“I was an accident. And I know a lot of kids are, but my parents just got married when my mom got pregnant with me. Or maybe right before they got married. I’m not really sure. Either way, I wasn’t wanted.”
“I’m sure they wanted you once they found out. Just because you weren’t planned doesn’t mean-”
“I heard them talking, Wyatt. When I was thirteen. They said things would be much easier if they’d never had me. They regretted it.”
“They said that?”
I shrugged. “They didn’t have to say those exact words. I heard it in their tone. I was the unwanted child. The one that ruined their lives. We never had as much money as everyone around us because my mom couldn’t go back to school like she planned. My dad couldn’t work as many hours and earned less because of day care. It was a spiral, and I was at the center of it.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Peyton.”
“It’s made me who I am. I always wanted to adopt a bunch of kids, but I know I wouldn’t be the kind of mom they’d need. I wanted to help kids who weren’t wanted so they knew someone wanted them, you know? If I didn’t have to work, that’s what I would do, but I love my job. I love bringing children into loving families. Knowing that every kid I help create is loved and will never feel like they weren’t.”
“What you do is amazing. And you’re stronger than I’ve ever been facing your own issues every day.”
“What do you mean?”
His eyes searched mine. He moved closer to me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. I wanted to burrow into him and forget all about my parents. “You stare into the face of your demons constantly. I don’t think I could do that. My dad died when I was only twelve. I couldn’t be a grief counselor or anything like that. I couldn’t do anything close where I’d think about my dad all the time. I imagine you can't go into work without thinking about your parents.”
“True. But I’m doing this in spite of them, not because of them.”
“All the harder. You’re strong, Peyton. And you’d be a great mom. You care.”
“Thanks, Wyatt.”
He grinned at me and went back to cooking. Slowly, delicious smells filled his kitchen. He was stirring something in a pan when he turned to me.
“You were supposed to help me cook. How did you get out of that?”
I shrugged. “Distracted you with good sex?”
He shook his head and walked over. I tilted my head back to look up at him.
“Great sex. But I want your sexy ass helping me.”
I pushed off the edge of the counter and carried my wine to the stove. “What do I need to do?”
“Just stir this,” he said, handing me a spoon.
“Are you sure? Because I warned you how bad my cooking skills are.”
“I’m sure. Stir Peyton.”
I slid the wooden spoon through the… “Is this rice? I thought you weren’t supposed to mess with rice?”
“It’s risotto.”
“Isn’t that really hard to make?”
Wyatt shook his head and came back to check on me. “It’s easy, but it takes constant stirring.” He put his hand over mine on the wooden spoon. “Make sure you stir the bottom, too. If you just stir what’s on top, the bottom will burn.”
He stirred, digging the spoon into the bottom of the pan. “I warned you I wasn’t a good cook.”
“You’re fine, Peyton. Just keep stirring.”
I stared at the pan, stirring the risotto. “There’s a reason Vicki won’t let me help in the kitchen.”
“Yes, well, I’m not your sister.”
“Thank fuck for that.”
Wyatt snorted. “Agreed.”
Wyatt put another spoonful of liquid into the risotto and gave it a good stir before handing the spoon back to me. He dropped shrimp into the pan next to me, mixing it with garlic and olive oil. Another spoonful of liquid went into my pan.
“Keep stirring.”
“I’m stirring, I’m stirring!”
Wyatt laughed and gave his shrimp a good stir. They flipped over, revealing a perfectly pink side.
“How do you do that?”
“Lots of practice. Keep stirring.”
“Jeez. If I knew you were going to be so bossy I never would have agreed to this.”
Wyatt barked out a laugh. “You definitely don’t like someone telling you what to do.”
“Nope. That’s why I own my own business.”
“Just one more thing to be impressed by. If only you enjoyed cooking, you’d be the perfect woman.”
“Again, what is it with men thinking we all belong in the kitchen?”
“And what it is with women thinking the kitchen is a punishment? I love to cook. I like having someone to cook with. Even if she is a whiny pain in my ass who won’t keep stirring!”
“Sorry!” I said, dragging the spoon along the bottom of the pan.
Wyatt took his shrimp away then dumped another spoonful of liquid in my pan. “Almost done,” he declared. “When that’s absorbed, we can eat.”
I stirred some more, enjoying the savory scents filling my nose with each slide of the spoon through the risotto. It looked good, and I was definitely hungry.
Wyatt came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach. “What do you think?”
“About what?”
“Is it done?”
“How would I know?”
Wyatt chuckled, kissing the back of my neck. Goosebumps swept over my skin, lighting me up. I swayed into him involuntarily and felt his cock twitch.
“Peyton?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Of course. I just like it when you kiss my neck.”
“Good to know,” he murmured, doing it again.
Wyatt reached around me and turned off the stove. He took the pan from the burner and carried it to the counter on the other side. He scraped the risotto onto a serving dish then topped it with mushrooms he cooked earlier and the shrimp.
Then he turned back to me with a look I was beginning to understand well.
“Forget dinner, Peyton.”
“But I’m hungry,” I protested playfully.
“So am I.”
I tried to move away from him, but he caught me by the arm. He pulled me close and lifted his shirt off me, dropping it on the kitchen floor. His eyes darted to the fireplace and my skin heated.
I’d never had sex in front of a fireplace before.
The condoms he brought into the living room were on the ottoman waiting for us. Wyatt promised to use all three before we went to bed, and then to use some more.
I was really liking this holiday tradition of his.
Of course, then my mind wondered who he celebrated the tradition with.
“Where’d you go?” he asked, tilting my chin to look at him.
I shook my head.
“What?”
“It’s silly.”
“Nothing is silly. What’s going on?”
“You said this is one of your favorite traditions. I just couldn’t help but wonder…”
“Who I was with,” he finished for me. “Shit, Peyton. I didn’t think about how that sounded. We don’t have to.”
I shook my head. “I told you it was silly. I have no reason to be jealous of your past.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s easy to overlook. I never should have said anything about that.”
“But you did do this with your ex?”
He nodded.
“Anyone else?”
He shook his head.
“Another thing you’ve only done with her and now are doing with me. I don’t know if I want to be in the same category as her or help you make new memories, good ones.”
He cupped my jaw and my greedy self rubbed against his palm. The look in his eyes was so sincere I wanted to cry. “You could never be in the same category as her, Peyton. You’re a much better person. I know you’d never trick someone the way she tricked me. I just wanted to see your silky skin in the firelight. I wanted to have you like that. With the fire warming us. We don’t have to.”
“Wyatt.”
“Hmm?”
“Let me help you chase away your memories of her.”
He crushed his mouth to mine, devouring me. He lifted me and walked us over to the fireplace. Wyatt set me down and stripped out of his boxer briefs, smoothing a condom down his length. He laid down on the floor and encouraged me on top of him.
“This is my favorite position,” I said as I took him inside.
“No talking about other men when I’m inside you,” he growled.
I pinched my lips shut. Just like he did, I didn’t think about what I was saying.
“If you like it so much, talk to me, Peyton. Tell me what you like.”
“I love feeling you slide in and out of me,” I said, lifting my hips to move away, then lowering myself back down onto him. “I love knowing I have the power. That you have to do what I want.”
“Oh really?” he teased. “You don’t think I could flip us right now?”
I smirked. “I’m sure you could, but I hope you won’t.”
He groaned when I squeezed his cock inside me.
“More, Peyton. What else do you like?”
“I like tilting back and feeling where you shift inside me.” I leaned back and gasped when his cock hit my g-spot.
“Fuck, Peyton. That feels good.”
“You feel good,” I said.
“What else, Peyton?”
“Play with my breasts. I like that.”
His hands reached for me, eagerly squeezing both my breasts. He tugged on my nipples and my hips moved faster, taking him in deeper.
“That feels good.”
One of his hands left my breast and slid between us, grazing my clit. My hips moved faster, and I leaned back further, giving him more access.
“You’re gorgeous, Peyton. How could you not see how alluring you are? Look at yourself.”
I opened my eyes and tried to see what he saw. Blonde hair that swung with the movement of my body. Breasts that bounced to the same beat. A belly rippling with too much filling.
I tried to look past the the flaws I always saw when I looked at myself. The light of the flames danced over my skin and made it glow. My breasts were large, but they fit perfectly in Wyatt’s hands. And seeing his hand disappear between us was the hottest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
“Yes. Come with me, Peyton. I’m close.”
“Me, too,” I breathed. “So close.”
His thumb moved over me again, then pressed down, and I was gone.
“Wyatt! Yes! Fuck! Yes!”
Both his hands fell to my hips to guide me up and down twice more before he held me down, his cock deep inside me. I felt him erupt within me as he shouted my name.
I fell onto his chest, too exhausted to stay sitting upright. His hands swept up and down my back as we both struggled to breathe.
He recovered faster than I did, but he let me lay on him. He held me, not letting go until I pushed off him.
“I think that might have just tipped me over the edge.”
He gave me a questioning look.
“I officially love winter if it’s like this.”
A laugh burst from him. He sat up, holding me on his lap, and kissed me until his cock throbbed inside me.
“Again?”
He shook his head. “I’m too old to be that fast. Let’s eat dinner. Then maybe we’ll give the couch another try.”
I laughed. “I don’t know if I’m brave enough to test the couch again.”
We did test the couch. And his table. And a few different positions in his bed. And in the morning, we tested the shower. Wyatt made me breakfast, without making me help, and we left his condo together feeling very domestic. He kissed me at my car and told me to have a good day.
And by the time I got to work, I knew I was in trouble.