She studied him for a moment. “Um…yeah. Sure.” Then she nodded more enthusiastically. “Okay, yeah. Sorry. I’m definitely hungry. What were you thinking? Pizza? Burgers?”
“I guess we can grab a pizza and take it back to Katie’s. I’m sure you need to get back so Rose can go home, right? Or did Rose take Kira to her place? Plus, I need to get my truck.”
“She’s staying the night,” Violet told him as she picked up her purse. “But I’m sure you need to get home to Eli and relieve your dad, right?”
He smiled as they walked out of the room and toward the elevator. “He took Eli home with him so I’m in no rush either.” Violet came to a halt, and he was a few feet ahead of her before he realized it. “What? What’s the matter?”
Her smile was slow and a little sexy, and yet he had no idea why.
“Well, I guess I was just wondering since Kira is taken care of and Eli is with your dad…it means we kind of have the night to ourselves.”
Ah, …he hadn’t thought about that.
But now that she brought it up…
Moving in close to her, he said, “Maybe we can pick up something on the way and take it back to my place.”
She nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Do you need to let Rose know you won’t be home?”
Rather than answer, she started walking toward the elevator again.
“Violet?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “Who do you think suggested I not come home tonight?”
Right then and there, he made a mental note to thank Rose the next time he saw her.
It would be wrong to run out of the hospital like a couple of kids leaving on the last day of school, so he did his best to keep things casual as they made their way out to her car. Once they were pulling out of the parking lot, he finally asked, “So what are we getting? I can call in and save us some time.”
She grinned at him. “Let’s go with a pizza–how about pepperoni and mushrooms?”
“Sounds good.” He made the call and when he was done, he mentioned how he didn’t have any beer.
“Oh, that is fine with me. At this point, water would be more than okay with me.”
“I do have some red wine if you’re interested.”
“Hunter?”
“Hmm?”
“It doesn’t matter to me what you have to drink.” She glanced at him. “I’m just looking forward to spending the night with you. As it is, the pizza will be cold before we finish it.”
“Violet, I really love the way you think.”
The ride to pick up the pizza seemed to take forever, but once they had it, in the blink of an eye, they were pulling into his driveway.
Unfortunately, his stomach growled–loudly–and he knew they were going to have to eat at least a little bit before they did anything else.
And the thought of waiting another moment to get Violet into his bed seemed like torture.
Inside, she grabbed some plates while he poured them each a glass of wine because…well…it seemed like there should be wine. Hunter handed her a glass and lifted his in a toast. “To little Benjamin Kristoff,” he said. “It’s a night I will always remember, and I’m glad I was a part of it.”
Violet lifted her glass. “To Benjamin.”
They were about to touch glasses when he paused. “And to you, Violet. You did a great job tonight. I know I said it earlier, but…it bears repeating. You were an excellent labor coach.”
Blushing, she tapped her glass to his. “Thank you.”
They drank and then essentially dove into the pizza. He swore he’d only eat one slice, but one led to two, and two somehow led to four. Violet only ate two before she had her hand on her stomach and was leaning away from the table. “I know I could eat more, but I’m choosing not to,” she said. “But feel free to finish what’s left.”
“How about we save them for later?” he suggested as he came to his feet.
“All two slices?” she teased.
“One for you, one for me,” he reasoned.
Violet stood and started to clean off the table, but he stopped her. “Later. Right now, I want to take you to my room and then…take you.”
“Oh, my,” she replied breathlessly. “I like the sound of that.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “But…I wouldn’t mind if you did a little taking right here in the kitchen too.”
That took him a little off guard.
But not much.
Reaching out, Hunter hauled her into his arms and lifted her. With her legs banded around his waist, he claimed her mouth in a kiss that was full of promise. Maneuvering them across the room, he sat her down on the countertop and realized this was something he’d never done before, and it was more than a little exciting.
Violet pulled back suddenly–effectively ending the kiss–and he watched as she took her top off and tossed it onto a nearby chair. Her bra was black and lacey and looked so delicate he was afraid to touch it.
As if reading his mind, she leaned forward. “Go ahead. You can buy me a new one if you like.”
It was all the motivation he needed.
But rather than use his hands, he bent and kissed his way along the edge–over each glorious swell of her breasts–before using his teeth to get to the skin underneath.
Violet cried out his name as her hands anchored into his hair. Her breath hitched as she moved against him and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was not only buying her some new lingerie, but they also weren’t going to the bedroom any time soon.
And for once, he embraced the chaos.
Eleven
The sun was just starting to come up and Violet was sitting out on the back deck with one-week-old baby Benjamin.
This had sort of become their routine the last few days because poor Katie wasn’t getting enough sleep. Violet would get up with the baby at five a.m., feed him from a bottle Katie prepared the night before, and they’d sit and enjoy the sunrise together. The temperature was already warm at this time of day, and still she kept him swaddled up tight so he wouldn’t get any kind of chill.
It was amazing how much she was embracing this crazy new schedule. There was something to be said about the peacefulness of the early morning and she was seriously in love with this precious baby. He had a sweet temperament and even though she’d never say it to Katie, she thought he cried less for her.
“But we’re not going to tell your mommy that, are we?” she said softly, caressing his cheek. “You and I know the truth. Aunt Violet has the magic touch, but it will be our little secret, right?”
Yeah, she even loved talking to him. They’d had more than one heart-to-heart talk during the morning bottle. She found it made her feel a little less crazy to be speaking out loud to herself when there was a baby in her arms. He had no idea what she was saying, but she kept her tone soothing, and it was helping her work through some of her…issues.
Mainly where Hunter was concerned.
Not that they really had issues, but…she was going to be heading back to Nashville soon, and it wasn’t as appealing as she once thought it would be.