He stepped toward me, his free hand moving to my hip as he leaned down to kiss me softly.
“He comes bearing gifts.” I laughed against his lips.
“A few,” he admitted, chuckling ruefully as I closed the door. He set the pizzeria boxes down on the table, keeping his eyes on me as I moved toward him. “I told Cheryl.”
His tone gave nothing away. I sucked my bottom lip in, releasing it with a pop. “How’d that go?”
“It went,” he said, offering me a small smile.
“I hate that I’m causing issues for you with her,” I frowned, worrying my lip.
“Hey, it’s not your fault.” He shook his head, stepping toward me. “I’d have issues with Cheryl either way. Trust me.” His hands went to my hips, encompassing me.
“Comforting,” I arched a brow, tilting my head and biting back a smile as I looped my arms around his neck. I pressed my body against him, grinning coyly. “Is that something in your pocket, or are you just super happy to see me?”
“Well, I was going to wait until later, but I should have known you’d try and get into my pants the moment I showed up,” Alaric teased, smiling as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He held his hand between us and opened his fingers, revealing in his palm a miniature cat made of nuts and bolts welded together.
“Oh my God! It’s adorable!” I laughed, taking it from him and inspecting it. “I love it!” I threw my arms around him again, standing on my tippy toes to reach his lips. I kissed him, my mouth moving against his slowly, reveling in the taste of him.
“I’m glad.” He grinned against my lips, his arms encompassing me. I nipped at his lip, urging him on, guided by an aching pulse in my centre.
Alaric’s fingers went to the waistband of my shorts, and I snapped back to my sad reality. “You might want to avoid doing that this week.”
“Gotcha.” He winked, moving his hand to cup my face. He continued kissing me for a moment longer, his tongue moving ardently against mine before he pulled away. My eyes dropped down to his jeans, noticing how turned on he was. I licked my lips, about to drop to my knees on the floor in front of him. “You don’t need to do that, Gwen.”
“I want to,” I assured him, tugging his zipper down.
He laughed, gently lifting my hand away from its quest. He held it, rubbing his thumb over my palm in slow, tiny circles. “But I brought you pizza…”
“Damn it, you did,” I sighed, ravenous for it.
“You can finally put on thatGame of Thronesshow,” he added, picking up the pizza and garlic bread with his free hand and in two steps, he’d cleared the short distance to the couch.
“All right, you’ve talked me into it,” I laughed, shaking my head while he set the pizza down on the coffee table. I went to my bookshelf, arranging the little nuts and bolts cat down on one of the square shelves before I went into the kitchen.
I grabbed us something to drink and some plates. Walking back into the living room, I stilled when I saw him lounging in the corner of the sectional. He patted the space beside him, flashing me a light-hearted smile.
Continuing, I dropped down beside him, my bare thigh rubbing against his denim-clad one. He smiled at me, his eyes bright. “You gonna put it on?”
“Right, yes.” I leaned forward, grabbing the remotes. I worked on setting up the show, while Alaric loaded up our plates with pizza and garlic bread. “Okay but, for the sake of my sister’s upcoming wedding—you cannot be bringing pizza over regularly.”
He laughed, his eyes roving me suggestively. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“You haven’t seen the bridesmaid dresses yet.” I deadpanned, taking a bite of pizza anyway. It was my cheat week, the only bonus to this dark and grisly time. Cheese and chocolate healed all PMS woes.
“That’s true.” He laughed lightly. We fell quiet for a moment. It wasn’t an unpleasant quiet, but a contented one. “When’s the wedding?”
“June,” I replied, stealing a glance at him. He nodded, taking a bite of his slice. I stifled the urge to ask him if he’d come. June was a little under a year away—a lot could happen in a year. He could lose interest, move on. He could decide all the trouble my being in his life caused with his ex and Sawyer wasn’t worth it.
But the way he looked at me made those insecure, negative-Nancy thoughts fly straight out of my head.
“You could always start joining Tig and me for weekend hikes,” he said, sending me a smile that made mereallyresent Aunt Flo.
Alaric
I lifted the bookshelf and set it down on the ground, inspecting it. Much like the coffee table and the two end tables I’d made before it, it had the same black metal and wood look to it.
It just needed to be stained, then I could bring it in and set it along the wall in the living room.
