Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
He kissed the top of her head in quick succession, murmuring, “God, yeah, I missed you, too.”
He heard what she didn’t say.
What her hug did.
Delaney chose that moment to tipped her head back, resting her chin on the middle of his chest while she grinned up at him, eyes sparkling. “I’m making something for lunch—and I stocked up on beer, which this goes perfect with. I promise. Are you hungry?”
His stomach chose that moment to make itself known.
She just laughed. “That’s a yes?”
“I got right on the road this morning,” he offered, “so that’s a big yes.”
Delaney pushed up on her tiptoes with lips pursed for a kiss that he happily provided, and the two lingered in that soft moment until she pulled away for a breath first. “Are you opposed to a very cheesy casserole?”
His favorite kind.
Especially with pasta.
Like the woman in his arms could read his mind, Delaney said, “I used spaghetti. Mushroom and tomato soup. Ground beef, and fry up a can of mushrooms. I’m sure you can figure out what happens to all the cheese.”
Yes, yes he could.
Lucas didn’t get to cook for himself as much as he liked, but that sounded like the type of meal he would make just to be able to reheat and enjoy again in the next couple of days. Leftovers made the best meals.
“For lunch?” he asked. “I heard someone was getting pizza tonight, too.” Lucas brow lifted high, and Delaney winked at the unspoken suggestion that the two things were not coincidental. “That’s a lot of good food.”
“I see Malachi didn’t miss you, then,” Delaney noted.
“Nope, but he—”
“Got distracted with something,” she interjected, a sly grin forming.
“You did something,” he accused.
Delaney only laughed, spinning away and out of his arms to turn and enter the quiet, bright apartment. Four windows in the small kitchen gave a full view of the garage facing the front of the property leading up to the road, while standing in front of the sink overlooked the fields in the back and the tree-capped peninsula range on the horizon.
Lucas hung his bag on the coat rack by the door, kicking off his boots next to Delaney’s on the entrance mat as well. “What did you do?”
“Well, nothing, really,” she said at the stove where she’d left a tinfoil topped glass casserole dish sitting on the top. Opening the oven door, she put the casserole inside, closed it up, and then turned the light to have a view through the glass on the outside. Smiling back at him, she shrugged and explained, “I may have asked Gracen to give Malachi something to do when you got here so that I didn’t have to share you with anyone else for a while. I mean, I’m glad he likes you and all, and not to mention, Gracen said he needs to make more friends, but—”
“You didn’t want to share me.”
“Like I said, I may have said something like that, yes,” Delaney returned, unconcerned.
“Did you, now?”
“Yep. Not apologizing for it, either.”
Good.
He wouldn’t want her to.
The news made his chest ache, and his lips stretch wide with a toothy, stupid smile. Delaney, who had turned to fiddle with the timer on a stove that was probably new to her considering she had just moved in the day before, finally got twenty-five minutes on the clock before turning around to find Lucas had caged her in at the stove.
Not that she looked bothered.
Those wide, beautiful eyes of hers locked onto his, and she tipped her head back to catch his oncoming kiss without a word. Not quick or soft like their one at the top of the step, he found the tang of mint on her tongue when his finally coaxed her mouth open. She practically melted into him, her hands finding their way in between the half-lowered zipper of his fleece-lined spring jacket to his chest overtop of his shirt.
He suddenly forgot about the rest of the apartment he hadn’t seen, and the promise of beer more than one person had mentioned after his arrival. He didn’t even notice the way the kitchen smelled like good, hearty food already, but he felt the way Delaney trembled as she drew in a shaky breath as their kiss finally broke.
Not that the two moved apart.
“Did someone go to town?” he asked.
By someone, he only meant her.
“I did—I got groceries and a few things,” she said, still happy to gaze up at him while her index finger stroked his pec.
A trip to town would be a big step for her. She’d admitted to him that her biggest fear about returning to the area close to her hometown were all the familiar faces she might run into on any given day. Including ones who might not be happy to see her.
“And?” he asked. “How’d it go?”