Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(39)

Creed was sound asleep. I covered him with my handmade quilt and ran a hand lightly along his cheek, feeling the rough bristle of an unshaven day. Looking at him, he took up so much of the bed that I marveled over the fact that I’d somehow been able to fit there too.

I pulled on a pair of capris and a fitted green top before closing the door softly behind me. Dolly was waiting on the other side with an accusatory look on her face. I sat down on the floor to show her some affection for a few minutes.

“You’re still my best girl,” I said, cuddling her in my arms.

After a quick shower I towel dried my hair and checked on Creed. He was still asleep, snoring lightly.

Stephanie’s door was closed so she must have returned at some point. I didn’t need to worry about being quiet for her sake though. That girl couldn’t be roused by a fire alarm. She rarely appeared before ten am and then usually bolted straight off to class.

I felt like cooking. Bustling around the kitchen always made me feel useful and happy. But as I began hunting down the ingredients for a cheese omelet my mind kept going back to what Creed had said in the darkness.

He’d known terrible things. I’d known terrible things too but they were different. Sometimes they were things I’d brought about myself.

While I’d never known Creed’s horrors, the only vaguely good memories I had of my mother were back when we were little. Later on, time wore away too much of her to leave anything resembling love and kindness behind.

I started cracking eggs and angrily dismissed thoughts of Laura Lee. Had I done what I’d done because she was a crappy, selfish excuse for a mother? Or was it simply a base weakness I carried around inside of me? At any rate it hadn’t taken much for her to turn her back on me. Dear lord if I was ever lucky enough to have a daughter…

The egg I was holding fell out of my hand and broke on the floor. Mechanically, I reached down to pick it up. I carried the whole mess to the sink and washed my hands clean.

When I shut off the water the stillness got to me. Sometimes I turned on some music in the morning. When I’d asked Creed about singing he’d seemed embarrassed. I didn’t tell him that I used to sing too. A kindly neighbor had taken an interest in four neglected girls and spirited us off to church every Sunday. It was a beautiful place filled with people who smiled a lot. I had learned some of their songs. Standing there in my own kitchen, I began singing one of them. The music got me moving again and I returned to making cheese omelets. I wanted them to be ready when Creed woke up.

I was nearing the end of ‘Down to the River to Pray’ when I realized Creed was standing in the doorway watching me.

“Don’t stop,” he whispered when I paused.

He leaned against the door frame, completely naked, with a look of pure serenity on his face as I resumed singing. When I finished he broke into a brilliant smile. God help me, if I hadn’t been a goner before, then I surely became one right there.

“Well,” I said, “now you’ve heard me but I haven’t heard you.”

“You will. What are you making?”

“Cheese omelets. Sound good?”

“Yeah. You got any coffee?”

“I do. You got any clothes?”

He glanced down at himself with some surprise. “Somewhere,” he said as if he didn’t understand why it mattered.

“Check out the floor,” I told him and flipped an omelet.

I started some coffee while he retreated. I hoped he was dressing. I didn’t exactly mind looking at the splendid creation that was his body, but Stephanie might be a little put out.

Creed emerged with his pants on but his chest still bare. He poured himself a cup of coffee and drank it black. Then he stood directly behind me while I tried to concentrate on finishing the omelets.

“This is an effort,” he said.

I didn’t turn around. “What?”

His hands were suddenly on me, running over my hips, up to my breasts and between my legs as he kissed the back of my neck. I nearly dissolved like sugar in water.

“It’s an effort not to tackle you and rip all this sexy shit off your body.”

I turned around and cheerfully pushed a plate into his chest. “Breakfast is ready.”

Creed grumbled but shuffled off to the table. He waited until I sat down too before he picked up a fork and started to eat. “Damn, this is good.”

I was pleased. “I’m glad you like it.”

He stared at me. I felt something on the inside of my left thigh and realized he’d slipped his hand down there. “What time you got to be at work?”

“I don’t. It’s my day off.”

“No shit? Mine too.”

I bit my lip. “You want to do something?”

Both his hands started stroking my thighs. “All right.”

I poked his shoulder. “Sometimes people do things other than fornicate.”

Creed took his hands away and picked up his coffee. “So what do you want to do, Truly Lee?”

“Why’d you stop? I didn’t say I wanted to do something other than fornicate.”

He spat out his coffee, laughing loudly.

Stephanie’s door flung open and she burst through it in a wild rush.

“Oh,” she grumbled, glowering at Creed. “It’s just you.”