Theintensity of their kiss had morphed into a conflagration that had consumed themboth as soon as their bodies hit the bed.
Andit had been phenomenal. Something Ethan intended to repeat in the very nearfuture.
Butshortly thereafter, as soon as Ethan managed to dispose of the condom, they’dboth fallen asleep holding one another, unable to conjure up enough energy tomake it downstairs for food although they’d certainly worked up an appetite.
FiguringBeau would likely be hungry when he woke up, Ethan slipped out of the bed,grabbed a pair of shorts from one of the drawers in his dresser and made hisway downstairs, flipping on lights as he went.
Hedidn’t waste time getting to work in the kitchen, one of his favorite things todo. Especially when he was at home. Not many people knew of his passion forcooking, nor did he usually cook for just anyone other than himself. Butsuddenly he had an overwhelming urge to cook for Beau.
Strangethat.
Althoughit was nine o’clock at night and not in the morning, Ethan retrieved all of theingredients necessary to make homemade southern biscuits and went to workmixing everything together. Once they were cut and sitting on the pan, heshoved the pan in the pre-heated oven and then went to work on the eggs, baconand sausage. Keeping in mind that he wasn’t cooking for one, he tripled hisnormal ingredients and got to work.
Hehad just retrieved the pan of biscuits from the oven and was relocating them toa plate when he heard Beau’s footsteps on the stairs. He tried not to appearnervous when the big man loomed in the doorway, wearing nothing but his jeansand a smile.
Lordhave mercy the guy was stunning.
Smilingsmoothly, he didn’t look up when he said, “Sleep well?”
“Youshould’ve woke me up.”
“Iwas planning to. When everything was ready.” Nodding toward one of the barstools, he motioned for Beau to have a seat as he slid one of the sausage andcheese omelets onto a plate, adding some sliced strawberries and a handful ofblueberries to the plate. He tossed two biscuits and several slices of bacon onone of the plates and pushed it over to Beau.
“Ihope you like breakfast for dinner.”
“Ilike breakfast anytime,” Beau reassured him, his smile large and genuine.
“Good.We’re gonna get along just fine,” Ethan blurted before realizing exactly whathe’d said. Turning away briskly, he went to work preparing a second platebefore joining Beau at the bar.
“Thisis delicious,” Beau said quietly when he began eating. Ethan hadn’t realizedBeau had been waiting for him, but he was flattered. Having spent almost a yearwith Blake, Ethan had come to expect remarkably little respect and the factthat Beau hadn’t consumed all of his food before Ethan even sat down wasstrangely satisfying.
Itdidn’t take either of them long to scarf down everything on their plates,including two large glasses of orange juice. When Ethan moved to do the dishes,Beau came up from behind and wrapped his arms around him.
“Youcooked. I’ll clean.”
“Myhouse, I’ll clean,” Ethan argued, but didn’t try to pull away.
“Don’tmake me take you to the floor, Walker,” Beau growled in his ear, sending sparksof awareness shooting over every inch of his skin.
Hewanted to challenge Beau to do just that but thought better of it. Instead, hepulled away and put his plate in the sink before making his way back to therefrigerator for more juice. When he returned, he hefted himself up on thecounter close to where Beau was working at the sink and watched him.
Ethansensed Beau was thinking about something. Part of him wanted to pry and ask himto spill it. The other part wanted to let it be. They’d already achieved plentyof milestones for one day, spilling their guts to one another probably wasn’tin his best interest.
Especiallywhen he was worried he’d ask Beau to stay the night if he started talking. Hedidn’t have overnight visitors at his house. Ever. Not even Blake had spent asingle night at his house. It wasn’t the way Ethan worked. Casual. Simple. Nostrings. That was the only way to proceed as far as Ethan was concerned.
Well,until Beau had waltzed into his life and put his brain on the fritz.
Hehad a feeling with Beau, asking him to stay would result in just the opposite ofwhat he hoped for. He’d probably be begging the man to stay, and Beau wouldinsist on leaving. That’s the way things worked. If Ethan wanted something,which was very, very rare, it always seemed unattainable.
AndEthan had no intention of getting himself into a position that would requirehim to beg.
Hetried not to stare at Beau as he worked, but that proved to be reasonablydifficult. When Beau moved, he was a work of art. All hard muscle and sleeklines. His biceps and triceps flexed and bunched with little effort while hislean, flat stomach muscles rippled smoothly.
“Keeplooking at me like that and I’m going to have you for dessert,” Beau grumbled,his sexy, deep baritone causing goose bumps to rise on his skin.
Insteadof responding, Ethan grinned. Why was it that their interactions seemedeffortless, almost like they were used to being around one another for lengthyperiods of time, doing mundane household chores. It was a new one for Ethan. Somuch so that he worried what he was getting himself into.
Hepreferred the aloof, don’t-give-a-shit attitude he’d cloaked himself in overthe years. But for some reason, with Beau, it wasn’t that easy to keep hisguard up. Not that opening himself up was a good thing because Ethan knewbetter. If he wasn’t careful, he’d fall for this man and then where would hebe?
