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I turned around, and she blew me a soft kiss. I pretended to catch it. Then I smiled like a demented thing throughout the entire fifteen-minute drive home. I was still smiling as I jogged over to the front door of my condo.
I stopped smiling when Gio emerged from his place two doors down.
He gaped at me. “Dom?”
“Oh, hey,” I said as casually as I could while thinking, Shit! Shit! Shit!
His eyes narrowed. “Are you just getting in?”
“What? No, I just ran over to the dumpster to toss a bag of trash.”
Gio gave me a flat stare. He knew I was lying, and I felt shitty about lying to him. But the truth would have made things even messier.
“I’m heading over to Espo 2 now,” he said.
“Well, that’s two days in a row you’re beating me to work,” I said cheerfully.
“Dom, you’ve put in twice the amount of hours I have. I know that. You want a ride?”
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’ve got a few things to do at home, and then I’ll be right over.”
“I see,” Gio said, and locked his door. He started to move past me, but I stepped in his way.
“Is Leah completely better?” I asked. I wasn’t used to feeling distant from Gio. I hated it.
“Yeah.” He smiled a little. “Full of sass and sweetness, just like her mom.”
I almost came clean right then and there. I almost said, “Bro, I met this incredible girl and I really love being with her and she happens to be our most important employee and I know we’re on the eve of a make-it or break-it situation with everything we’ve been working for and you’re depending on me to keep my head together, but I’m asking you to be cool with the fact that I spent last night in her bed anyway, okay? Okay?”
I changed my mind, though. I’d tell Gio everything, absolutely everything, but this wasn’t the time. I could see the stress on his face, and there was so much riding on the new restaurant being a success.
“See you in a little bit,” I said.
“Sure,” he said. Then he walked briskly to his car and took off. I watched his taillights disappear.
Forty-five minutes later I walked through the front door of Espo 2, bracing myself for an awkward start to the day, but Gio seemed far more cheerful. Neither of us brought up any touchy subjects. The fact that the soft opening had gone so well meant we’d already gotten most of the details ironed out. All the food deliveries had been made yesterday, and the bakery owner we’d hired to supply the restaurant with several varieties of desserts had dropped by with a box of samples to congratulate us on the grand opening.
Melanie strolled in just as we’d filled our mouths with fresh cannoli. We locked eyes for an intense second, and I had a flashback to last night and the way she’d writhed under me, shrieking my name as she came. I tried to force the image out of my head.
“Want a cannoli, Melanie?” Gio asked as he held the box out.
“Sure.” She smiled and took one.
“These are damn good,” Gio commented as he polished off the one in his hand. “But nothing beats those huge pastries Papa used to keep in the dessert case at the old place, right, Dom?”
I grinned. “Ah, those bad boys were easily eight inches long. They were a meal unto themselves.”
Then I realized the sexual innuendo in my own words, and I nearly choked. Melanie noticed too. She bit her lip to stifle a smile. Luckily Gio seemed oblivious.
“No shit,” he chuckled. “I cut my teeth on those monsters. They were epic.”
Melanie took a tentative bite. “Mmm, these are good.”
Gio started talking about the stack of takeout menus he’d placed at the counter, and I had to avoid looking at Melanie so I wouldn’t get distracted by thoughts of how much better she looked when she wasn’t wearing clothes and the way she moaned and clutched me when she came.
“Dom!” Gio said, and snapped his fingers. “You listening? Looks like you’re a million miles away.”
“I’m right here,” I croaked and then cleared my throat.
