Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
“Mount is a good guy. This was always his dream and when he achieved it, there was no stopping him. He’ll take care of you. I promise.”
“It’s not about being taken—”
“I’ve got to go, sweetie. It was lovely to talk to you.”
He hung up before she could ask him anything else.
After putting the phone back in the cradle, she returned to the kitchen where Mount had picked up a book and was sitting at the table reading.
How could someone make reading so sexy?
“How’s William?” he asked.
“Fine. He just wanted to check up on me. You know, the storm.”
“Yeah, he does it from time to time. I wouldn’t worry.”
“I won’t. I’m going to get started on this food.” She tried not to watch him as she got to cooking. After a few minutes, he put the book down and made his way out of the room. She didn’t know what he was doing but as she was waiting for the tomato sauce to simmer and working on her cheese filling, he returned.
“Fixing the fire. It’s already starting to take on a chill. I’ve put a couple of extra quilts in your room.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” He sat back down and kept on reading.
She assembled the lasagna, made her excuses as it was baking in the oven, and went to take a quick shower. She was tempted to touch herself, to put out the blistering fire burning within her, but instead, she didn’t even try. There was no way she’d be able to face him knowing she’d brought herself to orgasm.
With her head held high, she returned to the kitchen dressed in a pair of fluffy pajamas.
“I put in some fries,” he said.
She glanced back at the table to see Mount was sitting there, his hair slightly damp.
“You took a shower too?”
“That I did.”
The lasagna was done, as were the fries. She served them up generous portions and took the seat opposite him, delving into her slice.
At first, Mount looked nervous.
“I haven’t poisoned it or anything,” she said.
“I know. It’s been a long time since anyone has cooked for me. I’m simply enjoying it.”
“How long has it been?”
“Years.”
He was always so cryptic.
“Well, I used to love to cook.”
“Used to?”
“Yeah, work was kind of the only thing I did, you know. I ordered a lot of takeout as cooking interrupted my work.”
“That’s where a lot of people are making a mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Life is not about work. It’s about living. Work is not living, it’s just existing. Being here, this is living.”
“And you don’t miss it?”
“If I missed any part of that life, I’d be back there in a flash.”
****
Later that night, Mount enjoyed the rare glass of scotch. He wasn’t embarrassed to have a pink quilt wrapped around him as he turned over the page of his current read. The only problem was he hadn’t read a single page of the last hundred and fifty because he’d spent way too much time admiring Meghan’s ass as she walked around his kitchen making a damn good lasagna.
The leggings she wore, they curved to her ass and made him want to go nibble on her flesh. Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind once again, he focused instead on the story in his hand. He didn’t need to think about sex or fucking at a time like this.
The minutes ticked by and as he flicked the page again, to stare at the words that made no sense, the lights went out.
A little scream came from upstairs.
He’d learned long ago that when blackouts occurred, he should always be prepared. With a flashlight in hand, he made his way upstairs to find Meghan stumbling out of her room in the dark. She was also shivering.
“It’s so cold.”
He opened up the quilt, which was large enough to surround the two of them.
“I lost it,” she said.
“Lost what?
“The book I was writing. I started it this evening and I was doing so well.”
“You’re not supposed to be spending your time writing.”
“I enjoy it and I’m supposed to be gathering my thoughts.”
“It’s work and you need to learn when to step away from work.” He shook his head. This woman was exasperating.
“It doesn’t matter now. It’s all gone so it’s like the universe is punishing me. It was a bad book, anyway. All the lights have gone out. What about the food?”
“I’ve got a backup generator for the food.”
“But not the lights?”
“It’s why they invented candles.”
“Oh. Where are they?”
“There’s no point in lighting them, though. It’s late. In the morning, I’ll check and see what is going on.”
“Wait, you’re just going to go to bed?” she asked.
“It’s late, and seeing as I can’t read now, there’s no point in me staying up.”
“But this is … I mean, come on, you don’t mean that.”
The torch provided him enough light for him to see her clearly. She looked terrified.