Not Planning on You (Danvers #2)(16)
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Suzy woke to a wonderful smell, and her nose twitched in appreciation. At first, disoriented from the unfamiliar surroundings, it took her several minutes to put the pieces together again. She was with Gray at his home. Apparently, he’d either left for take-out or had something delivered and whatever it was, it smelled delicious. Her stomach rumbled in appreciation.
Soon the object of various fantasies and a lot of denial came into view. “Oh good, the patient is awake. I thought you might be hungry by now. “
Suzy surveyed Gray’s casual attire and hadn’t thought it possible for her mouth to water any more than it already was…she was wrong. The man might look like a GQ model in a suite but in jeans, he was drop-dead gorgeous. He was wearing a Nike t-shirt and jeans that were faded from use and almost lovingly hugged his physique. Great, I look like a hag, smell even worse, and he looks as fresh as a daisy. Where is the justice in the world?
“Are you ready for something to eat? It’s just simple vegetable soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches. I thought we would have something light and then maybe a slice of lemon pound cake later this evening if you like.”
“Wow, I’m impressed. When did you go out to pick all that up?”
Gray looked at her and laughed. “I didn’t pick it up; I made it.”
Impressed despite herself, Suzy said, “Wow, now opening the soup can and making a sandwich I can see, but actually using a cake mix is more than most men I know could handle.”
Obviously amused by her statement, Gray said, “Prepare to be blown away then. I didn’t open a can, its homemade soup and I didn’t use a mix, I made the cake from scratch. Now while you tuck that bottom lip that’s hanging open back in, I’m going to go collect our trays.”
When Gray returned, he set two trays containing steaming bowls of soup, cornbread and ice tea on the coffee table. He grabbed another pillow, and positioned it behind her head as gently as possible. Then he picked up a tray and arranged it over her lap.
Suzy looked down at the tray on her lap in shock, “Holy shit, you have got to be kidding me! There is only one thing that I haven’t seen yet that could be wrong with you.”
A smile of supreme masculine confidence crossed Gray’s face as he leaned over her on the couch and put his lips to her ear. “Sweetheart, if you’re looking for a flaw, I promise you, it’s not that as you will soon find out.” Shivers ran down her spine as his warm lips paused to trace the contours of her ear and then dropped a brief kiss onto her lips before straightening up.
Her heart raced, and heat rushed through her body at the feel of his lips on hers. Good grief, girl, get it together. He barely touched you and you’re ready to roll your injured body off the couch and ride him like Sea Biscuit, geez. Suzy hoped the throw would hide the fact that her ni**les were now standing at full attention. If a simple kiss could do this to her, she could only imagine how it would feel to have Gray inside of her. Stop before you experience your first thought-induced orgasm.
Suzy cleared her throat as she looked down at the tray that Gray had arranged on her lap. “I’m impressed, slick, I really am. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you actually cut up all these vegetables yourself.”
Gray sat in his own chair and tried to settle his tray over the throbbing bulge in his jeans. The feel of her lips still burned on his. To think that if not for the accident, he’d already know her body as well as he knew his own. Living with her and being unable to make love to her would be equal parts of heaven and hell.
Gray pointed to the large, flat-panel television that hung over the fireplace and said, “If you aren’t too tired, I thought we could watch a movie after dinner. I’m even willing to do a chick-flick for you. “
“Hey, it’s Thursday, right? What time is it?”
Gray quickly checked his watch, worried by the urgent tone in her voice. “It’s just after seven, did you have prior plans? I’ll grab my phone when we finish dinner if you need to make a call.” Surely, she didn’t have a date. Damned if he’d have her in his home making her apologies to another man.
“No, nothing like that, the Gamecocks are playing tonight on ESPN. Do you mind if we watch that instead? I have season tickets and I never miss a game if possible. If you don’t like football, maybe I could watch it in the bedroom.”
Gray couldn’t help it; he threw his head back and laughed. Here he was trying to earn points with her by watching a romantic movie without complaint, and she wanted to watch a college football game. If he didn’t already love her, this would do it for him. Every time he thought he knew her, he found another layer. What you saw with Suzy wasn’t even close to what you got. “I really had my heart set on Sleepless in Seattle, but for you, I’ll sacrifice. Meg Ryan will always be there tomorrow.”
“You’re messing with me, right?” Suzy took a bite of her soup while waiting for his answer and almost swooned in pleasure. “You know what? I don’t even care if you’re a little light in the loafers, this soup more than makes up for it. Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“Light in the loafers, now that’s something I’ve never been accused of.” Gray couldn’t remember laughing this much in an evening in years. The things that came out of that beautiful mouth were a constant source of amusement. She’d questioned his manhood at least twice this evening. That had to be some type of record. He’d so enjoy showing her that he was all the man she’d ever need.