What A Woman Wants

Based on episode 3: Gumbo & Glory

Rating: PG
Author: Jailynn
WordCount: 917
Feedback: Please and thank you
A/N: This was written a while ago and posted on my LJ. It's a quick fiction. Not very good, but I had fun writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it. I'm working on the 3rd chapter of One Summer and I hope to have it done soon. Thanks for all the feedback and alerts. It means so, so much to me.
Status: Done.
Disclaimer: Not Mine. Never will be mine
Couple: Zoe/Wade
Fandom: Hart of Dixie
POV: Wade

=xXx=

"A woman wants a romantic gesture."

It's been ringing in his head since Shelly told them earlier. Wade will not admit that's what prompts this. He just knows how much fitting in means to Zoe, and yeah, he'll admit he likes having her around. She's fun. And never boring. So, what the hell, right?

It takes him hours to get it ready. The slow building of the base, adding the right ingredients at the right time. His uncle's recipe is precise.

He wipes his brow, sweat gathering along his forearm. The suffocating heat from outside and the flame from the stove make it feel like he's the one cooking instead of the shrimp, but he stays with it. He stirs the wooden spoon, adding the last of the spices to the mix.

Lowering the flame of the burner, Wade sits back on his ratty sofa and sips at his bottle of beer while the gumbo simmers. He closes his eyes, leaning his head back against the couch. The heavenly smell of the gumbo fills his small home. He smiles to himself. Already picturing Zoe's face when she sees what he's done. Maybe she'll be so thankful she'll give him another kiss.

Wade licks his lips. A nice long kiss would definitely be a welcome payment for all this hard work. He can almost feel her now. Her body over his, maybe straddling his hips as he sits under her. His hands in her hair. Her soft needy moans urging him on, begging for more. His lips sliding down her neck.

Oh yeah, that'll be payment enough.

=xXx=

She places second. Or rather he places second. (Frankly he thinks they were robbed. His uncle's gumbo is some of the best outside of Louisiana.) Her face shows her shock over winning anything. Zoe looks around her. Her deep brown eyes wide and confused.

Wade wipes down the bar of the Rammer Jammer and watches. His lips curl up, a hint of a smile, perhaps a tiny bit smug. Next year he'll place first. Next year he'll have more time to let the gumbo simmer and blend. Zoe walks up to Lavon and he hears her thank him for making the gumbo. His friend, and the town mayor, gapes at Zoe, already planning on setting her straight.

He struts up, wrapping an arm around Lavon, "Geez, Lavon, cheating for a girl." He shakes his head, deciding to keep his secret. If she wants to believe it's their friend, he'll let her. "Where have your mayoral ethics gone?"

"Wade," she says softly, her head tilted in slight annoyance. "Can't you let us have a nice moment?"

It hurts. But no one needs to know that. He slaps his friend gently on the arm, "Sorry." And walks away.

Keeping his secret as he does. But that doesn't stop a smile from forming on his lips.

=xXx=

Lavon figures it out. Almost immediately. They know each other too well.

He teases him once he does. Wade gets him back by killing his avatar over and over again in the video game they're playing. But Wade knows that his secret is safe with his friend. Zoe will never know. And that's for the best. They go back to the way it was before, only now Lavon raises his eyebrow at him a bit more when Zoe's in the room.

Thankfully that's not often. And Zoe doesn't notice.

=xXx=

Zoe finds out weeks later. He doesn't know how she does. (Lavon is an option, but he doubts that he told her, so is Deedee.)

She shows up in a rainstorm, her clothes and hair clinging to her skin. Her brown eyes are bright. Her lips are shiny from the water still falling outside. She looks up at him and he sees a new emotion in her gaze.

"Thank you," she whispers. He doesn't hear her over the rain, but he can read her lips. Those kissable lips.

"Welcome," he says as he leans against the open door. Her glance drops from his blue eyes to the ground, her arms swing back and forth. "Wanna come in, Dr. Hart?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," she hedges, but does move closer.

He grins, carefully moving into her personal space. "Is that gonna stop you?"

"It should," Zoe looks down for a moment then back up at him. "It should."

It's the glint in her eye that makes him lean down and kiss her, but it's her response that makes him deepen the touch. He pulls her into his home, removing one of his hands from her tight body to shut the door. Wade presses her back against the wood and she uses the leverage to climb him, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her hands curl in his hair, nails scraping his scalp. Her tongue and his dancing in and out of each other's mouths. Heat builds in his veins, need pulses under his skin.

He removes his lips from hers, panting against her neck, licking at the water still clinging to the elegant arch. Her head falls back against the door, her arms hold him tightly to her. Wade lifts his head and smiles at her. She smiles back, before kissing him again.

"A woman wants a romantic gesture."

Huh, he thinks as he moves them toward his bedroom. Maybe Shelly's onto something. He'll have to thank her...tomorrow.

=xXx=