Smoke billows out of the oven when I open the door. I grab two oven mitts from behind me and pull out the salmon that fell victim to my incapable culinary hands. The pretty peachy-pink color is now brown on the top. I don’t know how it could have burned so quickly, it had only been in there for less than half an hour.

Nico comes behind me and reaches to my side and turns the dial to the oven. “Bake, not broil.”

Looking up at him, he can see that his words meant nothing to me, so he explains. “You needed to put the oven on bake, not broil.”

Nico walks over to my refrigerator and opens the door to help himself. I see him grab something out of the cabinet, but I’m too busy trying to figure out how to salvage the mess I’ve made to pay any attention. He sets down a glass of wine he’s poured me on the counter next to me and leans back against the counter in my U-shaped kitchen.

I lift the glass to my mouth and take a long sip before turning to face Nico, a few feet away from me. “I’m sorry, dinner is ruined.”

Nico smiles at me and says nothing for a minute. “Come here,” his voice is low and soft and he extends a thick arm to me. I comply and his arms wrap around my waist, gathering me close against his hard chest as he lowers his mouth to mine. Our lips connect and I follow his lead as his they open. His tongue slowly licks the outline of my lips, sending a shiver down my spine.

A low moan escapes my mouth and I feel his grip tighten in response. I surprise even myself when I bite down on his lower lip, drawing a low groan from him that makes what’s between my legs swell with excitement. Nico tilts his head and our kiss deepens, our tongues explore each other’s mouth with a passion I’ve never known or expected, yet it feels so natural and right.

We’re both panting loudly when we come up for air. “I missed you.” His voice is low and raspy. Sinful. It’s only been two days since we saw each other, but I’ve missed him too.

“Me too.” I manage to get out between breaths.

Nico’s grip tightens on me almost to the point that it’s painful, but I don’t care. His hands are at my lower back and when he pulls me closer, I can feel his erection against my belly and I want to reach between us and grab him. Feel his thickness that is throbbing against me.

I think he’s going to kiss me again, but instead he plants a soft kiss on the tip of my nose and then my forehead before engulfing me in a bear hug. It’s such a tender moment and so unexpected after the passion of his kiss just a minute ago.

Too soon after, Nico loosens his grip on me.

“Where is your menu drawer?”

“How do you know I have a menu drawer?”

“I’ve seen how you cook first hand now, remember?”

Playfully, I smack at his stomach with the back of my hand and it meets a brick wall. “Second drawer down to the right of the sink.”

Nico rummages through my menus. “You eat this junk?”

“Which one?” I look over at the pile of menus thinking he’s found one that he doesn’t approve of.

“All of them.” For the first time, I look at my heap of menus and recognize that it’s a pretty thick pile.

“Only when I want to eat.” I smirk and Nico shakes his head disapprovingly, but I can tell he’s teasing me. If I had a body that looked like his, I’d only feed it healthy food too. I might even learn to cook if I looked like him.

One menu catches his attention and seems to meet with his approval. “Is there anything you don’t eat?”

“I’m pretty easy.”

My response earns me a devilish grin before Nico takes out his cell phone and orders.

After we’re done eating, Nico shows me the movie he brought and I look down at the movie, then at his face.

“Do you really want to watch this?”

The corner of his mouth twitches upward in barely concealed amusement. “Not really.”

“Then why did you bring it?”

“I thought you’d like it?”

I tilt my hand to assess the man. He earns credit for bringing something that he thought I would like, but I’m not going to let him off this easy.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you think I would like The Notebook?”

“Because you’re a woman and women like this mushy crap.”

Taking his hand, I lead him to my closet off the living room and open the door to reveal two shelves filled with some of my favorite movies. He peruses the titles and then looks back at me in shock, as if I had just showed him the dead body I kept locked in the closet instead of a simple movie collection.

“You like action movies?”

“The more jumping out of planes, the better.”

Nico wraps his arm around my waist and turns me, pulling me to his chest before planting a chaste kiss on my mouth. He looks down at me. “Yep, totally worth it.” I almost don’t hear his words, they’re spoken so low.

“Worth what?”

Another kiss is planted on my mouth. “Nothing.”

***

Throughout the movie we have periodic make out sessions. Nico’s big hands glide up and down the side of my body. His fingers slow as they pass the curve of my br**sts and his thumb just barely grazes the swell underneath so that I can’t be sure if his fingers touched me or just came really close.

As the movie credits roll on the screen, we’re locked in a steamy kiss that I don’t want to stop. My hands slowly feel their way down from his muscular chest and stop on his abdomen. I’ve never been the one to make the first move, but I don’t care at this point. I want more from this man. Need more. My hands slip under his shirt and I gently score my nails against his tight flesh as my hands retrace their path down, stopping as I feel the top of his waistband.

A low growl erupts from Nico and he guides my back down on the couch as he climbs on top of me. With his weight pushing into me, I can feel every muscle up against mine and I swear I might finish before our naked flesh ever meets. He’s just that damn incredible to feel. A low moan from somewhere within me escapes and our kissing becomes deeper, almost frantic.

Groaning, Nico sits up and leaves me breathless on the couch. My body is desperate and I need more. When I look up, I find Nico running his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Why did you stop?” My voice comes out like a whiney high school girl who is unsure of herself with her new boyfriend. But that’s what the man has reduced me to, heavy panting and desire with no happy ending.