“You’re sure spending a lot of time on your phone today,” she says with a grin.
I shrug. “I’m working remotely.”
“Here, let me show you how to make Aubergine Caponata,” she tells me.
I smile. I know how to make it, but I say nothing, coming to her side and wrapping my arms around her. I know she can feel the boner poking into her ass.
She gently slaps my hips. “Not now, Massimo. We have to eat.”
I kiss her neck. “We can eat after.”
I loosen my grip so she can turn around. She looks up at me and bites her lower lip. “Ooo, you’re so tempting.”
I hear sizzling behind her. “Pot’s boiling over.”
“Oh!” She spins around.
I back away to let her work.
“So,” she finally says. “Once the aubergines are ready, you add the pine nuts, and the raisins. Then you drain the pot with a sieve.” She turns off the stove and demonstrates. “Add plenty of vinegar to the result.” She adds four tablespoons of vinegar to the pot and stirs.
As I watch her I try not to think about how much I’m falling for this woman. Do I really have to give her up tomorrow?
“And, we’re done!” she says happily.
We sit down at the table next to each other. She scoops a big portion of the aubergine and vinegar mixture into my plate from the pot, and gives herself a much smaller portion.
“Hey, your portion is too small,” I tell her. “You’re too skinny as it is.”
“I have alady’sportion,” she replies. “You have the man’s portion.”
I grin. “Did you measure it out? What about my macro requirements?”
She chuckles. “Oh please. You don’t worry about macros when you’re eating a masterpiece like this.”
I take a bite. “It is a masterpiece, actually. Much better than I make it.”
She finishes chewing a piece and swallows. “You already knew how to make Aubergine Caponata and didn’t tell me all this time?”
“Si,” I say with a grin.
“You’re terrible!”
My grin widens. “I know.”
We eat silently, basking in each other’s presence. At least I’m basking in hers, anyway. And judging from the shy smile she gives me whenever I catch her eye, I’m fairly certain she’s basking in mine.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asks me out of left field.
I regard her cautiously. “I already told you I don’t believe in love, remember? Just like you. So the answer is no, I’ve never been in love. I suppose you haven’t either?”
“No,” she replies softly. “I haven’t.”
I look into those innocent green eyes and decide to open up. “I’m too damaged for love. What your father did to me, what the loss of my brother did to me… I’ve fallen over the precipice and I can’t climb back up. I’ve never felt worthy of you. Hell, I still don’t. I—”
“You keep saying that,” she interrupts. “You’re wrong! I’m the one who’s not worthy of you, my sweet Massimo.”
I shake my head, tearing up slightly. “You’re crazy. Crazy to ever want me. You’re light embodied and I’m darkness manifest. You saw what I almost did. I almost killed my own caretaker and one of my brother’s men right in front of you! You can’t be with someone like that.”
