Ryan and Shawn spoke at the same time, making her giggle as she confessed, “I meant Shawn, Ryan.Not you.”
Shawn huffed.“Well, that’s nice.Here I am, trying to save your ass, and you’re calling me names.”
“You’re used to it,” she retorted.“And it’s the bakery.You know that place inside out.”
“I also know the foot traffic can’t be controlled,” he growled.
“Nobody would even think to stop us there.Why would they?I haven’t been there in ages.If someone’s following us, you’d know about it.So it’s not like they can make the jump on us.”She pleaded, “Come on, Shawn, I really need a bit of normalcy right about now.”
He let out a long, drawn out sigh.“You’re such a pain in my ass.Why couldn’t you have told me you wanted to visit Persia this morning and we could have had someone check out the venue before?”
She sighed.“I didn’t want to see her this morning.Now, after that doozy of a fucking chat, I want to talk to her.I also want banoffee pie.”
Trip’s lips twitched.“You haven’t been eating enough.It’s no wonder you’re hungry.”
“I’m not hungry.I want to binge.I want to binge eat banoffee pie and key lime pie, too.In alternate sessions.I will be kind, and I will let you watch me.”
He snorted.“You are generous.Are we allowed to take part in the binge?”
She winked.“Of course.Although, you look like you’re going to puke from just sitting in the damn car, never mind eating thousands of calories in one shot.”
The notion did make him turn a bit green.“Okay, I’ll let Marc pick up the gauntlet on my behalf.”
Marc snorted.“You’re so generous.”
“It’s a curse being me.”He shot his brother a wink, then to Shawn, murmured, “Come on, Shawn.It’s only a quick visit.”
“Quick, my ass,” El mumbled under her breath, but he squeezed her arm to stay her next words.
“My ass,” Shawn retorted, apparently knowing El far too well.But then, that made sense considering he’d been her guard since forever.“She’ll be there for hours.Especially if Persia decides today’s the fucking day to put out ice cream.”
Trip’s ears pricked up at that.“Ice cream?In a bakery?”
“She doesn’t do it often.Just when she wants to test out a new flavor for a catering gig she’s doing.”
“So, wait a minute.Persia is a baker and a caterer?”
She nodded.“A woman of many talents.That’s how I met her.She was catering one of the galas I was helping organize for one of my foundations.We connected over our hatred of low fat cream cheese and our love of dulce de leche.”
Marc chuckled.“The best friendships are always founded in food.”
Trip caught Marc’s eye and the two of them burst out laughing.“Ouch,” he complained as the laughter made all his chest ache, but it was worth it.
“What are you guys laughing at?”El demanded, sounding intrigued.He was pleased to know that she was coming out of the funk the conversation with her father had caused.
Marc let out a small snicker.“When I met Trip, we knew what we were to each other, but it’s kind of weird.We’re the first, so we were happy that we’d met because it meant we were waiting on the third, and that meant we were closer to finding you.But, at the same time, there’s a lot to get to know about someone you’re about to spend the rest of your life with.”
Trip pointed out, “Don’t forget, it’s like we’re mate bonded to one another without the sexual attraction.I was stuck with him, and he was stuck with me, whether we liked it or not.”
“Yeah,” Marc admitted, rubbing his nose with his finger.“It was far stranger than I’d ever imagined.It was a relief, and yet, oddly disconcerting having to learn everything.
“So, anyway, we were in Milan when we met.We headed to thistrattoriaand I ordered lobster and he ordered this pizza.It was a really nice restaurant, too.Far too nice to order pizza.”
“You’re such a snob,” Trip retorted.
“Like you’re not as well.And like you weren’t testing me.”
Trip grinned.“That was one of my favorite restaurants, and Marc actually ordered my favorite dish, but I wanted to see what he was like, how he’d feel if I ordered not only off menu, but ordered something that was bound to piss the chef off.”
