“Yes, I was just going to throw some steaks on the grill, but we can do whatever you want,” I say.
“Okay, good. I guess I’m all set. I can drive though, so you don’t have to bring me home.”
“Who say’s you’ll be back tonight?” Ember says under her breath, but loud enough we both hear her.
My hand falls from her hip and finds her hand. I lace our fingers together. “I can bring you home or you can stay. It’s your choice, but I will be driving you. I want to spend as much time with you as I can,” I tell her. I sound like a f*cking pansy, and I’ve given Asher hell over being the same exact way with Grace. Now I get it. I understand what it feels like to not give a f*ck what it sounds like or who’s riding your ass about it as long as it has my girl’s face lighting up like it is at this exact moment.
We say goodbye to Ember and I lead her outside to my truck. I lift her inside and wait until she’s safely buckled in before shutting her door.
“How did it go?” she asks as soon as we are on the road.
Keeping my eyes on the road and my hands tightly gripping the wheel. “Good. Old man Sampson was trying to burn some boxes and caught his yard on fire.”
“I hope everyone’s okay.”
Not able to control it any longer, I reach over and grab her hand. “No one was hurt. We were able to easily extinguish the fire.”
Tatum’s chewing on her lip. “Hey, you okay?” I ask her.
She nods her head. “It’s just, what you do, it’s scary.”
“Yes, at times. I’ve had extensive training, and I like being able to help people.” I glance over and see she’s staring out the window. Was she worried about me?
I pull into my drive and turn off the truck. I release her hand and quickly walk to her side to help her down. I lift her and hold her by the hips mid-air so we are eye level. “Hey you,” I say. That earns me a smile. I slowly settle her feet on the ground. Placing my finger under her chin, I lift her eyes to meet mine. “I’m okay.”
Tatum nods and wraps her arms around my waist. I feel something shift inside me. This girl wrecks me. “Let’s get you fed.”
I lead her into the house. “Make yourself at home. I’m going to fire up the grill.”
“What can I do to help?”
I stop and turn to face her. I wait for her eyes to lock with mine. “You being here is all I need.” No words have ever been truer.
Tate smiles and my heart sputters. She’s beautiful. “What else are we having?” she asks.
“I thought I would pull together a salad and throw a couple of potatoes on with the steaks,” I say as I open the patio door to light the grill that’s on the back deck.
As I’m lighting the grill, I hear the patio door open. Tatum steps up beside me holding two platters. One has the steaks seasoned and ready to place on the grill, the other is holding three baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil.
I lean down and place a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you, sweets.” I take the dishes from her and get busy making dinner.
I stand outside with the grill; I’m nervous. I know I have no reason to be, but I want everything perfect. I don’t want her to regret her time here. The door sliding open catches my attention. I turn and watch as Tatum walks toward me. Her feet are now bare. She scrunches her nose a little as they touch the hot deck surface. The sun is starting to set, but it was hot today. When she reaches me she hands me a beer. “Here, thought you could use this.” She pulls her hand back. “Wait, are you still on call?” she asks.
Could this girl be any more amazing? “No, my shift ended at five. I was only covering for one of the full timers for a few hours.”
Tatum walks to the end of the deck and rests her arms on the railing looking out over the backyard. When I started looking at houses, I had planned on proposing to Beth. Once she dropped her dirty laundry all over the place, I continued to look. I was no longer getting married, but I wanted a home. This place has ten acres and a pond in the backyard. Tatum stares off in the distance, watching the sun slowly set.
I set my beer on the table and walk to her. I slowly step behind her. She glances over her shoulder and smiles. “Great view,” she says, turning back toward the sunset.
I close the short distance between us, place my arms around her waist, pulling her back against my chest. I bury my face in her neck and breathe her in. Her sweet smell surrounds me. “You smell so f*cking good.”
She chuckles lightly. “It’s the steak you smell.”
“Yeah, the food smells great, but that’s not it. Your sweet scent, a mix of vanilla and something uniquely you, is intoxicating.”
Reluctantly, I pull away. I walk back to the grill and adjust myself as I do. There is no way she didn’t feel what she does to me.
“Are we eating out here or inside?” she asks.
“I’m good either way; it’s up to you.”
Tatum nods her head and walks back into the house.
I remove the steaks and the potatoes from the grill and take them inside. I assume since Tatum didn’t come back out that she wants to eat in here. I make my way in the kitchen and the table is set with everything we need. She’s just sitting a bowl of salad in the middle of the table. “I figured since you worked out in the heat today, not to mention the heat from the fire, I thought you might like to just enjoy being in the air,” she says as she walks back to the fridge and pulls out a gallon of tea. I raise my eyebrows because I didn’t have any tea.
She pours two tall glasses and brings them to the table. “I made tea. I hope that’s okay.”
I nod my head. “I want you to feel comfortable here. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
We both make our plates and dig in. We’re quiet for the most part, but it’s not uncomfortable. We are both obviously starving. Tate does manage to tell me how good it is between bites. It doesn’t take us long to devour our meal. I stand to clean up as does she. “You go sit down and relax; I got this.”
“Yeah, not gonna happen. You cooked, it’s the least I can do,” she fires back.
“You’re my guest. It won’t take but a few minutes. Really, go sit down.”
“Well, just think about how fast we’ll get it done if we do it together?” she says as she snaps the lid back on the butter and places it in the fridge.
I don’t want to argue with her. I want to take care of her; she deserves nothing less. I decide to choose my battles and let her help, and she’s right, we’re done in no time.
Dinner was great and so is the company. It takes no time for me and Blaise to get the kitchen squared away. I like being here with him, doing simple daily things together. This is something Josh and I never did. I still lived at home, so there wasn’t a lot of privacy. When we did get to see each other, Josh always wanted to go out. I’m finding I really enjoy a quiet night in.
“It’s getting late,” I say to Blaise. I watch as his face falls. He doesn’t want me to leave. I want to stay; I really do. The thought of curling up against him with his arms tight around me is so damn tempting, but I can’t. This is too much too fast. I need to reel myself in a little.
Blaise releases a heavy breath. “Let’s get you home.” He grabs his keys and cell from the counter and leads the way to his truck. The drive back to my apartment is fast, faster than I would have liked. Blaise and I passed the time discussing music. Turns out we both enjoy most all genres. We even discussed maybe going to a concert sometime.