I finally allow myself a moment to appreciate the smells wafting around the kitchen. “Did you make—”
“Steak and ale pie? I did. Mum’s secret recipe. I’ve never made it outside her pub kitchen before.”
“Well, I’m honored that you chose to make it for me. I promise not to ask for the recipe…” I joke, and she laughs, slipping her hands back into the oven mitts and carrying the pie to the table where there’s already a basket of crusty bread and an open bottle of red wine.
She sets it down and I move to her side, slipping my arm around her waist and leaning in to kiss her gently. “Thank you for cooking for me.”
“Thank you for giving me someone to cook for.” She brushes her lips once more against mine before we both sit.
“So,” I start, not sure I really want to know but figuring I probably should, “what about you? Was there ever anyone…” I take a swig of my wine. “Serious?”
I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around the fact there was never this other guy like I always imagined. And seeing as I never let myself so much as look her up online, I had no idea there wasn’t.
She shakes her head and starts to nervously fill our bowls without answering.
“Avi?”
She lifts her head and her eyebrows are pulled down, bottom lip between her teeth again. “I—” She clears her throatand passes me a bowl. “Dating wasn’t something I concerned myself with for a long time after Lennox was born. I had him, I had school, then I had him and school in Paris, which was insanely busy…”
“No Frenchman ever caught your eye?” I say with a chuckle, but she shakes her head, not laughing.
“I went on a few dates once we moved back, mostly to get my parents off my back. But there was never…” She swallows thickly, eyes avoiding mine. “There was never anyone else.”
Does she—no, there’s no way she means what I think she does. She can’t mean there’s never beenanyoneelse, as in she’s neverbeenwith anyone else… in all this time.
I’m speechless, my spoonful of pie halfway to my mouth. The tension grows thicker as that admission sits between us. Fragile and precious.
“Say something… Please,” she whispers.
I do the only thing that seems right and that’s to slip off my chair and kneel at her feet; this woman who has, by some miracle, only ever been mine.
“I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve to be your only, but I’m sure as hell going to try to be worthy of it.” Her eyes fill with tears and I watch one fall, knowing dinner is going to have to wait.
I wrap my arms around her torso and stand, bringing her with me until she circles her long, strong legs around my waist. I groan at the way it settles her right where I want her, right where I’ve dreamt of being for so long.
I remember where the bedroom is from our tour, which is good because with the first step in that direction, Avi seals her mouth overmine in a kiss that would make even the strongest man weak in the knees.
“M’eudail, if you kiss me like that, I won’t make it to the bedroom,” I husk between shaky breaths.
She nips at my bottom lip and I growl at the intense shock of pleasure that shoots down my spine.
Thank god this cottage isn’t very big. The hallway that splits off toward the two bedrooms is short and I’m through the doorway and laying her onto the bed, hovering over her, before she can unman me any further. The room is dark, only the light of the moon shining in through the window, and that won’t do. I need to see her for this. So I can appreciate her. Worship her.Loveher.
She whimpers when I pull back and stand, walking over to flip on the bedside lamp and then the other, basking the room in a soft glow.
“W-we don’t need the lights. We can just—”
I stop her with a finger on her lips, leaning over her where she’s propped on her elbows. “I want to see you.”
She tucks her chin, eyes fluttering closed, and turns her face away from me.
“Avi?” I question, guiding my finger under her chin to bring her face back to me, but her eyes are still pointed away.
“I-I had a baby, Jamie,” she says in a shy whisper that trips on my name.
My lip tips up in a smirk. “Yes, I’m aware. It may be a new fact for me, but I haven’t forgotten.”
She pushes lightly at my chest, forcing me away. In that space she slides herself up the bed, bringing her knees with her and wrapping her arms around them.
