and laughed. “I don’t think I can keep you out after tonight,” she sighed.
“Good. Let’s go upstairs now,” he suggested, his arm already snaking underneath her legs so he could carry her to her big, comfortable bed where he could explore her blossoming body more thoroughly.
She laughed and put her hands on his shoulders to stop him. “You have to feed me first.”
He was fine with that. “What happened with the chicken earlier?” he asked, more curious about the little things she did than he’d ever been about anyone in the past. “And what’s with all those boxes of pasta?”
They were walking into the kitchen and she spun around, putting a finger to the middle of his chest and glaring up at him. “Don’t mess with my pasta, dude,” she warned, not joking in the least. “I don’t know why, but I’m craving that macaroni and cheese. So just stay away from the pasta!”
He held up his hands defensively, but he was laughing at her as well. “I won’t touch the pasta.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and turned back around, moving back to the kitchen. “What are you in the mood to eat tonight?”
Damon raised his eyebrows at her question, then let them wander down her still slender figure. “Do I get anything I want?”
Gabby slowly realized what he was asking and blushed. “Not that,” she whispered, looking around as if someone might see or know what he was saying to her.
Damon had to laugh. “Gabriella, we’re in our own home. No one is going to see anything we do.”
She blushed and looked away. Was she that obvious? Was he a mind reader on top of all of his other talents? “I know that!” But she also knew that his security guards were constantly walking around the perimeter of this property. The curtains were already closed because of the early nightfall, but she checked to make sure anyway.
He laughed even harder when she looked around again. “So why are you looking around as if someone might overhear our conversation?”
Her mouth quirked into a grimace and he laughed even harder. “Because of what you’re suggesting,” she said and walked out of the family room and back into the kitchen. “What about a pizza?” she suggested, not allowing her eyes to look towards her stash of mac and cheese. “With lots of cheese and vegetables on it?”
“Sounds perfect,” he replied and dialed a number.
“Who do you call when you do that?” she asked, taking out a pitcher of water from the fridge and poured herself a glass.
“My security guards. And yours.”
“Why don’t we just order from our phone?”
He held up his finger, silently telling her to hold on while he spoke into his phone, then clicked it closed. “They would prefer to put in the order themselves and pick it up. The fewer strangers who enter the area, the easier it is to do their jobs. And when they order the pizza, they talk to the manager and ask certain questions. What they are, I have no idea but it’s their process so I don’t mess with it.”
Gabby thought about that and shrugged. She didn’t care how she got a pizza, it just seemed a little odd to ask someone else to dial a phone. But it made sense from a security standpoint, she supposed. She had a lot to learn. After having lived with this man for the past few months, she still thought he was a mystery.
They ate pizza in front of the fire and talked about pointless things. After a while, Gabby realized that it didn’t matter too much that Damon didn’t talk about himself much or his past at all. He talked to her about the things that mattered to him now and Gabby knew that was as important to her as learning about why he was the way he is.
She tried to stay awake and listen to him longer, loving the deep sound of his voice, but by nine o’clock that night, she was too tired to hold her head up. She tried to walk up the stairs, but Damon just lifted her into his arms and carried her despite her protests. He put her into bed, then took off his clothes and slid in behind her, his hand covering her belly as he held her sleeping.
Chapter 7
Gabby woke up and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was only thirteen minutes after two o’clock, the stars were still out and she should be