was just playing a game with you.”

Tilting her head to the side, she asked, “How so?”

“My grandfather would be the first to hand me my ass, quickly followed by Ryland. And Waverley. Then my mom.” I shook my head with a laugh. “If anything was left of me after all of that, my dad would jump in too. To impress my mom and knock some sense into me.”

“But they’re your family,” she protested, a wrinkle popping up in the middle of her forehead.

“Which is why they would be the first to call me on my shit.” I shrugged. “That’s what family does.”

Her lips curved down, and she heaved a deep sigh. “That hasn’t been my experience with my in-laws, but from what I’ve seen with your grandfather and your cousin when he was representing me in the divorce—and how you’ve been with me—I can tell that the Moores are different from what I’m used to. In the very best way possible.”

“You’re safe with me. With us,” I promised.

“You’re starting to make a believer out of me.”

“Good.” I squeezed her hand before picking up my fork. “Now eat your dinner so we have plenty of time to enjoy our dessert.”

Her gaze turned heated as she licked her lips. “Dessert?”

“Fuck, you have no idea how much I wish it was that kind of dessert.” I shifted in my seat to relieve some of the pressure from my hard-on pushing against my zipper. “But I promised Skylar that I wouldn’t do anything that would put her food safety certificate at risk, and the things I’d like to do to you would definitely leave a mark.”

She shivered, goose bumps popping up along her arms. “I suppose we should behave ourselves then.”

“You gotta help me out here, Ellie,” I groaned, pressing my palm down on my lap to adjust myself before I ended up with a permanent zipper mark on my cock. “Keeping my hands off you is hard as fuck. Literally.”

Her giggle filled the air as she lifted her hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’ll try to be good.”

The rest of our date passed by too quickly for my liking, and it wasn’t long before I was following her car to make sure she got home safely. Meghan was due to drop off the kids soon, but I still followed her up the steps to drop her off at the door like my mom expected of her sons.

“Thanks for a wonderful night.”

“It was my pleasure.” Gripping her hips, I pulled her closer. “And so is this.”

Crashing my lips down on hers, I took advantage of her surprised gasp to slide my tongue in her mouth. She pressed her curvy body against mine as she lost herself in my kiss, and her reaction spurred me on to deepen the contact. Our tongues tangled together until my need for her pounded in my veins.

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