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Jade’sstill in the kitchen … talking to my parents. Of course they waited until I left her alone for five minutes. There’s only a hint of panic in her eyes, which is pretty good considering.
“Excuse us a moment,” I say to them, and taking her by the hand, I draw her away to a semi-private corner. “Are youokay?”
“Yes.” She takes a breath. “Better, now that you’re back.” I can’t quite suppress a mild flash of irritation, and her faint smile fades. “Are you mad atthem?”
“It’s my job to make sure none of this gets out of hand. They shouldn’t have cornered you when I wasn’t there for backup.”
An emotion I can’t name sifts through her eyes. Whatever it is, it leaves me with a strange, piercing pleasure-pain in the center of my chest. Laying a hand on my cheek, she says softly, “You’re a hell of a man, Romero Adamo.”
“I leave the toilet seatup.”
Her eyes sparkle with suppressed merriment. “Sorry, you’ll have to do better than that if you want to convince me you’re not a goodguy.”
“I’ve been known to fart and belch at the sametime.”
She covers her hand with her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Try again.”
“I’m in love withyou.”
Holy fuck. I cannot believe I just blurted that out. I’m supposed to be the organized twin. You tell a woman that over a nice dinner, with flowers and maybe jewelry.
And I didn’t even know it until I saidit.
Her face has gone soft with wonder. Not a complete misstep, then. Time to rescue the moment. “You don’t have to say anything,” I tell her quietly. “I just … thought you shouldknow.”
“I fell in love with you this morning.”
I get that funny pain in my chest again. “Didyou?”
“And I adore your family, but I would like them all to go very far away rightnow.”
I look up. Tonio’s on the other side of the kitchen with Cait, wistfully surveying the crumbs that are all that’s left of the desserts. I catch his eye and circle my finger in the air — let’s wrap it up — and he nods and heads out to get the exodus going.
“They’ll be gone soon,” I tell her, and Jade gives me a smile that makes me feel like I just single-handedly cured cancer.
