“It does, doesn’t it?” Kira smiled, unable to hide that flush of pride that filled her. Itdidlook good. “The brownie has 60% dark chocolate, and the ganache is closer to 88%. I wanted there to be a difference in the ganache and the brownie so it wasn’t too boring.”
Santi said nothing, but kept watching. No, not watching. Listening. He was listening to her, hanging on to what she was saying. It was a heady feeling, only because she never noticed how intently he listened to her until that moment. Listening andreallylistening to understand what someone was trying to say were two completely different actions. And Santi always looked at her that way, like he was fully trying to understand her.
“When I think about it, Gemini is about connections, memories. I want to make Filipino chocolate. Filipino chocolate is all about what makes people happy. It’s surprising and rich, but it’s something you share.”
She handed him a spoon. “I make every piece of chocolate that comes out of this kitchen, and I want it to mean something, every time. I will never compromise on that. I want it to be clear, this partnership of ours? It will make good memories. New memories for you and me. And it doesn’t change the way I feel about you, which...we can discuss that later.”
Santi smiled and wrapped his fingers around hers to take the spoon.
Santi cut the dessert with the spoon, and time seemed so slow in that moment, cutting through the layers as butterflies danced up a storm in Kira’s stomach. It was like watching those sexy KitKat commercials, if they ever casted a guy.
Santi closed his eyes as he put the spoon in his mouth, tasting the dessert. With each movement, Kira could almost hear her heart thumping in her chest. She couldn’t even tell if her own dessert was any good, she could barely taste it in her own mouth.
But before she could tell Santi to stop eating, he swiped his fork through the cake and took another extra-large bite. Kira’s eyes went wide at the sight of Anton Santillan with a mouthful of tartufo.
“Slow down, you might get brain-frozen,” she cautioned as she poured him a glass of milk.
“Oh god,” he said, breathing like he’d just run a marathon after another swig of milk. Kira was ready to launch at him and make him just tell her what he thought. “Kira, this is—”
“This is?” she echoed.
He was smiling. His eyes looked soft, and he looked...happy. It just lit up his entire face, made him seem like the years had been kinder than they were. Made him seem incandescently happy. And it floored Kira that he could smile that way, because she hadn’t truly seen it since they were kids. How strange that just lifting the corners of his lips, in that soft smile of his, completely changed the way she looked at him.
Her heart flipped in her chest. She’d always understood moments like this in Korean dramas, when the lead would smile and just sweep the lead off of their feet. But now more than ever, she truly knew that feeling they were trying to convey.
I think you understand me perfectly,she thought, unable to help but smile back.
“It’s good. Kira, this is...it’s exactly what you said. Happiness,” he said, and it made her heart melt. Not just because he understood what she was trying to say, but he enjoyed it, too. “It’s exactly what I was looking for.”
“Are you sure?” she asked in a small voice, trying to hold in her happiness, a little balloon of joy slowly inflating in her stomach, taking over all the butterflies, all the nerves, all the knots of anxiety.
“I’m sure. I’m so sure. I know there are still details to sort out, but this...” He looked back at the dessert. “You were right. It makes good memories. I want to officially ask if Gemini Chocolates would be interested in becoming a supplier for Hotel Villa and La Spezia restaurant.”
And there it was. The balloon burst, and she squealed in delight. There were endless things that could still go wrong—this alone might not be enough for Gemini, they might disagree on price, she might not be able to make enough—but there was plenty of time to ponder that later.
Right now, she wanted to celebrate this.
Santi opened his arms to her for a hug, and she did him one better and launched herself into his arms, laughing as she hugged him as tightly as possible, those sexy forearms easily supporting her thighs as they wrapped around his.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m so happy you liked it.”
There was a pause, which she totally didn’t notice because she was just too happy hugging him like this. But eventually, she felt Santi’s body loosen, and his arms wrap around her just a little tighter.
“I’m so happy you made it for me,” he said, before he pressed the softest little kiss on her cheek. It sucked all the air from Kira’s lungs, and she looked down at him, at this face that was so familiar and so mysterious.
They said that déjà vu was a memory from another life. And right now, this moment felt so familiar to Kira she was sure she’d lived it already. Maybe in another life they already had. Maybe in another life they had been together as soon as they understood what falling in love meant. Maybe in another life they had never grown apart, maybe he would have been more stiff and cruel, and her a little more kalat with her feelings.
But then again, in another life, they didn’t come together again like this.
“Santi,” she said softly, tenderly, but she really didn’t know what to say next. She pressed a hand to his cheek. To that jawline of his, sharp and deadly. “I meant what I said.”
“Your chocolate was always good to me, even before I realized my feelings for you. I’ve had three New Year’s without you. I don’t think I want another,” he said very suddenly, and that was all Kira needed to close her eyes and allow herself to sink into him, to press his lips against hers.
He tasted like chocolate. Or maybe it was her. But it was dark and sweet and rich, more and more tempting the more she tasted. His grip of her never wavered, and he kissed her back, waiting for her to cue him, to tell him how she wanted this to go.
So careful,she thought.But I want to see you undone.
She arched her back, pressing her chest against his, slipping a hand through that gap in his button-down shirt, and she could have sworn she heard him gasp. She popped open a button with her fingers to trace little circles on the smooth skin of his chest, never once pulling away from the kiss. Santi’s hand on her waist gripped her, and Kira slid a little forward, so she could feel him getting hard under his jeans—
