25. Oskar
She wanted to move home.
When I heard her on the other end of the line, I almost dropped the phone. “Are you sure?”
“If almost losing a friend and realizing how short life is doesn’t make you reevaluate what you want in life, you’re an idiot,” she said. “I want to move back.”
“I love you.” I wanted to break out into some stupid little dance I was so happy. I felt a little crappy too, because obviously I hated that Caroline had been hurt. “Hanna told me what happened. I owe Caroline Roberts forever. If she needs anything?—”
“Your sister is so on top of it. She was so organized I nearly called her mom.”
“She would not like that.” I took a deep breath. “I tell her I love her every time we talk. It feels awkward and I know it makes her uncomfortable, but I make myself do it. After my parents died, I tried to remember the last time I told them I loved them and I couldn’t. It was the worst feeling in the world.”
“She knows, Chef.” Kelsey’s voice was soft. “I’m sure of it.”
When we’re young, we squander time. We waste opportunities. I discovered the consequences of that when I was twenty-five and learned that I would never have the chance to hug my mother again or ask my father a question and really listen to the answer. It was part of what spurred me to move to the US and pursue my dreams with everything in me.
And now it was spurring me to not waste time with Kelsey. It wouldn’t happen overnight, but knowing she wanted to move back made me want to run through the streets, singing like an idiot.
“I can be patient.” I smiled. “You’re moving home.”
Thanksgiving, Paso Robles
“You’resure they’re not feeling left out?”
“Oskar, stop.” Kelsey put down the knife she was using to chop onions. “You’re driving me up the wall. Caroline and Felipe decided—on their own—that they wanted to stay up north this weekend. In fact, they were practically salivating over the idea of using Hanna’s kitchen while she was down here. They’ve got a whole fuck-our-exes dinner party planned with their friends.”
“I just don’t want them to feel like we’re not including them.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes at me. “Why are all the men in my life being so emo right now? Josh and you are both hovering over Hanna, Kurt is acting cranky, and I don’t even want to guess what’s going on with Sergio. Felipe and Caroline are fine. Hanna’s fine. Talia’s fine. I’m fine. We’re all fine. We have jobs and homes and ten tons of food that isn’t going to cook itself!”
When Kelsey had insisted on cooking dinner for everyone on Thanksgiving, I happily acquiesced. It’s pretty typical for professional chefs to have to cook for friends and family even on our days off, and it was a nice of her to give me a break.
I appreciated it.
Really.
Then we showed up at Josh’s house on Thursday morning, and she started running around like a madwoman. Hanna was staying at the ranch in Josh’s now-finished guesthouse over the garage.
As soon as she set foot in the guesthouse, Hanna had claimed it as her own personal wine-country bed-and-breakfast, and she was in love… with the vineyard.
Josh—as hard as he’d tried to charm her—she was completely oblivious to. That pleased me greatly even though I’m sure it made me a huge hypocrite.
We were expecting Talia and Kurt to join us for dinner, as well as Sergio, who was coming later. Josh was deep-frying a turkey, but that left Kelsey with all the preparation as Hanna didn’t cook and Talia was feeling sick again.
That meant Kelsey was cooking for seven people with no help because she refused to let me in the kitchen.
I’d happily been tending to the ice chest full of beer with Josh when I saw her walk out the kitchen door and onto the porch in a very retro-looking apron, embodying every dirty fantasy of a naughty housewife that I had ever had.
Yes, I had fantasies about naughty housewives. I could admit it when Kelsey looked like that.
She grabbed a bag of potatoes that had been sitting on the bench by the door and went back inside, the ties of her apron swishing across her pert ass.
With apron fantasies playing in my brain, I noticed Talia and Kurt driving up the hill. I waved to them and turned to Josh. “I think I better get in there. I know Talia was going to help Kelsey cook, but let them relax if Talia’s not feeling well. We’ll take care of it.”
Josh frowned. “You sure, man? We can all pitch in if you want.”
I shook my head. “No, no. It’s fine. You’ve got to watch this turkey anyway once the oil is ready. We’ve got plenty of time if I help her cook.”
He shrugged and turned back to his beer. “All right. I’ll let the pros handle it.”
I slapped him on the back and went into the kitchen.
“Kelsey, let me?—”
“No.” She wiggled her finger, and she looked like a disapproving naughty housewife. I was done for. “It’s your day off.”
“I do not mind.” I glanced at her chopped carrots. “Do you want me to cut those finer?”
She frowned. “They’re fine.”
“If you say so.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” I might have been trying to get a rise out of her.
I couldn’t help it. Angry Kelsey was cute. Angry Kelsey in an apron was smoking hot.
She muttered something and turned back toward the counter where she was slicing sweet potatoes on a mandoline. She rolled her neck and sighed. I looked around before going over and putting my arms around her waist, then ducking down to kiss her behind her ear and nuzzle a little under her chin.
“Kelsey,” I whispered.
“What?” she whispered back. It might have been more of an irritated hiss.
I grinned. “I think you need to relax.” I licked her neck.
She melted into me. “I know I need to relax, but this dinner is not going to cook itself.”
“But if you would let me help?—”
“Oskar, no.” She let out a sigh. “You cook every single day, and you deserve to have a day off. I’m not going to make you cook on Thanksgiving.” She paused slicing the potatoes and said more quietly, “Let me cook for you today.”
I leaned down and pressed my cheek to her neck. “You have to look at it from my perspective. On one hand, I could let you cook everything while I sit around watching you in that really cute apron.” I reached my hands around to tease underneath her apron, tracing the underside of her breasts.
I felt her suck in a breath as she froze.
I continued whispering into her neck. “I’m just going to annoy the shit out of you and try to grope you in this sexy fucking apron, which will distract you from cooking. But since I think you’re sexy when you’re angry—especially when you’re being domestic and bossy—I’ll just try to grope you more.”
She dropped the mandoline. “Oskar.”
My hands had not stopped tracing around her breasts while I spoke. I trailed my fingers closer to her nipples, then pinched a little. They were already hard, and I could feel her heart racing underneath my hand.
“Is that so?” Her chest was rising and falling quicker.
I kept whispering. “It will become a vicious cycle of groping, irritation, and untied apron strings until you finally give in and we end up fucking in a closet somewhere.”
“That sounds…” She let out a shaky breath. “That sounds like a disaster.”
“Burned pie. Raw green bean casserole.”
“Horrible. A-awful.”
“Or you could decide to let me help you.” I left one hand underneath her apron while I trailed the other down to the top of her jeans. “Which I don’t mind doing because it will leave us more time for you to take me somewhere we can be alone.” I slipped the button open, slid down the zipper slowly, and let my fingers reach toward the heat I could feel emanating from her. “And I can show you all the things I’ve been thinking about doing ever since you put on this sexy little apron.”
In the background, I could hear faint sounds from our friends and siblings joking around outside, but I was entirely focused on seducing Kelsey. Her back was pressed firmly into my chest, and my large frame practically hid her from view. If anyone walked in, it would just look like I was embracing her from behind, all while one hand teased her breast and the other began stroking underneath her wet panties.
Her breath came faster as she whispered my name. “Oskar, I?—”
“Chef, I told you to stop what you’re doing and relax.”
“Yes, Chef.” Kelsey grabbed the edge of the counter, and her head dropped back against my shoulder while she panted. I could feel her beginning to tense around the finger I had slid inside.
I teased her clit with my thumb while my other hand squeezed her breast. I licked and sucked on her neck and earlobe.
“You taste amazing.” I bit her earlobe and she fell apart, shaking and shuddering while I held her up, pressed against my chest. I was hard as a rock from watching her climax.
“I want to be inside you right now. I want to feel you around me.” I stroked her again lightly as she shivered. “I think you want that too.”
She looked over her shoulder, her eyes clouded with desire and her lips flush and full. “Follow me, Chef.”
I pulled my hands away, and she fixed her pants and shirt, turned off all the burners, and led me out the side door and toward the old bunkhouse at the back of the ranch, avoiding any curious eyes.
She was still wearing the apron.
Kelsey opened the door to the narrow wooden building and nodded for me to go inside. It was clean but smelled like dust and old leather.
As soon as the door shut behind us, Kelsey grabbed me around my neck and pulled me down for a hard kiss. “You think that was kinky, Chef? Getting me off in my brother’s kitchen while I was trying to cook dinner?”
“Fuck yes.”
She pulled me toward her and grabbed my ass with both hands. Then she pushed me against the wall and trailed her hands down to the front of my jeans, which were now extremely tight. She unbuttoned my fly and slid the jeans down, releasing my cock as I groaned aloud.
I felt her hand grip me, then she slid down my body until her mouth enveloped me. My eyes rolled back in my head for a second; then I looked down, not wanting to miss the sight of Kelsey on her knees, completely owning me.
She stroked me with her mouth and her hand, and I felt my balls tighten. I was so worked up, I knew I wasn’t going to last long if she kept going, so I pulled her up, kissing her forehead before turning her so her back was against the wall.
I pulled the apron tie from around her neck until it was falling down in front, and then I slowly unbuttoned her shirt and teased her breasts from the top of her bra. They sat framed for me as I leaned down to tease them with my mouth while I reached under her apron to pull down her jeans and panties. I stroked her with my fingers, then lifted her up and held her against the wall of the bunkhouse.
As I slid into her, she whispered, “I love you, Oskar.”
Fuck, that was it for me.
I tried not to bruise her back when I drove into her. She gripped me around my neck and held on for the ride. My hands dug into her ass so hard I probably left bruises.
We came together, trying to be silent when we climaxed. I swallowed her cry with my mouth and felt her moan shake my body.
We leaned against each other, breathing deep as the sun shone in through cracks around the windows and dust danced in the light.
“That was a first,” she whispered. “So you have a thing for aprons.”
“Yes.”
She laughed into my neck, and I lowered her carefully to the ground.
We cleaned ourselves up and put our clothes back together. I tried, and mostly failed, to comb Kelsey’s hair into something resembling what it looked like before. She still looked thoroughly fucked, but she was definitely more relaxed.
I gave her a sideways glance as we walked back to the house. “I have a thing for pretty much anything that you’re wearing that I can take off if I’m going to be honest.”
She cleared her throat. “I collect them. Aprons, I mean. I have a bunch at my house.”
My breath caught, and I could feel myself actually growing hard again as I imagined Kelsey in my tiny kitchen, cooking in an apron.
Justan apron.
“Kelsey, you can’t say stuff like that when we need to get back and cook.”
She laughed and pulled me into the kitchen. While theoretically I spent the next half an hour peeling potatoes at the kitchen table, in reality, I was staring at the little apron bow that was dancing on top of her ass.
Collection? Fuck yes.
Kurt took a bite of turkey.“I thought for sure he was going to burn down at least one of the outbuildings.”
“Seriously?” Josh protested. “Didn’t anyone have any confidence that I knew what I was doing?”
“I did, Josh.” Talia almost said it with a straight face. “Promise.”
Kelsey reached over and refilled my wineglass before starting around the table to gather the dishes. “The turkey turned out great.”
Kurt grabbed the plate out of Kelsey’s outstretched hand. “No way. You and Oskar did all the cooking. The rest of us have the cleaning up. Sit your butt down.”
I took that as my cue and grabbed her from behind to settle her on my lap. I put my arms around her waist and reveled in the comfortable, drowsy feeling brought on by the good food and even better company.
Talia nudged Hanna. “Come on, Hanna. Let’s go get all the pies and let the boys clean up. We’ll let the great cooks relax.”
Hanna was cautious. “Does this involve any food preparation on my part at all?”
“Slicing and serving. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it.”
Sergio and Kurt started gathering up the dishes and pulled Josh up to help them, teasing him that drinking beer and watching bubbling oil didn’t really count as cooking. Hanna and Talia wandered back to the kitchen to cut the pies, leaving Kelsey and me sitting at the table alone.
She leaned her head against my chest, and I sighed in contentment. “So Chef, good Thanksgiving?”
“This was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had.”
“Maybe I need to open my own restaurant.”
I kissed the top of her head. “So much more than the food.”
Kelsey lifted her lips to mine, meeting them in a sweet, lingering kiss that was flavored by the wine Josh had served with dinner. I was just starting to take the kiss to the next level when I heard my sister’s annoying voice.
“This is why I’m staying at the ranch. Can you imagine living with them? I’d have to keep blinders on and earplugs in at all times.”
Talia laughed as she set the pies on the table, and Hanna set plates down. There was traditional pumpkin as well as pecan and berry.
Talia and Hanna started to serve, and the guys wandered back from the kitchen.
Kelsey looked at Josh. “Oh, come on. It can’t be clean already.”
Josh stared back at her innocently. “Can’t three hardworking guys take a pie break? Damn, sis, don’t be mean.”
Hanna watched everyone around the table. She was taking everything in, from Josh and Sergio’s often juvenile humor to Kurt and Talia’s easy affection, and then she would glance over at Kelsey and me. I noticed a somewhat wistful expression cross her face for a moment before it was gone.
When she was finished helping Talia, she sat next to me, and I leaned over, speaking quietly to her in Danish. “Hygger du dig?”
“Yes.” She answered me back in English. “Did I look unhappy?”
I smiled. “No. Just wondering. It’s a lot of new people.”
She looked at Kelsey, then back at me. “But they’re Kelsey’s people. So that makes them more palatable. She has good taste.”
Her phone buzzed. She pulled it quickly out of her pocket, and I saw the name Stan Brent flash on the screen before she turned it away.
I raised an eyebrow. “Hvem er Stan Brent?”
“A work friend of Kelsey’s. Don’t speak in Danish—it’s rude to Kelsey.”
“Why is he texting you on Thanksgiving?”
She was blushing. It was subtle, but she was. I didn’t think I’d seen Hanna blush since she was about fifteen years old.
Kelsey pinched my side, and I turned to look at her. She was giving me the evil eye and mouthing something.
I leaned toward her while keeping an arm on the back of Hanna’s chair. “What?”
She mumbled back at me. “Leave her alone. If you embarrass her, she won’t tell you anything.”
I frowned at my girlfriend and looked back at my sister, who was trying to stealth-text under the table.
Why did I suddenly feel like the uncool dad?
I saw Kurt and Talia exchange a loaded look. Kurt cleared his throat and motioned to Talia, who clinked her glass to get everyone’s attention.
“Hey, you all. Kurt and I sort of have an announcement for everyone. So… uh, yeah.” Talia looked at Kurt, who was smiling ear to ear. “I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby in about six months.”
Sergio shouted, “Congratulations!”
Josh jumped up to hug Talia. “Oh, honey. How we gonna break it to Kurt?”
Everyone laughed as Kurt flipped Josh off and pulled his wife into his lap.
Talia laughed as she shouted, “Fuck you, Josh Rankin.”
“Champagne!” Josh shouted. “The good stuff.”
Kelsey was sitting at my side, holding my hand and smiling.
I leaned over. “You knew?”
“Of course.”
“She hasn’t been drinking lately has she?” I asked quietly. “That’s why she’s been looking so sick. Is everything all right?”
Kelsey nodded and rested her head on my shoulder. “She’s good. Past the worst of it now.”
I heard Hanna next to me ask Talia if she would be able to use her child for fashion experiments. Everyone laughed, but it reminded me of the comment she had made at dinner with Kelsey and me last month.
Could this be us in a few years?
I gripped Kelsey’s hand a little harder.
“Settle down, Chef.” She smiled. “Don’t worry—I’m not getting any ideas.”
I was.
I had a plan; I was going to be patient. I was going to be the supportive, patient boyfriend. Suddenly a new plan seemed much more appealing.
Step One: Get Kelsey to move home as quickly as possible.
Step Two: Convince her to marry me.
I kept my eyes on hers as I reached up to take the champagne flute that Josh was handing me. She narrowed her eyes, but there was a smile flirting around the corner of her mouth.
Step Three: Produce many blond-haired and blue-eyed little people who would hopefully look exactly like her while we lived happily ever after and all that stuff.
I liked my new plan. I liked it a lot.