Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Simone slides down off the counter and promptly falls against me. We both break into laughter, because it’s clear she’s as wobbly as a newborn colt after she comes. Her arms go around my neck and she kisses me between giggles. Her taste is still in my mouth, but it’s clear she doesn’t care. We kiss tenderly, and I hold her tight. She feels perfect in my arms.
“Will you come to bed with me?” she asks between kisses.
“I’d love to.” Curl up against her all night? Yes, please.
She gives me one last smacking kiss. “Fair warning, I wake up early.”
As if I didn’t know that. “I know. I can help you get your cart ready in the morning.” And if she’s done early, maybe we can do a little more kissing and touching.
Simone grabs my hand, tugging me out of the kitchen. “Let’s go shower. You can scrub my back.”
“Wow. The gifts just keep giving around here,” I tease. “First a pre-dawn wakeup, and now manual labor.”
Her chuckle is everything. Her fingers entwine with mine as we head into the tiny bathroom, and some small part of me thinks I might die, because surely no one can be this happy and not explode from the intensity of it all.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
RUTH-ANN
Being with Simone feels…right. Like I’ve come home. There’s no other way to describe it.
I wake up in her arms and touch her until she’s awake. She’s a heavy sleeper until I start tickling her sides, and that wakes her up quick. Pluto tries to join in, but we have to shut him out of the room until we’ve finished making love. We make each other come with kisses and fingers, and take another shower before heading to the kitchen to bake. I play with the carinoux, throwing his toys so he can fetch them. Simone hums as she works, scooping cookies onto a tray, and it’s just the cutest thing. She’s the happiest person I know, and I love that about her.
With Simone’s guidance, I bake the same cake she made for the grand opening. It calls for an obscene amount of cheese for the icing, but Simone mentions there’s a Risda cheesemaker who’d probably love some special orders. I make a mental note to find the woman and talk to her about a bulk discount. Simone seems to know everyone in town, and what they like to eat. It’s fascinating to me, because she’s clearly a people person and I am not. I’m happiest in the back of the store (or tucked away in an empty room on the ship), working on the menu and the restaurant’s logistics. It’s a surprising amount of work, because you must know how much food you’re turning over on a regular basis, how much will go bad if it’s not used, and how much it all costs versus the budget. I ran a few sample scenarios before we opened, and I’m eager to compare the real numbers with the fake ones.
I’m using the last bit of icing on the party-size sheet cake when Simone pulls the last tray of fresh muffins out of the oven. “Brown butter and honey muffins, check and check,” she says gaily. “That’s the last batch. Now it’s time to go make some money.”
A glance at the clock tells me I need to meet the others at the cantina soon. If we’re waiting on Dopekh to get in gear and clean, we’re probably still waiting. There are things that can be prepped in advance, too—like more hamburger buns, and iced tea. “I should get going, too. Can’t hurt to get an early start on the day.”
“You want to borrow a change of clothes?” she asks, eyeing me. “My pants will be long, but you can probably roll the cuffs up.”
I glance down at my bra and panties. That is, my bra and a borrowed pair of panties. They sag on my hips because I don’t have the same glorious backside she does. I could head back to the ship in my wrinkled cantina uniform, but it smells like kitchen grease and, well, pussy. “You don’t mind?”
“Why would I mind?” She brushes past me, kissing the tip of my nose as she glides away. “Wait right there.”
I find my discarded uniform, shove it into a plas-film bag, and try to figure out what to do with it. Leave it here? Is that too bold? Take it with me and hear all the shit the guys give me? With a yawn, Pluto climbs off the couch and butts his head against my leg. What if he eats my clothes if I leave them here? He’s been in a chewing mood lately.
Simone snatches the bag out of my hands, taking the decision from me. “You can wash that here. Later. No sense in dragging it all over town.”