Frisked in Fondant: Tulle and Tulips, Book 6 by Nikki Duncan Read Free Book Online

is home.”
    “Cookies and Cream.” He smiled. “Seems fitting.”
    Gisella shrugged. “I have a thing for sweets.”
    “Did you always want to bake?”
    She shook her head. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a lawyer like my dad, or an executive like Mom. She was president of a marketing firm. They rarely ate or allowed sweets in the house.”
    “So you’re making up for lost time?”
    She chuckled. “No. After my parents were… I was raised by my aunt who was more opposed to health food than my parents were to sweets. They became a problem for me as I got older, and while I got past them being a problem, I didn’t stop loving them.”
    “What kind of problem?”
    “Weight. You might have noticed I’m not as skinny as some women.”
    Her curves were one of the things he loved about her. He played with her hair, because it was safer than playing with her body. He wanted to give her a little time before asking for more. “Yes, I have.”
    “Well, this is after losing sixty pounds. I’ve kept it off the last three years, but I haven’t gotten the next twenty off.”
    “I like this.” Kyle traced a hand up her leg and over her hip. “All of it. A lot.”
    “You don’t seem to be so bad yourself.”
    “Thanks.”
    “A little too chatty though. You should work on that.”
    “My father said the same this morning.” And though he didn’t say much, it didn’t mean his mind sat idle. He’d learned the less he talked, the more other people filled the silence. As a detective, always looking to close cases, knowing the value of silence came in handy.
    With Gisella it meant learning more about her. For instance, he got the impression her parents’ deaths had been violent. It still haunted her. An aunt had taken her in, but however loving she may have been she hadn’t been enough to keep Gisella from eating her grief.
    “When a man comments on how much you talk, or don’t in your case, you know it’s bad.”
    Kyle shrugged. “I let my partner do all the chatting.”
    “Where’s he?”
    “She’s on maternity leave enjoying my new goddaughter.”
    Gisella raised a brow. “You like babies?”
    “Until their parents screw them up.”
    “Considering how you’ve been with me I shouldn’t be surprised, yet I am. I’m not sure I can imagine you with a baby in your arms.”
    “I’d show you pictures, but I’d have to move.” Jolene, already affectionately called Jo like her grandfather, had captured his heart the second he saw her. Hell, he nearly went gooey just thinking about her.
    Gisella brushed the back of her hand against his cheek. “Your eyes go all soft and doughy when you talk about her. It’s adorable.”
    He took her mouth with his and kissed her the way he’d wanted to kiss her since he stopped kissing her last time. He didn’t stop until she moaned, and when he did he pulled back and said, “Don’t call me adorable. It’s no big secret babies are cute.”
    Gisella gasped. “You said more than fifteen syllables.”
    She sounded like his father. It was another reason Kyle liked her, but it was also a reason not to rush things. “I do that on occasion.”
    “It’s a relief to know you have the ability.”
    “Don’t get used to it.” Though she would get used to it if they spent any real time together. Every minute with her had him wanting more.
    “I’m taking it as a challenge to see how often you’ll do it.”
    “How can you count syllables so quickly?” Kyle had asked his dad, and always gotten a shrug as an answer, but he was curious what Gisella would say.
    “I’m always measuring things. Counting syllables is just another measurement.”
    It made sense. Everything about Gisella made sense.
    Losing her parents as a kid and then turning to food for therapy… She’d known life’s dark side. Baking wedding cakes, filling her home with vibrant colors and choosing clothes in similar shades… She constantly reached for life’s light side.
    “Will you tell me about