Ignite On Contact (Brotherhood by Fire #2) -Jaci Burton Page 0,90
he might stay at Felice’s tonight.
She’d ended up texting Rafe to let him know her grandfather was out, so he should come to her place, and she’d text him when she got home.
This way they could be alone in case Jackson and Becks and Kal were around.
She took a shower and slipped into a sundress. It was hot as the seventh level of hell out today, and the fewer clothes she had on, the better. The sundress had skinny straps and was cotton and short and just about perfect as far as minimal clothing went. Besides, it was totally cute with colorful geometric patterns over a white shift. Not that it mattered, since today she was going for comfort over pretty.
She texted Rafe that she was home, unlocked the front door, then went into the kitchen and poured herself a tall glass of wine. She cleaned potatoes and started slicing them to make fries, then made hamburger patties. She was chopping onions and tomatoes when Rafe came in.
“Something smells good in here,” he said, coming around to press a kiss to the back of her neck. “Oh, it’s you.”
She giggled as goose bumps broke out on her skin. “It’s the onions.”
He continued to kiss along her shoulder. “Beg to differ.”
She laughed. “How was your day?”
“Good. I got a summer lunch program finalized for the kids’ center.”
“You did? How did you manage that?”
“A few grants and some corporate sponsorship.”
“That’s fantastic, Rafe. What a wonderful thing to do for the community and for those kids.” The man was always busy. And what an amazing thing he’d done. She admired him for that.
“Thanks. How was your day?”
“Good. I promoted Tess today, and did her evaluation, which was fun. Other than that, it was a light patient load.”
“Nice. I’ll bet Tess was happy.”
“She was thrilled.”
“That’s awesome. So what can I do to help you?”
“I thought I’d make burgers and fries for dinner tonight.”
“And I thought we were ordering pizza.”
She shifted, leaning against the counter, and gave him a sweet smile. “Wouldn’t you rather have burgers, with gooey cheddar cheese and avocado, along with homemade fries?”
He arched a brow. “Okay, that does sound better.”
“Good, that’s what we’re having. Grab yourself a beer and go fire up the grill and put some oil in the fryer outside.”
“You’re so bossy.”
She laughed. “You like me that way, because you eat better when I’m bossy.”
“I’ll accept that.”
He fished a beer out of the fridge and went out back, so she finished slicing the vegetables and slipped those in the fridge.
She had to admit she appreciated having Rafe around to help her with dinner. She also liked how comfortable he obviously felt in her house. He never asked permission for anything, always offered to help, did dishes side by side with her and knew his way around putting things away in the cabinets.
Like now, when he came in and got the potatoes and burgers out of the fridge to take outside. It hadn’t taken long for Rafe to become an integral part of her life.
She got out the avocados and sliced those, then grated cheese to put on the burgers. She also decided she wanted a salad, so she chopped up lettuce, tomato, carrots, cucumbers and added in some walnuts and cranberries to give it a little kick. She made a vinaigrette and put it in the fridge to cool. By then Rafe had come back in with the fries and the burgers.
She put all the condiments on the table, along with the nice, soft buns she’d bought at the store.
He grabbed the salad and dressing, and now it was time to eat. She was so hungry.
Rafe was obviously hungrier.
It always entertained her to watch Rafe eat. The guy had an appetite. When she invited him over, she knew he’d eat well, so she’d made sure to buy extra. By the time she’d finished her burger, he’d already gone through two, plus a rather large serving of fries and salad.
“I see you’ve worked really hard on slowing down,” she said with a teasing smile.
He glanced over at her. “I did. I only ate two burgers.”
She laughed.
It made her wonder what it would be like to have kids with him. What if they had all boys? What would it be like to feed three or four boys with appetites like his? She could only imagine what their weekly grocery bill would be like.
Still, she could well imagine cute little boys with thick heads of Rafe’s dark hair and his soulful brown