Page 55 of Earl

“Fair enough.”

They had settled into a normal routine. He asked her about her work and told her some aspects of his. He had handed her a glass of wine as soon as she came into the kitchen and was busy preparing the meal, which scented the entire large open space. She had admired the clean lines and sleek décor as soon as she stepped into the wide foyer.

“How was your holiday?” His voice was courteous and polite and left her wondering if this was just going to be dinner and nothing else.

“It was wonderful.” She told him about the soup kitchen and what they did at the group homes. “You should see the look on the children’s faces when they were presented with their gifts. Giving them high tech cell phones was probably not a good idea, but we didn’t care.”

He glanced over at her as he stirred the sauce on the stove top.

“You could relate to what they were going through due to your own experience.”

“Which was crappy.” She shifted on the padded bar stool and brought his avid attention to her bosom encased in wispy black silk. He had caught his first sight of her on his monitor as soon as she approached the front of the building and felt the familiar gut punch desire taking over.

The blouse had been visible because she had not buttoned up her jacket. The black pants sat on her curves as if they were molded on. Black boots completed the ensemble, and her thick dark brown hair was loose and flowing down her back. He wanted to see it spread over his pillows and was fighting to keep his hands off her.

“Tell me about it,” he encouraged her, trying to take her mind off her bosom.

After leaving her that night at her place, he had been in an agony of unfulfilled desire the likes he had never experienced before. And even though he had not given her a choice about seeing him, he had spent an anxious seven days wondering if she would tell him to go to hell.

In the meantime, he had told Diana that he would no longer be going anywhere with her.

“You want to hear about my experience?”

“Yes. More wine?”

“I really shouldn’t, but it’s delicious.”

“Happy you like it. It’s from a vineyard my company has invested in Tuscany.” He retrieved the bottle from the ice box and poured the golden liquid into both glasses.

“Oh.” She took a sip and closed her eyes. The wine made her lips coated in strawberry, shimmered even more and he wanted to sip from her. His loins were aching with desire, and he wondered how long he was going to pretend that he did not want to tear off her clothing. He wanted her naked and panting beneath him.

“It was awful,” she shrugged. “The place was old and moldy, and the heat did not work half the time. It was state operated, so money was tight and the people there were underpaid and overworked, completely dangerous combinations.

The administrator was a royal bitch and took it out on us. I was five when my mother dumped me there and when I turned ten, I realized that she was not coming back, and I was not going to be adopted.” She sipped some more wine to soothe her throat.

“Justin, my best friend, would have been adopted, perhaps, but he was bi-racial and puny. He was also sickly, susceptible to every virus that went through the place. And he was a perfect target for the bullies.

He was also very pretty which made him another target for perverts. The bitches that worked there, had the idea that they could mess with him, I showed all of them different.”

His head lifted as he studied the fierce expression on her exquisite face. He knew Justin Moncrieffe was gay and even if the man had not told him so, he had heard the rumors.

He also knew how close they were and could not stop the jealousy from coursing through him. How close they were… The guy had been very fiercely protective of her, and she appears to be the same about him.

“You were there for him.”

“Yes.”

“The meal is ready. We could eat here or in the dining room.”

“Here is fine. Anything I can do to help?”

“No,” he put the bowl of crispy green salad in the middle of the malachite counter and went to get the pasta and French loaf.

“I am surprised your housekeeper allows you to take over her domain.”

His lips tilted in a smile as he handed her the plate. “Mrs. Greene is possessive yes, and she has appointed herself my surrogate mother, against my wishes. When I told her that she was relieved of her duties for the rest of the day, she was apoplectic.

I had to tell her that if she didn’t leave immediately, then she will not have a job to come back to on Monday. I wanted to give her the holiday off, but she doesn’t have a family to spend it with.”