Chapter 34
Frankie hadn’t planned to go back to Lucas’s, but it wasn’t like she had anything else to do. Okay, she could be working on those illustrations, but this was Lucas Prime. Now she was seated at his kitchen island while delicious aromas wafted past her. He was making omelets with prosciutto, roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella.
A woman could get used to this.
Scout and Archie were both passed out on the floor in a spot where the sun was coming through the sliders. She sent Harper a text. At Lucas’s. Working on logos. Back when done. Dogs had fun!
Mostly true. But she knew Harper would tease her about spending more time with Lucas. At the moment, Frankie didn’t care. This was worth some teasing. She sipped the French press coffee he’d made. “Do you have any thoughts about your logo? The feeling you want it to convey? That sort of thing.”
He nodded from his spot by the stove. He had two pans going so he could make two omelets at once. “I want it to say I’m a professional, but also fun. That I know what I’m doing in the kitchen, and I’m true to my roots. There needs to be a feeling of authenticity to it. I don’t want anything too slick, you know? I like things a little more rustic. Too slick and you look like you’ve been packaged by a firm in Manhattan that specializes in whatever makes the most money.” He smiled. “Maybe I’m not explaining this well. Do you get what I mean?”
“I think I do. What are your roots?”
“Italian. My family name is actually Primus. I changed it because I thought Prime was snappier. Easier to remember.” He folded the first omelet as he placed it on the plate. It was picture-perfect. Then he did the second one. He sprinkled them both with a little fresh parsley and brought them over. “Your breakfast.”
She smiled. “That looks and smells like something that’s going to ruin me for every other omelet I’m ever going to eat.”
He laughed as he took the seat next to her. “High praise considering you haven’t tasted it yet.”
She dug in and tried a bite. It was creamy, salty, meaty, and utterly delicious. She groaned as she chewed. “How did you do that? It’s amazing. Holy cow. Or, in this case, pig.”
He grinned, clearly pleased with her response. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it? I want to be in a long-term relationship with it.”
He laughed again and picked up his fork. “You’re pretty good for my ego.”
“You’re going to be terrible for my waistline.” She glanced at him. “Assuming that you cook for me again.” That was awkward. She’d just made things weird and didn’t know how to undo that.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. I’ll cook for you whenever you want.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Was he being serious, or did he just really want a logo done? She wasn’t sure.
He ate a bite of his food. “I cook so much and I never have anyone to share it with.”
She had to ask the question burning inside her. “How do you not have a wife or girlfriend? How?”
“I had a girlfriend. She even became a fiancée.” He drank his coffee. “I thought things were great between us. Then the pandemic hit, and life became strange and isolated and everything changed. Come to find out, she’d been chatting with other guys online, things got serious with one of them, and she left me for him. Didn’t say anything to me, just ghosted me. Stopped taking my calls, stopped answering my texts, blocked me on social media, the whole nine yards.”
“What?” Frankie was appalled. “Who does that?”
“Marina did.” He shook his head and stared off at nothing. “To say that left me with a bitter taste in my mouth would be an understatement.”
“I’d think so. I’m sorry that happened to you. I feel like I should apologize on behalf of the women of the world for such a display of bad behavior.”
“You don’t need to do that. I know every woman isn’t like that.”
“And yet you don’t have anyone new in your life.”
He looked into her eyes. “Maybe because the right woman hasn’t crossed my path yet.”
She nodded. “I get that.”
He went back to his food. “Why don’t you have a man in your life? Have you always been single?”
“No, I had a husband, but no more. I have the scars from the big, messy divorce to prove it, too.” She sighed and ate some more of the omelet. She wasn’t going to let Tom ruin that for her.
“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t mind.” He’d shared. It was only fair she did the same. “He wanted a newer, younger model and our marriage got in the way of that. He took out his frustrations on me and enough was enough.”
“Idiot.” Lucas shook his head. “Not you, obviously. Him. Any man who thinks a younger woman is the answer is an idiot. I know, because I was that idiot.”
She reared back slightly. “What?”
“Marina was twenty-nine years younger than me, and I thought she was this magical creature that I needed in my life. That was so dumb. I was dumb. Women her age—most of them, anyway—don’t have a clue who they are or what they want out of life. I learned my lesson the hard way. Pretty on the outside doesn’t always correlate with pretty on the inside.”
“Can you write that up and send it to my ex?”
He snorted. “You think that would get him back?”
“Oh, I hope not. I do not want him back. Not even a little bit. I’ve got my kids, and my life is straightening itself out. Someday, my finances will, too, but that divorce was worth every penny I paid.”
He picked up his coffee cup. “Here’s to moving on.” He smiled. “And making new friends.”
She clinked her cup against his. “Cheers to that.” She sipped a little, then went back to her omelet. She wasn’t going to waste a bit of that deliciousness. “So you’re Italian, huh? Is that where your love of food and cooking comes from?”
“Probably. I had two nonnas who loved having me in their kitchens. Some of my earliest memories are of being with them and making something.”
“That’s great. I don’t really think of you as an Italian chef, though.”
“That’s on purpose. I didn’t want to get pigeonholed, you know? And I love all kinds of food, so why limit myself.”
“I can understand that.”
He gestured with his fork. “You know, what we do is not so different. We just create in different mediums.”
She would never have thought something like that, but it was sweet of him to say. “That’s kind of you to say. I can’t wait to get started on your logos. I already have some ideas.”
“Is that a polite way of saying you’re ready to go home?”
“No, no. I’m not going anywhere until my plate is clean.” She smiled at him. “I’m enjoying talking to you, too.”
“Same here.” He looked over at the dogs. “Archie looks pretty content to stay a while longer. Do you have a dog, too?”
“No. For one thing, during the school year, I’m gone all day. For another, I wasn’t kidding when I mentioned my finances. The divorce attorney was ridiculously expensive. My budget doesn’t really allow for anything extra at the moment. I’m only here because my sister owns that house. This is my first vacation in a long time.”
“And I’m making you work.”
“I was already working. And you’re feeding me. I’m happy to create some logos for you.”
“I guess I should ask what you charge for a thing like that.”
She’d been hoping not to talk about money. “I don’t really know. Like I said, I’ve never done a logo before. I should probably research that and see what the going rate is. That’s not a very professional answer, is it?”
“I don’t know, but it’s an honest one and I can respect that. How do you charge for most things?”
“With something like the book illustrations, I generally calculate how much time I think it’ll take me and then figure it out from there based on an hourly rate.”
“Okay, so do you want to keep track of your hours and charge me accordingly?”
“I could, but I have no idea how many hours it’s going to take. I’d rather come up with a set price.”
His eyes twinkled. “And I’d rather pay you for the time you put in. I might not like the first examples. I might be very hard to please. I could be the worst customer you’ve ever had. You have no idea.”
She laughed. “You’re right, I don’t. Okay, I’ll track my hours like I do with a regular commission and let you know, but let me do the sketches first and see if you want to even proceed. For the future, though, is there an amount you don’t want to go over? I’ll be able to keep an eye on things that way.”
“If it approaches five grand, give me a heads up.”
Her eyes widened. That was so much more than she’d expected. “Um, yeah, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
He cleared his throat softly and forked up another bite of omelet. “Frankie, I think this is the start of great things.”
She just grinned and ate the rest of her omelet.