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His hand drifted up and threaded through her lush hair as he cupped her head and tilted it so that she was at the perfect angle for his first taste. When his lips brushed against hers, once, then twice, his eyes closed and the essence of Lainey burst through his senses. He needed more. Slowly, he licked against the seam of her lips. She opened for his tongue and he entered the heated cavern of her mouth.

He groaned as he tasted something better than any dessert he’d ever experienced. Lainey’s tongue tangled with his as his other hand drifted down to cup her bottom, loving the round, soft bounty of this sexy woman.

Lainey’s whimper was masked by his mouth, but the way she rubbed herself against him, he knew she was just as lost in the kiss as he was. Mateo felt the bite of her nails on his sides and he broke off the kiss as he grinned.

“Mmmh mmmh,” she protested. But he wasn’t done. He was only starting. He peppered kisses down along her jaw, to the back of her neck, until he softly bit, then laved her earlobe. Lainey went lax in his arms.

“Oh God. Again.”

He grinned, then moved to her other ear. Then moved back to the slick beauty of her lips. There was just so much to enjoy. He heard Lainey humming against his mouth. It was a constant buzz that just told him how much she was reveling — “Matt,” she pushed at his chest, as she broke away from his kiss.

“Hmmm?”

“The timer.”

He frowned. Then he heard it. How in the fuck had he missed it? Jesus! How had he missed the timer going off? What in the fuck was wrong with him?

“The empanadas are done. I don’t want them to overcook.”

“Empanadas?”

“Yeah, beef and cheese. Plus, I have cabonada in the crock pot. I didn’t follow that recipe exactly. I didn’t make it with beef since we were having the beef empanadas. But I did some taste testing, and I think it’s okay.”

Mateo felt his eyes widen. “I thought I was taking you out to dinner.”

“After the fourth bouquet arrived, I decided to cook.” Lainey laughed as he followed her into the kitchen. It smelled like heaven. Almost as good as having Lainey in his arms.

Almost.

She cooked, baked, wanted to help the disenfranchised, and graduated with honors. What the hell wasn’t she good at?

He watched as she pulled the empanadas out of the oven. The crust was a perfect golden brown. She then fished out two hollowed-out small pumpkins and put them on plates.

“I was supposed to heat these up, but I figured that with the heat of the stew, that they’ll heat up just fine. I also bought some fresh bread from my favorite bakery. Do you mind setting the table?”

“Hell no. I’d feel better doing something than having you wait on me.”

She smiled. She nodded to a drawer. “Silverware is in there, and I just use paper towels for napkins.”

“Since that’s my SOP, I think I can handle it.”

“SOP? What does that stand for?”

“Standard Operating Procedure.”

“Huh, that sounds almost military.”

Mateo inwardly winced.

Focus!

“My friend Jase was in the Navy. Now he works construction and plays on our soccer team. I must have picked that up from him.” He eyed the paper towel holder under the cabinets next to the crock pot. The crock pot was plugged into an extension cord with multiple outlets. So was her coffee maker, blender, food processor and toaster oven. They weren’t plugged into the outlet that was right there on the wall.

It was a long extension cord. It wound all along the bottom of the wall, going past the sink, until it was plugged into a socket ten feet away, past two other sockets. At least he was ninety-nine percent sure the cord was, since it was covered by silver duct tape.

What the everloving hell?

“Lainey?”