“Then yeah,” I murmur, reaching to the side to turn off the coffee maker and the appliances that weep their gratitude. “I’m starving.”
Once that’s done, I bend down and catch Maya at the waist. Hoisting her over my shoulder, I stalk off toward my bedroom.
She squeals, “I thought you were hungry!”
After I flip her onto the bed, I agree. “I will be. For lunch.”
Then I set about making her agree with me.
After setting my kitchen to rights so I could cook for us, Maya twirls her pasta absentmindedly. She’s thoughtful—not upset. So I give her time to work through what’s on her mind.
It isn’t until my fork scrapes the bottom of the bowl, her head snaps up. “If it wasn’t to your liking, I can make something else.”
She immediately takes a small bite. “No, that’s not it.”
“Then what is it?” I lean back in my chair before nudging. “I was worried you were going to twirl your pasta so hard you were going to drill through the dish.”
It should make her smile, and she does, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Her hand goes back to twirling her food, like themovement of her muscles is preparing her for something much more difficult—a conversation. My stomach flips, making me wish I hadn’t just eaten a full bowl myself. “Whatever is wrong, Maya, we’ll work it out.”
She places her fork to the side and catches her lower lip between her teeth.
Every second she hesitates, I swear a part of my heart shrivels. Still, I wait.
Finally, she blurts out, “I know I’m here in an unofficial season for tourists…”
“And you know that means fuck all to me.” I capture her chin in my fingers. “You’re here because I want you here.”
Her bright blue eyes skim over my face. “Then…”
“Just ask,uvetta mia.”
“What would you think if I stayed a little longer? Maybe…until Thanksgiving?”
“Thanksgiving,” I repeat, testing how the reprieve feels. Knowing she could have asked me to stay forever and I would have said yes.
She nods. “I know it’s an imposition, so don’t feel you have to say yes. I can always move to a hotel in town. I don’t want to make you feel you have to just because we’re?—”
“Maya, I don’t want you to leave.”
Her words come to an abrupt stop. “You don’t?”
I shake my head. “You don’t need to offer explanations. Stay as long as you want.”Stay forever, if that’s what you want.
Her eyes search mine like she’s trying to confirm my words match my intent. Then she opens up the fortress around her house a little more. “When I first came here, it was about a break from my schedule, but I found something unexpected here.”
“What’s that?” My breath suspends.
“You. This. Us.” She gazes at me, unflinching. “I woke up in the middle of the night and watched you sleep.”
Self-consciously, I run my thumb under my lower lip. “Was I drooling?”
She cocks her head to the side, curious. “You’re more worried about that than if you were snoring?”
Automatically, I deny, “I don’t snore.”
She pats my cheek condescendingly. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Mortified, I redirect the conversation. “So, my nighttime biological quirks led you to this epiphany?”
