She shakes her head at me in exasperation. “I have a dentist appointment so I’m leaving early today.” Her brows lift pointedly. “I put it in your calendar.”
“Sorry, my head is in the clouds today,” I say, giving her a chagrined smile. “Are you coming over tonight?”
“Yep,” she says. “Since I’m getting a filling, I thought I’d make potato soup for dinner.”
“You don’t have to cook, baby. You know I have a chef that will prepare anything you want and leave it for us to heat up,” I tell her, sweeping a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. She’s wearing it up in a high ponytail today, and I have visions of wrapping that around my fist and…
“I know, but I want to make my mom’s recipe. She always made it for me after a dental appointment.”
“Do you need me to go with you to the dentist?”
She laughs and pats my chest. “No, silly. It’s just a filling. And my handy-dandy bodyguard will be driving me.” Mindy snaps her fingers. “Speaking of him, your mom wants us to go over to her house fordinner tomorrow night with her and Antonio. Your brothers and their wives are invited too.”
“That will be nice. Do you want to go?”
“Of course I do,” she scoffs. “Will you call and tell her we’ll be there? I’ve gotta scoot or I’ll be late.”
She goes up on tiptoe and presses a quick kiss to my cheek. “Love you.”
“I love you too,” I say, smiling like a goofy teenager with a crush as she walks away.
And I whisper to the empty room, “I’m going to marry you one day, Mindy Espinoza.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
The return of Twatface
Mindy
Standingat the stovetop in Remi’s kitchen, I stir the potatoes, singing along to “Kiss,” one of my all-time favorite songs. My earbuds are in, and I’m jamming out because seriously… how can younotshake your ass when Prince is blaring in your ears?
I taste a chunk of potato and find it nice and tender, so I turn down the heat. Adding some milk, cream, and butter, I stir before dashing in some salt and pepper.
My eyes flit to the clock over the massive stove, which is big enough to cook a horse if one felt so inclined. I only thought the appliances in my new place were nice. His shit is next level, like, restaurant worthy.
He should be here in about thirty minutes. Looking down at my “outfit,” I grin. There’s definitely not much to it. Red panties, and a white ruffly apron make up the entire ensemble. The apron barely covers my goodies in the front, and it’s completely open in the back, other than the neat bow. If I’m lucky, maybe he’ll have me as an appetizer.
Reaching for the loaf of fresh garlic bread, I open the package and slide it onto a baking sheet. Then I go back to my soup, stirring it with a wooden spoon while Prince and I hit a crescendo on the song.
Then someone taps me on the shoulder, and I scream like I’m being murdered, throwing the spoon in the air and spraying soup in about a five foot radius as I whirl around and find…
“Serena?”
She waves and says something, but I can’t hear her because Prince is still singing in my ears. With a trembling hand, I remove my earbuds and repeat my question. “Serena?”
With a huge smile, she chirps, “I’m here!”
“I’m… yeah… you’re here,” I say, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. “Why are you here?”
“I’m staying for a few days while my floors are getting redone.” Serena giggles. “What the heck are you wearing?”
Fuck. My face heats in embarrassment.
“Oh, just a thing that… you know, it was hot in the kitchen,” I say stupidly, waving my hand like it’s no big deal. My brain has a flashback to that time I stripped down on the way to Roger’s kitchen, only to find out his mother was in the house. I really need to start being more careful with my risqué kitchen seduction efforts. It’s apparently not my forte. “I’m going to go get changed. Will you watch the soup while I’m upstairs?”
Her eyebrows inch together as her eyes flit to the stove as if I’m heating up a bomb. “Like, just stare at it?”
A giggle escapes around the annoyance I’m starting to feel. She’s so damn clueless. “Never mind. I’ll just turn it off until I get back.”
