Chapter 26
“I don’t know how to be lazy.” ~ Paisley
Paisley
I snuggle into Eli. I’m not ready to wake up and face the day. I could lie here forever in his arms.
Lie forever in Eli’s arms? My heart races and my palms sweat. Do I want to be with Eli forever?
Eli kisses my shoulder and I force those scary thoughts away. “Good morning, Lace.”
I groan. “I don’t want to get up.”
“Then, don’t. You own your own business. You can play hooky sometimes.”
“It’s not my own business. I’m not the sole owner.”
“I bet Maya, Nova, Chloe, and Sophia wouldn’t complain if you skip a day.”
True. They wouldn’t. “There’s too much to do. I can’t leave my beer without supervision for the day.”
His body moves against mine as he chuckles. “Is your beer going to be naughty if left unsupervised? ”
I elbow him. “I’m serious. It’s important to keep a close watch on the brewing process.”
“You could have your assistant watch over your precious beer.”
I consider his question. I’ve been training Blossom to handle several of my tasks. Except developing new recipes. It’s my favorite aspect of my work and I will never hand it over to another person.
“Blossom’s not ready yet,” I conclude.
“You don’t know until you throw her in the deep end.”
My nose wrinkles. “I’m not fond of the throw a person in the deep end management philosophy.”
Eli rolls me over until we’re facing each other. “How about this? Let her handle things this morning. We can have a lazy morning and it will give her an opportunity to prove herself.”
“A lazy morning?”
He brushes my hair out of my face. “You do know how to be lazy, don’t you?”
“Not really. But it’s of no concern. You can’t be lazing around all morning. You have two businesses to run.”
“I don’t run Apparoo. I’m merely the Chief Financial Officer.”
“Merely the Chief Financial Officer of a company worth several billion dollars? I’m concerned you don’t understand the meaning of the word merely.”
“Smartass.” He tickles my ribs.
I bat him away. “Stop.”
His eyes light up. “Are you ticklish? ”
“I don’t enjoy being tickled.” His fingers pause. “At least a third of people do not enjoy being tickled.”
“I’m sorry, Lace.” He kisses my cheek. “I won’t tickle you if you don’t enjoy it.”
“Thank you.”
He cups his ear. “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of your stomach grumbling.”
I smack him. “I’m hungry. I’m always hungry after a night of winning poker.”
“Don’t gloat or I won’t make you breakfast.”
I perk up. “You can cook?”
“I practically raised my five younger brothers. Those heathens demanded food three times a day. We didn’t have money for going out or getting take-out, so I learned to cook.”
At his admission, guilt swamps me. “I’m sorry.”
His brow wrinkles. “Sorry for what?”
“I shouldn’t make fun of your wealth. I understand the need for financial stability given your background. I will cease to joke about your money.”
He smiles. “There’s no need to apologize. I don’t have money issues. I didn’t become a billionaire because I have this deep driven desire to have financial security.”
“How did you become a billionaire then?”
“Luck. Pure and simple.” I motion for him to explain. “Jeremy was my roommate at college. When he developed his first app, he asked me for a loan to market it. I gave him my tuition money and the rest is history. ”
“I agree luck was involved, but you’re a smart person. You wouldn’t have loaned Jeremy the money if you didn’t believe in him.”
“I’m a smart person.” He preens.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t gloat. It’s unbecoming.”
“I happen to know you find me incredibly becoming.”
“Only because you’re good at giving orgasms.”
He barks out a laugh. “I never know what you’re going to say.” He hops out of bed. “Come on. I’ll make you some breakfast.”
He saunters toward the hallway. “Are you going to cook naked?”
He shrugs. “It’s a lazy morning. Lazy mornings are conducted nude.”
“At least put on your briefs.”
He waggles his eyebrows. “Afraid you won’t be able to resist me if I’m naked?”
I am. But I won’t admit it to him. He’s already preening more than the peacock at Barnacles & Barnyards, the petting zoo on Smuggler’s Hideaway.
“More worried you’ll get grease on your penis and I’ll be forced to listen to you whine about your pain all day long.”
“My penis thanks you for your concern.”
“It has been instrumental in providing me with orgasms.”
He laughs as he slips on his briefs. They’re tight and don’t leave anything to the imagination. Maybe I should have insisted he wear jeans .
He opens his arms wide. “Am I suitably dressed to cook you breakfast now?”
“It depends on what you cook.”
“It depends on what ingredients you have in your cupboards.”
“Why don’t you rummage around my cupboards while I get ready?”
He sighs. “There’s no chance of you agreeing to have a nude lazy morning?”
I shake my head. I’m not a prude. I have no problem being naked in his presence. But the idea of naked skin on my furniture does not please me. I don’t want to spend an afternoon after a lazy morning disinfecting all the surfaces of the house.
I wave him away before stepping into the bathroom. I go through my morning routine in quick tempo. I’m curious what Eli will cook. Can he actually cook? Or is cooking the same as his poker playing? Mediocre at best.
I sniff as I walk toward the kitchen. I smell bacon and potatoes. My stomach rumbles in response to the enticing scents.
I enter the kitchen and nearly stumble to a halt at the sight. Eli is bent over removing a tray from the oven. His back flexes with his movements. He must spend a considerable amount of time in his home gym to create such muscle definition.
My belly warms as I watch him pivot to place the tray on the counter. His ab muscles are a masterpiece.
It’s a joy to have Eli in my kitchen. The thought startles me. I don’t usually enjoy people in my space. It’s why I’ve never had a roommate – not even in college when it was practically mandatory.
Is this what love is? Wanting another person in your space? Enjoying the sight of them moving around your kitchen?
“Hey,” Eli greets when he notices me. “I hope you like bacon and potatoes.”
I step closer. “What kind of potatoes?”
“Spicy hash browns. I used to make these by the bucketload for my brothers. You can’t believe how much teenage boys eat.”
“They smell delicious.”
“Thank you. Grab the plates. It’s ready.” I reach above him to get plates from the cupboard but he nods toward the table. “I already set the table.”
I freeze. He went through my cupboards to find dishes? I brace myself for the panic. I count to five but no panic arrives. Huh. Apparently, I don’t mind people in my space. As long as the person is Eli.
He plates our food and we settle at the table in the kitchen nook.
“Thanks for cooking. I’m feeling peckish.”
He nods to the food. “Go ahead. I promise I didn’t poison you. I’ve only poisoned one person.”
I still with my fork poised in front of my mouth. “You poisoned someone?”
He waves away my concern. “It was a mistake. I didn’t realize Kai handed me the bottle of expired milk. Miles vomited all day after drinking a glass of the milk. ”
I grimace. “Did he not realize the milk was sour?”
“Miles hates milk. But I made him drink one glass a day anyway. He held his nose and drank it in one go.”
“Mr. Controlling strikes again,” I mutter before trying the hash browns. My eyes widen when the taste explodes in my mouth. “These are good.”
“You don’t have to sound surprised.”
“After you poisoned Miles, I’m entitled to be surprised.”
“Miles hasn’t drunk a glass of milk since then. He dry heaves if he watches someone drink milk.” I smirk. “We drink a lot of milk at the holidays.”
“You’re cruel.”
“The milk was a mistake. Unlike when Miles rubbed poison ivy all over my hands while I was sleeping. I had to wear gloves inside for a month.”
“You probably deserved it.”
Eli shakes a piece of bacon at me. “You’re as cruel as my brothers.”
I roll my eyes. “You deserved the red dye explosion.”
“And the beer in my lap?”
“Deserved as well,” I say before digging into my food.
“What do you want to do this morning?” I ask once we’ve finished eating.
“It’s a lazy morning. We can laze on the sofa and read the newspaper or watch a movie or we could crawl back into bed and work off all the calories from this breakfast.” He waggles. “I know which option has my preference.”
“We need to clean up the kitchen first. ”
Eli stands. “I’ve got it.”
“But you cooked.”
“I want to spoil you. Why don’t you grab your Kindle and read while I clean? Maybe read a sexy scene to get you in the mood?”
“I’m not Maya. I don’t read romance.”
He sighs. “Bummer. I thought we could act out some of the racier scenes.”
“You know entirely too much about this.”
“I took a women’s literature class in college. It was eye opening.”
He stands and I start to gather the dishes. He knocks my hands away. “Relax, Lace. Pretend I’m your man servant for the day.”
“Does my man servant provide orgasms?”
“Multiple orgasms.” He winks.
I laugh as he walks to the sink with the dishes.
My heart warms as I watch him putter in the kitchen. I don’t need to question it further. This is love.
I love Eli. The man I can laugh and joke with. The man who brings me unbelievable pleasure in bed. The man who cooks for me. The man I don’t mind being in my space.
The man I want to spend the rest of my life with.