He smiles and shakes his head as he reaches to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Never. The only thing I ever miss isyouduring the day.”
“Such a charmer,” I try to tease. Pushing up onto my toes, I press my lips to his.
With a soft groan, he takes control of the kiss. His arm around my waist tightens and his other hand sinks into my hair so he can tilt his head and deepen the connection. The moment his tongue slides across mine, I surrender with a breathy moan.
The only reason we break apart is because the oven timer goes off. If it weren’t for that, Nico likely would’ve been two seconds away from lifting me onto the counter. Ever since we moved in together, his hunger for me seems to have grown.
Before I met Nico, I sometimes wondered about what a sex life would feel like after working as an escort. If I’d ever flash back to clients, or if I’d ever truly be able to enjoy sex without my baggage.
I wish I could’ve told myself that I’d never eventhinkof my past. That having sex with a partner you love and trust more than anyone else is an incomparable experience.
Plus, he consistently knocks every other thought from my head.
Nico pulls away with a sigh to turn off the timer. “I’m half tempted to cancel this dinner tonight.”
“No, you’re not,” I say with a chuckle. “You love when we host your family.”
Another sigh, this one coupled with a fond smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I watch as he pulls a pan from the oven. “Do you want me to help?”
“No, I do not,” he says as he returns to chopping vegetables. “Your only job is to sit there and look pretty. Do you want a glass of wine?”
That warmth in my chest bubbles over.
“Yes, but I can get it,” I say, shifting around him to grab a wineglass from the cabinet. But before I pull out a bottle of wine, I press another kiss to the corner of his lips.
“I love you,” I whisper with a smile. Every day, I wish there was a better way to say that, that some words existed that might express even a shred of my love and appreciation and gratitude for this man, but I haven’t yet found them.
It doesn’t matter, though. Nico knows. I see it in the way he smiles at me, and the way he takes my lips in a kiss of his own.
He opens his mouth to say something, but before he gets the chance, there’s a knock on the door.
His head drops with an annoyed exhale. “I’m getting pretty sick of these interruptions.”
I giggle as I place my wineglass on the counter. “Don’t worry, we’ll have all the time in the world tonight,” I tell him in a sultry whisper as I pass by him.
“I’m going to hold you to that, Red,” he growls.
NICO’S EPILOGUE
I have to stop myself from proposing at least once a week.
Especially when I’m standing in the kitchen, watching her laugh with my parents. She fits in so seamlessly with my family, it’s hard to imagine I ever lived a life without her.
I wanted to intertwine our lives as soon as we made things official. It felt like I’d been waiting my whole life for Scarlett, and I didn’t want to spend another day without her. But this was new for Scarlett and she was still discovering herself. The last thing she needed was a man suggesting she move in with him—the day after they got together.
Although that’s not to say I didn’t fall to my knees in relief when she broached the subject a few weeks later.
Now, I get to wake up to her smile every morning and fall asleep with her in my arms every night. I get to ask her every single day how her classes are going, and what she’s researching on her own, just because she’s so excited to learn new things. I get to watch her laugh with my parents during our monthly family dinner. And fall more in love with her every time.
“Dude,” Alexander grumbles from his seat at the island. “You’re staring again.”
I huff a laugh and go back to the salad I’m almost done assembling. “I’d say I’m sorry, but…”
He rolls his eyes and takes a swig of his beer. “But you’re not. Yeah, we know.” Then he frowns and kicks Lucas in the shin where he’s silently sitting on the barstool next to him. “What’s up with you? You haven’t said ten words since you walked in here.”
Lucas seems to shake from a trance. Hehaslooked distracted tonight. He keeps looking at his phone, which wouldn’t be unusual if it wasn’t followed by him frowning and then looking off into the distance.
