“This is the best omelette I’ve ever had in my life,” I groan after the first few bites. “How are you doing this? I don’t have anything in my fridge. I literally have eggs, some questionable cheese, and half an onion.”
“I’ve picked up a thing or two about working with limited ingredients.” He smiles at me across my tiny kitchen table, coffee cup in hand. “A great omelette is mostly in the texture of the eggs, which comes down to cooking technique, not ingredients. Alex Midnightismy brother, after all.”
I take another bite. “Okay, this is going to be a problem. If you keep feeding me like this I’m never letting you leave.”
He laughs, and I love the sound of it. I love how relaxed he looks sitting here in my apartment. We’ve been talking nonstop since I got out of my shower, the conversation flowing easily while he prepped and cooked the omelettes and crispy potatoes (a miracle I had any). It took twice as long as it should have because we kept getting distracted by kissing, which I’m not complaining about.
“You’re sure this won’t affect your job?” he asks for the second time, and I suppress a smile because I know he’s trying to be serious. “Because if there’s any chance of it causing problems for you, we can figure something out.”
I swallow the bite of omelette and take a sip of coffee. “Yes, I’m sure. Once I knew I had a thing for you I checked. It’s not against the rules. I’m good.”
He nods, sets down his coffee cup, and leans forward, elbows on the table. “There’s something else I want to talk about. The lease.”
“The lease?” I blink at him. “What about it?”
“I just...” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m aware that I’m your landlord. And I don’t want you to ever feel like your living situation is connected to this. To us. Your lease is completely separate. It’s ironclad. I would never, ever want you to feel like where you live is dependent on our relationship, or like I have some kind of power over you because of it.”
I stare at him, a little stunned by how earnest he is. He’s clearly been thinking about this, worrying about this, which is sweet despite being a little ridiculous. Nice guy, gentlemanly Theo is fully back.
“Theo.” I set down my fork and reach across the table for his hand. “I don’t think that at all. It honestly wasn’t even on my radar. But thank you for thinking about it. For wanting me to feel safe. It’s sweet.”
“Good.” He exhales. “But still, with things like this it’s important to not just go by word. That lease really is ironclad, so you don’t ever have to worry about it or feel?—“
“I got it, I got it.” I bring his hand to my lips and kiss it. “Thank you for looking out for me. Anything else keeping you up at night? Might as well get it all out.”
He laughs. “I mean, I can think of a few things that kept me up last night.”
“Mmm, I’m sure you can.” I can’t remember the last time I felt this light. Like everything in my life has clicked into place and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, sitting in my tiny kitchen with this man who just spent the night making me feel things I didn’t know I could feel. The idea of us actually being together now, not just fantasizing about it—it’s almost too good to be real.
“So do we keep this a secret?” I pop a potato in my mouth. “I mean, like ease into telling people?”
He shakes his head. “No. I mean, with Chloe we’ll take it slow. But I’m not planning to hide it from my brothers or anything like that. Is that what you want?”
I feel a rush of relief. “No, I don’t. I mean, I want to be able to tell people.”
He smiles. “Good. I feel the same.” He reaches across and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “With Chloe, I want to ease her into it slowly, and make sure she feels secure every step of the way. But that’s about being a good parent, not about us. If it weren’t for that, I’d be shouting this from the rooftops.”
“The last thing I want is for anything to unsettle her,” I say quietly. “I adore that kid.”
“She’s never met anyone I’ve dated before. Not that I’ve really even dated since the divorce, but still. I don’t want anything to shake up her world.” He pauses. “Though I have a feeling when it is time to tell her, she’ll be pretty thrilled.”
I smile. Chloe already likes me. And I alreadyloveher. Maybe this could actually work out the way I’m hoping it will.
I finish the last bite of my omelette and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, suddenly aware that I just inhaled that meal less like a delicate woman eating prettily on a date andmore like a feral animal who hasn’t seen food in weeks. Theo doesn’t seem to mind. He takes my plate from the table and carries it to the sink, turning on the water.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say.
“I hate dirty dishes sitting in the sink. And I was always taught it’s poor manners to make a mess and leave someone else to clean it up.”
“Wow.” I prop my chin on my hand and watch him, appreciating the view of his back muscles shifting under his henley as he scrubs. “Older men really are where it’s at. Cooks, cleans, fucks like a magician pornstar. Where have you been all my life?”
He laughs, shaking his head as he rinses a pan. “Wow,oldnow, is it? I’m thirty-four, not sixty.”
“It’s kind of sexy. Like a fine wine.”
He turns, eyebrow raised. “Did you just compare me to wine?”
“A reallygoodwine.”
