Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Hi!” Avery greeted him as she opened the door. “How did the move go?”
“Smooth. It only took a few hours. Most of my belongings are at a storage facility. The PODS arrived today. I met them and retrieved several boxes I’ll need in the short run.”
“Oh.” She stepped back. “Come on in. I didn’t realize you weren’t in a house yet.”
“Nope. Not yet. I’ll start looking for the perfect home in a few days. I’m renting a furnished apartment month to month for now.”
“That’s good. You can take your time.”
“That’s my plan.” Now that he’d met Avery, he was glad he hadn’t purchased a property yet. He knew already he would want her input.
“Dinner isn’t anything fancy,” she said, finally moving back far enough for him to fully enter her home.
“I don’t need fancy.” Trace crowded her deliberately as he stepped through to close the door behind him. “I do need this.”
Wrapping his arms around her slender waist, Trace pulled Avery against him. Her athletic curves fit perfectly against him as he lowered his mouth to press a soft kiss on her lips. Deepening it as she responded to him, Trace explored her mouth, savoring the taste of Italian herbs and hints of tomato.
He lifted his head to look down at her. Her bruises had started to turn colors on her face. He cupped her jaw, wanting to soothe them away. Trace could read the apprehension on her face in the small lines around her mouth and eyes. She was scared.
“It’s alright, sweetheart. I promise.”
She nodded and to his delight rose on her toes to press a quick peck to his lips. “You must be starving. Come on.”
Avery towed him through the family room into the kitchen. She’d already set the table and it looked like everything was ready. “I haven’t cooked the pasta. I didn’t want it to become sticky if you were delayed. It will only take a few minutes.”
“You’ve gone to a lot of work,” he commented, looking around at the sliced and buttered bread that waited to go into the oven for toasting.
“I like to cook. It occupies my mind. I don’t have time usually during the week, so I’m used to making way too much food, so I have leftovers,” she told him as she dropped fresh pasta into boiling water.
“I’ll try to leave a few bites for you to eat later,” he promised.
“Oh, no. I didn’t mean that. Eat all you’d like.” She turned to him in concern and barely missed pressing her hand to the hot metal pot.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed, lifting her hand away from danger. “Careful, Avery. Let’s not add burns to your bruises.”
“You’ll eat all you want?” she asked, looking at him as she carefully dumped more pasta into the boiling water.
“I’ll eat. I promise. It smells incredible.”
“Thanks. It’s my special recipe. I have a secret ingredient.” Avery turned away to pick up a large pasta fork and she twirled it in the water to separate all the strands in the large stock pot of boiling water.
“Would you grab the bread? It’s time to pop it in the oven.”
Trace enjoyed moving around the small kitchen with her as she put the final touches on the meal. When she grabbed the potholders to dump the water into the colander in the sink, he took them from her.
“No way. Let me.”
“I can do it,” she protested.
“Let me flex my muscles and look strong,” he teased. Trace didn’t want her to think he believed she was weak. He knew she was nervous already that some men on the force treated women as less capable. As he was her new boss, she felt she needed to prove herself to him. She didn’t.
Avery laughed at his statement and tweaked his muscular bicep as he slowly poured the pasta into the strainer in the sink. “I guess if it makes you feel better. Are you okay if we help ourselves in the kitchen?”
“Casual is great. Then I won’t drop any on the tablecloth.”
While she rushed to grab the plates off the table, Trace pulled the toasted bread from the oven and set it on the cooled section of the stove top before making sure everything was turned off. When he turned around, she had mounded spaghetti on one plate and prepared to douse sauce on top of it.
“That looks amazing,” he commented.
“This one’s yours. Grab a few pieces of bread and I’ll meet you at the table. I’m starving too. I missed lunch today,” she admitted.
“That’s not healthy,” he chided her gently.
“I know. I just got busy. Now, I get to eat more sketti,” she pointed out.
“Sketti?”
“You know, spaghetti—sketti. It’s just more fun to say,” Avery said. Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink as her Little side peeked out.
“I may never call it spaghetti again,” Trace teased as he took her plate from her. “Grab some bread and I’ll carry these to the table for us.”