“Where are we going?” she asked as she followed him, but he wasn’t going to say a word until they got there. “You know, all this glass would give me a complex. I’d be afraid to walk around without being fully clothed because anyone could see in! Think of all the peeping Toms that could be out there in the woods!”
Okay, that one had to be addressed. “The glass is a switchable privacy glass. Very high-tech. With the touch of a button, no one can see in.”
“Seriously? That’s a thing?”
Nodding, he turned toward the kitchen. When he got to the island, he held out one of the stools for her. “Have a seat.”
Hopping up, she grinned at him. “Are we going to make some lunch?”
“I planned on that, but I wanted to show you something first.”
“Ooh…I’m intrigued.”
When he turned to open some of the cabinet doors, he could see Leanna bouncing in her seat. “I hope I got this right.” Then he opened four of the larger doors and took a step back before looking at her.
Leanna’s eyes were wide and her jaw was practically on the floor. “Brody, what did you do?” Slowly, she came to her feet and walked over to him, but her eyes were on what was inside the cabinets.
He might have gone a little overboard, but he wanted to make sure she had everything she could possibly need to do what she loved.
Gently, he cleared his throat. “Okay, so there’s a stand mixer with every accessory that fits it, a set of mixing bowls, assorted cake pans, pie pans, loaf pans, muffin pans, and cupcake pans over here.” Then he moved over to the next cabinet. “Here you have parchment paper, cupcake liners, measuring cups and spoons, rolling pins, and wire racks.” He opened one of the drawers that divided the top and bottom cabinets. “In here are all kinds of utensils–wooden spoons, rubber spatulas, scrapers, knives, scissors, brushes, and…well…you know what they all are. I remembered the icing bags you used so there’s a whole mess of them in there with different tips.”
“Brody, this is…”
“Now I realize I don’t know what brands of stuff you prefer, so I just Googled what the top brands were for professional bakers and ordered a little bit of everything. You’ve got a variety of flours, sugars, stuff to make frosting…” Pausing, he shrugged. “I kind of ordered one of everything on the website.”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she moved in close and literally wrapped herself around him. “I cannot believe that you did all of this for me,” her voice shook as she cupped his face. “This is the most amazing gift I’ve ever gotten. No one’s ever done something so considerate for me and I don’t know what to say except thank you.”
He rested his forehead against hers, could feel her trembling, and walked them across the kitchen until he had her sitting on top of the island. Reaching up, he brushed away a lone tear from her cheek before resting his forehead against hers. “I thought you might want to play in the kitchen and wanted you to have everything you needed here.”
A slow smiled crossed her face. “Baking isn’t the only playing I want to do in this kitchen.” Leanna leaned in and ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he moaned softly. One of her hands raked through his hair. “This island feels very sturdy,” she whispered against his lips.
“It is,” he told her, his voice gruff.
“Have I mentioned that I have a fantasy about having a dark-haired man take me in the middle of a kitchen just like this one?”
He was hard instantly.
“A fantasy, you say?” He hummed and nipped at her jaw. “What exactly happens during this fantasy? Does this dark-haired man just…claim you or does he take his time and do things like…this?” Slowly, Brody licked his way from her collarbone to the shell of her ear. His hands were braced on the marble on either side of her, but now he placed them on her denim-clad thighs and inched his way up. “Does he touch you? Tease you? Tell you how incredibly sexy you are?”
In front of him, Leanna was panting. Her head lolled back as his hands reached up to cup her breasts, tease her nipples. She whispered his name.
“Does he take his time to get you completely naked while he stays fully clothed? Does he feast on every inch, every curve of this sensual body–making sure to give you more pleasure than you can handle before taking his own?”
“Oh, God…”
“Tell me exactly what you want, love, and I’ll do it,” he all but growled in her ear.
“I want…both,” she said, opening her eyes to look at him. “I want everything you just described. Hard and fast, and then slow and…everything.” She licked her lips. “Please.”
He was relieved she wanted hard and fast because right now, that was exactly what he needed to give her.
Them.
And he’d never been happier to have someone in his home.
Chapter 11
Nothing says home like the smell of baking.
It was crazy how much she had baked in Brody’s spectacular kitchen considering he didn’t eat cake. By Sunday afternoon, Leanna had made two dozen cupcakes, a dozen blueberry muffins, a dozen banana nut muffins, a loaf of banana bread with chocolate chips, a sheet cake, a three-tiered cake, four different kinds of frosting, fondant, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies for herself.
The bread and muffins were in the freezer and Brody promised to bring them to the office on Monday for his staff. The cake and cupcakes were decorated and boxed up–because yes, the man even thought to buy a variety of cake boxes for her to have if she needed them–and she was taking them to work with her tomorrow to share with the staff.
The best part of all the baking had been when Brody tried to help.
She put a lot of emphasis on tried. The man had zero patience, hated to measure anything, and had a bit of an issue with how much sugar she used.
Yeah, not a fan of sweets. Message received.
After the lecture on the effects of sugar on the human body, he switched the conversation to the triathlon and good Lord, she could not even imagine wanting to do something like that. Swimming, biking, and running? On the same day? Um…no thank you. After that they decided to retreat to their own corners and stick to the hobbies they each knew and loved without imposing them on the other.
It made for a much more peaceful weekend.
Now, as she danced around the kitchen while listening to Harry Styles sing Watermelon Sugar, she finished cleaning the space so it was back in pristine condition. He had told her not to worry about it–he had a cleaning crew that came in every Monday–but she didn’t like leaving a mess anywhere. So everything was back in its place and all clean and sparkly.
She had total envy that Brody got to come home to this layout every single day.
And he didn’t even know how to cook!
It was going to be hard to go home tonight or tomorrow after staying in this magnificent house. Granted, it was a little more modern and masculine than she would like, but it totally suited Brody. There was a little too much glass and tile and shades of gray, but he certainly didn’t seem the type of guy who was interested in pops of color.
If she had worked with the decorator, she would have insisted on something other than navy blue, gray, and white–maybe a little maroon somewhere or teal…just something to break it up.