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I swung open the door to find Dante standing there, phone in hand, concerned expression on his handsome face. I pulled the phone from my ear and stammered, “What are you doing here?”
“Your text said ‘wish you were here with me.’ So here I am.”
“You dropped everything and ran right over? Why?” I stepped back and held the door open for him, staring at him in amazement.
“Why? Because you wanted to talk to me,” Dante said, and drew me into his arms. “Fortunately, I happened to be close by.”
That was absolutely astonishing to me, the fact that I mattered enough to him to come right over because of an offhand comment. “Thank you,” I whispered, clinging to him for just a moment before releasing him and stepping back embarrassedly.
He put his phone in the pocket of his black wool overcoat and took my hand and led me to the bedroom, looking appraisingly at the new furniture as he said, “Come sit down and talk to me, Charlie. We’ll have to do that in here because your living room furniture has yet to arrive.”
I let him lead me to the bed and sat beside him on the plush mattress, drawing one of the pillows onto my lap. The one I’d grabbed was pale green on one side, deep blue on the other, the fabric slightly iridescent. I ran my hand over it absently, and it was smooth and cool and silky to the touch. “I knew that’d be the perfect color combination,” he murmured. When I glanced at him, he said, “When I picked out the linens, I was imagining you lying naked in this bed, your gorgeous skin offset against the deep blue sheets. And I thought of the extraordinary pale jade green of your eyes, and just knew these colors would be right for you.”
I slid close and put my arms around him and kissed him, and he pulled me to him and deepened the kiss. That reminded me of something, and I stood up abruptly, stammering, “Hang on a minute, ok? I’ll be right back.” I fled to the bathroom.
I brushed my teeth quickly, then ran a comb over my hair, which was sticking up in every direction. I wished I wasn’t dressed in ratty gym shorts left over from high school, but oh well.
He was right where I left him, perched on the edge of the bed, watching me closely when I came out of the bathroom. I was beginning to realize this was a thing with him, this careful scrutiny. There was a sharp intelligence in his dark eyes – this was clearly a man that missed nothing. He was serious and focused right now, a different version of himself than the relaxed, playful Dante that had broken into my parents’ house with me. I could tell he was concerned that his gesture of kindness was going to backfire and make me upset with him.
I sat down beside him and picked up his hand with both of mine. “Thank you again for the furniture. I really do appreciate it, so much. And I’m sorry that I was acting weird about it.” I raised his hand to my lips and kissed it.
He looked into my eyes and said, “Please never, ever think you don’t deserve good things, Charlie. You deserve them more than anyone I’ve ever met.” He kissed me again before drawing me into his arms and holding me securely.
And I whispered very quietly, “Thank you for taking care of me.”
When I arrived at work a couple hours later for the super exciting lunch shift, my thoughts were still on Dante. He’d stayed for only a few minutes this morning, just long enough to kiss me and reassure me and make me feel so incredibly happy. And then he had to leave for a day of meetings (about what I couldn’t begin to guess).
I was sort of daydreaming, my work shirt in my hands, when Jamie stuck his head in the employee dressing room and said, “Hey Charlie. Could you come and see me in my office before you begin your shift?”
I nodded, then frowned at his retreating back. Ok, first of all, being called into your ex-boyfriend’s office like he was the principal and you were a naughty school kid was sort of degrading. Secondly, I knew what this little discussion was going to be about, and boy, did I not want to hear Jamie’s opinions on my love life.
I got dressed for my shift, then stuck a neutral expression on my face and went to his office. “Hi,” I said from the doorway. “Where’s Dmitri?” I almost never saw one of them without the other.
“He had to run over to his sister Ani’s apartment, but he’ll be here soon. Sit down, Charlie.”
I sank onto one of the wooden chairs in front of his desk, and took a good, long look at my ex for the first time in days. He was growing his hair out now that he no longer worked in law enforcement. The light brown was streaked with golden blonde and always looked a bit tousled. He was surfing a lot more frequently these days, so his tan was deeper, bringing out his sky blue eyes. These things made him look like he had in high school. Like he had when I first fell in love with him. I dropped my gaze to my hands, which were folded in my lap.
