Chapter 47
"Head Over Feet," Alanis Morrisette
Tori
I reached into the vanity for my blowdryer and frowned at an unopened box of tampons. And beside them was … bubble bath? Confused, I tightened the towel beneath my armpits, my stomach twisting with hunger as I carried the boxes to the kitchen. “What are these?”
Cruz’s heated gaze swept over my freckled skin before noticing the items. “Oh, I saw the empty tampon box in the recycling and figured you’d need more.
And since you might be crampy soon, I thought a long bath might help.
” He pivoted to the pantry and pulled a bag of chocolate-covered gluten-free pretzels off the top shelf.
“Got these in case you crave something salty too. You liked this brand on our trip.”
He turned back to the stovetop to stir mushrooms and peppers as I inspected the boxes, trying to make sense of the unexpected twisting in my gut.
I’d synced my calendar with Alex for nearly a decade but he’d never noticed my cycle. And Spencer had taken me on a two-week luxury honeymoon to Paris and paid a fortune for a tennis bracelet that always snagged on my keyboard, but he’d never once bought me my favorite pretzels.
When Cruz saw me frozen in place, a crease formed between his brows, and he reached for the boxes. “Did I buy the wrong brand? You usually choose nicer skincare brands, but I saw the bubble bath at Price Chopper and thought—”
“I lo—” I said, my voice hoarse. “I love it.”
When I realized the words I almost spat out, my knees went weak.
“Are you sure?” he said, placing the boxes on the counter and bringing his comforting arms to my waist to steady me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Yeah, I’m good,” I said in slight disbelief. The flurry in my stomach intensified, making me realize that the unsettled feeling wasn’t hunger pangs … it was butterflies.
Holy shit. After having my heart crushed, I thought I was too broken and cynical to fall in love again. But as Cruz talked about bubble bath and tampons, I couldn’t deny it any longer.
I was in love with Eric de la Cruz.
“Because I can return it,” he said, scanning my face with those concerned brown eyes I loved. “Tell me which one you want instead and I’ll run to Sephora to …”
I couldn’t follow, only watch his lips move. Lips that had worshiped every inch of my skin, lips that had serenaded me with endless melodies. Lips that I never wanted to stop kissing.
I smiled, making him do the same. Fuck, I loved his smile, too. How had it taken me this long to recognize it?
I opened my mouth … then shut it. I’d been so impulsive before, demanding he be my boyfriend so suddenly that he doubted I meant it.
The words tickled my vocal chords, so I grabbed his face, interrupting his Sephora promises to pull his mouth down to mine, channeling all those feelings into this urgent kiss.
He warned against my lips, “The eggs will get cold.”
“Fuck the eggs,” I murmured, sliding my tongue into his mouth to hold back the declaration. He deserved better than some lust-filled confession.
No, not lust. So much more than lust.
He pulled away to slide the pan to a back burner. I worried again about the words slipping out … and knew exactly how to keep my mouth busy. As he flicked off the gas, I dropped to my knees and reached for his shorts.
“You’re going to be late to work,” he muttered.
“Fuck work,” I said, tugging down his workout shorts.
“Never thought I’d hear you say that.” His shocked laughter echoed around the kitchen. “If I’d known you liked bubble bath this much, I would have—”
He gasped, gripping the oven door’s handle as I wrapped my lips around his cock.
Tonight. I’d take him out to a nice dinner tonight, get steak and champagne, and when he asked what we were celebrating, I’d tell him how I felt. Maybe I’d ask him to move in—if he didn’t need his apartment downstairs, then he could focus on his music. We could talk about our future together.
I’d never looked forward to the end of the workday so much.
When I lifted my hands to wrap around his shaft, I loosened my elbows so the towel fell onto the floor, my naked body on display. An offering to the deity I worshipped.
I tilted my head back, opening my throat to draw him deeper as I looked up at him. His half-lidded eyes were locked on my face, his breathing shallow as he watched his cock thrust into my mouth, murmuring words of praise that only fueled my desire.
I love those eyes, that nose, those lips, that jaw …
“Shit, Tor, you’re so—” he gasped when I licked up his shaft, “God, I love your mouth.”
The words suspended in the air between us. His eyes never left mine as his thumb caressed my cheek, and I knew that he was thinking it.
He told me on his mom’s porch that he wouldn’t rush me … but he’d been telling me without words. Every stolen kiss during bootcamp, every coffee with the perfect creamer ratio, every lyric pointing me toward the truth.
Had he been trying to tell me on his birthday? Or at Kate and Paul’s 4th of July party last week? There had been so many moments like this, when the air between us felt thick with promise, then kissed me like he meant something more. Had he been keeping his mouth busy too?
Tonight, I promised myself again, releasing his shaft to caress his balls the way I knew would send him over the edge. He grunted, tightening his grip on my ponytail, as he came down my throat. After a final kiss to his crown, I stood and wiped my thumb along my lip. “Gonna get dressed now.”
I chose Cruz’s favorite sundress—the one with a sweetheart neckline and a flirty hem. He wrapped my cold eggs in a breakfast burrito, then walked me to work while I ate it.
We walked hand-in-hand on the cloudless summer day, the birds chirping and the sun on my pale skin, and everything felt right with the world …
and I couldn’t help but wonder: How the hell had this happened?
I’d felt magnetically attracted to him right away and worked so hard to keep my distance, but he’d snuck in through the back door.
Oh my god, the back door …
A sound I hadn’t heard in years vibrated in my throat, high and fast.
Cruz stopped suddenly, tugging on my hand to get me to face him. I slapped a hand over my mouth, which only extended the warbling.
“Is that …” his brows shot up. “Are you giggling?”
His disbelief made it worse, my stomach pulsing as it pressed the air out of me in a squeal. Those incredible lips lifted into a joyful smile.
“I was thinking about …” I giggled again, then bit my lip. “Nevermind, it’s nothing.”
“You can’t leave me hanging. Tell me what inspired that adorable giggle, or I’ll worry that I have snot hanging out of my nose and you’re laughing at me.”
“Definitely not,” I said, unable to keep a straight face. “I mean, actually, I’m sort of laughing at you.”
“This isn’t helping,” he said, wiping under his nose.
I leaned closer to whisper. “Remember the first time we had sex, and you mentioned that Melissa Etheridge lyric, about opening the back door?”
“Oh yeah, I remember,” he said with a sexy grin. “The thought of anal sex made you giggle?”
“Well, sort of,” I paused, biting my lip. It was more about the phrase of sneaking in, but if I explained that, I’d have to tell him more. “I was just… remembering what you said. That I’d like it.”
“Yeah? You want to try it sometime?” he said in a low voice as his hand slid around my waist, closer to my butt. “I’d make it so good for you.”
“Yeah,” I said on a soft breath, leaning closer to him, believing every word that came out of his mouth. Wanting to accept everything he was willing to give, and wanting him to offer him everything I had. ”You make everything better.”
Our lips met again in a sweet kiss before he pulled back. I took a deep breath, looked into his eyes … and chickened out. “But I do have to get to work eventually.”
He laughed and started walking again as I finished my breakfast burrito and tossed the paper towel in a nearby trash can. When we arrived at the door to my building, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Do we have dinner plans tonight?”
“I was going to put some chicken in the crockpot before we left, but somebody hijacked my morning,” he said with that boyish smile I loved.
“Let’s go out,” I said, kissing him softly. “I’ll meet you after your evening class.”
He kissed me goodbye on the steps, a lingering kiss.
A forever kind of kiss.
I skipped up the steps, floated past Connor and Alex, and walked into my office … where my whole body stiffened when I realized I wasn’t alone.
“Now I understand why you started your own business, if you breeze in after nine and get that kind of sendoff,” said my father in his deep, authoritative voice.