“I’ve been sitting here the whole time. You didn’t leave, and Medochetti’s didn’t deliver.”
“Nope. This is all Knox magic.” He grinned, adorably—pride and happiness and…goofy.
“How’d you learn to do this?” She decided not to inhale the pasta and, instead, allow it to have its own ritual. Because it was just that good. Way better than the microwave noodles she’d planned.
“MyTube?” He shrugged. “It’s how I learn everything.”
When Courtney had first been pregnant with the baby, Irina and Knox had viewed an abundance of MyTube videos on labor and delivery to ensure it prepared them if the baby came during their watch. That had been his idea, and it hadn’t been a bad one. They both knew a good amount about baby delivery and the mechanics of how that worked. Thankfully, they hadn’t had to put that knowledge to use.
“I’m impressed.” She closed her eyes and let the flavors marry against her tongue. “This is so good.”
“Irina?” He said her name with that rumbly goodness.
“Uh-huh.” Seriously, how did he do this to jarred sauce? Straight-up magical.
“Where are we getting hitched?” Knox asked in the middle of her enjoyment extravaganza.
She peeled open her eyes.
He lifted another bite, but said nothing else.
“I’m going to answer that,” she said, because he really should know, and also, he’d more than earned it with the pasta.
Still, she didn’t answer right away because the sauce deserved to be savored.
“I’m awaiting your answer,” he said, seriously.
The silence surrounded them like an itchy wool blanket—not super comfortable, but it had a purpose and it’d do in a pinch.
He raised his eyebrows.
“I didn’t saywhenI’m answering.” She doubled down. “I’m taking the time to give the sauce the attention it deserves.”
“Irina…”
“Can we agree in the future to listen to each other the first time?” Not such a big ask in the entire scheme of things, and she really struggled when she didn’t feel heard. “I’ll pinky swear to it, too.”
He nodded. “Agreed. But this is one of my two compromises in the marriage. I figure we each get two.”
She rolled her eyes with an overdramatic flair. “Your backyard, silly.”
“My backyard?” He frowned. “Then my parents will know where I live.”
He said this as though it were a bad thing.
They hadn’t dissected their family dynamics yet, which was a good thing, because wait until he got a load of her folks. They were hella fun, but a helluva handful, too.
“Yes, your backyard,” she confirmed. “Renovations are complete, yes?”
“Paint and new not-pink carpet are going in this week,” he confirmed with a subtle nod.
“There is room for a tent, and there’s no overhead foliage to prevent the helicopters from buzzing the ceremony.” She and Courtney had come up with this plan. A solid plan.
“We’re gonna have helicopters?” He had the nope-don’t-like-that look again.
That was the point of the whole thing, wasn’t it? “We’re going to tip off the paparazzi, so they swing by right in time for the big kissy-face kiss.”
He had clearly not heard anything she said the first time.
