I gestured with my thumb toward the hotel. “I should get going. I have to set up for brunch. Tell them all I said thanks again. I hope we can get together just to hang out.”
“I’ll tell them,” Marco replied. “We’ll definitely see you around. Will you need help moving your tools to Tommy’s place on Friday?”
“I was just going to rent a truck with a tailgate lift,” I answered.
He waved a dismissive hand. “We all have pickups available to us. What time do you get off work?”
“Five.”
He nodded. “I have a security gig in the City that day, but Gabe should be available.”
I stared at him in bemusement. “Okay. Thank you. Are you sure Gabe won’t mind being voluntold to help me?”
“Nah. He’ll be happy to help.” He looked over his shoulder back at the cottage. “I’m gonna go back inside. I’ll call you to set up the move in a couple of days.”
“Thanks,” I said again.
“No problem. You’re one of us now,” Marco replied.
A feeling of warmth filled my chest and stayed with me long after I’d started working.
My shift seemed to last forever, but at least I was done by four. Miguel had to work until seven. I felt bad for him, so I stopped at the supermarket on the way home and picked up food to make for dinner. By the time he got home, I had made pasta with meat sauce and some toasty garlic bread.
When Miguel stepped in the door, he stopped and took a deep breath. “Oh my god, is that garlic and tomato I smell?”
I smiled. “Yep. And the pasta will be ready in three minutes. Why don’t you go and change into something comfortable? Dinner will be ready by the time you come out.”
He ran over to me and threw his arms around my waist. “Thank you. I could kiss you right now.”
I felt my cheeks warm, and I couldn’t stop my grin. “Okay,” I said hoarsely.
Miguel looked up at me in surprise. Then he rose on his toes and kissed my cheek before hurrying into his room to change. It left me feeling vaguely disappointed.
Miguel declared we would eat in the living room and watch Marvel movies in our pajamas. He shooed me out of the kitchen and made me change. I didn’t have pajamas, so I put on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.
When I returned to the living room, Miguel stared at me open-mouthed. “Gray sweatpants? Really?”
I looked down at my sweatpants. “What’s wrong with gray? Are they dingey?”
Miguel squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “No. They’re fine. Come sit and eat. It smells delicious.”
We only made it throughIron Man. Tired from the previous day’s exertions and full of pasta, garlic bread, and the ice cream I bought for dessert, we were falling asleep before the mid-credit short came on. We cleaned up our mess and headed off to bed.
I had the strongest urge to follow Miguel to his room and ask him for a real kiss, but I couldn’t. He’d never expressed any interest in me that way. He was way out of my league anyway. It took me a long time to get to sleep.
Late Sunday morning, Allie and Cody stopped by with bagels and croissants from our favorite coffee and pastry shop. Cody was confused at first because this wasn’t my old place, but he got over that pretty quickly after he realized how much more space there was for him to run around. Miguel already had child-proofed as much as possible for his niece and nephew, so I wasn’t worried about Cody. I played my keyboard, and we all sang songs—except the Bruno song, which Allie forbade us from singing.
At some point, Miguel excused himself to take a shower. He came out a little later dressed in dark jeans and an olive-green button-down. I looked at him in confusion. “Are you going somewhere?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes. I have a lunch date at Taka at one.”
It felt like there was a stone in my stomach. “Oh. Okay.” I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for him to beg him not to go. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah.” He waved his hand toward the large front windows. “It’s a nice day, so I’m going to walk.”
Miguel said goodbye to Cody, who echoed my thoughts aloud, “No. Stay here.”
He smiled down at my nephew. “I’ll be here the next time you come over, and we’ll play together longer, okay?”
