Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2) (23 page)

“Niki…” I groaned.

“I know… we should stop,” she said, still breathing heavily.

We stared at each other for a brief moment, the mood between us intensified and something snapped. Our mouths met again, more urgently than before. Her hands went to the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head, before her hands began exploring my chest.

Oh, God yes.

I slid my hands up her shirt, and pulled down the cups of her bra, to play with her warm, soft breasts.

Definitely more than a handful. Fucking perfect.

My eager hands reluctantly left her chest, and were about to pull off her loose shirt, when I felt a sharp pain in my right calf, which made me break away with a yelp.

“What the fuck,” I said in shock and looked down to see Niki’s Demon Cat with his claws sunk into my calf.

Niki looked dazed and confused. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her chest rising and falling heavily.

I bent down and attempted to extract the feline’s claws.

How sharp are the little fucker’s claws that it pierced the material of my jeans.

Niki leant forward. “Oh, did he paw at you? It must be time for his treat.”

Paw at me? Damn thing just tried to take my leg off.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded, sending the cat a death glare which he returned. “I don’t think the scratch is deep.”

She looked at Shadow who hopped up onto the counter. “That was rude,” she chided him lightly, while stroking his fur. “You owe Jake an apology, Mister.”

The cat looked at me silently, before meowing once.

“That’s better,” she said nuzzling the cat’s head, and I looked at Niki as if she had lost her mind.

If that cat is sorry for attacking me, then Josh is a monk.

The cat nuzzled her hand softly, and I began to wonder if there was a feline equivalent of being a sociopath.

A socio-kitty or a socio-cat, maybe? Well whatever the term is, this little monster definitely fits the bill.

The Demon Cat flicked his tail at me before leaping of the counter and prowling to the cupboard where I assumed Niki kept his treats.

We looked at each other and shared a laugh.

“Well, that killed the mood,” she said, readjusting her bra under her shirt.

“I’m always in the mood when you’re around,” I growled, kissing the crook of her neck, making her giggle.

“You’re exaggerating.”

I gave her a dead-pan stare. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

She shoved playfully at my shoulders. “Stop,” she said with a laugh.

“Seriously. If it was possible to die from blue balls, I would have keeled over months ago.”

I traced the blush that spread across her cheeks at my words. “But you’re worth the wait, gorgeous. C’mon, let’s get you fed and then spend the rest of the day on the couch.”

Her head tilted to the side as she rested her arms over my shoulders. “Don’t you have plans for today?”

“They can wait. I have a date with a pretty girl and a selection of the worst shows daytime TV has to offer.”

CHAPTER 20

Annika

“You threw up?”

I rolled my eyes at his disbelieving look. “Yes, Mitch, I threw up.”

“And he saw you throw?”

“Yes, Mitch. He saw me throw up.”

“He saw you throw up… and you’re still together?”

“Yes, Mitch. We are still together.”

“Girl, you better marry that boy before I steal him from you.”

I shook my head at his dramatics as I placed the coffee pot back on its warming plate.

“If ‘seeing someone throwing up and not being repulsed’ tops your list of chivalrous behaviour, you really need to be dating a better calibre of man.”

Mitch scoffed. “Don’t I know it? My options are severely limited in this town. None of your man’s brothers play for the other team, do they?”

I smiled at his hopeful expression. “Don’t think so, but I can ask if you’d like.”

“Don’t bother.” Mitch brought the back of his hand to his forehead and threw his head back dramatically. “I’m doomed to live the life of a pathetic spinster, living vicariously through my loved-up friends.”

“Can men be spinsters?” I asked thoughtfully. “Wouldn’t you be a bachelor?”

“Really? That’s what you took from my woeful speech?” He huffed at me as he reached into the display case and retrieved a triple chocolate cookie. “Come on, girl. Spill the beans.”

“There’s really not much to tell. I was mortified after the date and said goodnight to him.”

“Just saying goodnight is not what’s caused that blush on your face!” Mitch continued digging for more information.

“There may have been a few kisses the morning after,” I said quickly walking back into the kitchen.

“Ooooh, Jake and Niki, sitting in a tree-” Mitch sang as he walked after me.

“Really, Mitch? How old are you?” I asked with a laugh.

“Seriously though, babe. This is good for you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.

“You’ve got this glow.”

I rolled my eyes again. “There is no glow. I’m dating someone. I’m not pregnant.”

“No, I mean you look happy. And hopefully that means you’ll ditch the rags soon.” He picked at my dress, and I batted his hand away.

“There’s nothing wrong with my clothes!”

“They’re like three sizes too big for you,” he said sounding frustrated.

“They are not!” I protested looking down at the purple dress I was wearing.

Okay… well maybe this one is a little loose…

“This isn’t a teen movie. We’re not going to go dress shopping and get makeovers,” I said warningly, as I recognised the glint in his eye.

“Party pooper!” Mitch groused. “Fine. Stay in the oversized tents, see if I care.” He paused for a second before breaking. “Okay, I really do care. Please can we go shopping? Just for one or two outfits.”

“Mitch…”

“Awesome! We’ll go after our shifts tomorrow. We’ll head on over to Smithsville. Laurie and Gloria will have everything covered in the afternoon.”

“I was supposed to meet Liya and Addie to talk about wedding stuff tomorrow.”

“So just bring the bitches along.” He beamed at me. “We can even get ice-cream sundaes after, my treat. Can’t wait!” He turned on his heel and practically skipped to the kitchen, and I smiled despite myself.

He really is like an overeager puppy who you can’t say no to.

I resigned myself to what would be a long and torturous evening of being Mitch’s life-sized Barbie doll and playing peacekeeper between my sister and my two friends.

There better be a freaking huge ice-cream sundae with my name on it tomorrow...

* * * * *

Jacob

I stopped on Niki’s porch and leaned against a pillar as I answered my ringing phone. The evening sun slowly setting in the sky cast strange shadows over the front yard.

“What do you mean the paint is purple and sparkly?” I asked Martina over the phone.

Her voice came across the line sounding slightly crackly. “I meant that it’s like someone dipped a load of beetroots into glitter and then into paint, Jake!”

“How did that happen? We ordered white!”

“You don’t think I know that? I placed the damn order. I’m trying to figure out how the hell this happened, don’t worry about it, I’ll fix it. Where are you at the moment?”

“I’m at Niki’s house. We’re supposed to start working on the menu today.”

Her voice turned teasing. “Yeah, sure…
working
. Have fun.”

“Martina…” I said warningly, and she laughed before hanging up on me.

Shaking my head, I knocked on the door, and as I waited for Niki to answer, I wondered if it would be too soon to ask for a key.

Her beaming face appeared as she pulled the door open, stains decorated her apron, and there was a smudge of flour on her cheek. “Jake, hi,” she said, sounding out of breath. “Hope you don’t mind, but I sort of started already.”

“Something smells good,” I stated as I pulled her to me for a kiss. She stood on her tiptoes to meet me halfway, and I kissed her deeply, tasting the flavours of whatever she’d been cooking.

I smacked my lips together. “Beef, gravy and herbs?”

“I was trying out different pie fillings.”

“Which one was this?”

“Beef and ale. What did you think?”

“Tastes great… but I think you make anything taste good.”

She rolled pretty brown eyes in my direction and led me into the kitchen where every work surface was covered with produce, and there were dishes piled high in the sink. “Fucking hell.”

“What?” Niki asked looking confused.

“I was starting to think that you were too perfect to be real, but I’ve found what your thing is.”

She looked around nervously. “What are you talking about?”

I tutted at her. “You, my little baker, are a messy cook!”

“I am not!” she protested vehemently. “It’s organised chaos.”

“Nope. You’re a little packrat. Look at this place. It’s like it was hit by a tornado.”

“Hey, do you want my help or not? Because if you start bad mouthing my creative space…” She trailed off, waving a wooden spoon at me threateningly before turning to stir the pot boiling on the stove.

“Let’s not resort to violence, baby. I can learn to live with the mess.”

“I am
not
messy!” Any further protests from her lips fell silent as I pressed up against her back. “Jake…” she said warningly. “We’re supposed to be working on the menu.”

“We are.” I peppered kisses along the curve of her neck. “We’re working very hard. Maybe it’s time to take a little break?”

She giggled and tried to squirm out of my arms. “We haven’t even started yet. Focus, mister, or you’re not going to end up with a menu at all.”

I sighed with reluctant acceptance and took off my jacket. “Fine, I suppose you’re right.”

A notepad on the counter amongst all the mess caught my eye, and I pulled it towards me. Skimming it I realised Niki had written down a long list of ideas for the restaurant.

“These are great, babe. When did you start working on the list?”

She tried to shrug it off. “The morning we went to see The Saloon.”

“You’re incredible, you know that?”  I spun her to face me. “I owe you big time for this.”

“You owe me nothing,” she said tenderly. “I’m happy to help. What do you think?”

“They look good, a lot of these are similar to the ideas I had.” I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt. “Let’s get started, gorgeous.”

* * * * *

Several hours, and many recipes later, I took the lid off the pot in which the final meal we had decided to test for the day was cooking, and stirred it a final time.

“I’m stuffed,” Niki said, placing a plate in the already overfilled sink. “I really don’t think I could eat another bite. How long is that going to take?”

“The chilli needs at least an hour to simmer.” I grinned mischievously. “Any idea how we should pass the time?”

“Sleep sounds good to me.” Niki yawned, walking over to the stove and turning the flame to the lowest setting. “But seeing as that’s out of the question, a movie instead?”

A plan started to form, and I nodded in agreement. I had a much more fun idea of what to do while waiting for the chilli to cook, and it involved getting Niki on a flat surface.

She may not have been ready to make love, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t explore other ways of having fun.

Kicking off my shoes, I stretched out on the longest couch in the living room. I tugged Niki onto my lap and handed her the remote. “Lady’s choice.”

“And people say chivalry is dead,” she sassed, earning her a nip on the curve of her neck.

Settling her against me, I waited a couple of minutes before my hand trailed up her thigh gently and began drawing abstract shapes on the smooth skin there.

Her breathing became deeper and faster, but she focused her attention on the cheesy reality show that was playing on the screen.

Hm… game on, baby.

My hand inched higher and I wondered how much longer she would pretend to ignore me for. My mouth decided to join in on the action, pressing feather-light kisses along her neck and jaw.

When my fingertips stroked her inner thigh, her legs clamped together.

“Hey there, mister. What are you doing?”

“There’s something I’ve been curious about for months, and I was going to find out the answer to my question.”

She tilted her head to the side to allow me better access to her neck. “And what is that question?”

“I’ve been dying to know what you look like when you come,” I whispered and traced the shell of her ear with my tongue.

Her eyes widened as a flush came over her cheeks. “Jake!”

“You wanted honesty, baby,” I chuckled. My hand slid over her clothed hips and waist, stopping to cup her heavy bra clad breasts. “Ever since I kissed you on the counter I’ve wanted to have these in my hands again. To play, kiss and suck on them until you’re panting for me to fuck you.”

Her jaw dropped at how forward I was being with her, the TV completely forgotten. I shifted our positions so Niki was flat against the couch, and I was on top of her.

My hands moved to pull her dress up, but when Niki stiffened under me and placed her hand over mine, I froze.

Aim accomplished, idiot. If your aim was to make her as uncomfortable as possible. You need to calm down before you frighten her off completely.

“Fuck. Sorry, baby. I got caught up in the moment.”

I went to shift off her, but her hands on my shoulders stopped me. The uncertainty I saw on her face tore at me. “I do want… umm… can we just…” Niki stumbled over her words and huffed an annoyed sigh at herself.

I cupped a cheek. “What do you want, Niki?”

“I don’t… Can I keep the dress on?”

I frowned at her words but before I could question her about it she attacked my mouth with the hungry kiss.