Page 35 of With Every Breath

“I’m assuming you like salmon?” Alice asked.

I brought my attention to her. She stood by the counter with one hand resting on it. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail with loose curls framing her face. She wore a pair of leggings with a tank top and an open button-down shirt. The fabric of her tank top was stretched tight across her breasts.

What was becoming a familiar feeling sizzled to life inside me. Alice was fucking sexy as hell, and I wanted her. A distant voice in my brain pointed out that I was just seeking a distraction.So what? I silently scoffed.

“Jonah?” she prompted.

Oh right, she had asked me an actual question. “Of course, I like salmon.”

“Well, that settles it, then. I’ll make something quick. I’ll cook it under the broiler with a lemon-honey glaze and a little bit of pepper.” As if in reply, my stomach growled. She grinned. “Sound good?”

“Sounds fucking great.”

“Would you like a beer? Or wine?” She tossed those questions over her shoulder as she turned to open the refrigerator.

“I’ll take a beer.”

She reeled off several types from a local brewery in Diamond Creek.

“Wow, you have a selection.”

She cast me another smile over her shoulder, and the twinkle in her eyes sent a shot of blood straight to my cock. “I like good beer and wine.”

“I’ll take the honey porter.”

I savored my beer while Alice cooked dinner. We ate together at her table in the cozy kitchen, and I tried not to think too much about how I enjoyed this simple time—just relaxing in her kitchen with the moon rising over the mountains and casting a pearly shimmer across the lake. It all felt, well, rather domestic.

Restless with that train of thought, I let my greedy gaze linger on the curves of her breasts. She cleared her throat, and my eyes whipped up to hers. Pink stained her cheeks, and when my eyes dipped down again, her nipples were tight little peaks.

“This was excellent,” I said as I finished my last bite.

Alice had whipped up a quick batch of seasoned rice along with the salmon. It was a simple but delicious meal.

She looked pleased as she pushed her plate toward the center of the table and leaned back in her chair. “I agree. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

She reached for her wineglass and drained the last of it. After she set the glass on the table, her fingers traced along the stem idly. Meanwhile, I shifted in my chair. I’d been half aroused for hours at this point.

ChapterSeventeen

Alice

Jonah’s gaze lifted to mine, and my hormones did a little dance. I had honestly offered to cook him dinner because, for obvious reasons, he’d had a long day. I hadn’t intended for it to be an evening that was one long tease of foreplay.

I was grateful Honey was sound asleep on her new favorite perch, her bed in the hallway. Sometime during her first night here, she’d dragged the bed just outside my bedroom door, so I left it there. She seemed to like it because she could keep an eye on me in the bedroom but also see out into the living room and through the windows.

I was acutely aware of the damp silk between my thighs.

“How does your knee feel?” I asked, desperate for any distraction. I was in bad enough shape that my voice came out raspy and a little breathless. I hoped he didn’t notice. I also hoped he didn’t notice that my nipples were tight, so tight they ached. It felt as if they were announcing my state, waving and cheering for his attention.

He lifted a shoulder in an easy shrug. “Not bad. A little sore. It’s an annoying injury, and I feel like an idiot, but all things considered, I’ll take it.”

“Why do you feel like an idiot? It could’ve happened to anyone,” I pointed out.

“Because I’m a man. Even if I know that’s stupid, it just feels ridiculous that I stepped on a rock, but it was enough of a distance on the descent that I landed wrong.”

“You’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I’m sure your ego will recover from this blow.”

He spun his empty beer bottle with his fingers, and I clenched my thighs together. My body seemed to have a mind of its own. I wanted Jonah, and I wanted his hands all over me. I wanted to know every inch of him and him to know every inch of me.

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