“But I’m a red-blooded American. Of course, I know basketball!”
Stenton’s head came up and he regarded me dubiously. “What team did I play for before the ‘6’ers?”
“Oh, please! That’s easy. The Cardinals!”
His incredulous regard made me laugh hard. I couldn’t stop.
“That’s it. Bedtime for you.” Stenton took the mug from me and placed it on top of the tray before turning down the lamp.
“Yeah, because I have to get up early.”
I felt Stenton steel behind me. When I turned, I saw his deathly glower.
“You’re not going back to that shitty job and that’s final, Zoey. I don’t care what I have to do to make it happen. I’ll sabotage it if I have to. You shouldn’t expend energy needed for your studies just for minimum wage.”
After doing a stare down for barely sixty seconds, I caved. “Fine! I didn’t like working with kids anyway. You may take care of the current malfunction, but now I go back to worrying about the next one that I’ll have to figure out how to pay for.” I snatched a pillow beneath me and slammed my head into it.
“Again, we’ll address that later. Right now we sleep. You have to cook for me tomorrow.”
I jumped, turning my neck completely around to face him. “Where’s your chef?”
“I told him to pick up a few things from the market and take the next three days off. I knew you’d be coming.”
“You didn’t know I’d stay!” I noted, taken by his audacity.
“Like hell I didn’t.” He tackled me back down to the mattress, planting himself on top of my back. “All I had to do was swing my magic wand.” He thrust into me enticingly.
His hard body pressed into mine made me delirious. So crazy, I moaned. Stenton chuckled as he rolled off of me.
“I hate you,” I gritted.
“No, you don’t, Zo. Goodnight, sweetheart.”
Chapter 8
~Zoey~
The next morning I arose early. Stenton was behind me, still fast asleep. When I learned it was just after six, I realized he was sleeping in. I paced into his bathroom to wash up, seeing a toothbrush and fresh towels awaiting me.
Downstairs in the kitchen, I found my instructions, loud and clear. There were fresh whiting and catfish waiting neatly for me. I also easily found grits and the ingredients needed for biscuits. By the time I was pulling the biscuits out of the oven, Stenton sauntered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes adorably and looking heavenly masculine in his morning state, so unlike the predator he was last night. I quickly returned to the eggs that were frying to finish up on them.
“Morning,” he mumbled as he greeted me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist and giving my breasts a squeeze. “Nice gear.”
I glimpsed down at my clothes. “Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly come last night, planning to stay over. I had to steal your stuff.”
He took a seat at the island. “You look good; your boobs do, at least.”
I shook my head as I went for two plates from the mahogany cabinet. While plating our food, I heard footsteps coming up the hall.
“Mmmm! Smells good as fuck!” I knew that voice.
“I’m starving.” That croak I didn’t.
I peered up seconds later when I could sense them entering the open kitchen and saw Tynisha following behind Alton.
“What do we have here, Mascot?” Tynisha asked as she went for the refrigerator with natural ease.
Did they stay over? How often are they here?
“Uhhh…fried whiting and catfish—”
“I hope you put cheese in them grits,” Alton interrupted me. “If not, put some on my plate. Damn! Are those homemade biscuits?”
“I only want cheese in my eggs, please.”
I paused from spooning grits into Stenton’s and my plates. I was debating on how cold my response would be before Stenton spoke up.