Page 75 of Waste of Worth

“Yes, but all of it?”

Because it looked like she was bringing her whole damn studio setup.

“Well, probably not all of it,” Karen admitted. “But you didn’t say where we were going to, or what we would be doing there, so I have to be prepared.”

“Because I’m trying to make it a surprise, sweetheart.”

Karen smiled, her brown eyes twinkling with amusement.

That was really all Dino hoped to achieve by doing this for her—a smile, her happiness, and time away from the bustle of a city that seemed to be swallowing him whole every other day. Karen wanted to do normal things, like go out to dinner or take a weekend trip away. Dino had woken up that Saturday with a sudden need pressing down on his shoulders like it was the weight of the world; he wanted to do normal for her.

Even if it was only a weekend outside of the city in a small cabin on a lake.

It was still something.

“I don’t think you’ll need all of it,” Dino said, “but maybe half of it won’t hurt.”

Karen seemed to accept that answer easily enough, and quickly went about picking through her pile of photography equipment to decide what was going, and what stayed behind. She did it carefully, weighing the pros and cons of leaving certain lenses behind, never mind picking between three cameras. Eventually, she narrowed it down to one camera, and two bags.

Dino was grateful.

She had been so involved in her work at his restaurant that she hadn’t had time to indulge her love of photography as often as she used to. Dino knew that she was thankful for the job and money, because now bills and food were the last thing she had to worry about at the end of the month. He still didn’t have any doubt that if offered the chance to do what she loved, Karen would take it in a heartbeat.

Really, Dino didn’t blame her.

He hoped this weekend away would give her the chance to get back behind the camera, if only for a short time, and forget that the rest of world existed.

He just wanted to watch her get lost, and do the same.

It was a simple enough request, wasn’t it?

Dino didn’t think he was asking for much.

“Are we going to get on the road?” Karen asked, bringing Dino out of his thoughts as she came to stand in front of him. “Or are you going to keep standing there and staring at me?”

Mischief practically wafted from her.

She was so happy.

She never once questioned him about all of this, or why he was doing it, for that matter.

It was one of many things he liked a great deal about Karen. She was grateful for what he gave, and never really asked for more. She didn’t push him beyond the lines in the sand he drew, even when she probably should.

“Yeah,” he said after a moment, “we can get on the road.”

“Good.” Karen flashed him a beaming smile and slung her weekend bag over her shoulder. “Be careful with my—”

Before she could even finish that sentence, Dino leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth to shut her up. Karen’s surprised squeak quickly melted away and she pushed closer to him, one of her hands wrapping around his neck and tangling into his hair to keep him in place. She wasted no time deepening the kiss as he grabbed her around the waist and held her tight.

All too soon, he was pulling away, needing to clear the sudden cloud that had fallen over his mind. Karen blinked up at him, a lazy, happy grin curving the edges of her pink lips upward.

“That was nice,” she whispered. “Unexpected, but nice.”

“I’ll take care of your stuff,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me to. You know that, right?”

Karen stared up at him, silent and searching in her gaze. He had the distinct feeling that she too had caught the true meaning in his words, despite how they had sounded on the surface.

It wasn’t just her stuff, but her, too.