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Those had to mean something.
He nodded. “Okay. I’ll get the food ready.”
To walk off, she had to physically peel her feet off the ground. And, in the reflection of the windows, she saw him scan her body with a slow shake of his head before he headed to the kitchen.
ChapterThirteen
She’d changed into a pair of comfortable-looking cotton pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, neither of which did much to hinder Lucas’ memories. His body, arms, and fingers would never forget what she felt like pressed against him. His mouth and neck would hold on to the feeling of her lips and tongue for centuries.
“Raina? The food’s ready.”
She looked up from where she’d been flipping through one of the books he kept stacked on the coffee table. Where more refined homeowners might have kept decorative books about major cities, fashion, or food, he had medical textbooks.
Raina set the book down, lining it up perfectly with the others. “Medical physiology. Believe it or not, I could sit there and read that thing from cover to cover.”
“I believe it,” he said.
She joined him at the glass-top dining table and took a seat, and he set her carton of spiced, golden-orange chickpeas, spinach, and steamed rice in front of her. Had he more energy, he would have transferred everything to real bowls, but the quicker they ate, the quicker they could go to bed. They were both tired, and he enjoyed having her next to him.
“So, Dr. Saraci, what are some of your favorite foods from childhood?” she asked.
That answer, he didn’t need to think about.
“Döner kebab,” he said, taking his seat. “That’s meat cooked on a rotisserie spit and then shaved down. I like mine in a dürüm, a type of flatbread, and my mother would add shredded cabbage, carrots, cucumbers…so good.”
“Kind of like shawarma.” She took a bite of her food and moaned, head bobbing. “Wow. This isgood,Saraci. We’re going to have to go here sometime. Maybe on one of our date nights? Which is one of the things we’re supposed to discuss.”
“What about Saturdays? I only work one Saturday out of the month, and I rarely have to do emergency surgeries.”
She nodded. “Okay. Saturdays.”
“Let’s go back a moment.” He’d told her a little about his background. Now, he wanted to learn more about hers. “Your mother’s from Senegal. Did you grow up surrounded by the culture?”
“Not really. My mother moved here in her late teens and didn’t carry on much of the traditions outside of the food. It’s very meat-heavy, so for a while, my mother felt like I was departing from my roots when I went vegetarian when I could subsist on Senegalese or Senegambian rice alone. She didn’t give me the cooking gene, though.”
“You can’t cook?”
“I can follow a recipe.”
“We can build on that.”
She grinned. “I try to incorporate traditional elements where possible, but most of what I learned came from research. I did a shoot where I wore a gris-gris, which is like a charm or an amulet commonly worn around the neck. Although many, if not most, Senegalese people are Muslim, you can see African influences interwoven within their faith. Like healers, spirit guides, diviners…”
His ears perked up. “Most people from Senegal are Muslim? I grew up Muslim.”
“Because of my father, we went to Baptist churches. We didn’t grow up of Islamic faith.” With each bite she took, she sighed as if it was the best thing she’d eaten in a while. “What about you? Was your family more traditional?”
“Both my parents were Muslim, but my mother was more traditional,” he shared. “Then me and my siblings shifted away from organized religion as we grew older.”
Yet, he was the only one shunned for it.
At first, he’d resented his mother for the way she’d treated him, but as he grew older, he saw how his father’s absence changed her. How much she’d needed to hold tight to her faith to keep her head on straight. The only person in his family who still practiced was his brother Jonathan, and compared to their mother’sIhsanlevel of faith, Jonathan was still in Islamic faith “preschool.”
“What about now?” Raina asked.
“Now?” He shrugged. “I’m a doctor. The first part of my life was governed by faith. This part is governed by medicine and science. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
For all they knew, the next phase of his life would revolve around being a husband.
