Page 130 of Captivated

And horny.

The horny bit she would deal with once Joe was awake, and she had food in her stomach. Jesus, she needed to have some kind of priorities where this man and sex was concerned, or she was going to end up starving herself because she would much rather stay in bed and fuck her days away with him.

That’s what he did to her.

“Could we just get a spread?” Liliana asked. “A little bit of everything, but nothing extravagant. Just basics.”

“Eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, waffles …”

The guy on the other end of the phone downstairs at the restaurant kept rattling food off like Liliana didn’t understand what basics meant when it came to breakfast foods. Yes, she understood. That’s why she asked for it.

“Make it two or three different kinds of eggs,” Liliana interjected, stopping the guy from saying more. “Buffet-style, okay?”

“That’ll be about an hour.”

“No problem. Thanks.”

At least, that gave Liliana a little bit of time to clean herself up, and try to pull some clothes on to look decent. She didn’t feel like giving anybody but Joe a show. And since he was still sleeping …

She gave him another look.

Yep, still sleeping.

She headed for the bathroom, and shut the door behind her to keep the noise of the shower from filtering out. It took her all of ten minutes—maybe fifteen—to put the shower to use, and then step out to dry off. She had just finished rinsing her toothbrush when she heard the faintest knock echoing from the bedroom.

No way the hour had passed by that quickly.

Maybe it had.

Liliana didn’t even bother to check the clock as she left the bathroom, She headed for the door, and quietly said over her shoulder as she reached for the doorknob, “Joe, get up. Food’s here.”

He didn’t even stir.

Huh.

Maybe it was more than just them fucking like rabbits into the wee hours that put him into such a deep sleep. Maybe it was something like everything going on around them, and the stress he was dealing with. He never complained—never said a thing was wrong, or bad. He just did what he had to do.

And damn …

Liliana loved him for that.

She was coming to learn—although she hadn’t told him yet—that she loved Joe Rossi for a lot of reasons, and for a lot of things.

Most importantly, because he was him.

And he loved her.

“Joe,” Liliana said louder as she pulled open the door.

“Say his name again,” came a low, threatening voice, “and I’ll kill him before he can roll over, Lilibet.”

Lilibet.

It was the nickname first, and the voice second that she recognized. A part of her didn’t want to turn and face the man waiting behind the door because the idea of facing him again when he wasn’t even supposed to know where she was terrified the hell out of her.

“Look at me,” Rich ordered.

She tore her gaze away from Joe.