Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,81
her tattoo and she sighed with contentment. She could stay like this forever. Forever and –
“Addison, don’t fall asleep.”
She jerked awake, the sweet little fantasy she had of waking up in Preacher’s arms destroyed in a heartbeat. Feeling stupid, she pulled away from him and slid across the bed. She sat up and grabbed her robe, belting it securely around her waist.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
She stared at the wall as she felt Preacher get out of bed. Forcing a smile on her face, she turned around. “That was fun. Thank you. Do you, um, want to get together on the weekend for another lesson?”
She was proud of herself for making the suggestion. It was a huge step for her.
“Yeah, sure.” Preacher stood naked by the bed, looking every bit like the tattooed god he was. She really wished he’d get dressed before she did something stupid like try and lure him back into her bed.
“Okay, well…”
God, why wasn’t he getting dressed already?
“You mind if I have a quick shower?” he said.
“Oh, uh, no. Go right ahead. The bathroom is just down the hall. There are fresh towels in the linen closet next to the bathroom.”
“Great. Thanks.” He walked out of her bedroom still naked as a damn jaybird.
She stared at his clothes piled on the floor before studying her reflection in the mirror on the far wall. “Okay, this is kind of weird, right?”
Her reflection nodded and, not entirely certain what she was supposed to do now, Addison pulled on some leggings and a t-shirt and left the bedroom.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, when a freshly showered and dressed Preacher joined her in the living room, she was sitting on the couch and knitting. She was starving, but it seemed rude to start eating while Preacher was in the shower.
She smiled tentatively at him as she set her knitting on the couch and stood. “Thank you again for, um…”
“Eating your pussy?” He grinned at her and she could feel the stupid blush rising in her cheeks.
“I was going to say for apologizing but that part was nice too.”
“Sunshine, if it was just nice, then maybe I should be trying a little harder.”
Still blushing, she said, “It was amazing.”
His gaze dropped to her abdomen when her stomach growled. She pressed her hands against her stomach. “I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
“It smells really good,” he said.
They stood in awkward silence and he scratched at his chest before staring at her.
“Would you like to stay and eat?” she said. “There’s plenty.”
“Sure.” He followed her into the narrow galley kitchen, leaning against the wall and watching as she grabbed two bowls from the cupboard. “Can I help?”
She shook her head. “It’s ready to go. What would you like to drink? I have water, juice, and wine.”
“Water is fine.”
She poured them two glasses of water, acutely aware of how Preacher’s big body made her small kitchen feel even tinier.
“You’ve got a nice place,” he said.
“Thanks. It’s small, just a one bedroom and den, but I like it.” She lifted the lid off the slow cooker and stirred the chili. “So, uh, this is actually a vegetarian chili.”
“You a vegetarian?”
“No, but my mom and dad are vegan. I usually eat a meatless meal once or twice a week,” she said.
She spooned some chili into the two bowls and grabbed napkins and cutlery. “I don’t have a kitchen table, but we can sit on the couch and I’ll set up tv trays.”
She used to have a kitchen table. A small but perfectly lovely one. That she’d sold because she was marrying Harrison and moving in with him and they didn’t need two kitchen tables.
“I can just hold the bowl,” he said.
He took his food, cutlery, and water glass, and followed her back to the living room. Feeling supremely awkward, Addison set her glass of water on the coffee table and sat cross legged on the couch as Preacher sat down next to her.
He ate a few bites of the chili. “Fuck, this is good.”
She flushed with pleasure. “Thanks. It’s my mom’s recipe but I tweaked it a bit.”
They ate silently for a few moments and when their stomachs growled in unison, she laughed. “I guess we’re both hungry.”
“Starving,” he said. “Didn’t eat all day.”
“Were you busy at the shop?”
He was already scraping the last of the chili from his bowl. “Not bad. My last client tapped out after only a couple of hours, so I finished early.”