Page 41 of The Billionaire's Kiss
Chapter Sixteen
Orla
With a cold beer in hand and my boots propped up on the outdoor coffee table, I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the night. The smell of barbeque wafted through the cool air, and I felt perfectly content. “Warner, that is the most tantalizing smell I believe I have ever had the pleasure of sniffing in my life.”
“Hickory smoke is one of the best smelling smokes there is.” He picked up his beer then came to sit next to me on the comfy couch.
As he took the seat, I smelled the smoke on him and moaned as I leaned in, sniffing his neck. “My goodness, you should find a way to bottle that smell. You could sell a ton of it as men’s cologne.”
Laughing, he asked, “Does it turn you on?”
“In so many ways.” My head felt light as I inhaled him. “I think I could kiss every last inch of you, if only just to taste that smoke on your skin.” I shook my head. “Oh, that sounds a little like something a cannibal would say, doesn’t it?”
“A little.” He took a drink of the long-neck beer bottle, then placed it on the table beside him. “At least you didn’t say you’d like to bite me all over to taste the smoke on my skin. Nowthatwould’ve been creepy.”
Earlier in the evening, he’d taken me on a shopping spree to buy me some western clothing. My shirt and his had the same type of buttons—which he called pearl snaps. He’d picked out some blue jeans for me as well, and the larger bottoms on the legs made for better covering my new cowboy boots. I looked like a real cowgirl, and now I was about to eat like one.
No one had ever gone to so much trouble—or expense—for me. I sort of liked being pampered.Who am I kidding? I love being pampered.
“The appetizers are just about ready.” He wiggled his thick, dark brows at me. “Get ready for something spicy.”
He’d piqued my curiosity. “I saw you putting something on the grill that was wrapped in bacon. Is that the spicy appetizer you speak of?”
“It is. They’re called wraps. It’s a hollowed-out jalapeno filled with cream cheese then wrapped with bacon. It’s a staple at Texas barbeques.”
“You’re certainly giving me the star treatment here, cowboy.”
His eyes searched mine for a moment. “I like it better when you call me your sweet prince.”
Caressing his cheek, which he’d skipped shaving this morning, my heart melted. He’d referred to what I’d called him the night before. “Ah, and my sweet prince you are.”
His gaze broke from mine as he looked to one side. Smoke billowed out of the grill, and he jumped up to see to it. “I think the wraps are burning!”
As soon as he lifted the lid on the grill, the flames shot up. “Bacon grease will catch fire.” I stayed on the couch and out of his way.
Masterfully, he grabbed a pair of huge oven mitts and slipped them over his hands. They went all the way up to his elbows. Taking a long pair of tongs, he shouted, “Grab the platter for me, please.”
Hopping up, I grabbed the empty platter near him and held it out. He quickly filled it with the wraps, and I was surprised to see very little char on them. “Seems you got them out in the nick of time.”
“It’s important not to walk away from food when you’re grilling.” He closed the lid and the smoke soon stopped billowing out of the hole on top of the lid.
“I can see why.” My beer was nearly empty, and so was his. I ambled over to the ice chest that was cooling our beer, grabbed two more, and took them to the table where he’d placed the platter of appetizers.
“I’ll be right back. I’ve got a peach cobbler in the oven.” He left me alone with the food.
I decided to try one before he could witness my reaction to the spicy thing. Picking up the smallest one, I popped it whole into my mouth. To my surprise, it wasn’t spicy at all, and it tasted phenomenal.
But after swallowing it, something started happening to my tongue. At the very back, a slight burning sensation began, and it kept getting warmer and warmer. I took a swig of the cold beer but it didn’t help at all.
Warner came back outside to find me with my tongue sticking out, trying to let the cool breeze to put an end to the ever-growing warmth. “Let me guess, you tried a wrap?”
“Yes, and now my mouth is on fire.”
He opened the bag of thickly sliced bread he’d placed on the table and handed me a piece. “Take a bite of this and let the bread sit on your tongue a minute before you chew it up and swallow it.”
I did as he said, waiting for a moment before swallowing it. And it took away most of the heat. “Wow, that worked.”
“The bread draws in the oil the pepper leaves behind.” He popped one of the little fireballs into his mouth.
