When Rafael finally stopped lingering in the memories of the night before and opened his eyes, however, he realized that Grace was gone. His door was closed, but there was noise coming from somewhere beyond, and he slid out of bed, eager to pick up where he’d left off with Grace. There would be no awkwardness or sight-seeing or monasteries this time. This time, he wanted to spend every minute alone with her.
She was standing in the kitchen, making every attempt to hack into the side of a pomegranate. He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face at the sight. There she was inhisclothes inhisapartment doing God-knows-what to that poor pomegranate.
“Having some trouble?” he asked.
“I swear I’ve done this before. This one’s just a tough little sucker.”
He walked around behind her and took the knife from her hand, slicing right along one of the ridges of the pomegranate with ease.
“Show off,” she said.
“You’re welcome.”
“Do you want to do the spanking or should I?”
He raised a brow. “You know I’d like to watch you take a whack at it.”
Her lips twitched like she was holding back a smile, and she proceeded to slap the seeds from the fruit and into a large bowl.
“Here’s my plan,” Rafael said.
Grace continued to struggle with the fruit but didn’t ask for help. “Oh, you have plans, do you?”
Rafael shrugged. “I do.”
“I’m not sure why you think you’re the one in charge,” she teased.
He leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “Used to getting my way, I suppose. Except there seems to be one particular person who completely throws me off my game and brings me to my knees. I’m hoping she might humor me this time.”
“It’s not necessary to talk about me in the third person.” Grace shook her head. The way she looked at him with that fake little scowl made him want to lift her right up onto the countertop and have his way with her. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. He would add that to the plan.
“Well?” Grace asked.
“Eggs,” he said. “And carbohydrates. And lots of water.”
“So…breakfast? That’s the big plan?”
“A breakfast of champions, Graciela, so that afterward, I can take you back to my bedroom with enough stamina to have my way with you for hours. Or we might not make it to the bedroom.” He winked at her. He was truly enjoying himself this morning. He felt lighter than air. “We can play it by ear.”
“So, no trips to various cathedrals today?” Grace quipped.
He narrowed his eyes. “Very funny. I was nervous. I wanted to sweep you off your feet.”
Grace smiled, drinking him in with her gaze.
“If you’d put that knife down again, I’d really like to kiss you.”
Grace had been cutting a second pomegranate—with better success this time—but slowly she placed the knife on the counter.
“There we go,” Rafael said, moving in. He kissed her hard, like a promise of all the things that were going to follow. She let out a little gasp, and Rafael was instantly hard. Maybe they should start with the new planbeforebreakfast.
“I really should go home at some point,” Grace said. She was fully clothed, despite his best efforts, but after several rounds of sex and another shower, he couldn’t be too sad that they were relaxing on the couch for a while. At least she was still next to him giving him the cutest play by play of the latest season ofThe Great British Bake Off.
After a while, she mentioned returning to her apartment, and Rafael jumped in. “What do you need from home? We can go pick it up and come back here.”
“Well, I should probably talk to Alma. I haven’t told her the latest developments, and I think I need to be totally open with her this time.”
Rafael gave her a quizzical look.
