“I do.”
“Oh! I forgot the wine.” She stood up but he stopped her.
“I’ll get it.” He got up and retrieved a bottle of wine that paired well with fettuccine and poured two glasses.
“Chardonnay,” he said as he held out a glass. “A crisp, white wine cuts through the rich butter and Parmesan cream.”
“Hmm.” She took a glass and sipped it. “Excellent choice,” she said in a voice that reminded him of a tough food critic and he chuckled. She giggled over the rim of her glass before taking another sip.
“Kara, thank you for this,” he said. “I’m worn out.”
“I thought you might be. You shouldn’t push yourself so hard, you know. You almost died.”
He winced at the reminder. “You’re right.” He managed a smile. “Even before that night, I had a tendency to push myself, to always do more.” He thought back to high school when he would come back from rugby practice, tired and worn out, having missed dinner in the dining hall. He always made something from scratch in the kitchen for Jared, Thad, and himself. It had forced him to get creative when he cooked.
“What?” Kara asked, clearly reading his thoughts.
“I got into improvised cooking in high school. Like spaghetti and hotdogs, one of Thad’s favorites. I used cut-up hotdogs to replace meatballs.” Angelo laughed. “He still orders that in my restaurant as a joke, of course.”
“What else did you make?” Kara cradled her glass of wine, listening to him intently.
“I made what I call a poor man’s tiramisu with crushed Oreo cookies and whipped cream and chocolate mocha flavored ice cream.”
“That doesn’t sound that bad actually,” Kara replied.
“It wasn’t terrible,” he admitted with a chuckle.
“So you played rugby?”
He nodded. “I was also on the swim team. My two favorite sports.”
“I’ve always wanted to play tennis,” Kara mused. “I thought it looked so fun.”
“We could try it sometime,” he suggested. “My gym has a couple of indoor courts. We could buy some rackets and give it a try?”
He didn’t miss the way her eyes lit up with the idea of trying out tennis. And just as quickly the fire in her eyes was banked as she seemed to rein in her excitement.
“Yeah, maybe,” she said softly.
He didn’t push her with anymore suggestions. Instead, he got up and collected the dishes. She helped him and they washed everything together in the sink before loading the dishwasher. They packaged up the leftover food, and when she had her back turned, he carefully removed the ring box from his pocket.
“Kara,” he began just as she turned around.
Her eyes landed on the small box in his hands and she met his gaze with shock.
“I want to give you something.” He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. Deep down he was giving her this ring in truth, even though he was going to tell her it was for appearances.
He opened the box, letting the ring speak for him.
“Angelo…” Kara’s eyes widened even more when she saw the ring.
“This isn’t something to tie you down. Think of it like a shield, where as long as you feel you need to, or want to.” He prayed she would understand that he didn’t want her to feel trapped.
“A shield,” she echoed as if considering.
“Like a warrior goddess. Use it when you need to, because you are strong enough to see it for the tool to keep you safe.” Maybe it was silly, but he’d convinced himself that anyone looking for Kara, wouldn’t be looking for an engaged or married woman who was a part of his big family.
“I can’t take this, it’s too—” she halted whatever she’d been about to say.
