Uncontrollable Temptations (Tempted #3)(25)

Lacey shoved at my arm.

“Earth to Dad, hello?” She said, waving her hand in front of my face.

“What?” I asked.

“The bell. Go get the door,” she ordered, pushing me out of the kitchen. “And be nice. You know, try to refrain from grunting and mumbling.”

I grunted then I mumbled as I walked into the living room making my way to the front door. Until the doorbell rang I didn’t believe Reina would even show up, despite the text message she sent me an hour ago, asking for my address. After last night I was sure she would’ve burnt the napkin I left her with my number. I pulled open the door and stopped short. The cab she arrived in pulled away from the curb as she turned around and stared at me awkwardly.

I missed something, somewhere, because Reina was morphing from the shy outcast waitress in a diner to this vibrant beauty who had shed her old persona. Or maybe the girl I spent five weeks staring at wasn’t timid at all and just a disguise she hid behind. She lost her baggy clothes and my imagination didn’t have to work so hard to see what she was hiding under all the layers. I glanced up at the heavens, silently thanking whoever sent this girl in tight leather pants to my doorstep. The transformation didn’t stop at her legs though, she was wearing a long sweater that stretched across her chest and I instantly regretted that I hadn’t ripped her shirt off last night when I had the chance. She completed the outfit with a cropped leather jacket and leather riding boots, looking like she was born to be on the back of my bike.

She was a goddamn dream.

My fucking dream.

I finally snapped out of my daze as she turned her face and looked away from me, nervously. I reached out, placing my finger beneath her chin and turned her head back toward me. I stared at her, noticing the subtle make-up she wore. She had pulled her hair away from her face, exposing all of her perfect features and her big brown eyes that stared back at me. Beneath the wary gaze, was the girl I unraveled last night, the girl I branded mine. The same girl who dismissed me like I wasn’t good enough.

Let’s break bread, sunshine.

I’ll play nice with you for now.

Because, looking at her now I realized the taste I got of her last night was not enough. It barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to do to her. I dropped my hand from her chin and stepped aside so she could enter.

“I hope you’re not too hungry,” I mumbled.

Her eyebrows drew together as she stepped inside and I closed the door behind her.

“You mean to say you hope I’m hungry,” she corrected. “Right?”

She held out her hands, offering the bakery box.

“No, Lacey can’t cook for shit but I don’t have the heart to tell her,” I said, diverting my eyes to the box in her hands. “What’s that?”

“I…I wasn’t planning on being invited anywhere and I didn’t have time to bake it myself. I went to Rosalie’s bakery and well…they had cherry pie,” she rambled, eyes roaming around the room before they found mine.

I took the box from her hands.

“Shame, your pie tasted pretty fucking delicious,” I said, as I stared at her lips, remembering how I painted the filling onto that pout and licked it off. “Want more of that Reina,” I growled. I knew I was making her uncomfortable but I couldn’t help myself. I loved watching her squirm.

She opened her mouth to say something but her eyes moved behind me as Lacey walked into the living room.

“Hi Reina, I hope you’re hungry,” she announced, placing a salad bowl in the center of the table. I cocked my head as I stared at the bowl of lettuce and…peas? Lucky for me, they won’t be banging down the door to marry her for her cooking skills.

“Thank you for having me. Can I help you with anything?”

“No, I’ve got everything under control,” Lacey replied. “Make yourself comfortable, take off your coat. Dad, take her coat,” she commanded, taking the cake box from my hands. “Does this have to be refrigerated?”

“No,” Reina said, taking off her jacket and folding it over her arm.

I took it from her hand and hung it up on the newel post.

“You want a beer?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

“Sure,” she answered. I glanced between the two women and shook my head slightly, pondering how the fuck this was happening as I walked into the kitchen to fetch Reina a beer.

The kitchen was a disaster. I ignored the mess and grabbed Reina and I both beers before walking out of the kitchen to find they had migrated into the dining room.

“Your home is lovely,” Reina said.

“Dad hates it. He only sleeps here when I’m around otherwise he’s always at the Dog Pound.”

I twisted the top off the beer and handed it to Reina, warning Lacey with my eyes to nip it in the bud.

“I’ll see about dinner,” Lacey said, turning on her heel.

I held out the neck of my beer to Reina and lifted an eyebrow.

“Happy birthday, Jack,” she whispered, tapping the neck of her bottle to mine.

“Thank you, Sunshine,” I said huskily, before taking a long gulp of my beer, watching as she sipped hers. She pulled the bottle away and giggled.

“You know what I realized on the way here?”

“What’s that?” I questioned, taking a seat at the head of the table and leaning back against the chair, watching her intently.