“Nate.” I roll my eyes, flexing my arm dramatically. “Before I moved in with you, I ran every morning by myself. I told you I took self-defense lessons.”
Plus, there’s no way I’m agreeing.
It’ll be the first time in ages I can sneak off to the studio without Nate noticing I’m gone. Since we got back together, he’s barely let me out of his sight.
Not that I mind.
I love being with him every second of every day, except when I need uninterrupted time to finish the pieces I started before we got back together.
He shakes his head. “If you don’t agree, I’ll cancel the whole trip.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” I scoff, just as Skye starts howling at a passing fire truck. “See? Even she thinks you’re insane.”
“At least run late morning, when the city’s awake.” He reaches up, swiping his thumb gently across my chin where sauce has dripped. He holds his finger out.
Without thinking, I wrap my mouth around it, sucking it clean, completely forgetting we’re sitting in the middle of a crowded park.
His voice drops, eyes soft and pleading. “Goddess?”
“Fine,” I relent, helpless to that look.
“Thank you, babe.” He kisses me slowly, and warmth blooms in my chest. I’ve always been a little shy about PDA, but Nate has never cared who’s watching. “Oh, Mom called while you were in the bathroom. She wanted to make sure you’re still coming to dinner tomorrow.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss my first family dinner back in the city.”
“I hate that I’ll be in London.”
Skye nudges her head into my hand so I dig into my pocket and give her a treat for being such a good girl today while we’ve been out. “Do you think I can put in a dinner request?”
Rosa is one of the best cooks I know. I miss her home-cooked meals. I learned a lot about cooking from her when I was younger.
“Probably not,” he says, smirking. “She’s still mad at both of us.”
“Still?”
“She’ll get over it.” He lifts the box of pastries from Rocco’s. “Dessert?”
The moment Rosa found out we were back together, she called us from Spain, where she’s been since the gala night, and tore us a new one for waiting until she was gone.
“I’m not sure I can eat one more thing right now.” I rub my stomach.
“Should we walk off all this food and do a little window shopping?”
I nod enthusiastically.
It’s been the perfect day date, almost entirely centered around food.
The food tour I wanted to book was sold out, and our fancy plans from last night fell apart because neither of us wanted to leave Skye behind.
Claud gets custody tomorrow, and the thought of Skye leaving us makes my chest ache.
Claudina is lucky she’s my godbaby and adorable.
Once they get their own dog, things will change, I bet.
Not wanting to leave her at home today, we shifted the plans, and it’s been a day of dog-friendly activities. Starting with a long walk through Battery Park, breakfast in a heated tent in Tribeca for famous pancakes, and then we all jumped into a cab and began binge eating our way through the West Village.
When Nate returns from London next week, we’ve made plans with Harrison and Juliette for a double date at a restaurant we walked by earlier.
