“You are a dirty girl, aren’t you?”
“The dirtiest.” She bats her eyelashes at me, and I laugh. “You want to go too?”
I raise my eyebrows. “You want me to go?”
“Yes.” She motions towards her bathroom. I jump off the bed, kissing her cheek on the way by. “Clocks ticking, though! There are spare toothbrushes under the sink!” she yells when I shut the door.
I climb into her massive shower and grin when I realize I’ll smell like her all day. Ten minutes and I’m ready. I tuck the towel around my waist to search for clothes when I walk into her empty bedroom, and everything is laid out on the bed for me. I smile at her thoughtfulness and start dressing. She laid out a pair of black slacks that aren’t mine, so probably Gage’s, and a light-yellow button-up that Evander brought me when he brought some of my stuff over.
When I make it downstairs, Gage and Alessa are waiting for me. Gage has on black dress slacks and a blue button-up, making his eyes stand out even more, and she’s slid her jacket on with high-heeled boots.
I am a lucky fucker. By two counts.
We load up in Gage’s Range Rover with her up front, and she slides on a pair of oversized sunglasses when he backs out of the garage. “We can order food on the way and deliver it there.”
Gage groans. “Dolly’s. Please.”
“You’re obsessed,” she laughs. She pulls out her phone and asks what we want before placing an order. “It should be there when we get there.”
“Good.” He grabs her hand and kisses her knuckles before laying their locked hands on her leg.
I can see her smile when she looks away. When I first met her, I didn’t think she would be openly affectionate, but she surprised the shit out of me by loving the constant touch. Which I’m okay with because I’m the same way. Gage seems to be following that same path.
“Ryder’s at his dad’s,” she says softly, looking at her phone.
“We can fix this, Pretty girl.”
She smiles sadly. “Maybe.”
I don’t like Ryder, but I know it hurt her that he isn’t home. I don’t want her to hurt, so I need to try with Ryder. If she wants him in her life and I want her in mine, I can be the bigger person to a certain extent.
Her phone rings, and she picks up, answering in something I assume is Italian. She has an animated conversation with someone until we pull up in front of a huge building downtown with a large sold sign in the window. We sit out front while she finishes her call.
She hangs up and turns to Gage. “That was Aldo.” He nods and slides out of the car. He strides to her side, pops her door open, and helps her out. I slide out behind them, not asking who that was because they won’t tell me.
“Aldo is our New York man,” she explains, surprising me. “And even though the old fart can speak perfect English, he only talks to me in Italian. Says it keeps me fresh,” she finishes that with a fond smile.
Gage pulls open the front door, holding it so we can enter. The air conditioning hits me in the face, and I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s much hotter in California than in North Carolina, and they don’t seem to be affected by it because they grew up here.
“I don’t understand a word you say, but it’s hot as fuck,” Gage says.
“Same,” I agree, and Gage fist bumps me.
She rolls her eyes with a laugh.
We see our breakfast order sitting there waiting for us and dive in. Alessa said Helena could wait while we ate. As soon as I bit into my breakfast sandwich, I know why Gage is obsessed with the place. She fires off a text when we’re done eating to let her know we’re ready.
A robust lady with greying red hair greets Alessa with a kiss on both cheeks. “You look ravishing,” she says, holding her at arm’s length.
“You look beautiful too,” Alessa says. The lady wears a loud green dress that clashes with her red hair. “Helena, this is Leo,” Alessa introduces, and Helena pulls my face, smacking her lips right on my cheeks, not just the air kiss she gave Alessa.
“Nice to meet you,” I greet.
“Oh, manners.” She claps her hands and turns to Gage.
He swoops in, bending her at the waist, smacking a kiss on her cheeks before sitting her back on her feet. She fans her red face. “He always was my favorite.” Gage grins at her, letting the full force of his dimples pop out. She fans herself harder, visibly collecting herself. “Come, come,” she gestures for us to follow. I see I’m not the only one Gage effects like that.
Alessa giggles quietly, wiping her thumb over my cheeks to get rid of the bright red lipstick. “I said keep it in the house, Leo.”
