Page 71 of Hell of a Mess
Not bothering to even pretend like I was here for any other reason but to see Lace, I went over and sat down beside her, then turned my head to look at her.
“How’s life, Ocean Eyes?” I asked, lowering my voice because I wished like fuck we were alone.
She blinked and swallowed, then licked her lips. The cut now completely gone and no sign of her injury. “It’s okay,” she whispered.
I gave her a mock frown. “Just okay? Is Mal not making it magical here?”
A small laugh escaped her, and the way it made her eyes twinkle had my hands itching to grab her and toss her over my shoulder and leave. Damn this woman for making me a psycho.
“It’s nice,” she corrected herself. “He’s been great.”
I was sure he’d busted his ass to make her love it here. The fact that she didn’t made my inner beast pound his chest. I wasn’t here. She needed me.
Knowing we were being watched by all three of the Bowen men, I leaned back and sighed dramatically. “I get it. You can’t say it, but not everyone can be as magical as I am. It’s fine. The truth hurts, but Mal is a big boy. He can take it.”
Looking over at the large round coffee table, I surveyed thearray of appetizers. First issue was, that was a male-oriented menu. Too much fried shit and cheese. Mal couldn’t expect her to dive in and start eating like that. I’d deal with him later.
“Help yourself,” Gathe said. “Dad got a new cook. So far, she’s made some delicious shit.”
I stood up and got a plate, then took a loaded potato skin, two hot wings, and some Tex-Mex-looking dip with chips before going back to my spot beside Lace. Her eyes were watching me warily, as if she knew I was going to ask her to eat something. I winked at her as I sat down, and her expression softened.
Leaning closer to her, I held the plate in front of me. “You’re gonna eat something for me, sugar. I miss watching you chew.”
I picked up the potato skin and turned to look at her, holding it. “I’ll give it a taste test first. Gathe will eat anything. His opinion can’t be trusted.”
Her lips quirked as she watched me take a bite. It was good. I nodded my head.
“Yeah, you’ll like this. Give it a try,” I told her as I held it to her lips.
She kept her eyes on me as she opened her mouth. I didn’t force her to take a big bite but a sufficient one. When she was chewing, she kept watching me.
“That’s good, sugar. You did real good. Now, take another one for me. Please,” I said, knowing she liked the praise.
She swallowed and opened her mouth again. I gave her a little more this time.
“That’s my girl,” I whispered.
She smiled so damn sweet. Images of other things I’d like to do to her and praise her about to get that reaction began to play out in my head, and I had to shut it down. Getting a boner in front of Mal and her brothers wasn’t going to help the situation.
I dropped my gaze to the potato skin. “One last bite. I’d rather you eat it. I want the wings.”
When I lifted my eyes back up to hers, she nodded her head and opened her mouth. I placed the last bite between her full lips, and when she closed, I wanted to groan and grab my damn cock. It was suddenly very interested in her open mouth.
Picking up a hot wing, I tore my eyes off her and took a bite, then turned to see the other three in the room staring at us silently.
“She ate, didn’t she?” I asked, then smirked at the lot of them and took another bite of my wing.
“It’s, uh, good to see you eat, Lace,” Mal said, breaking their silence.
Fuckers were making it awkward.
“If you offered her something other than fried cheesy shit, she’d have more options,” I told him, dropping the bone onto the plate and taking the other wing.
“I’m sorry, Lace. If you will make a list of things you like to eat, I can make sure we have it at every meal. I only knew about breakfast.”
But she hasn’t been eating that breakfast, has she, Mal?
Because I wasn’t here.
