Eleven

Patrick

Fuck, Morgan feels good.

Her lips were soft and supple. The way she worked her tongue…fuck. I couldn’t even begin to describe it. How could I have known her so long and never done this? Not even thought about it?

Of course, I knew why. Same reason I probably shouldn’t have my tongue down her throat right now. But, shit, I’d tried to be a gentleman. I’d thought I was making the right decision before. And I knew there would be hell to pay for this later. My past had made sure of that. Didn’t mean I had any intention of stopping this. Not a chance.

Not with her tight little body pressed against me and her hands shaking but clinging to my shirt and her toned legs wrapped around me in the most compromising of positions. I could think of something else I’d like to be doing between her legs. At least a couple of other things.

But Morgan wasn’t any girl. As much as I wanted to dive right between her legs and make her come for days, I knew to take it slow. I didn’t want to overwhelm her. In some ways, she still felt so innocent in my hands. As if all of this was so new for her.

When she was with me, she wasn’t the proud, sarcastic, cynical workaholic that I’d known my whole life. She was this sensual, eager, beautiful woman. Maybe even a little, dare I say it, scared. I’d never seen Morgan scared a day in her life. All I wanted to do was prove to her that she had no reason to fear any of this. And pray that I could keep my word.

Morgan gently pushed me back. “Wait…”

“Are you serious?”

She grinned and hauled herself off the counter top. “Serious. Not that I don’t want to keep kissing you.”

“Yeah, because…I kind of thought that’s what you wanted.”

“Yeah. I mean, I do. I just…” She sighed and glanced away. “Is that what you want?”

“Morgan, are you overthinking this again?”

“Yes,” she said with a shy laugh. “I don’t want a repeat of last weekend, and I don’t want to be jerked around.”

“I’ll admit, I’ve been acting erratic.”

I had never been the guy to talk about my feelings or discuss this sort of thing with…well, anyone. Let alone right after the first time I kissed someone. I wasn’t much of a talker in general unless it was joking around. But I could see that Morgan was legitimately afraid to take another step forward.

“A little?” she asked.

“Okay, a lot, but I talked to Steph.”

“Oh God,” Morgan said, going pale. “What did she say?”

“What do you think she said?” My curiosity was piqued.

“No idea.”

There was definitely something she wasn’t telling me.

“She laughed when I told her that I saved you from making a drunken mistake and that you weren’t interested in me because you were already dating. She told me I needed to fix this. I just couldn’t figure that you actually liked me.”

“I do,” she whispered.

I put my hand under her chin and made her look up at me again. “I think we’re both on uneven ground here. This is new to me. Being here with you like this kind of terrifies me.”

“Why? It’s just me.”

“I know that, but you have three older brothers who are my closest friends. And I don’t want them to beat the shit out of me.”

“They’re not going to. When we’re ready, we’ll tell them like adults. Because we’re fucking adults.”

“Yeah. I’m sure that’ll go over great,” I said with a shake of my head.

“I mean, I think they might be macho idiots, like they always were when I was dating, but it’s you. They know you.”

I blew out a heavy breath. “Didn’t stop me.”

She paused and gave me a weighted, curious look. “What does that mean?”

“Our senior year of college, Steph and Austin hooked up.”

Her jaw dropped. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“She never told me!”

“Well, I found out and blew up. It was the only argument Austin and I ever had that I thought would end our friendship. She was only eighteen at the time and still in high school. I accused him of taking advantage of her. So, when you and I were together, I kept thinking about what had happened with Steph and what Austin’s reaction would be.”

“Wow,” she muttered.

“I know.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I understand why you would be worried. It’s not like we have to tell anyone what’s going on yet. It’s our first date, and I don’t particularly want their nosy noses up in our business anyway. Why don’t we just go back to dinner and making out?”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d been holding that in for a long time. It was probably the main reason I’d never even looked at Morgan. After that shit with Steph, it had taken a long time for me and Austin to get back on solid footing. I never wanted to go back to that. But, if there was something here with Morgan, I didn’t want to stand on the sidelines, wondering when I was going to get into the game.

“Maybe I should get started on the spaghetti sauce then,” I said.

She stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips to mine once more. I pressed her into my body, enjoying the feel of every inch of her against me. Already, my mind was drifting into the gutter. I opened her mouth and teased my tongue against hers. I was ready to say, Fuck it, when Morgan’s stomach grumbled.

I broke away. “I thought you said you’d eaten.”

“Um…well, I did. This morning. At, like, eight o’clock?”

I shook my head. “Get out of my kitchen, so I can feed you.”

“Fine.”

She scrunched up her nose at me as she walked out of the kitchen. I swatted at her ass with a wooden spoon, and she laughed before scurrying away. When she was gone, I finally got to work.

Cooking was an art form. Probably the only one I’d ever excelled at. Once I got into it, it was my Zen. Everything else would drift away, and it was just the ingredients and my masterpiece.

I didn’t know how long I’d been working when Morgan peeked her head into the kitchen again.

“Something smells amazing in here.”

“Here. Try.”

I took the wooden spoon out of the sauce and offered it to her. She leaned into me and licked some of the sauce off the spoon. My eyes were glued to the way her body reacted to my cooking. She groaned and closed her eyes, and her face turned into pure ecstasy.

“That is incredible,” she moaned. “How are you so good at this?”

“Lots of practice and patience.”

“I wish I could cook,” she said. She leaned her hip into the counter as I poured our pasta into bowls. She glanced down at the ground and frowned. “Jensen says Mom was a good cook, too.”

“Your mom was an extraordinary woman.”

“It seems unfair that you remember her more than I do.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She waved me off. “Nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault she died of cancer when I was five and never taught me to cook.”

“I could teach you,” I offered. “But I think it’s probably more enjoyable if I keep doing what I’m good at and you do what you’re good at.”

“So, you think I’d suck?”

“Definitely.”

“Jerk.”

I grinned as I placed both of the plates on the table and grabbed a bottle of red wine. I poured each of us a glass. Morgan sniffed it before taking a sip. She made a horrible face and then had another sip.

I tried to hide my laugh. “You’re, uh, not a wine drinker?”

“I like it, but the first sip always tastes terrible.”

“I’ll remember that when I take you wine tasting.”

Her eyes lit up. “We’re going wine tasting?”

Whoa. Where had that come from? When had I even had the thought that I was going to take Morgan out? It was as if there was no processing from my brain to my mouth. I was just going to take her.

She might be overthinking things, but when I was with her, everything felt completely natural.

“Yeah. The Lubbock wineries are surprisingly good. Unless you want to go to Napa or something. I have to use up all my vacation before I start the new job.”

Holy fuck! Honestly, did I just suggest going on a vacation with her?

“I wonder if I have access to the private jet now,” she said with a mischievous smile.

“I’m pretty sure, if we don’t want Jensen to know yet, taking his jet to Napa might tip him off.”

She giggled that perfect laugh. “You’re probably right. But it’d be hilarious to see his face.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

She seemed to be brimming with excitement over the fact that I’d already confirmed a second date. I was starting to wonder who I was and what had happened with the normal Patrick Young. I’d never dated like this. Sex always happened on the first date, and then I’d get bored easily. I never cooked for other people. And the second date was never a guarantee and

I’d been worried that mentality would translate to Morgan as well. That I’d fuck everything up just by being me. But it seemed she brought out the best in me.