Once she had all the fixings laid out, roast beef sandwiches, chips, drinks and even a few oatmeal raisin cookies, she waited for Rian, who followed a few minutes later. He took a nice, long swig from his water bottle and then plopped down beside her. “So I hope you like roast beef because that’s what’s on the menu,” she said, suddenly a little nervous, though why she didn’t know.
“Sounds great,” he said, grabbing his sandwich and taking a hearty bite. There was something that tickled her insides—something so feminine—about making a meal for Rian, though she’d never been one to appreciate domestic stereotypes before. However, now that she thought about it, her father hadn’t exactly been a feminist—he’d always preferred female cooks in the kitchen because he said they just knew more about making good food than men. So yeah, maybe her dad was a male chauvinist and she’d never noticed! She giggled at the uncomfortable thought and caught Rian’s puzzled stare as he chewed. “Something funny about roast beef that I’m unaware of?” he asked.
“No, I was just—randomly—thinking of my father and how he might be a male chauvinist, but in the nicest way possible. He doesn’t believe in putting women down or anything like that but he does play into the gender stereotype a bit.”
“How so?”
“Well, all our cooks were always female. He said that women inherently knew what to do in the kitchen because it was in their blood.”
“All the executive male chefs in the world might have something to say about that.”
She shrugged. “I know. That’s why I giggled. I just never realized that about my father.”
“There could be another reason your dad hired only women...” He wagged his eyebrows and she laughed. He shrugged. “Just pointing out the obvious.”
“The cooks were always plump, older and a little bossy. Kind of like Adeline.”
“Hey, I’m not here to judge,” he said, trying to hide a laugh, and she playfully pushed at his shoulder. “Each to his own right?”
“Eww, I don’t want to talk about my dad’s love life. And no, he wasn’t chasing after the cooks.” They ate in companionable silence and then CoCo broke a cookie in half and handed him the other half. He accepted it with a smile and gobbled it down. Then he shocked her when he scooped up the other cookie and gobbled it down just as quickly, giving her a cheeky grin when she gasped and tackled him. “We were supposed to share!” she said, laughing when she landed on top of him. His arms wound around her and he looked adorable lying in the sunshine, the light playing with the highlights in his subtle waves. “Are you always such a pig when it comes to cookies?”
“Always,” he said without a hint of apology, his grin widening. “It’s one of my flaws.”
She smiled and brushed her lips across his, murmuring, “I guess you’re entitled to one or two...” and then she deepened the kiss, needing desperately to taste him again, to feel him moving inside her. His tongue swept her mouth and she climbed on top of him, remembering the last time she was in this position, and she deepened the kiss, getting more aroused by the second. This time would be different because he wasn’t doped up. She wanted to experience sex with Rian when he was in full control of his faculties.
His touch became more urgent and he rolled her onto her back, his hips and groin matching up with hers with delicious pressure in all the right places. But just as things were beginning to get to the point where clothes were going to fly, he slowed with a groan and pulled away, rolling to his back to stare into the sky, agitated.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, confused. “Was it something I did?”
He shook his head. “No, we can’t do this.”
She frowned. “Why not? We’re both consenting adults.”
“You’re a client.” He sat up, scooting back. That tiny bit of distance hurt her feelings. One minute he was all over her and now she had the plague? “I don’t mess with clients.”
Maybe he thought his explanation would soften the blow but it hadn’t. She blinked back tears and tried to play it off that he hadn’t just punched her emotionally. “So the only reason you slept with me the other night was because of the drug,” she said, as if it was no big deal. “I get it. Sure.”