Mirepoix (A Recipe Of Love Book 1) (8 page)

“No pink starburst are definitely the superior flavor.” Lindsay stated emphatically as she cleaned any lingering sauce from first her bowl then mine with her piece of bread.

“Bitch you’re crazy, red is way better.”  I reply without looking at her as I take the bowls to the sink to wash them. The pots and pans were already clean and hung up on their rack as Lindsay washed them while I was plating dinner. It
really is too bad we’re both straight. She would be the perfect wife for me.

“You really would be the perfect wife for me you know?” I feel the need to inform her.

“No I wouldn’t. We’re both too short. Who would change the lightbulbs?” She answers looking at the track lighting I love. When we put them in neither of us thought about how we would change the bulbs as they were a good foot above the highest we could reach with the small ladder I have.

“We would do it the way we do now. Make Anthony climb the ladder when it needs to be done.” We both fall to pieces remembering the first time we made him do it with him muttering at us under his breath the entire time. I’m wiping tears from my eyes when I hear the buzzer go. Since I’m currently standing on the counter to put the bowls away Lindsay goes to the monitor. She hits the button to buzz whoever is here up so I assume it’s someone we know.

Since I’m already up here, I should probably rearrange my dishes. It’s getting cooler and I will be making more soups and stews so I’ll probably use my stoneware bowls with their beautiful aqua starburst bleeding into charcoal more often. I’m trying to decide what to move up, to make room when I feel finger tips trail up the back of my leg before wrapping around my thigh. Thoroughly baffled as to who is touching me I look down into Joe’s smirking face.

“Sorry wanted to make sure you didn’t fall.” He says with laughter in his voice.

I look over his head and see Lindsay looking at me smirking. She makes a production of fanning her face, holding her hand up shaped like the letter o, then giving me 2 big thumbs up. I roll my eyes at her antics and Joe looks back at her, of course she has stopped and seems to just be innocently picking up her glass of wine.

“Hi, I’m Joe, I’m guessing you’re Lindsay?” While he’s busy politely introducing himself I finish switching my dishes around, I’m shocked when he doesn’t let go of my leg to shake her hand. This seems like a pretty big lapse in manners for him. I turn around to jump off the counter but he won’t move out of the way. I’m momentarily distracted by the fact that if he stepped forward the slightest bit, his face would be right in my boobs. Maybe I should accidentally fall and you know his face could catch them. Before I can get myself into trouble he’s lifting me holding onto me under the armpits, I grab his shoulders for balance, and he places me on the floor like I weigh nothing. Tonight’s shirt is a black thermal long sleeve henley, the top buttons undone showing ink peeking out. It’s not as soft as the t-shirt from the other day but it does show off his build better. It’s a tossup of which I prefer.

“Hey Frankie, snap out of it. I’m sure his shirt is soft and if you ask him, he would tell you where he got it.” Luckily my friends are used to my quirks and will do their best to remind me to be normal. Also Lindsay at least gave an excuse for me petting other than the strong muscles pressed against me.

“Nuh huh I asked him who made his soap, and he still hasn’t told me.” I turn as I’m saying this, so now I have all of his muscled heat behind me. I have to keep reminding myself not to back up and rub against him like a cat. He’s so tall he could wrap his arms around me over my shoulders completely enveloping me in his scent.

“If I told you who made it, you could go buy it and sniff the bottle instead of me.” He says practically against the crown of my head. I lean my head back to see the look on his face to see if he’s serious or picking on me. I forgot how close he was and my head bumps into his chest, throwing me slightly off balance. He quickly wraps his arm around me tucking me into his side.

I quickly look at Lindsay, this seems like very flirty behavior and I need her to confirm if it is. In the way of best friends we have a quick conversation without words. I look down at his arm around me, then at her and raise my eyebrows, she gives me a subtly nod that yes this is very flirty behavior. We have had to come up with this system in the past due to me being oblivious to casual flirting. I don’t believe the guy would actually flirt with me, and convince myself that it’s all in my head, then Lindsay would lecture me later that I missed not only subtly body language clues but casually flirty actions. I would kick myself later and despair that the guy might have been the one and I’m such a dork I messed it up.

I look back to Joe’s face and see he’s looking amused but it seems to be honest and not mocking, plus his arm is still around me crossing my back and holding onto my hip. He leads me around the counter to the stool next to Lindsay’s, never removing his hand until he gets me fully settled. He snags my wine glass and hands it to me before offering Lindsay a handshake. His other hand runs down my back and settles on my lower back, I quickly take a gulp of wine in defense.

“So Joe, how did you like the lunch Frankie brought you?” Lindsay asks making very direct eye contact. I immediately start coughing as the sip I just took goes down the wrong tube when I gasped at her audacity, temporarily forgetting I can’t breath and drink at the same time as I'm not a fish. Joe pats me on the back and rubs calming circles helping me get over the fit.

“It was delicious, it would have been better if she were with me.”

I peek up at him and see instead of looking at Lindsay he’s looking down at me. His face looks soft with equal parts concern and honesty. His hand has returned to the small of my back, he nods at me affirming what he said nonverbally before kissing me softly on the forehead. I close my eyes to better absorb the sensation and commit them to memory. He smells like cedar wood again. I can feel his warm breath on my forehead and a his lips are soft and smooth. I open my eyes when I hear Lindsay hop off her bar stool.

“Alright guys, I need to get upstairs. I have some media blasts I need to get coded and ready to send out. Be good. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Remember the safe word is banana.” She blows me a kiss as she walks out the door knowing it will automatically lock behind her.

“Well she’s unique.”

“Yeah she’s one of a kind, I’m lucky she’s my hetero life-mate.”

10

As soon as Lindsay leaves, I find myself sitting on my island with Joe standing between my legs. I’m still not positive how it happened, he must be a superhero, maybe a ninja. He is a superhero ninja! Clearly the only explanation of how I went from standing to being on the counter in a second. He is also a giant. I’m sitting on the counter and he is finally at eye level to me. His hair is down brushing past his shoulders and I find myself fascinated by the shiny strands, I wonder if they will feel like cool silk in my hands or maybe soft and warm.

No, bad Frankie!
Don’t think about how flirty he is being, he embarrassed you. I feel myself shutting down and pulling back remembering how I felt walking home. The avalanche of self doubt is starting, right now there’s just a warning rumble but I know what’s coming. My shoulders pull forward as I try to curl in on myself. I tilt my head so that if my hair weren’t knotted up I could hide behind it. My hands start shaking so I sit on them to hide them.

“Stop.” I feel the warmth of his hand on the side of my neck, his thumb rubbing my jaw. He is trying to be gentle with me and tilt my face to his. I can’t stand to see what’s in his eyes so I stubbornly try to keep my face down. His other hand comes up and mirrors its twin, with both hands he is able to tilt my face back and force eye contact. Instead of the pity or disappointment I brace myself to see, his eyes are blazing with anger and lust.

“Frankie I said stop. We have a lot to talk about in order to get things straightened out. I want you to look at me so that you can’t take something the wrong way, you can see what I’m feeling and not twist my words. I’m not normally so blunt but I think I need to be so that you understand where I’m at in my head regarding you.”

He stops speaking and is looking me straight in the eye. I can’t nod to let him know I understand because of the hold he has on my face. Even if he wasn’t holding my head I don’t think I could have moved. I’m paralyzed with shock. I’m the field mouse that stays frozen hoping the hawk that’s circling won’t be able to see it anymore.

“Now I will explain about the other day and lunch. Then we will figure out how we can make this work. I’ve thought long and hard and we need to have an open honest discussion about our needs before we try. I also need to learn your triggers because I don’t want to see you curl in on yourself like you just
did because of a misunderstanding.”  He tells me while maintaining the most direct eye contact I have ever experienced.

“I was never told you were there. What’s her name took it upon herself to decide I wouldn’t want to be bothered, when she brought the food back she told me you just dropped it off. I tried calling you to find out why you didn’t stay but Anthony cleared up the confusion for me. Now I can’t promise not to be too busy for you in the future but I promise I will never use someone else to blow you off. I will explain to you myself if there’s a reason I can’t be interrupted. Do you believe me honey?” His voice is slow and deep as he tells me this, I can hear and see in his voice that he regrets any pain this caused me.

“I believe she lied to me and that you will blow me off yourself. I also believe that your hostess is a bitch and wants you for herself, therefore she’ll do anything she can to sabotage us.” I try to pull away so that I can drop eye contact, I don’t want him to be able to see the pain that thought causes. She’s probably more his type, a bubbly blonde bimbo. I would say she’s more secure in herself than I am, but she clearly isn’t if she’s lying and being manipulative.

“I demoted her back to running drinks and clearing tables. She obviously can’t be trusted after this. She had no idea who you are and didn’t care how it might hurt me or the restaurant if she snubbed you like she did. I also don’t want her to think she can get away with hurting you without consequence.” His thumbs rub my cheeks at the end trying to comfort me it seems. I know I shouldn’t be happy she got demoted but what can I say, I’m petty. It makes me happy imagining her clearing tables. It also makes me feel warm and fuzzy that he was willing to go that far to make sure I’m emotionally taken care of.

That thought has me freezing, the way he’s acting and the things he’s saying made me forget him mentioning Anthony. I realize Anthony clearly told him my side of the story and I wonder what else Anthony told him. Anthony has appointed himself my big brother since I was 10 years old and moved in with Grams. He takes being over protective to a whole new level, he has no qualms about warning off people that he thinks are a risk to me emotionally. I can’t say I blame the guy with everything I’ve put him and Lindsay through over the years. I can feel tears pooling in my eyes but I just stare at Joe praying I’m wrong.

“He told you?” My voice is shaky with emotion. I’m practically holding my breath right now to keep myself from crying.

“Yes he told me. He loves you so much he wanted to make sure I would be able to take care of you the way you need. I needed to know how to avoid hurting you again. When he told me that you were hurt because of me even indirectly it made me realize how much you’ve come to mean to me. I was pissed and wanted to destroy whatever caused you pain and wrap you up in cotton locked in a tower so nothing and no one could hurt you again. Please don’t be mad at him baby.” He wraps his arms around me completely surrounding me in his warmth and his strength. I rub my face slightly on his chest. I want to burrow into him and feel safe and protected and whole.

“You still want me even knowing how broken I am?” I whisper while I map his chest with my fingertips. He pulls back and captures my face in his magnificent hands again.

“You’re not broken, baby. You’re magnificent. We all have our own issues, and baggage we bring with us. You still have a happy life with great friends that love you, despite everything you’ve gone through and deal with it hasn’t turned you into a bitter angry selfish person. You’re like this perfect double rainbow, rare and beautiful and able to make me feel special for being able to see it. I want to keep you in a tower and keep your magic pure and untainted by people who don’t deserve to feel the warmth of your personality.”

As soon as he’s done shaking me with how he thinks of me his long fingers are tangling in my hair, tilting my head to receive his kiss. His lips are strong and firm against mine as he sips from them. Dragging his tongue across the seam, he demands entrance. I part my lips and he immediately dives in tangling his tongue with mine in an erotic caress that shoots straight through my body like a sip of bubbling champagne. I distantly feel my hair tumble from its knot shrouding us. He pulls back from the kiss and I instinctively follow him wanting more. He makes my body feel alive in a way I haven’t felt before. I need more of his intoxicating taste that makes me forget everything we were talking about. I let out a small moan when he holds me slightly away from him as we both struggle for breath. I never knew a simple kiss like this could rock my world.

“Soon, Pixie. First, we need to figure out how we’re going to make this work. I refuse to cause you a second of pain if I can help it.”

Without warning his hands leave my hair and go to my thighs lifting me from the counter with ease.  I wrap my arms around his neck and glory in his strength as he
carries me to the couch and sinks down gracefully. Instinctively my legs go to either side of him so that I’m straddling his waist and can feel his hard cock between us. I rock my hips forward trying to gain more contact when he grabs them in his strong hands holding me completely still. I whimper in frustration wanting more of him.