Give Me Love by Zoey Derrick Read Free Book Online Page B

 
    The shower turns off and Celeste takes that as a cue to leave. She heads down the hall toward the door, and Mikah goes about starting their breakfast.  

    Vivienne towels off and gets dressed. Her hair is still soaking wet, so she wraps it up in her towel and piles it on top of her head. She smells like Mikah – well, at least his body wash – and she savors the scent.  
    The last twenty-four hours have been a whirlwind of events, and when she woke up yesterday, she never imagined that this morning she would wake up with Mikah. She smiles into the mirror as she throws on Mikah’s Boston College t-shirt and turns to leave the bathroom, knowing that Mikah is probably waiting for her in bed.  
    When she steps out of the bathroom, though, he isn’t there. She can smell bacon frying, so she heads for the kitchen.  
    When she opens the door she hears shifting and plates being set down, followed by the popping sound of the toaster. She comes around the corner of the kitchen to see him standing over the stove stirring something. She smiles because he’s still shirtless and his wings are shimmering in the light over the center bar.  
    “Smells wonderful,” she says, and Mikah jumps just a little bit. She giggles. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    He turns toward her, taking in the beautiful sight of her in his t-shirt, her hair up in a towel, and the beautiful smile on her face. “Feeling better?”  
    She nods. “The shower felt great, thank you.”  
    He comes around the counter and wraps his arms around her. “I said we’d have breakfast in bed.” He kisses the top of her forehead. “So why don’t you go lie back down, get comfortable, and I will be in in just a couple of minutes.”
    “But I like watching you cook,” she grumbles against his chest.  
    He laughs. “There’s plenty of time to watch me cook. Go on. I want to serve you breakfast in bed.”  
    “Hmph,” she huffs.  
    She stalks off toward the bedroom and he laughs at his fiery tiger.
    Guessing the direction of his thoughts, she can’t help but smile to herself as she crosses the threshold into the bedroom.

SEVENTEEN
    “What would you like to do today?” he asks as he wipes his mouth and hands with a napkin. He places the napkin back on the tray he’s brought into the bedroom, and then his hand seeks hers.
    “Do you have work to do?”  
    He scowls at her question. “Today is just for us. I’d had plans to take you shopping today, get some more clothes for you, but I think it would be better if we stayed in the condo.”  
    She thinks about this and finds that she’s not at all upset about the idea of him buying her more clothes. Everything’s different between them since last night, and suddenly it feels okay. Though perhaps part of the reason it feels okay is because they won’t actually be going shopping.
    “I’d like to get my stuff from the condo downstairs,” she says.  
    “Already done. Celeste had it all brought up and placed in the second bedroom while we were sleeping.” He winks at her and she blushes. “I’d like to have her move your clothes over here into my closet, if you’d like that?” The question is already out before he can stop himself, and only then does he begin to feel uneasy. He didn’t mean to ask her to make a decision about whether to stay with him and live out of the same bedroom so soon.
    His question surprises her, but she can see in his face that he is a little concerned about her response, so she smiles at him. “Is there room in there?” She points toward the closet.  
    He laughs. “No, but they can make room. There are a lot of clothes in there that I no longer wear. I’ll have them removed and donated, and you can have space in there too.”  
    She likes the idea of him making room for her and is pleased that it doesn’t seem to come at a personal cost or inconvenience, such as having to go into the second bedroom for his own clothes. “Alright,” she says.
    He leans