Chapter 8: Breakfast

Sally woke up, wondering why she was sore. Had she worked that hard yesterday? Oh. Wait. Sebastian. She sat up, pulling the covers over her naked breasts. He was gone. She sighed. Part of her was happy. Part of her was disappointed.

Then she heard a noise downstairs. Crap. Someone was in her house. She snagged her robe and wrapped it around her. Then she grabbed the bat from under the bed. Creeping down the steps, she tried to figure out where the person was.

In the kitchen.

Okay. Not the best place to steal anything. Her valuables, what little she had, were not in the kitchen. She tiptoed to the door.

Sebastian. Wearing just jeans. No shirt. No shoes. Took her breath away. He was beyond sexy. He was also cooking breakfast from what she could smell. He stood looking out the back window. It was her favorite view also.

He spun around. She felt silly with the bat in her hand. His gaze went to the bat then back to her face, a wry grin on his face.

"I thought I had an intruder."

That grin lit up the whole kitchen. "Just me. You need some coffee?"

"Desperately."

He poured her a cup before handing it to her. "Here."

He kissed her cheek then she took a sip. He'd made it just how she liked. How did he know?

"I smell food," she said.

Her stomach rumbled. No one had ever made her breakfast.

"The bacon's made. I'm just waiting to see what you want in your omelet."

"So you do cook."

"I do, Sally. I like to eat, so it's easier to cook than get takeout. Cheaper, too."

She nodded, not quite ready for conversation or anything else deep. "Cheese."

"Is that what you want in your omelet?"

"Yes," she said. That was about as coherent as she could be. They hadn't slept much last night. Too busy having sex. Mind-blowing, multiple-orgasm sex. Wow.

"Anything else?" he said.

He hadn't moved. As if he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"No, just cheese."

"You have some fresh herbs out on the porch. Can I put some of them in there?"

She waved a hand. She drank more deeply of the coffee. "Yes, fine."

"Sorry. I'm probably asking too much before the coffee kicks in."

He was the cheery sort in the morning. She wasn't sure that she liked that. She needed a few minutes and a few gallons of caffeine to be cheery. "Yes."

He nodded then went back to humming. She couldn't tell the tune. She sat at her table, gazing out at the backyard like she did most mornings. Still. Even with his demeanor, she enjoyed that he was here. He hadn't left in the middle of the night.

"My brother was going to come, then he got a call for a job, so I called a tow truck. It'll be here this morning. Then I can get out of your hair. It just means that the porch may not be finished today."

She shrugged, still not ready to talk. He smiled then kissed her cheek as he put a plate in front of her. This omelet smelled better than hers. She sniffed again. Wine? Had he put wine in the eggs? She'd never thought of that. Not like she was classically trained, but she knew her way around a kitchen.

She took a taste. It melted in her mouth. Her eyes closed for a moment as he sat next to her at the table.

"Good?"

"Excellent. Where did you learn to cook?"

"Mama Behr made sure we all knew how to cook."

Mama Bear? Oh, right. That was his last name. Not spelled that way. She smiled. "Mama Behr was a good woman."

"Yes, she is."

He dug into his food as if he hadn't eaten in days. His table manners weren't rude, he just looked to be starving. Guess she'd worked him hard last night. Pun intended.

***

Sebastian didn't want the meal to end. He poured Sally and himself some more coffee. He lounged in the chair, happy the tow truck hadn't come yet. Sally was a little more animated now that she'd had two cups of caffeine.

He realized ten minutes ago that she was naked under that robe. He'd catch glimpses of her creamy skin as she moved to eat or pass him salt. Now that his stomach was full, he wanted to take off that robe and do her on the kitchen table.

Down, Sebastian. This was wooing, not mauling. Subtle. Romance. Sex can wait for a little bit. If she were also a bear, she'd understand. She was human so she needed a gentler hand.

"What are you staring at?" she said.

"You're even more beautiful in the morning."

She blushed. "I am not. I'm sure I look like we had sex all night."

"We did have sex all night."

"But I don't want to look like that."

She fussed with her hair. He took her hands in his. "You look fine, Sally. I like it. I'd like to see you again like this."

She blushed again and it brought out the freckles on her nose. He wanted to kiss those freckles, but he knew what that would lead to. They would be naked.

He heard a truck on the driveway. "Must be my tow."

She followed him and he wished she hadn't. The driver didn't need to see her in just a robe. He felt protective of her. No one needed to know what he had.

She stood on the porch, watching the transaction.

"You called for a tow?" the man said.

He didn't make eye contact with Sebastian. Instead, he looked at Sally. He was clearly undressing her with his eyes. Sebastian felt the beast coming out. He had to tamp it down. Sally wasn't his yet.

He waved his hand in front of the man. "I'm right here."

"That's one hot chick."

Sebastian resisted the urge to punch the man. "She's not a chick. She's a woman and she's not in the market."

"Then she should stop advertising."

"I can call another tow truck," Sebastian said.

He'd never felt such a protective surge in his life. Had to be part of her being his mate. How would he go through the rest of his life without punching someone?

The man finally looked at him. "No harm done, man. She's just hot."

"Fine. She's hot, but she isn't yours to look at."

A few minutes later, his truck was on the flat bed and he'd retrieved some tools to work today.