Taking Shots (Assassins) Read online

  Just the thought of his lips on hers made Elli warm from head to toe; she smiled as she cuddled into the bed that smelled just like Shea as she started the movie.

  Elli was asleep before she knew it.

  Elli figured that the next day was a thing of luck, or maybe fate. She had a wedding that night, so she wasn’t gonna be able to see Shea until afterwards, but the bride got cold feet and called the thing off. From what the maid of honor had said, the bride had a little more fun the night before then she should have. She had slept with the groom’s best man. Oops, Elli hated when that happened, but today she couldn’t be happier, since she stood in Shea’s kitchen, frying chicken for a welcome home dinner.

  Shea wasn’t due back till around six, and it was 5:30. Elli kept an eye on the chicken as she started the mac and cheese. Shea had once said that he wasn’t very familiar with country cooking, and since Elli was an expert at it, she figured she’d educate him. She smoothed out the apron she had brought over, it was her Mamaw Ally’s and it was one of her prized possessions. Mamaw Ally was the one who had taught her to cook; she was also the one who had taught Elli to sing. A sad smile went across Elli’s face as she thought about the old woman that had given her so many good memories; she missed Mamaw Ally so much. She had died when Elli was twelve, so she never got to see Elli succeed in her career as a singer. Her daddy always told Elli that she reminded him of her, which made Elli feel good inside. Mamaw Ally was an amazing woman.

  Since Elli was cooking country for Shea, she decided to dress the part. Since she had to run home to get her cast iron pan, she changed, putting on a white eyelet dress that had big flowy sleeves along with her black with white swirls cowboy boots. She had her hair up since Shea liked it like that; he had once said he liked her neck in plain view which was fine by her.

  Elli was so excited to see him, she couldn’t see straight. The week had gone by so slowly. When she had done the books this morning and saw how much money she had made, she thought that would have meant that she was so super busy, and she was, but all she could think about was Shea and what he had been doing. He had been so busy; he hadn’t been able to talk to her much in the last couple of days. He had had so much promotional stuff to do and with all the baby showers and weddings she had, she had missed his calls a lot more then she would have liked.

  But tonight was about them, Elli had gone out and bought new plates for him, to butter him up before asking him to go to dinner at her parents. Fate was working in her favor and she was gonna spend the night with her man.

  Her man, she smiled at just the thought.

  Elli was just starting to set the table, when she heard the doorknob rattling.

  He was home!

  Shea was hurting, badly.

  His shoulder was aching; he had a cut along his collarbone, where that idiot, Mattias Ohlund, had slashed him with his stick. Asshole. But then again, Shea did hit him in the boards a little harder than necessary, but, oh well. Shea threw his bag on the ground as he looked for his keys. He was so happy to be home. Elli had a wedding tonight, but she promised she would come by afterwards, which was awesome. He had missed her so much.

  He found his keys and put them in the door, looking forward to the hot shower that awaited him on the other side. When he pushed the door open, he was hit by the strong smell of fried chicken.

  What the hell?

  Shea threw his bag on the couch, walking towards the kitchen where he heard sizzling and movement. When he rounded the corner, his country cutie stood in front of the stove in a cute little apron, with her hair in a messy bun. Man, she was gorgeous. She turned with a big grin on her face before she squealed and ran to him, wrapping herself around him.

  “Welcome home!” she gushed, kissing his lips loudly. He smiled against her lips, holding her close to him. She smelled like mangos again, something he found he missed a lot while he had been gone for the week. She was so soft, so warm in his arms.

  “Mm, I’ve missed you,” he nuzzled her neck before biting lightly. “Did you miss me?”

  For some reason he needed to know.

  “Of course!” she gushed with giggle as she brought his lips back to hers. He kissed her hard, pulling her as close to him as he could.

  “I didn’t expect you to be here, what happened to the wedding?” he asked, still not letting her go.

  “Bride slept with the best man, so no wedding. It’s all fate. I think I was meant to be here when you got home, making you chicken.” He smiled, kissing her nose.

  “It smells fantastic.” She smiled, looking over her shoulder at the pan.

  “Thank you, let me flip this,” she broke from his arms and flipped the chicken. Shea decided he wasn’t done holding her so he came up behind her, and held her from behind, putting his chin on her shoulder.

  “How was your week?”

  “Long, lots of crap going on, good week though, money wise at least,” she said, checking on what appeared to be mac and cheese.

  She was a Godsend.

  “That’s good.”

  “Yeah, you need to take a shower?”

  “I do, I’ll be quick.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” she said with a grin. He smacked her butt, making her squeal as he walked away.

  “You better be,” he teased as he went into the bedroom. He noticed her pink and green bag sitting at the end of the bed and smiled, hoping that meant she was staying the night. He went to his closet, grabbing a pair of sleeping pants and a tee before going into the bathroom and jumping in the shower. It felt amazing with nine jets of hot water hitting him from every direction. He closed his eyes, letting the hot water hit his aching naked body; it was almost as great as having Elli in his arms, or playing hockey. It had to come in at the top three.

  After washing up, he dried off as he stood in front of his mirror, looking at his chest. The cut was deep and dark with the black stitches holding it shut, bruising surrounded the cut. FuckingOhlund. He shook his head as he got dressed before taking out his contacts and putting his glasses on.

  When Shea came out into the kitchen, Elli was transferring food into the living room. He followed her into the living room, and stopped. There was enough food to feed an army! And where did that plate setting come from? He had white, plain plates; these were pretty blue ones with silver swirls. His table looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens: pretty napkins, a big vase of white flowers, place mats.

  “Where’d the plates come from?”

  “I bought ‘em. I didn’t like the white ones. With the blue and silver in the kitchen, I thought these went better. Do you not like ‘em?”

  “No, their nice. I was just wondering.” he picked up the plate and made a face at it, it was very girlie.

  “If you don’t like em, I’ll take ‘em back.”

  “It's just they are kinda girlie,” he said honestly. She smiled, before taking the plate from him and picking up the other one, and returning to the kitchen. “What are you doing?” he asked, following her back into the kitchen.

  “You don’t like ‘em, so I’m gonna take ‘em back. I’ll bring you a gift card and you can go pick out some different ones.”

  “No, it’s okay. I like my white ones.”

  “Oh, okay then,” she said putting the plates next to the box that he hadn’t notice earlier. She turned with two white plates and a bottle of wine, smiling. “Shall we?”

  “Yeah,” he agreed as he followed her into the living room, he pulled out her chair, and she smiled her thanks as she sat down. He sat across from her, and they dug in. He took a bite of the chicken and moaned loudly.

  “God, this is good.” She smiled before looking back down at her plate.

  “I’m glad you like it, since my gift was a bust.” He looked up at her, her face was scrunched up between her eyebrows, she seemed mad.

  “You’re not mad are you?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “No, I just wanted to get you something nice, and I apparently suck.”