Chapter Twenty-Four

~Rafael~

I woke up slowly, my abdomen slightly sore and my bladder quite full. My eyes fluttered open, and the first thing I saw was gorgeous red curls spilling across my blue pillows.

A sea of scarlet against azure, it was the most beautiful sight I could hope to wake up to. I pulled the sheets down, so I could see more of the incredible woman in my bed.

Little by little, I revealed her porcelain skin, until her whole back was visible to me. I traced my fingers along her spine, marveling in how smooth it was and how it turned ever so slightly pink under my sliding digit.

It was then, seeing her skin depress slightly under my touch, that I realized I was in love. It was a strange concept, and one that I was sure I would never have again after the hell Dom’s mom put me through, but I couldn’t deny it any longer.

Even though we had just spent the night together, I found that my body was still craving her, still longing for the touch of her skin and the sound of her voice. But it was more than just physical. I wanted to make sure she was safe, and that she was happy, and that she never wanted for anything again. Anyone who dared to ever cause her hard, or lay hands on her again, would know true pain.

But I also knew that I couldn’t come on that strong. I would have to play it safe and make sure she felt the same. After all, I was her boss and she didn’t have the best track record with relationships. I would have to take things slow, and I was fine with that. After all, we had no need to rush.

She stirred slightly but didn’t wake. Carefully, I slipped out if bed, intent on cooking her breakfast. Sure, she had been joking when she made that crack about my cooking earlier, but I felt like I needed to defend myself. McKenna didn’t seem the type to really care about money, so I was going to have to prove my skills otherwise.

I shook my head as I went to the kitchen. How had one woman so completely broken through my defenses? I had spent years being disappointed and untrusting of humanity, yet she had come in and literally danced her way into my walls.

I suppose that was something I could puzzle over another time. For now, all I had to worry about was cooking her a delicious meal. I figured quite a bit of protein considering all the strenuous activities we had gotten up to last night, and then just a hint of sweet with some banana nut pancakes.

I knew that plenty of my past flings had been surprised that I was so comfortable in the kitchen, but every grown man should know how to cook for themselves. It just made sense. Not to mention that I had to be able to make sure that Dom was eating healthily so he could grow up into the brilliant man that I knew he would be.

It didn’t take long for things to really get to sizzling, and soon I heard a yawn and feet shuffling towards me. I turned around, unsurprised to see McKenna standing on the other side of the kitchen island that separated it from the rest of the flat.

But what I didn’t expect to see was that she was wearing my shirt from the previous day. It was big on her in some places, considering how much taller than her I was and how broad my shoulders were compared to hers, but it was definitely tight across her bust and hips. She looked like a damn vision and once more I was reminded of just how perfect she was.

“What’s this? You cooked?”

I sent her a smirk and proceeded to whisk the eggs, so they blended with the milk, butter and spices. “Why does everyone always seem so surprised at that fact?”

“Well, you’re a macho CEO with all the money in the world to spare. I sort of imagined that you would have some sort of robo-butler to feed you all of your meals.”

“McKenna, you spent an entire day here with Dom. I think you would have noticed a robotic butler or maid.”

She sat on one of the high stools at the island, resting her chin in her hand. “Maybe, you stashed it in a hidey-hole somewhere. We ordered food, after all.”

I just laughed as I shook my head. “You really are something else, you know that?” I finished the eggs and started loading all of the food onto a plate for her. Placing a couple of utensils by her, I slide her the dish and made my own.

“Why? Because I’ve got a bit of a science-fiction boner for automated help?”

I sat down across from her, taking in her beautiful face, her kind eyes, her sweet smile. I had never felt like I could be this relaxed with someone besides my son before. “No, because you deserve the entire world. You’re strong, kind, relentless. If I could wrap up this entire globe and hand it over to you, I would, because you’ve earned it ten times over.”

Her mouth opened in surprise as her cheeks flushed red, then it closed, then it opened again. “W-what do you mean?” She stuttered, clearly too surprised and her brain still waking up after sleeping so soundly.

“Exactly what I said.” I put my fork down. This wasn’t the sort of confession you made with your mouth full of food. “You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. I know it, Dom knows it, I think even my ex knows it, and that’s why she’s been especially obnoxious lately. I know that we didn’t exactly get started on the right foot, but I will be eternally happy that you came into our lives.”

The blush in her face just grew more vibrant, and she raised one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows. “Huh, do you always sweettalk your girls over a meal? Because you already got me into bed; you don’t have to honey the trap anymore.”

Heh, she always was so quick with a comeback. Humor was probably the only way she had managed to survive for so long with her sanity intact. “Who says I won’t want you in my bed again.”

She laughed lightly at that and finally picked up her own utensil, ladling food onto it. “Keep it up and that just might happen.”

I chuckled at that and then we both dug in. The meal was great, if only because she was there. I had never known how much of a difference it made to have a guest for breakfast, but maybe that was because I didn’t realize just how lonely I was.

I had been lonely. When Dominic was around my life was pretty much complete, but when he was gone, all I had was my work to occupy me. That was no way to live; why had I been so satisfied to live with a cup half full for so long?

I didn’t know, but that was going to change.

“Your food is already dead, you don’t have to glare at it.”

I looked up from my plate, realizing that I had zoned out for a second. “A good hunter knows that intimidation is just a useful a weapon as anything else.”

“Oh, so you’re a hunter now?” She countered, her tone playful. “That plus CEO and Chef almost puts you at being able to put on your own rendition of the YMCA theme song.”

“Eh, I don’t think you’ll have much luck there. Although I did invest in a sexy police officer uniform in college for Halloween once.”

Now her ginger eyebrows shot up practically to her hairline. “You’re kidding me?! Sexy cop?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes! I mean, no. I, uh…” She just shook her head more, laughing outright. “It’s just so hard to think of you as anything other than this intimidating CEO. Like you popped out of the womb in a business suit or something!”

I leaned over the counter, my height allowing me to almost reach her. She looked up at me with huge eyes and I gave her a stern look. “Are you saying that I’m intimidating?”

She swallowed harshly, and I could see her thoughts spinning behind her eyes. “Sometimes.”

“Good,” I said, standing up with a cheery grin on my face. “That comes in handy in the business worth.”

She let out a long breath and tried to reach across the kitchen island to josh my arm. She missed, and I started loading our empty plates into the dishwasher. “You literally almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I doubt I literally did anything of the sort,” I shot back, downing my water. “So, what next?”

She looked past me to the oven and her smile faltered ever so slightly. “Wow, it’s past noon. I guess we really slept in.”

“I think we earned it,” I said, confirming that it was indeed almost one o’clock.

“True, but I should go home and start to get ready for work.”

Oh, right. It was going to be Sunday night, which meant that McKenna had to go in and do the Monday prep work for the coming week. “You could always not go in. I would make sure that HR didn’t give you any absence points.”

But she just shook her head. “I don’t want to take advantage of the situation and getting extra days off for sleeping with you definitely seems like taking advantage. Besides, my coworkers are my only friends and I enjoy hanging out with them.”

“Fair enough.” I got the feeling that I would never have to worry about McKenna being into me for my money or power. “I guess we’ll both get dressed then.”

“Yeah… I guess.”

Neither of us seemed very happy about it, but I respected her decision. While I chose a new outfit that was pretty much just lounge wear, McKenna had to put back on yesterday’s clothes. She didn’t seem to mind, however, and far too soon it was time for her to go.

We stood in front of my door, just looking at each other. Neither of us seemed willing to move, as we could suddenly break the spell between us.

“Well, I should get home.”

“Can I get you a cab?”

She considered it for a moment then shook her head. “You know what? It’s a beautiful day. I think I’d like to walk.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. Considering everything she had been through, I figured that she wouldn’t want to be alone again for quite a long time.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

I couldn’t let her leave just yet. I had too much I wanted to say, too much she needed to her. I reached out for her, my arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her to me.

Our lips met with no hesitance, and we stood in that moment, kissing tenderly for several long beats. When we finally parted, her face was flushed again, and her eyes were half hooded.

“McKenna,” I said, voice low.

“Yes?” She was just as quiet.

“I don’t want this to be a one-time thing. Or a second-time thing. And I don’t want you to just come by for Dom. So, what I would like to do, is ask you if you’d be comfortable with me proposing that we start…seeing each other. Officially, that is.”

A wide grin broke out on her face and her cheeks grew that much rosier. “Yes, Rafael. I’d like that quite a lot.” She stood on tiptoe once more to place a single kiss on my cheek, then headed out.