84
" Nova Scotians, sweet pea.” I choke on nothing particular except the absurdity of what just came out of his mouth. “I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” Ren grins as he turns off the heat underneath the stew and covers it with a lid. “I need an endearment for you. I’m trying them out.” “Um. How about Frankie? That’ll do fine.” “Pff.” Ren closes the distance between us, standing inside my legs. Those warm, calloused hands slip around my neck and delve into my hair, massaging aching muscles. “You call me sweet things.” I groan as he hits a tender spot. It makes my eyes fall shut. “The Italian word for a root vegetable. And a thinly veiled reference to a brutal, pillaging Viking. Not exactly amorous.” “They don’t have to be amorous,” he says quietly. “They just have to be mine, for you…turtledove.” “Nope.” “Huckleberry.” “Hell, no.” “Lambkin.” I crack an eye open and give him a look. “You’re hopeless.” “We both knew that.” He presses a long kiss to my forehead again. “You’re in my kitchen,” he whispers, tipping my head up to meet his eyes. “Pinch me.” I grab a nice little bit of skin at his side. Just skin, because there sure as shit isn’t any fat on his torso. “Ow! Frankie, I was being figurative.” Oops. “Sorry. I’m a literal gal, Zenzero.” I grab his hips and pull him closer. “Let me kiss it better. "
― Chloe Liese , Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, #2)
100
" My pulse thunders in my ears. It feels like my heart’s rattling my ribs loose, it’s pounding so violently inside my chest. If he touches me any further, I won’t be strong enough to resist Ren anymore. I’ll throw myself at him, beg him to give me everything for just a little while. To give me for now until he can have forever with her.
Her.
God, my blood boils, and a kick of anger surges through my veins. I hate her. I’m wildly jealous of this woman, who I can only assume is entirely, completely worthy of him. And I know, I trust that she is, because I trust Ren. He’s measured and thoughtful. He has his head screwed on straight. He values the right things.
She’s probably an understated beauty, because Ren’s too wholesome to need a knockout—he only asks for beauty from within. She’s one of those rescue-shelter volunteers who bakes perfectly circular chocolate chip cookies and makes friends with all the grandmas on the block. She wants three kids—two boys and a girl—and she loves to scrapbook. She also reads those criminally sex-free romances and is the least erotically adventurous woman on the planet—
Whoa, there, Francesca. Getting a little nasty, aren’t we?
Well, yes. My thoughts have turned uncharitable. That’s my jealousy talking. That’s my covetous envy. A fierce possessiveness for someone I have no right to. An unwarranted, unfair animosity toward a woman I should be happy for.
“I want to apologize, Frankie. About last night.”
I spin, tugged out of my thoughts. “What?”
Ren frowns up at me from his crouched position, petting Pazza. “I don’t remember everything, because that headache was…unearthly painful, and I’d taken one of the pills for it that Amy prescribed me, but I have a vague memory of being very into hand holding.”
Heat rushes through me as I bite my lip. God, you’d think we’d made out, the way thinking of it affects me. “You were.”
He grimaces. “It was unprofessional of me. I’m sorry.” His face transforms to a wide smile as Pazza licks his face, perching her muddy paws on his knees.
“Pazza, down.” My voice is sharp, and she drops immediately, jogging over to me.
Ren slowly stands with a look of wariness on his face. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Just Pazza. Sh-she’ll ruin your slacks.” I point at the grass and mud staining his knees.
He smiles and shrugs. “I don’t care, Frankie. I can do my laundry. I’m a spot-treating wizard, actually.”
“Of course, you are.” I can’t get a stain out of my clothes to save my life.
Why do all these little things about him add up to something so perfectly right to me? Why does he have to be so wonderful?
Why do I have to be so fucked up? "
― Chloe Liese , Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, #2)
