Maybe I’d have to try tying him to the bed… I could get some nice cuffs or some soft rope. It’d be fun for both of us. And the perfect distraction.
We ordered our food and a couple of drinks each, and Louise promised it wouldn’t be long. I told her there was no rush and Darcy shot me a quizzical look as she walked away. “We have to get to work though?”
“We’ve got plenty of time,” I said, taking his hand again and squeezing. “And we need to find you a new hobby. Besides sex obviously.”
“Hey, I run. That counts!”
“Do you enjoy it?”
“Sort of? It’s not my favourite thing. But I like getting to see you afterwards, it’s my reward for getting through it.”
I smiled as my heart did a little flip. “I like getting to see you too. You look very cute in your shorts.”
“That’s good, because I got them for you.” He smiled teasingly, squeezing my hand. “And they are very comfortable, I really do like running in them. But mostly it was for you.”
The admission was playful, but it felt like there was more to it. A need for me to notice him, to see him and pay attention to who he was. To separate him from his work and his dreams and find out who he was underneath them, because while they were part of who he was, they weren’t everything.
And not for the first time that morning, I wondered what would happen if I left.
I knew Darcy would be fine without me, I wasn’t egotistical enough to think he needed me that much, but I did worry that, without anyone to stop him, he’d throw himself into work and burn himself to a crisp, hiding his stress behind a smile and fooling everyone into believing he was fine.
Because even though Alfie and Milo knew him inside out, Darcy had clearly learnt how to hide things from them.
He probably thought he was doing them a favour too. Not burdening them with his stress.
It didn’t work like that though.
“Hopefully I’ll get to see you in them more often,” I said. “And your T-shirts too. You look cute dressed down.”
“You don’t think it’s too casual?” he asked, plucking at the T-shirt and frowning.
“No, why would it be? You spend all your day in a kitchen making ice cream—comfortable and practical is the name of the game here.”
“True.” He sighed then chuckled. “Next thing you know I’ll be wearing those ugly chef’s Crocs.”
“Hey, don’t knock them, they’re awesome. I might have to get some more. My last pair died before I moved back.”
“Just let Alfie know what you want, and we can get you some,” he said, his thumb running over the back of my hand, slowly tracing every bump, ridge, and scar.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.” He glanced out the window again, and I realised he was looking at the little stationery shop a bit further down the street. “You know what I really used to enjoy? Colouring. I got one of those adult colouring books years ago when they got really popular, and it was so therapeutic. Do you think they still do them? I’d kind of forgotten about it until now, but that might be fun to try again. Maybe help me disconnect for a bit.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said. “Hey, if you get some watercolour markers or whatever, you can always colour my tattoos in too.”
“Really?” he asked eagerly, then he sat back and swallowed, looking away like he was embarrassed. “If that’s not too weird, I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Of course not, otherwise I wouldn’t have suggested it. And it’ll wash off.”
“I’d like that. Maybe we could, er, watch a movie together or something too? Maybe cook? Not ice cream, but something else.”
“I’ll always cook with you, angel. Making food for people is my favourite thing,” I said, my mind already suggesting a thousand things I wanted him to try. Recipes I’d collected from every corner of the globe I’d been to, shared with me by the people I met. Every one of them had a story, a memory, and I wanted nothing more than to share them with the beautiful man sitting opposite me.
“Mine too.”
“Have you ever baked bread before? That’s one of the most relaxing things I’ve ever done. It takes time, but it’s worth it in the end. And nothing smells better.”
“I haven’t. Mostly because of the multiple hours for one loaf of bread thing. I’m pretty sure I’ll spend all that time making it only to eat it within an hour.”
