Page 53 of Brighter Shades of Light

I stepped forward and pulled him close to me, pressing my face into his wavy hair. His body relaxed at my touch and his arms slipped around me, too.

“Why do you smell like strawberries?” I pulled back to look at him but kept my arms fastened around his lean hips.

“Come inside and see for yourself.”

Well, hot damn.

I followed him into the house and shut the door, looking around. A person’s house said a lot about who they were, and I wondered what the bare walls and lack of décor said about Sebastian.

The only thing that caught my eye was a piano against the far wall.

Did he play?

He passed through an open archway, and I was several paces behind him. We entered a huge kitchen that reminded me of the ones I saw in movies, with a lot of windows to let in natural light, an island in the middle, a crap load of cabinets, and a fancy touch-screen refrigerator.

“I’ve always wanted to cook in a kitchen like this,” I said, running a hand along the smooth marble countertop.

“You can cook?”

“I’m no Gordon Ramsey, but I do all right.” Spotting a tray of food on the table, I approached it. Freshly cut strawberries, oranges, and cantaloupe surrounded two bowls of steel-cut oatmeal topped with banana slices. “Wow.”

“It’s too much, isn’t it?” Sebastian ruffled the back of his hair and stared down at the hardwood floor, awkward and adorable. “I admit I’m not used to having company. I invited you to breakfast, though, so I thought it best to have food prepared. You don’t have to eat it. I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

He was rambling. Heneverrambled. Damn, he must really be nervous.

“It looks great,” I said, touching his chin. “I’m starving.”

I didn’t say I’d rather eat him than the food. Giving him head the other day had been amazing. I loved the way he tasted, loved how he gripped my hair as he came, and how he looked at me afterward, his eyes barely open as he tried to catch his breath. A sign of a job well done.

Since the morning was so nice, he grabbed the tray and took it outside to the back patio. I went through the sliding glass door after him and stilled when I looked over the balcony. The view was out of this world; the blue-green water glistening as the sun hit the surface, a mountain in the distance, and so many trees, their leaves coloring the mountainside in orange, yellow, and red.

“This is beautiful.”

Sebastian placed the tray on the two-seater table and followed my gaze. A serene expression washed over his face. “It is.” He snapped out of it. “I’ll get the coffee.”

He went into the house and returned a minute later with two steaming mugs.

“Thanks.” I took a mug and smiled when I saw the coffee was several shades lighter than his. He remembered how much cream and sugar I put in mine. When I took a drink, it was spot on. “Excellent observation skills, Doctor.”

“I should hope so,” he said, sitting in the chair opposite mine. “Otherwise, I’ve been in the wrong line of work for all of my adult life.”

It was the perfect opening to ask him some questions.

“So, you got your Ph.D. in Chemistry?”

“Yes. Physics, as well.”

I nodded, impressed. “And then you worked as a nuclear chemist? For how long?”

“Eight years.” Sebastian took a drink and stared at the picturesque view. “I graduated high school at fifteen and started college right after. It was challenging but worth it in the end.”

“Do you enjoy being a teacher? Seems like a big change from what you were doing.”

“I enjoy it, yes.” He continued to stare at the water before moving his eyes to me. “We should eat.”

I got the feeling he steered the conversation away because it would’ve led to something he didn’t want to talk about. But what?

My hunger outweighed the curiosity, though, and I dug into the oatmeal. He’d sweetened it just enough, and the banana added a lot to the flavor, pairing well with the honey. Over breakfast, we talked a little more. He asked how I was doing in my other classes, and I said I was doing a lot better. I asked him about his work and picked at the fruit, eating a handful of strawberries as he described his vision for the university. His research involved working in a lab, but he also spent time applying for grants to help further certain research projects.