“Not as good as anything you make, but it’s decent.”
“It looks great.” The chicken had a lemon glaze over the top, and the white rice was fluffy. The veggies were a combination of brussels sprouts, asparagus tips, broccoli, and mushrooms. I cut into my chicken and dragged a piece through the sauce before I popped it into my mouth. “Wow, this is good.”
We ate our dinner together in silence for a while, both of us enjoying our food while we exchanged looks across the table.
“I told my father I wouldn’t work weekends anymore.”
“And?”
“He said alright.”
“Attagirl,” he said before he took another bite. “We can leave for Palermo on Friday when you get off work. You think you can sneak away early?”
“Probably. My father doesn’t pay a lot of attention to me.”
“Good.”
“How was your day?”
“Long.”
“Why was it long?”
“I worked out and then worked on the house.”
“Worked on the house?”
“Yeah, just needed to do a couple things.”
The house seemed in perfect condition to me so I didn’t know what he needed to do, but the topic was outside my wheelhouse. I didn’t know how to use a hammer unless it was to bash someone’s skull in. “I feel bad that I’m at work all day while you’re here by yourself.”
“I’m fine, baby,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Unless you like the break…” I teased.
He smirked. “Not in the least.”
“Because I’ve kind of been all over you since I got kicked out.”
“I like having you all over me,” he said seriously.
“I just feel like we went from being a secret to being together all the time—a drastic change.”
“I like being together all the time,” he said. “I miss you when you’re gone.”
He did not look like a man who would ever say those words to anyone, but he said them to me.
“But I’m happy you’re back at the winery. And soon, I’ll be there too.”
He lay with me in bed, my leg hiked over his hip while I wore one of his t-shirts. He kneaded my ass with his fingers as he stared into my eyes, his look shifting from one of my eyes to the other from time to time. “How are things with Leo?”
“We haven’t really talked since that conversation in my office.”
“Then maybe he’s over it.”
“Things have been so busy. He probably hasn’t had much time to think about it.”
“I wish your father would drop his prejudice so I can help.”
