Page 10 of Time Bomb
“Hi.” Her voice sounds breathy as she welcomes me inside.
Before I hand her the flowers, I grip the back of her neck and claim her mouth in another inferno of a kiss. She’s so fucking pliant beneath me. I could get used to her willingness to have my lips on her.
“Fuck you taste good,” I mutter as I pull away.
“Uhm…” I love the innocent blush creeping across her cheeks. “It’s the coffee.”
“No, Philly, it’s all you.” I take another taste, sweeping my tongue across her parted lips, licking into her mouth, and playing with her tongue. Groaning as I pull away, I tell her, “All you, darlin’.”
Her gaze drops to the flowers in my hand. I offer them to her, and she buries her face in the blooms, exhaling with a satisfied sigh. “I love daisies.” There’s something insanely satisfying about getting that right.
“You done in here?” I peer around the empty café, and it appears cleaned up and ready to leave for the night, but I don’t know much about running a business like this, so looks could be deceiving.
“Oh, uhm, uh,” her stuttering is fucking adorable. “I should just…double-check.” I follow behind her as she heads to the kitchen, ensuring the ovens are off and the back door is locked.
Because of her distracted state, I triple-check after her as she enters her office and returns with a purse. “Ready,” she states, holding the bouquet close to her chest without squishing it.
Ushering her out of the building, I wait until she secures the door and then pulls it to make sure before I take her hand in mine. She seems startled at first but then relaxes as we walk.
“Did you drive?” I sincerely hope not. I know she and Laken often walk home together. Have to say I’m not a fan of her doing it on her own, given that I know she often starts her days with the sun rising.
“No, I walked this morning.” I hold back the growl in my throat.
Barely.
Instead, I squeeze her hand gently and guide her to my parked truck. “Perfect. I had planned to make us dinner at my place.” Helping her into the vehicle, I buckle her belt and steal another quick kiss.
“Oh. You cook?” She sounds surprised.
Jogging around the truck, I climb in and start her up before answering Ophelia. “I’m a man of many talents, Philly.”
She mumbles something, but I don’t catch it all. Though I think she said something like, I’m learning that. But I can’t be sure.
We ride to my place in silence. I don’t live far from Hale, and in turn, it’s not far from her. Not by design, of course; it just happened.
Fate, my mom would call it.
Staring at Ophelia as she attempts not to look at me, I think I’m in agreeance with her. I’m now a fan of Fate. Something I never thought would happen.
Parking in the garage, I wait until the door lowers before getting out and opening Philly’s door. With a hand, I offer her a step down. My truck has a lift on it, and until now, I hadn’t realized just how much of a nuisance that could be to someone shorter.
“So, what are you making?” she finally asks as we enter the house. Hanging my keys up, I kick my shoes off after she does. Her toes dig into the plush carpet I spent an insane amount of money on. I now know it was all for this moment as she releases a blissful sigh.
“It’s a surprise,” I respond. Which brings me to my next problem. This was impromptu; I was not prepared at all. I just wanted her in my space.
I didn’t lie when I said I can cook, I just don’t have anything pulled out to make her a decent meal. “Why don’t you take a look around, and I’ll be right back?” She hums her confirmation but doesn’t say anything else.
Dipping down the back hallway, I head to the laundry room and the deep freeze I have in there to see if there are any of the premade meals Mom often brings over. Spying a frozen pan of chicken parmesan, I grab that and go to the kitchen.
Ophelia is in the living room, inspecting the photos hanging on the wall beside the TV and fireplace. She looks like she belongs here. And I want her to feel that way, too, because I can’t picture a life without her anymore.
I’ve spent the last decade focused on my career, being the best I can be. I’ve dated sporadically, nothing too serious. And until Hale met Laken, I hadn’t given much thought to a partner for myself. I didn’t realize how much I craved that.
Over the last year, I’ve spent many lonely nights trying to imagine what my future wife would look like. Not once did I think it could be Ophelia. Sure, I was attracted to her from the moment we met, but I’d never imagined it being more until our lips touched on that first date.
“You’ve fought wildfires?” She looks over at me as I’m preheating the oven.
“A few times.” Leaning back against the island in the middle of the kitchen, I watch a range of emotions play across her face. “I flew to California a few years ago. I was there for almost a month.”