A Sweet Mess - Jayci Lee Page 0,72

burn it off tonight. Even as she blushed at her naughty thought, anticipation knotted her stomach.

She finished pouring fresh coffee into two mugs when Landon walked into the kitchen. He was on the phone, and his lazy and somnolent expression was nowhere to be seen. While his voice never rose, his cold, clipped words communicated his displeasure quite clearly. Aubrey felt bad for whoever was on the other end of the call, and a little chill ran down her spine. Landon wasn’t a man to be trifled with.

“That was the contractor. They’ve run into yet another problem with…” His words trailed off as his eyes traveled down her body. “Is that what you were wearing under your shirt? I don’t think I’d have forgotten seeing you in that.”

“I think you took it off before you opened your eyes this morning, so you technically didn’t see me in it,” Aubrey responded primly. He didn’t have time to be distracted by her. “Now, sit and eat before your sandwich gets cold.”

“Thanks for cooking.” Landon swooped down for a quick, hard kiss before sitting down.

Aubrey touched her lips with her fingertips, holding on to the feel of his mouth. She missed it as soon as it left hers. Why did he stop? She vaguely recalled he had a good reason, but she wasn’t pleased to be left aching and hungry.

“This looks great.”

He smiled across at her, but when he witnessed her lust-glazed stare, his eyes turned dark as night. Before she could remember why they shouldn’t go back upstairs, Landon lifted her in his arms and carried her to his room.

The sandwiches got cold.

* * *

With only a couple days left until the first shooting, Landon’s schedule was brutal. Since he and Aubrey had gotten together, leaving for work had grown harder by the day, but it was especially difficult this morning.

She was in the kitchen wearing one of his white T-shirts without anything underneath. He could see the fabric shifting against her naked body, and he dreamed of more pleasurable ways to spend his day.

She’s trying to kill me.

“Will you be writing out your recipes today?” Landon placed a soft kiss on her forehead and stepped back.

“Yeah,” she said glumly. “I’ve never had to write a formal one like this. There are so many steps I need to include. I can’t get too detailed because people might be like, ‘Does she think I’m stupid?’ But if I don’t explain enough, the recipe might turn out wrong and they’ll be like, ‘Curse you, Aubrey Choi.’” She shook her fist for effect and then hung her head. “I wish I could just jot down the ingredients and measurements for the folks and they could figure out the rest.”

“I know. But you’ll be immortalizing your recipes for future generations, so cheer up.” He pulled out a small package he’d hidden in his back pocket and held it out to her. “Here. Open it.”

“Landon. You have to stop getting me presents.” Despite her words, she took her gift eagerly.

“Don’t you dare take that joy away from me. Besides, they’re never extravagant.”

“You put so much thought into them.” She cupped his cheek in her warm, soft hand.

“Of course. They’re for you.” He needed to leave before he took her back to bed. “Come on. Open it.”

With a happy smile, Aubrey unwrapped the package and then screamed with delight. It was a palm-size notebook with colorful unicorn sketches all over it. “I love it. It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. Her goofy smile tasted delicious—sweet and floral. He deepened the kiss for a few seconds and groaned. He wouldn’t be able to stop if he went on for a second longer. Dropping a featherlike kiss on the corner of her lips, he rested his forehead against hers, letting their breaths mingle as one.

Is this what home feels like? His chest tightened with wonder and panic, but he allowed the warmth and tranquility to wash over him. It was a stolen moment of happiness—isolated and timeless—and it imprinted itself permanently on his mind.

* * *

Aubrey was still grumbling and scribbling in the kitchen when Landon came back later that evening. She smiled distractedly at him.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself.” Landon kissed the top of her head. “Have you been in here all day?”

“Mm-hmm,” she answered without looking up from her notebook, chewing on the end of her pen.

Carefully taking the pen from her, Landon tipped her face up for a proper kiss. “You need to take