AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eighteen
Sabrina insisted on baking M&M cookies when they returned to his penthouse. While she measured the flour and sugar, Flynn considered how the last week-plus had been a blur of domestic activity.
He’d checked on the status of her apartment’s plumbing—progress, but no solution yet. She seemed content to stay here with him and he wasn’t in a hurry for her to leave. She’d been painting almost every day in between trying out a few new recipes his stomach was enjoying.
She’d nibbled at the freshly baked cookies, and he’d wolfed down half a dozen while stretched out on the couch and watching the rain. He finally stopped itching to check his email so he’d kicked back to read a spy novel instead of a business book—something he hadn’t done in ages.
His entire adult life had been about bettering himself and gaining knowledge of his father’s company. Flynn had assumed Mac, or someone like him, would be put in charge of Monarch if and when the impervious Emmons Parker passed on. Though Flynn had always known it was a possibility the company could fall to him, it seemed unlikely. Now that he had what he’d always wanted, it’d come at a price he wouldn’t have paid—his father’s death. Reconciling grief over a man who was hard to love hadn’t been easy, and unbelievably, inheriting ownership of a company he loved had been harder.
Being owner/president of Monarch was and wasn’t what he’d expected. Flynn knew that taking over would be hard work, knew that stepping into his father’s shoes would rankle Mac’s back hair, but what Flynn hadn’t counted on was to turn into his father in the process. Before this hiatus, he’d scarcely been able to tell the difference between them.
Thank God for Sabrina for tirelessly pointing out he was changing—even when he hadn’t wanted to hear it. He’d felt that gratitude for her tenfold tonight, while she’d lain on the couch next to him, her feet propped on one of his thighs, her eyes fastened to a book. That same book now sat on the kitchen counter as she poured a few inches of Sambuca into two glasses. She’d insisted on a nightcap, and he’d agreed. It was rounding midnight, but he wasn’t the least bit tired.
“Do you have coffee beans?”
“There.” He pointed to a cabinet.
She dropped three into each snifter, saying for each one, “Health. Wealth. And happiness.”
She turned around to present his glass of warmed licorice liqueur, but his hands were full at the moment. Of the book she’d been reading.
“What are you doing?” Her mouth dropped into a stunned O, her voice outlined with worry. “Close that book immediately and take your drink.”
“Why?” He edged around the long end of the counter, putting them on opposite sides of it. “Something juicy in here?”
“No.” But her pink cheeks begged to differ.
He opened to where she’d slotted her bookmark, skimmed a few sentences and hit gold. He grinned at her.
“Flynn.” It was a plea he ignored.
“‘His mouth was as intoxicating as any liquor, but a thousand times more potent,’” he read.
“That’s out of context.” She came around the counter but he walked backward as he continued reading from another section.
“‘He replied to her complaint by sliding warm fingers over her bare back, and then snicking the zipper of her dress down over her backside.’”
“Flynn, please.” Her giggle was a nervous one. “Please don’t read that.”
“Why not? It’s a hell of a lot more interesting than what I was reading earlier.” He let her catch up to him and snatch the book from his hand. She hugged it to her chest, hiding the cover from him. “Anything in there you want to try?”
He thought she would protest. Her cheeks were rosy as her teeth stabbed her bottom lip in what he assumed was indecision. Hooking a finger in the belt loop of her jeans, he tugged her to him, enjoying the plush softness of her breasts against his chest.
“Is my mouth intoxicating, Sabrina?” He nipped her bottom lip.
“You’re making fun of me.” She shoved his chest.
“I’m not. I promise I’ll try anything in that book.”
Her eyebrow rose even as her cheeks stained a darker shade of pink. “Promise?”
He trusted her not to find a section where the hero was kicked in the balls. He raised a hand and took the oath. “I swear.”
“In that case.” She flipped through the book, back and then forward, before relocating her bookmark and handing it over.
He scanned the page quickly and smiled over the cover before tossing the book onto the couch. “I had no idea you liked that sort of thing.”
She shrugged one shoulder, adorable and tempting. He couldn’t refuse her.
