Love Knows No Bounds (11 page)

Chapter Eight

I examined the thermometer and smiled to myself, relieved. Bowen’s fever broke, and he was finally resting comfortably after three hours of flu-induced vomiting. I’d spent the afternoon and evening washing my soiled clothes, disinfecting every surface in my house that Bowen had either touched or puked on, and…reliving the kiss. Again and again and again.

There was something about the way Leo’s mouth felt on mine. Like slipping your hand into a custom-sewn glove. A perfect fit. Every wrinkle, every curve. It felt like we’d been carved from the wood of the same tree, and only just now clicked back together like puzzle pieces.

After pressing my lips to his sweaty forehead, I picked up Bowen’s shoes and moved them to the bench that rested next to the front door. My stomach grumbled, and I rubbed it absently. I hadn’t eaten since my lunch break, and it was pushing eight o’clock now. My focus had been on confining Bowen’s puke to the bowl I’d placed next to him on the bed, and keeping his fever down. Now I was ravenous.

Opening the cupboards in my meager kitchen, I groaned. I’d been planning on doing the grocery shopping with Bowen after his cooking lesson. Now I was left with a can of apricot halves, three packets of Top Ramen, and an oversize container of horseradish sauce. Not exactly appealing.

There was a soft rap on my front door, just as I opened the can of apricot halves, and I walked to the door as I stuffed one into my mouth. “Whoever it is better be bearing a cheeseburger,” I muttered.

As soon as I opened the door, I clamped my mouth shut, and wiped at the juice dripping off my chin. There stood Leo, in all of his leather jacket and worn jeans glory, the wind whipping orange and gold leaves around his feet as he stood on my doorstep with an armload of takeout cartons.

“Hey.” That was all he said in his deep, chocolate syrupy voice, his eyes rolling from my battered thermal shirt down to my old yoga pants that hadn’t been used for yoga since…well,
ever
.

My stomach turned itself into a knot that would leave a Boy Scout baffled. “Hi…I…uh…you came to my house?” The second the words came out of my mouth, I felt stupid.

His lips pursed as he looked at me. “I can leave, if you’d like.”

“Of course not.” Stepping aside, I gestured for Leo to enter. “I just, I’m…let me go change.”

“No, don’t.” He smiled down at my polka-dot socks. “You look cute.”

I crossed my arms self-consciously. “How did you know where I live?”

His grin was every bit as tasty as the treats he baked with Bowen. “I Googled you. Did you know that your home address and number are published?”

“Yikes. No.” I followed Leo as he crossed through my living room, and entered my tiny kitchen. My cheeks warmed as he looked around, appraising the chipped white cupboard doors and blue snow goose wallpaper. “The previous owner was an old widow. I think she was about a hundred and two.”

Leo looked over his shoulder at me and I almost tipped over. He was practically sweating sexuality. “That so? You hungry?”

I covered my gurgling stomach. “Yes. Very. I was focused on Bo all evening.”

“Well, good thing I ducked out of work early. Because I brought you…” He started opening cartons. “Rainbow trout with fresh corn salsa. Tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella salad. Green beans almandine. And fresh baked bread with elephant garlic and olive oil for dipping.”

I headed for the countertop. “Holy cow. Leo, you didn’t have to do this. This is amazing. How did you manage to get off work so early?”

He didn’t look up from the plate he was arranging the food on. “I thought you’d probably need dinner, so I ducked out early.”

“You know,” I told him, snitching a butter-slicked green bean off the plate. “When I first met you, I misjudged you. I had you all wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Leo glanced at me, making the side of my face heat up.

I lifted myself up onto the countertop next to where he was working, my stocking feet dangling. “I thought you were a womanizer.” When he frowned down at the plate, I added, “You know…a playa.”

Leo snorted. “Did you just say,
a playa
?”

Laughing, I reached to sneak another bean. “Yes. Yes, I did. But like I said, I was totally wrong about you. You’re not half-bad.”

He grasped my hand when it hovered above the food, then turned it so that it was palm up, before bending down to press a kiss to it. I froze in place, dazzled by the way his lips on my hand could cause every nerve ending in my entire body to sing.

“Stop sneaking bites. Patience is a virtue,” he told me with a smirk, placing my hand in my lap carefully.

So is chastity,
I thought, as my insides vibrated.
Though it’s completely overrated.

“Leo?” My voice was hoarse, and I cleared my throat. “Why did you come here tonight?”

He took the plate, which looked like a page out of
Bon Appetite
magazine, and placed it in the microwave. Once the archaic appliance groaned to life, Leo approached me, nestling himself between my knees, and brushing his nose against mine tenderly. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you and Bowen,” he whispered, his breath dancing across my face.

My heart tugged. I knew it shouldn’t have, and I knew it was premature, but it did. He’d not only been thinking about me all evening…but he’d been thinking about my son, too. Was this really happening? I brought my mouth to his. When our lips brushed together, it felt ethereal. “I’m glad you came.”

I watched Leo’s dark eyes close slowly, relishing in the fact that he, too, was savoring the moment. My body ached to have him so close, and I tried to keep myself from linking my feet behind his back and asking him to take me to the floor. When I raised my hand to run it through his slicked-back hair, I realized that it was shaking, and smiled. It’d been so long since I’d felt anxious in the presence of a man.

My fingers brushed along his skin from his forehead to the back of his neck, causing Leo released a sigh that morphed into a growl that made every hair on my neck stand up. Before I could process what was happening, he’d leaned me against the upper cupboards, and pressed his lips to mine. His tongue was warm when it teased my mouth open, and my pulse began to thud so violently in my chest that my ribcage was jolting.

I wanted him. Oh dear Lord, I wanted him with everything inside of me. It’d been entirely too long…

Ding.

Leo stepped away to retrieve the plate, and I slipped out of the kitchen to check on Bowen. As soon as I was around the corner, my back hit the hallway wall, and I stopped to catch my breath. Why did it feel like I was going to shoot into space whenever he kissed me? It felt like I was chock full of rocket fuel and ready to orbit the moon. Pressing my hand to my heart, I realized that it was positively leaping out of my chest. Could Leo hear it beating in the kitchen?

The sound of shifting covers, and the creak of my old headboard brought me back to reality. I pushed myself off of the wall and walked unsteadily to my bedroom, where Bowen was rolling over in bed, mumbling in his sleep. Touching his head, I breathed a sigh of relief. He was back to a normal temperature, and sleeping soundly. I adjusted the quilt around his small body, and left the room to find Leo setting up our plates on the coffee table with a lit candle in the shape of a cocker spaniel between them.

When I smiled, he shrugged and said, “It was all I could find.”

“Bowen gave it to me for Christmas last year.” I sat down on the couch, and tucked my feet underneath me. “He picked it out himself at the dollar store.”

Leo nodded knowingly. “I thought so. Here, try this. I asked the savory chef to make the corn salsa especially for you. You mentioned once that you liked basil.”

I bit down on my lip. Holy hell, he’d been listening to me. I took the bite he was holding out, and chewed it slowly. The flavors were exquisite. “That’s wonderful, thank you.”

When he grinned, I caught a glimpse of the smile he’d shared with Gianna. “I thought you’d enjoy it. It’s locally caught trout.”

“I’ve never eaten at the Resort before.” I took another bite, and closed my eyes with bliss.

Leo speared a green bean. “Why not?”

I wiped my mouth on a napkin. “I’m on a single mom salary. Bo and I eat at home most every night.”

Leo watched me thoughtfully. “Food can be such an amazing hobby. I’ve found some really cool restaurants here in town. Wanna try out some places I’ve discovered?”

I nodded, covering my mouth.

Leo touched my knee, sending a shiver up my leg. “I mean, would you and Bowen like to try some of these restaurants?”

“We’d love to.” I reached out and brushed a crumb off his cheek. “I mean, Bo typically only eats a handful of foods, but you have gotten him to try new things. It might take some time…”

He held out a bite of bread soaked in olive oil, and winked at me when I bit into it. “Anna, I’ve got all the time in the world.”

We ate the meal slowly while the cocker spaniel candle flickered, talking about everything from our grade-point average in high school, to the woes of failed relationships. Leo confessed that he hadn’t dated since his business partner took off with his girlfriend, and that he’d been devastated by the betrayal on both parts. By the time two hours had passed, our empty plates were still resting on the coffee table. Leo and I were cuddled up on the couch with our legs twisted together, and his fingers tracing circles on my side.

As we lay there, I wondered where this was heading. Was Leo interested in dating me? Would we become an
item
after tonight? I looked at the bluebird tattoo on his neck and laughed softly. I was getting ahead of myself. Way ahead. After all these years of working and caring for Bowen, maybe it wasn’t so bad for me to focus on having a little bit of fun for once. After all, a romp in the hay, or on the couch, was an appetizing thought…

“Anna?” Leo asked, shifting so that we were facing each other. “I’m really having fun hanging out with Bowen.”

I stopped picturing him with his shirt off and smiled. “Cooking with a kid isn’t cramping your style?”

His eyebrows rose. “Not at all. I like Bo. He makes me slow down and breathe. He helps me see the small details I tend to overlook.”

Nodding, I said, “I know. That’s my favorite thing about Bowen. I wish more people could see that in him.”

We stared at each other for a long moment, the sound of the clock ticking in the next room the only sound I could hear. There was so much I wanted to say. Was this real? Was it a fleeting attraction between the two of us? Did it even matter? I loved the way Leo’s arms felt around me. I loved the way he looked at me and saw inside of my head. I loved…

I swallowed. I loved too easily, that’s what. But it
did
feel marvelous when Leo touched me, and for now that was enough.

Leo scooted closer, and his body pressed against mine. “I’m having a hard time not kissing you, Anna.”

My body naturally arched toward him, bringing our chests flush against each other. The all too familiar, and ever so welcome, buzz returned to my head.

“Then don’t.”

That was all the permission he needed. He rolled me so that he was above me on the couch. We kissed like two hormone-crazed teenagers, the silver chain leading from his belt loop to his wallet pressing into my side, and sending a thrilling chill across my stomach. His hands moved frantically, tugging and pulling at the hem of my shirt, while I gripped Leo like I was drowning in the ocean, and he was the life raft. Maybe I was drowning. Desire flowed through my veins like an overfilled river just seconds before it morphs into a flash flood.

Leo moved his mouth down my jawline and into my hair, where he drew in a long, jagged breath before leaving a hot trail down my neck to my collarbone. With one smooth movement, my shirt came up and over my head, fluttering to the floor soundlessly. When his hands touched me softly, almost reverently, I released a shuddering sigh and gripped his now tousled hair in my fists.

I wanted him. I wanted him so bad I might have set the couch on fire.

I slid my hands down the length of Leo’s body, and began fumbling with the button fly on his tattered jeans, warranting a groan from deep within his chest.

“No.”

My eyes popped open. “I…what?”

“No.” This time Leo’s voice was firm. He grasped my wrist and moved it away from his waist.

I looked down. Had I worn one of my grubby bras? Nope. Black with white polka dots. Thank goodness. “What’s wrong?” I said, my eyes still crossed and my lips still swollen.

“This isn’t right.” He sat up and ran a shaky hand through his hair, causing it to fall across his forehead.

“Excuse me?” I scrambled to sit up and reach for my T-shirt.

Leo picked up the crumpled cotton and handed it to me. “I should go.”

“You should…wait, you’re leaving?” Humiliation seared my cheeks, and I pulled my shirt back on with jerky movements. Where had it gone wrong? Because it felt pretty damn right to me!

Leo stood up. “I’m sorry, Anna.”

“You’re sorry?” I croaked, following him to the front door. “I have no idea what just happened.”

Leo opened the door, letting the crisp fall air into the house, but wheeled around on his heel just before he stepped out. I drew in a sharp breath when his hands ensconced my face, and he ran a thumb across my still-throbbing lips.

“You deserve better than this,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I don’t want a one-nighter with you.”

Though just thirty seconds before, I’d have been willing to throw all of my standards out the window for a few minutes of bliss with Leo on the couch. My eyes filled with tears. I meant more to him than just a roll in the hay. He wanted more with me than something casual.

When he noticed my damp eyes, Leo shook his head and brushed his knuckles across my cheekbone. “Don’t be upset. I don’t mean to reject you. You just deserve more respect than this.”