Page 234

***

We get back home around six, and we’re all too tired to go anywhere, so we decide to stay in.

I shower, throw on some comfortable clothes and make my way into the kitchen. Nora’s already there, showered and wearing a white tank top and pink shorts, and of course my eyes go straight to her legs, which somehow got even more tan today.

I force them back up and immediately think about football because apparently this is my fucking life now.

“Come with me, Grumpy.” She shoves a basket into my hands.

“Where?”

“Nonna’s garden.” She smiles and heads outside.

I follow her. “To...?”

“We need zucchini, tomatoes and onions.”

I look around at the rows of vegetables. “For what?”

Her smile softens as she looks at me. “I’m cooking for you tonight.”

And there it goes again, my heart doing some crazy shit inside my chest.

“All right. Tell me what to do.”

She walks over to a zucchini plant and bends down. “You just stand there and look pretty.”

I laugh. “All right.”

The laughing stops pretty fucking quickly when my eyes drop to her ass and I have to bite back a groan.

Nope. Not looking.

By the time I manage to get my eyes somewhere safe, she’s standing in front of me holding a handful of orange flowers.

“Flowers?”

“Fiori di zucchina.”

I stare at them. “You’re decorating?”

“No, Grumpy. These are for the appetizers.”

I look from the flowers to her. “You sure?”

“Trust me?”

She’s doing her best to hide her smile at what must be the look of disgust on my face, so I try to school it. Judging by her laugh, I fail.

I nod. “All right.”

“You’ll love them.”

Her laughter fades into a soft smile just as a breeze moves through the garden, blowing a strand of hair across her face. Without thinking, I step closer and tuck it behind her ear.

“Your hair has curled.” I take a step back.

“Yeah, it does that every time I’m at the beach for a few days. It’ll go back to being straight when I go back to Chicago.”