“Maybe so, but I don’t have to advertise it.” I focused on my feet. “It’s not something I discuss with people.”
He gathered me close and murmured in my ear, “I love that you’re a little shy,bello. Especially when I know what a tiger you are when we’re naked.”
My face heated as my body hardened.
At the sound of a cough at my shoulder, Frisco’s fingers tangled in my hair. “Michael, this has been an incredible experience for us. I hope you’ll let me continue to pick your brain in the future. I have some ideas I’m working through in my head.”
I glanced over my shoulder and spied Chef White standing there with an amused glint in his eyes. I said, “Look out. Knowing only a fraction of what goes on inside there, that could be some dangerous ground.” I turned in Frisco’s arms, disengaging myself from him. “But he’s right about one thing. This has been one of the most incredible afternoons of my life. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned even in these few hours.”
“I’m so glad. And I like what I saw when you were working with the food. You have a deft touch. I look forward to seeing what you have planned for the future.”
“Oh, well.” I ducked my head. “Thank you, but I’m not the chef in the family. I’m simply a home cook.”
“From what I’ve seen, you could transition to a kitchen easily. I’m sure Frisco would be happy to teach you.”
Frisco slipped into his jacket. “I’m ready to teach him many things if he lets me. I’ll be in touch.”
We shook hands, and after Frisco and I walked outside, I poked him. “Way to embarrass me in front of an idol. You’re such a dick sometimes.” But I let him take my hand as we walked down Central Park South toward Columbus Circle.
“Only sometimes?” Frisco smirked. “I’m getting better, then. Press used to tell me I was always a dick.”
“I knew Presley was smart the first time I met him.”
We stopped at the corner to wait for the traffic light to change. I had no idea where we were going, but I was content to follow Frisco. I might follow him anywhere if this was what happiness was like.
“Maybe I can make it up to you later. With my dick.”
I nudged his shoulder with mine. “Do you ever stop?”
The light changed, but we stayed on the curb while busy people jostled past us, shooting annoyed New Yorker looks.
“Do you want me to?”
His eyes matched the clear blue of the sky above us, and I wanted to capture their vibrancy, along with the sharp angles of his face and the fullness of his lips.
“No. I don’t ever want you to stop. Not with me.”
His grin broadened, and he tipped my chin up to meet his smiling lips for a slow kiss that set my heart pounding. “Looks like we missed the light,” he whispered against my mouth.
“Sorry, not sorry.” I pulled his head down for another kiss.
“Not so shy now, are you?”
“You make me a bit reckless.”
Maybe it was strange to be making all these confessions on one of the busiest street corners of the city, but we might as well have been alone. I saw no one else but this crazy, impetuous man who’d shaken up my life and shown me what it meant to live.
He put his arm around my shoulder, and we crossed the street.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you shopping. Much as your sister in law tried, I think I’ll take charge of what you wear and don’t wear from now on.”
“I can’t afford these places,” I grumbled when we approached the Shops at Columbus Circle.
“I can. And I want to do this, so please?”
“It’s not necessary. I’m not working atUltimateanymore, so all I need are jeans and sweats.”
