Page 120 of The Scientist
Our breathing was harsh as we lay there together, his hands stroking gently over my back. We lay that way for a while until I dragged my eyes up to meet his, and the frenzy began all over again.
Chapter 28
Ifelt warm hands slipping around my waist while I worked at the stove making breakfast.
“Did I wake you?” I asked, smiling. “I was hoping you would sleep in a little later.”
His hands were caressing my waist as he kissed softly along my neck. I closed my eyes and tilted my head, giving him better access, before I eventually turned down the fire on one of the burners and twisted in his arms.
“No, the bed was suddenly freezing cold,” he said with a lazy grin. “I needed someone to warm me up.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. It started off sweetly, but the reunion over the last day seemed to be too much. Our hands started to move as the kiss deepened until I found myself pinned against the kitchen counter with his erection pressing into me. There was a hissing sound from the stove next to me, bringing me back to reality as I pulled away, laughing.
“You’re going to make me set the house on fire.” I grabbed the pan off the burner and tried to unstick the contents.
He chuckled but still stood behind me, stroking his hands along my sides. “What are you making, anyway?” he asked with his chin tucked into my neck.
“French toast.”
“Smells amazing.” He inhaled deeply. “My mom used to make the best French toast. It’s called grenki in Russia.”
“Is it different than American French toast?”
“Not really. The only difference is we use baguettes instead of sliced bread. But my mom used to make it every Sunday along with all the other mountains of food we could never finish.”
“You miss her.” Not a question.
“Yes,” he answered with a gentle smile. “And the rest of my family too. I haven’t seen them in almost three years.”
“You’re going back to see them over the Christmas break though, right?” I remembered he had told me not long after we met that he would be visiting his family over Christmas.
“Yes, for about a week.” He paused like he was contemplating something.
I turned to look at him. “What is it?”
“Come with me,” he said, tucking my hair behind my ear.
I chewed on my lip. That was so tempting, but I just couldn’t leave my mom for that long.Our own Christmas plans to go back to New York had gotten cancelled since my mom was in no state to travel.
“My mom—” I started. He nodded like he already knew the answer but had to ask anyway.
He kissed my forehead and said, “I know. I just don’t know how I’m going to leave you for that long.”
The thought of it was painful, especially after the week apart we’d just had, but I tried not to let that show on my face as I made our plates.
Instead of sitting across from me at the dining room table, Lex sat down in the chair next to me, pulling my legs into his lap, and we ate breakfast that way.
“Do you have any plans this weekend?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. Big plans, actually. There’s an I Love Lucy marathon playing Saturday night and all day Sunday,” I said excitedly.
“You’re a big I Love Lucy fan I take it?”
“That’s all I was allowed to watch growing up. My parents loved classic movies and TV, so on Saturday mornings, we weren’t watching cartoons.We were watching The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island, MASH, and best of all—I Love Lucy!” I said cheerfully. “That’s really the only one that stuck.”
“My mom was the same way,” he said. “No TV with the exception of old westerns, for some reason.”
“Really?”