Page 91 of The Craving

And I’m not going to lie, I love having her to myself. Maybe I will just lock the gates and we will stay here forever, have food shipped in, and there will be no need for clothes, they can always be optional extras.

“Don’t you think that’s my decision to make?” Victoria’s voice coming into the room has me glaring at Flynn that now I have to battle her too.

“No!” I snap, turning from all of them and stirring the pasta, which is just about right and ready to serve.

“Nicholas, I’m not some glass princess you need to protect. Well, maybe from myself half the time, but not from them. I can handle them.”

I turn to look at her standing there with that fire that flares when we are about to battle something out. She has no idea how bad “they” can be.

“If she can handle you, then Tori can handle anything.” Flynn laughs at his own joke.

I haven’t taken my eyes off her, trying to tell her how much I don’t want to do this.

Rem adds, “You know I can protect her from the worst of it. We can put extra security on her and make sure one of us will be by her side the whole night.” That pushes my buttons even further.

“Iwill protect her! No one else!” And that is when she smiles.

“Great, so we are going. Just one problem—I doubt I have anything here with me to wear to some fancy dinner.”

“We will get Lucy to send some dresses out in the morning,” I grumble as I start draining the pasta.

“Thank you, and if you think you are going to turn up grumpy like that, I might just ask for a purple dress.”

Snapping my head around to look at her, I can feel the steam coming out my ears. She knows I hate the color purple, and now she is just trying to piss me off.

“Don’t push me, Victoria!” That smile of victory on her face does me in. If only she understood that it’s her that holds all the power in this relationship. I would do anything to make her happy, even if I’m ready to rip someone apart for even suggesting this.

“Right, okay. that’s settled. Now, everyone, this is my best friend, Elouise. She is the smarter one in this friendship as you will learn. Lou, this cheeky one is Flynn who I suggest you stay away from, he’s trouble with a capital T. His brother Forrest, the gentleman of the group, and Remington who is our stealth man who loves adventure, so they tell me.” And she thought she wouldn’t fit in.

Victoria has floored all three of them with her accurate descriptions and the way she is in total control of the room, including me.

If only she could see her true strength, because it’s sexy as fuck and draws me even further toward her.

“Well, I’m not sure I’m happy with my introduction from this one, who I think will give us more trouble than I ever have, but lovely to meet you, Elouise.” Flynn stands up and takes her hand in his and kisses her on the cheek. Oh, Romeo is in the house. Back off, big boy, otherwise Victoria will tear you apart. I have a feeling Lou is off limits at the moment, until Victoria gets to know my friends better. Truth be known, she is probably worried they are like me, and she is barely coping with that.

Elouise giggles at him, and Forrest rolls his eyes at me as he and Rem also stand to say hello.

“Okay, enough of the chest pumping and my girlfriend trying to piss me off. Let’s eat.” Victoria’s eyes burn into me at the use of that word. Plating the food, Flynn is at my side helping, and Forrest ushers the girls to the table.

It’s like the old days in the kitchen with Flynn beside me. I miss that. Life was simple then and carefree. Sure, there was stress but nothing like this.

“Girlfriend, huh, how’d that feel coming off your lips?” he asks, nudging me with his shoulder.

“Surprisingly tasty,” I reply, chuckling at him trying to get a rise from me.

“Oh, I bet it is.” He disappears with the first batch of plates before I can growl at him for his reply.

Thankfully, I know the food will shut him up, but it won’t be for long, and that’s when the trouble will start.

* * *

“That food was amazing.” Elouise sits back in her chair next to Victoria, sipping on her wine.

“Thank you. I do miss cooking for more than just myself.” I think about the meals with Victoria this week that never seemed to run according to plan. Her hand on my thigh under the table squeezing me tells me she was thinking the same thing.

“Agreed. We used to serve hundreds of people a sitting with skillful ease, and it was a great adrenaline buzz.” Flynn’s sitting across from Lou, and I can see the same longing in his eyes that I get some days. We both became chefs because we love to cook, and even though I also love my life now, there are some days I still wish to be back in Sydney running a chaotic kitchen.

Victoria reaches for her phone and quickly types something into a note. Something she has been doing a lot this week. I get it, when your mind is racing with ideas, getting them down somewhere is important before they slip away. One thing that phones have become perfect for. At least you can’t lose the pieces of paper like what my mum used to write her lists on, then when she was ready to head to the shop, she couldn’t find the paper. I bet the same is still happening with her today.

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