Farewell, Mr. Lovely by Delaney Wendy

Author:Delaney, Wendy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sugarbaker Press
Published: 2023-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

ALMOST TWO HOURS later, I let myself into Steve’s house and found him marinating a couple of thick sirloin steaks in the kitchen.

His gaze roamed the length of me as I approached. “You look nice.”

I’d fixed my hair and makeup after I got back from a breezy walk through the dog park with Fozzie and had thought the same thing when I left my house, so it felt good to see the appreciation in his eyes for my efforts.

Even though Steve wasn’t the one I had dressed to impress today.

“I like this.” He ran his fingers over the opening of my sweater and then grinned rakishly at the bit of cleavage he had revealed. “I like what’s inside of it even more.”

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I breathed in his clean scent while lifting my chin to give him a quick kiss. “I’m assuming you mean my sparkling personality.”

“That too.”

“Uh-huh.” Pushing him away, I scanned his white tile countertop for salad fixings, some veggies in need of chopping—something to accompany the meatfest.

“What can I do?” I started to open the refrigerator door to see if I could answer my own question, but Steve quickly blocked my path.

“Absolutely nothing, because I’m the cook tonight.” Taking me by the shoulders, he directed me to the closest of the four chairs surrounding his kitchen table. “So, you get to sit here and keep me company.”

“I take it that means that we’re having steak, potatoes, and nothing much that’s green,” I said, admiring the way his blue jeans rode on his narrow hips.

“Needless filler. But since you insist on having a vegetable…” Steve retrieved a carton of button mushrooms from his refrigerator and cradled it like an offering to the god of steak sides. “I’ll be sauteing these babies.”

The last time he sauteed mushrooms, they were buttery restaurant quality, so I knew Steve had tonight’s meal well in hand and settled back in my chair. “Yum.”

I watched him open the bottle of pinot noir next to the stove where his mother used to grill the best cheese sandwiches and smiled at the memory. “Your mom would love seeing you getting all domestic in her kitchen.”

Steve looked over as he reached for a wineglass. “She’ll get that opportunity soon enough.”

Huh? “What do you mean?”

“Since I have to work and won’t be going to Santa Fe for Christmas, she and Gavin are coming here for a few days the week after next. Sort of an early Christmas.”

“When did this get decided?” Because Steve hadn’t mentioned anything about his mother and stepfather coming to town.

“My mom called with the news about an hour before you got here.” He handed me the wineglass. “Surprise!”

“Great.” I took a sip of wine and wished that I could feel happy about this news. But all I could think about was how my mother would want to host us all for another elaborate dinner at her house, and I didn’t want to poison Gavin and make a really bad first impression.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.