“True, but you’re not in your right mind. Hell, I’m not in my right mind after that kiss.”
I chuckled against his back. “And your point?”
He spun around and I pressed against him, wanting badly to touch every morsel of his beautiful body. Preferably unclothed.
“You had a rough morning. The worst morning ever. We turned that around. We’re getting to know one another. And I promised your sister and you, and myself, that I wouldn’t take advantage of the situation. I want nothing more than to drown myself in your sweetness, Addy. But it’s not right. When we go there, I want more than just a good time.”
I frowned. “Are you asking me to make a commitment to you? After three days of knowing one another?”
He laughed hard. “No, not exactly. But in a way, yeah. I want more with you than a fuck buddy.”
“I cannot believe this. A man who wants commitment before sex. Call the press!” I hollered and Brutus ran into the room and barked once, then sat next to my leg leaning his heavy body against me. “Right, Brutus. Your daddy is a one-of-a-kind weirdo!”
“Now you’re turning my dog against me?” He grinned.
“I mean, if the shoe fits.”
Killian leaned back against the counter. “I’m not asking for forever. I just think we need to get to know one another. Spend time together. I don’t want either of us to go forward physically for the wrong reasons.”
“I’m into you. That’s a pretty damn good reason,” I offered.
“Same. Which is why I don’t want to screw it up. I know what it’s like to drown your sorrows. I just told you it didn’t work for me. And it won’t work for you.”
“You’re afraid I’m going to use you the way you used those women when you got back from war?” I scowled, put off by the comparison.
“Not intentionally, no.”
“Then what are you saying?” I frowned while petting Brutus.
“I’m saying I like you. Enough to want to do right by you. By this thing between us that’s growing.”
“And doing right by me is not fucking me when I clearly want to have sex with you?” I clarified because someone had to at this point.
He groaned and rubbed at his chin. “When you say it like that, it does sound stupid. Can we just give it a little time? I’ll feel better about it.”
“Is this ‘time’ going to be filled with no intimacy? No kissing, touching…”
He grinned wickedly. “Oh no, I think getting to know you is getting to know all of you. What type of caress makes you sigh. What type of kiss makes you moan. And most importantly, what type of touch makes you whimper.”
“Yes, please. Let’s do that then,” I stated honestly and wholeheartedly.
He laughed. “Wash up. We got flour all over the place.”
I huffed. “I will remind you that it was you who kissed me first. Which means you started it!”
“There’s the sassy girl I wanted to see come back today. Means you’re starting to feel better.” He clucked his tongue and followed me to the sink where I was already washing my hands.
“I would have felt great if someone had banged me on the kitchen floor, but now you’re never going to find out. So there!”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m sure there will be a second chance, and a third one.” He kissed the bare skin of my shoulder and worked those tiny kisses up the length of my neck. I’d lost the cardigan earlier while watching the show. Killian had seen the worst of my scars and didn’t seem to care so I didn’t hide them from him.
Gooseflesh rose on my skin as he swirled his tongue over a spot right behind my ear. I gasped.
“Hmm, I most certainly will be getting a second chance,” the smug man boasted as he put his hands under the water I’d left running for him.
“Don’t brag. It’s not becoming.”
He laughed and went to the kitchen and started handing me bowls filled with the normal pizza toppings. Pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, sauce, spinach, mushrooms, and a few others.
Then for the next twenty or thirty minutes we teased and joked while making our own personal pizzas from scratch. It was by far the most fun I’d had in months. Maybe even the past year.
* * *
“Getting back to the heavy a little bit,” Killian hedged as we sat at a pair of barstools with our fully cooked, delicious pizzas and two cold frosty beers to go with them.