“What are you doing in my kitchen?” At the smile in Trish’s voice, I turned and grinned at her expression, a little bit surprised and more than a little worried.

“I’m cooking dinner in our kitchen, honey.” She rolled her eyes and pulled a laugh from me. I needed a laugh because damn, I forgot how much work cooking a real meal could be.

“You are making a mess but,” she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, lips curling up into a smile, “damn it smells good.”

Yeah, my chest puffed out a little at the compliment, and not just because of my ego, but also because I was making chicken riggies, my specialty. And I didn’t just chop up the chicken thighs on my own, and without losing any fingers, but I got that whole wheat rigatoni Trish preferred, and I made my own sauce.

“Thanks, let’s hope it tastes as good. Dinner’ll be ready in about twenty minutes.”

She couldn’t help it, giving the kitchen another assessing look before she turned away. “I’ll go change.”

A few minutes later the shower sounded and I gripped the island counter tight enough that my hands turned cold. With my jaws clenched and my eyes closed, I counted backwards from twenty and then fifty. The whole purpose of tonight’s dinner was to show her that I could do much more than the sex stuff. Even though we did the sex stuff fantastically. Fan-fucking-tastically. Finally, the spray ended and I was able to get moving around the kitchen again, adding the chicken to the sauce and then the pasta.

“Okay, what can I do to help?” She wore a relaxed smile but I couldn’t tear my eyes from that yellow dress that cupped her tits showing off enough cleavage that my cock stirred to life as it always did when Trish was around. The yellow dress swished around her thighs when she moved and my fingers itched to see what she wore underneath. Would the lingerie be yellow like her dress or something else? Would it be silk or lace or something else I hadn’t yet discovered? “Mason?”

I wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing with her moving around the kitchen in that dress, so I grinned as she set the bottle of wine on the other side of the island and turned to pull down glasses. “Just sit there and drink your wine, let me look at you while I finish up. That dress is great, by the way.”

She blushed so prettily, and I wanted to kiss all the flushed skin, instead I reached for the mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella, because when you do chicken riggies, you do’em right. “Thanks, Mason.” I waited for her to grab the glasses and sit on the stool before reaching for the knife. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

I raised a brow at the surprise in her voice. “I’m almost offended, Cupcake. How do you think I got this body?”

Trish tossed her head back and laughed, silky blond hair falling down her back and leaving her graceful neck on display. My mouth watered to kiss every inch of that neck, especially the spot in the hollow of her throat that always made her shiver. “Burgers and fish tacos?”

“Although those are very healthy food choices,” and two of my favorite meals, “no. I can cook a few things that will taste average at best like meatloaf and fried chicken but nothing tastes as good as my chicken riggies.”

“Well my mouth is watering,” she said, drooling over the mozzarella I was slicing.

“Mine too,” I told her, flashing a heated look and letting my gaze linger on the swell of her creamy cleavage. “There is one thing I’ve been dying to ask.”

One blond brow arched at my words and a sly smile spread from cheek to cheek. “Oh yeah, what’s that Mason?”

Damn the way she said my name, all low and husky made me grateful the counter was between us, not that she didn’t know the effect she had on me. Barely a night went by where we didn’t have sex at least twice, some nights it was more. “I’m curious to know what kind of lingerie goes with a dress like that.”

When she didn’t answer, I went back to the mozzarella slices, cutting each one into quarters and placing it on top of the pasta and chicken in the baking dish, thinking she wouldn’t answer. But then she spoke. “Wouldn’t you rather find out for yourself?”

Fuck yeah I did. Right. Now. “You have no idea,” I told her, my voice rough as I rushed through the final stage of cooking. With the dish in the oven, the timer set and my hands washed, I went to Trish, turning her around on the stool and letting my fingers curl around the hem of her dress while the other hand brushed against her in search of the second wine glass. I took a long sip, aware of her heated gaze watching my every move. “Good, but not what I’m in the mood for,” I told her and took her mouth, tasting every inch of it because I wanted to know what she’d been up to at work without her telling me. “Strawberries,” I murmured against her mouth as her tongue wrapped around mine, yanking a guttural growl from me because what else did you do when you got a taste of heaven?

Trish took control of the kiss, tilting her head to give me a better angle as she wrapped her legs around my waist, moaning into me and I took a step back. “Where are you going?”

“I’m on a mission, woman.” She laughed but it quickly turned into a gasp when my fingers traced that gorgeous cleavage around the lace topped cups of her dressed and straight through that deep line down the center until I was back at the hem again, lifting. Slowly lifting until inch by inch of gorgeous thigh was revealed to me. More and more skin came until I was staring at the patch of hair I knew well. “Oh fuck. Fucking shit, Cupcake.” She opened her legs and I licked my lips.

“You like?”

I nodded, speechless that she would do this. For me. I was always the one who initiated sex and I figured she went along with it simply because of her desire but this time, knowing she did this thinking of me. Knowing that I would like it, had me hard and aching and thinking about things I probably shouldn’t. “Hell yeah I fucking like.” The words came out on a growl as I dropped down on my haunches to get a better look. “So much.”

“Mason, the food.”

I grinned and blew a breath between her thighs, watching as her head fell back and a sexy sigh came out. “There’s a timer.” Besides I had a plan now that I knew she was thinking of me as she got dressed. I grabbed her legs and placed them over my shoulder, the scent of her arousal wafting up and making my mouth water. I put my mouth on her sweet pussy, kissing her in a proper make out session while she squirmed and cried my name.

“Mase,” she moaned and I pulled her clit with my tongue and sucked, bringing on a long, strong orgasm in just two minutes.

Yeah, I was that good. Even after her orgasm, Trish continued to grind against me and I was happy to lap her up and lick her until the timer sounded.

“A man who cooks and works his tongue magic while dinner cooks? You’re like a unicorn,” she laughed. “Careful Mason, I might want to keep you.”

“Keep dressing like that for dinner and I just might keep you, Cupcake.”

She snorted a laugh like this was all some big joke. “Everyone knows you don’t do commitment.”

“Says who?” Why did I even let it bother me? I don’t know, only that I did. “Have I been with anyone since we’ve been together? No, I haven’t. Have I given you reason to doubt me or my fidelity? No. Dammit.” So much for showing her through my actions. A home-cooked meal counts for shit if you yell at her before she eats, at least I was pretty sure that’s how relationships worked.

Trish sighed, looking genuinely sorry as I placed the skirt of her dress around her knees neatly. “Other than this recent turnaround of feelings, no you have never given me a reason to doubt you. I apologize about the commitment comment, it wasn’t fair.”

“And you’re a fine one to talk.”

She reared back and crossed her legs, and yeah, even though we were fighting I took a quick glimpse. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Everyone thinks I don’t do commitment because I haven’t dated anyone seriously since I moved here, which is less than a year ago. But you haven’t dated anyone in that time either so you must have commitment problems too.”

She thought about my words a moment, burying her face in the refilled wine glass to collect her thoughts. “Okay, maybe you have a point but that doesn’t change the fact that you barely tolerate me outside the bedroom, Mase.”

She was fighting this. Scared and fighting it. But for some reason, I wasn’t. This might not turn into anything but it could be something good for however long it lasted, if she was willing. I turned my gaze on her as timer sounded, rounding the counter to pull the baking dish from the oven. It helped to put some distance between us because I was going to give my cupcake some harsh truths. “You mean how we eat meals together and watch tv together, all without fucking each other’s brains out? Or how you kicked my ass at pool? Or how you laid on the sofa and slept with your sweet little pussy on display and all I did was massage your head while you slept?”

She paled and I hated it, but she needed to hear it. “Shit. You’re right. I-I-I’m sorry, Mase.”

She didn’t even realize she was so comfortable with me that she no longer used my full name. Hadn’t for weeks. “Don’t worry about it, Cupcake. I thought we were doing this but I guess I was wrong.” Dammit, I hated being wrong. Especially about this. Trish was more than the uptight good girl I thought she was but she didn’t see me any differently.

“We were, I mean we are. I’m just…hell, I don’t know.” She stopped and looked up at me. “How about an apology blow job to make up for it?”

But damn, maybe I could really love this girl. “I won’t say no to having your lips wrapped around me. Not ever.” My dick twitched at the thought of those lips on him, standing up and taking notice of the situation.

“Good to know,” she said mysteriously, licking those thick lips until I groaned.

I had just buttoned my jeans when the bell rang. Figuring it was Magenta, I left my shirt in the bedroom because it never got old to mess with your kid sister. Especially when she was a pain in the ass like Mags. But I was the one who got the surprise. “Ladies. Is Trish expecting you?”

“Damn,” Vivi said in a white whisper as she leaned in towards Maddie. “No wonder we can’t find her these days. She’s getting banged to within an inch of her life.”

“Lucky girl,” Maddie snickered. “Who knew he was hiding all this?” She gestured at my bare chest and both women were seconds away from drooling on the porch.

“Ladies, come on, this is weird. I know your husbands.” I was used to women appreciating my looks and my body, just not women married to my friends.

Vivi shrugged but at least Maddie had the good grace to look a little embarrassed. “So are you going to let us in or do you need to unchain Trish from the bed first?”

Right. Manners, I forgot about those with these two around. “She’s in the kitchen.” And it looked like our plans for tonight were on hold. “Cupcake you have visitors.”

“Aww, isn’t that pet name adorable?” Maddie sounded like she was about to swoon and I decided to go in search of a shirt.

I got dressed, completely, and joined the women in the kitchen. “What did I miss?”

“The last train for the coast?” Vivi’s lips twitched at her joke but she was up on her feet, hands on my back and pushing me towards the door. “Sorry to kick you out but tonight is a girl’s night. A belated impromptu bridal shower for Trish. Mags is on her way and we want our gifts to be a surprise. For you.”

“Now you’re talkin’ my language,” I told her honestly.

“Now I get it, though. Why Trish wouldn’t want a stripper. Would you mind staying for a few dances?” Maddie flushed at her question.

“Maddie, I’m shocked. What would Zeke say?”

She looked at Trish and then Vivi and laughed. “He’d be upset that we didn’t ask him first.”

Yep, that sounded like Zeke. “All right, I’m out of here. Have a good time ladies and call if you need a ride home.” I knew there would be drinking and probably a lot of it so it felt like it needed to be said.

Mags snickered on the other side of the door when I opened it. “That’s his way of telling us he’ll drive us home before he lets us cockblock him tonight. Apparently he’s rather insatiable,” she said and pretended to vomit all over Trish’s floors.

“Brat.”

“Horn dog.”

She wasn’t wrong and I turned, offering a farewell wave to each of the ladies, sparing a frown for my sister before I stepped in front of Trish. “See you later, Cupcake.” I brushed a soft, sensual kiss right on her lips in front of her friends because I wanted her thinking about me while I was gone. When the door closed there was silence, for about half a second, before they erupted in squeals and giggles.

Women, I would never understand them.

Since I was at loose ends, I went in search of Nash and Zeke, finding them where they were when they were together, Nash’s backyard. “Is this just a party for two or can anyone join?”

“Not anyone,” Zeke laughed. “Just a special few.”

“Come on in, man. Want a beer?” Nash pointed to the cooler beside the porch and I grabbed one before taking a seat on the empty lounger across from them. “What brings you by?”

“I was kicked out thanks to a belated impromptu bridal shower,” I told them and twisted the cap off my beer, taking three long pulls. It wasn’t as good as the craft stuff Trish bought, but would get the job done. “What’s new?”

“Oh no, my friend.” Zeke kicked up his feet and crossed his legs at the ankle. “You just got married to a woman I’m pretty sure was your sworn enemy. What’s new with you?”

I should have known. “Not you guys too?”

Nash shrugged and took a long pull from his beer. “First of all, this is a small town. Second, the wives will kill us if we don’t have some info from his side.”

I nodded, not really understanding their point of view but hey they were married, by accident, and their women chose to stay married to them. So I finished off my beer and spilled everything from the second, or was it third-hand story from Crosby and Kerry? I told them all about her freak out on the judge’s doorstep and her reluctance do anything but have sex.

“Wait, Trish? Sweet little baker girl Trish just wanted to bang your eyes out and you had a problem with it?” Zeke’s eyes were so wide I was sure they were seconds away from popping out of his skull. “Wow.”

“I didn’t have a problem with it, but I also wasn’t going to put on a show for the town and then turn around be enemies behind closed doors.” That was some of it, anyway.

“Okay, so how did you change her mind?”

I told them. All of it. “And she agreed.”

“Holy shit man, I have to try that on Vivi,” Nash said, awe in his voice.

“Are you kidding? She’s a romance writer, the whole scene will appear in her latest novel.” Zeke whistled and leaned back, smug as hell. “But I’m going to try it too. I want a new deck and Maddie is dead set against it.”

“She’s doing it but Trish thinks I’m a bad bet. That I have commitment issues.”

“She’s making excuses,” Nash said easily. “It’s what women do when they’re scared. You just have to change her mind.”

“It’s true,” Zeke added with a smirk. “We both went through it and now you are too. Change her mind. Show her you’re not who she thinks you are.”

“Because deep down, she already knows. Trish wouldn’t have agreed if she didn’t think you were a good guy, no matter how good your oral skills are.” I trusted Nash because he’d known Trish since she moved to Belle Musique as a child.

“So that’s it, just show her?”

Zeke and Nash looked at each other and laughed. “It’s not as easy as it sounds. Women, particularly the scared little rabbit variety tend to require a bit of convincing. And trust me,” Zeke said with an air of authority. “Save the grand gestures for the big fuck ups. Right now you need the little, everyday things to show you care.”

“And then you’ll have an easy job convincing her to stay married.”

I didn’t want to betray Trish’s trust so I just shrugged. “I don’t know if I want that.”

The fuckers, they laughed again. “You do,” they said simultaneously.

Nash got up and retrieved three more beers for each of us and I drank while I listened to their ideas on how to win Trish over. When Zeke got up for the next round, I listened to their stories of winning their women and I laughed.

And I felt a little intimidated. “Sexy photos,” Nash advised. “Not naked or fully naked anyway, just sexy. Hot enough that she’ll be thinking about you all day long.”

That was a good idea and I tucked it away for later before I changed the subject to something that had nothing to do with me. Beer and women and business. By the time I left on wobbly legs, Nash pushed me into the passenger seat of his car and took me home where I switched spots with the women.

“Hey Cupcake, you have fun?”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around me. “I did. Smells like you did too. Let’s get you up to bed.”

“Yes, please. I love bed with you, Cupcake.”

She laughed, undressed me and tucked me into bed before climbing in beside me. But even a little tipsy, I couldn’t resist the feel of her soft tits pressed up against me, her creamy thighs brushing against my rougher ones. “You’re all warm and hard,” she moaned against me.

And with those low growled words I turned to her and spent the rest of the night licking and kissing her skin all over. Okay, not all night. I made it between her thighs and stayed there for hours and hours, until Trish ran out of orgasms.

It was almost morning by the time that happened. My girl, no, my wife was feeling good. Even if she couldn’t walk.