“Well, first, before I ask that, can you sample this sauce? I’m making your favorite.”
He jumped up from his chair. “Lasagna? For lunch?”
She grinned. “Yup.”
He strolled behind the granite counter to where she was stirring her famous pasta sauce. Something was up. She didn’t need him to taste the sauce. She definitely wanted something, and he suspected a bribe. Just the same…
She scooped some sauce into a spoon and held it out for him to taste. As always, the aromas themselves were making his mouth water. The tangy tomatoes and sweet cheeses mingled with the garlic and herbs she always added…mmm, perfection.
“That’s fantastic. Now, what did you want to ask me?”
She set down the spoon and placed her arms around his neck. “You know how you let Dottie and Ralph live here rent free for a while?”
“Yes…but that’s because Ralph was the maintenance man. Now Jules is the super and getting free rent.”What’s the little tease up to?
She cozied up to him and her baby bump brushed his cock. He suspected it wasn’t accidental, but he wasn’t about to complain.
“Uh-huh. And you know my biological father Sly lives around here, but his place is really…” She seemed unsure of herself. Jason wasn’t used to seeing her like this.
“Really what?”
“Substandard. Dark, dank, musty…He deserves better. After all, he’s family, just like your aunt and uncle are.”
Ah, here it comes.Jason had expected something like this. So, his sweet wife wanted her biological father to live closer to her. He had never found out exactly where the guy lived. At one point, Jason thought he might be homeless, but he was too well dressed and groomed.
“So, I was wondering…Now that Roz and Konrad have moved out, and my old apartment is free…and it’s so tiny. Really only big enough for one person…”
He could see her struggling. Should he help her out and say what he knew she wanted to hear? Or should he just let her squirm a while?
She was laying little kisses along his jaw and neck. Her lips were so soft and warm.Yeah, I’ll definitely let her convince me.
As she continued her seduction, he glanced over her shoulder at his living and dining rooms in the open, airy penthouse. She had made his sterile place a home. The all-white walls were now a warm neutral tan shade. She had redecorated with more comfortable furniture, fitting his long legs. A beautiful paintingof a falcon in flight stood proudly on the mantle over the fireplace. She’d given him the painting for his birthday.
“Well, what do you think? Can I invite Sly to be our next resident in 1B? That’s not saying he’ll accept, but I’d like to—”
Jason put a finger over her lips. “Shhh…You know I can deny you nothing. If you want Sly to move into 1B, go ahead and ask him.”
She squealed and hugged him hard. “Oh, thank you, Jason. I just knew you wouldn’t mind.”
He chuckled. “I never said that, but if it’s important to you, I can live with it.”
She punctuated her thanks with kisses all over his face.
When he stopped laughing, he lowered his voice and said, “Now, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Will that lasagna keep for about thirty minutes?”
She smiled up at him coquettishly. “You know what I love about you?”
“What?”
“Everything.”
Sly strolled over the hardwood floors, taking in the space that Merry wanted to give him, rent free. There were pros and cons to this arrangement. Large bay windows faced the street, and even though it was dark outside at the moment, sunlight would stream in during the day. The place was chilly with the heat turned off but still warmer than the basement.
His vampiric senses picked up a party going on in the nearby brainiac college’s frat house across the street. Something he didn’t notice in his basement. That could become annoying depending on how often geeks partied.
