Page 88 of Bean

“Yeah, come on,” Andrei said, nudging me with his elbow. I rolled my eyes, and he laughed. “Anyway, I should get going. Jarek’s giving me the death glare, and I actually have to go finish ordering his cabinets.”

Bean frowned in confusion. “My brother’s company is doing the remodel of my new house,” I reminded him gently.

“Oh. Right. I can’t wait to see it.”

“I’m sure Jarek can’t wait to christen all the rooms,” Andrei said with a wink.

I reached past Bean and opened the door, giving my brother a hard shove toward it. “Thank you. See you later.Goodbye.” He laughed as I swung it shut in his face, then turned to Bean, who was grinning at me. “So, that was my family.”

“Your whole family?”

“Apart from Ivy, he’s the only one who really matters.” I didn’t expect Bean to remember anything I’d ever said about my parents, and he didn’t seem bothered by my answer.

“He looks like you.”

I groaned. “Yeah, I guess he does. I think I wear the whole silver-fox thing better.”

Bean stepped in close and leaned in, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I think you mean silver bear.”

I went warm from head to toe. Cupping his cheek, I turned him for a proper kiss, gently pushing my tongue into his mouth. He took everything I gave him, going soft and pliant against me. He broke off with a moan, resting his forehead against my shoulder.

“I liked that.”

I smiled and kissed the crown of his head. “Well, there’s more where that came from, but I want to eat first.”

He pulled back with a frown. “Really?”

I guessed it wasn’t always like me to prioritize food. “I cooked,” I told him.

His eyes widened. “Oh.”

“You should probably try it before you decide if you want to finish the night with me.”

He made a noise between a scoff and a laugh, swaying in for another kiss. “I definitely want to spend the night with you.”

“You say that now…”

“And I’ll say it again after I eat the delicious meal you cooked.”

Cupping his chin, I looked into his eyes. “That’s some faith you have there, sweet thing.”

His smile lit up his whole face. “You’re worth it.”

If I hadn’t been in love before, that moment with those words would have been the exact second I would have fallen.

“Oh my goodness, babe!”

I blinked, staring across the table at Bean. Babe? He’d called mebabe? My whole face went white-hot with want, but I quickly swallowed it down. There were more important things than my dick. “It’s okay?”

He grinned around his second spoonful of dumplings. “It’s so good!”

So good was an overstatement, for damn sure, but it was edible. Maybe it was even more than edible. It was not bad. I set my spoon back into my bowl. “Tell me how I can improve.”

Bean’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, this is nowhere near as good as it should be. I went through all the steps, but what did I miss?”

Bean set his spoon down with a soft clink and stared across the table at me for a long beat. Then he shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. “No.”