Page 27 of Santa of the Creek
“I’ll bring a late lunch unless you’ve eaten. I can swing by somewhere and pick up food. I need to get to the ceremony by five. I haven’t been up long,” he confesses.
“Me neither. I went back to sleep after Gloria’s call.”
“So did I.”
There’s that moment of comfortable silence again before he says, “I’ll be on my way.”
“Ariel will be pleased to see you,” I say.
“I hope she’s not the only one,” he says lightly, but I hear something else in his voice. Hope, maybe?
“I want to see you too, especially if you’re bringing food. Drive safely. Did it snow again?”
“Not that much,” he says with the supreme indifference of someone used to snowy winters. “See you later.”
Snow charms me or scares me, depending on whether I’m inside or driving. Right now, sitting in the warm, it’s beautiful outside. All shiny and sparkly.
“We’re in the right place to be,” I tell Ariel. She chirrups her agreement and stretches, showing me her danger mittens before she relaxes again, burying her small face against my belly and purring herself to sleep.
I sit back and wait for Dean to arrive. It’ll be a while. I close my eyes and have a nap. I wish I could purr too.
Chapter Six
Dean
Not sure what Echo wants to eat. I know nothing about him except what kind of wings he likes. It turns out the takeout places know him well, and I load up with his favorites. I guess Echo really doesn’t like cooking. I raid Collier’s Creek for sandwiches, pizza, wings, and fries, and soda because I’m not sure what he wants to drink.
Echo’s eyes light up. “You’re the only person I ever want to visit me,” he assures me.
“It’s only takeout,” I say.
“This is soul food.” Echo’s moan of pleasure makes my dick stir. I tell it to pipe down. I’m not sure it listens.
“None of this is good for you,” I point out when it’s laid on the coffee table.
Echo’s mouth is too full to give me a coherent reply, but it’s along the lines of “Shut up. I’m eating.”
At some point I’m going to have to take him back to my place for a home-cooked meal. I’m not Master Chef level, but I can put a meal together. My repertoire has increased since I quit going out to bars.
I gaze at his mouth, glistening with sauce from the wings. I want to lean forward and lick his lips, taste the tang of the lemon and the herbs. I wish his mouth was full of my cock at the same time. Then I see him watching me and know we’re thinking the same thing.
I could so easily fall for this man. He makes my nerves spark and my insides puddle into goo. Which is something a nearly forty-year-old man shouldn’t be thinking. I’m too old to feel this way, but around him, that’s all I can think.
Echo swallows, coughs, and looks away, and we pretend that moment didn’t happen. But somehow our gazes keep locking. I reach for the last slice of pizza at the same time he does, and our greasy fingers slide over each other.
“You take it,” I say.
Echo shakes his head and splits it in two. “We’ll share it.”
He stuffs one half in his mouth as he offers me the other piece. I take it, shivering a little as our fingers brush together, and eat it in three bites.
“I think I’m in a food coma,” I mumble. “I won’t need the padding for the suit after this.”
There is nothing left on the table. Ariel has stalked off in disgust at not finding any treats. I’d planned for Echo to have leftovers so he wouldn’t have to worry about cooking again. I’ll have to cook for him tomorrow. I wonder if he likes pasta.
The minutes tick by too fast. I don’t want to leave Echo’s cozy home, with Ariel on my lap, as we watch…you know what? I have no idea what we’re watching because we’re too busy talking a mile a minute. I can’t remember the last time I was so happy just to sit and talk.
Eventually I can’t put off the hour any longer if I’m going to the square in time for the lighting ceremony.
