his chest and melted against him with a smothered sigh.
They stood locked in each other’s embrace until the need to breathe forced them to lift their heads.
Dillon stared down into Ariana’s eyes. “I could do this all day, but we have shopping to do.”
She nodded. “I’d suggest we stay here and continue what we were doing, but I don’t have food or a kitchen here.” She cupped his cheek. “I thought we could buy the ingredients to make apple pie and pizzas rather than ordering out.”
“Your place or mine?” he asked. “I have a gourmet kitchen I never use.”
“Yours, but we can stop by mine. I have a pizza stone and pie plates.” She tilted her head. “Do you have either of those?”
He shook his head. “I think I have a grill and a fry pan.”
“In a gourmet kitchen...” She shook her head. “Why do you have a chef’s kitchen if you’re not using it?”
“I bought the place from a chef who moved to New York City. I liked the location and the view. The kitchen was a bonus. Well, if I would actually use it.”
She brushed her lips across his briefly. “Come on. I can’t wait to see this kitchen.”
And he couldn’t wait to have her in his condo. He wasn’t sure what would happen there, but he hoped she’d stay for more than pizza and apple pie.
Chapter 10
Ariana and Dillon spent the next hour shopping for the groceries they’d need for the pizzas and pies. Then they swung by her place for mixing bowls, pie plates, the pizza stone and utensils they’d need to make it all happen.
When they arrived at Dillon’s condo building, Ariana stared up at the high rise. “This is a building of condos?”
“No, it’s an office building. I own the only condo located in the penthouse suite at the top.” He pointed to the very top of the building, where glass windows reflected the sunlight and clouds.
“How much of the top floor do you own?” she asked.
His mouth twisted. “All of it.”
She blinked, her heartbeat fluttering in her chest. “Your condo is the entire top floor?”
He nodded, hooked her arm and led her into the building, past a guard at the front desk and to an elevator that required a special key card to allow them access to the penthouse.
Ariana had been to some nice places in her life, but she’d never been in a penthouse like the one she stepped into from the elevator.
The foyer floor was covered in shiny white marble tiles that lead into a living area with floor-to-ceiling windows. The room itself was stunning with white leather furniture, dark accent tables and immaculate artwork adorning what walls there were.
But it was the view that commanded her attention. She walked straight across the floor to the windows and stared out at the city of Austin spread out before her. “Wow.”
Dillon came up behind her. “That’s how I felt when I walked into the suite. Nothing else seemed to matter.”
“I see why you like it,” she said, her voice quiet, feeling awestruck. “It’s stunning.”
“It’s even more impressive at night.”
“I can imagine.”
“Wait and see.” He carried the bags of groceries through the living area to a massive kitchen with a six-burner gas stove, double ovens and a commercial-sized refrigerator.
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was a gourmet kitchen,” Ariana said. “Was it all like this when you bought it?”
“No, I gutted most of it, except the kitchen. The chef who owned it spent all his money there. The rest of the place needed updating and upgrading.”
“You did an amazing job,” she said. “And what a difference from your home on the ranch.”
“I make my living constructing and renovating beautiful buildings.”
She smiled. “You did tell me you were in construction. Business must be good.”
He unloaded the contents of a grocery bag. “It is. Now, are we making pizza? Or what?”
They spent the next hour and a half rolling out dough and cutting up vegetables and fruit for pizza and apple pie.
At one point, they got into a flour fight, dusting each other with a fine layer of white powder.
Ariana couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so hard. Or kissed so deeply. Every step of the way, they touched, nibbled on each other and tasted. Cooking with Dillon was a kind of sensual dance. Foreplay.
By the time the pizza was cooked, she wasn’t hungry for food. She was hungry for him.
Ariana set the pizza on the white quartz countertop to cool then ran the pizza