He tried to make a grab for her, which she easily evaded with a swiveling of her chair. “Oh, Madison, it’s no wonder I love you. All right, no food emojis for sex.”
“Not funny, Kyle,” she said as he tried desperately to stop laughing. “I’m dead serious.”
He was like a kid at a party sucking helium from the balloons. “I know you are, Mad, but I’m feeling pretty giddy right now since I can meet every condition you’ve listed.”
“Good.” She edged away again. “I’m almost finished. You will not distract me or exhaust me.”
That silenced his mirth. “Point of clarification. What doesnot exhaustmemean? Because I’m going to want to make love with you well into the night. Right now, I can’t promise I can have you once and then let you go.”
She shivered, her throat moving delicately as she swallowed. “I didn’t mean that exactly—although one of us might need to be practical if I start falling asleep during the dinner hour. I meant that I don’t want you to make demands on me. Stuff like that.”
Tricky items for her. He could hear all her baggage riding that condition. “Tell me more about what kinds of demands you mean.”
Slapping the recipe card against her knee, she fought to meet his eyes. “Don’t laugh.”
He crossed his heart. “Never.”
Nodding, she worried her lip a moment more before saying, “I don’t want you asking me to go to things you know I won’t like, or expecting me to dress or act more like a girl. I wear black. I have short hair. I don’t like dresses or skirts. Or heels. I will put something nice on that isn’t my high-tops to go out, but it’s usually black boots. And I hate makeup. The mascara always gets in my eyes and makes them burn, and when I put it on, I feel?—”
Another story hung heavy in the air. His heart pulsed withmore hurt for the girl she’d been. But he knew not to reach for her or press her more. She was struggling enough.
“I don’t feel like myself with all that goop on my face,” she finally finished, huffing out a long breath. “Oh, and no PDA in front of our friends. I don’t want Nanine knowing. Having Thea catch us was mortifying enough. Sure, they all know about the whole Operation Madison thing, but I don’t want us playing footsie under the table during Drink and Divulge.”
Okay, that hurt. “What happens when we finally agree things are going really great between us and that it’s making your cooking even better?”
Her eyes flitted away before coming back to his. “Should we both feel like we’re a lock, then we can talk about changing the status quo.”
Her hesitant admission blew his heart wide open. “All right. We’ll do it that way for now and revisit it when the time comes.”
She slapped the recipe card down on the counter. “Circling back for absolute clarity’s sake… You’re agreeing to all my conditions?”
Very slowly, so she would know what he planned, he eased his hands onto her shoulders. She didn’t push him away, so he settled them gently around her slender arms. “I am.”
“Are you sure?” she pressed, that wary glint visible in her gaze. “I know some of them aren’t easy. You can’t change your mind, Kyle.”
He squeezed her shoulders, wishing he could pull her to his chest. But not yet. “I’m sure. Don’t you know by now that I love you because of who you are and how you are? I wouldn’t change anything about you.”
She started rocking a little in place. “You’re going to want me to say the wholeI love youthing a lot, aren’t you?”
His whole frame stilled. “You can say it or not say it asyou want. Deep down I know how you feel. I always have. Friends, remember?”
Leaning closer, she lowered her gaze, but he felt the soft woman he’d so rarely had a chance to see until now. “I do love you. It’s just hard for me to say it all lovey dovey like. But I’ll try. No, forget that. There is no try. I’llworkon saying it more.”
This time he had to cup her cheek and raise her face to his. “That’s perfect. I appreciate it. Now, are you ready to hearmyconditions?”
“Damn, I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t have any.”
They shared a conspiratorial grin before they both laughed.
She finally nodded shakily. “Shoot.”
Taking her hands in his, he smiled into her watchful eyes. “I want to remind you again that I support your goal of winning your Michelin stars. You might be my personal goal, but we share that professional goal.”
“Got it.” Her posture was a little less stiff now. “Thank you. What else?”
“I promise not to distract you during work, but shall we agree that after 12:01 a.m. you’re all mine?”
Her gulp was music to his ears. “Sure. That’s very specific of you, which works for me. It gives me extra time to clean up or have a drink at the restaurant with the staff if we run late. Oh, and time to clean up because— Yes, that’s fine. I agree.”
