Chapter 11
Madison woke to the smell of hot coffee and something delicious she couldn’t quite figure out. She stretched in bed and then went to do her morning routine. She threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and headed to the kitchen area.
There she found Dante at the stove. He wore an apron, pajama pants, and nothing else. There was a tingle in her center. Her period wouldn’t finish before this weekend, so they wouldn’t be able to have sex and that was ok.
If Madison had marriage in the cards, Dante was the kind of man she would choose.
But she wasn’t going to get married or bring kids into the world.
Deep down, she could feel she might like Dante more than she would let on, but it wasn’t something she was willing to examine at the moment.
She just wanted to enjoy the time they did have together. “What smells delicious?”
She stood in the doorway.
“French toast.”
“Ooo, French toast. I haven’t had that in ages.”
“Well, then I am happy to be able to make it for you.”
He turned around from the oven and took her in. His gaze smoldered as his eyes traveled up and down her body before landing back at her eyes. His eyes darkened and they beckoned to her.
“Come over here, please.”
Madison’s legs seemed to listen to Dante and she moved over to him. She tilted her face up for the kiss she knew he was going to give, and he didn’t disappoint. Her insides melted as he wrapped his arms around her, spatula and all.
“We better stop.” She came up for a breath. “Don’t want to burn the food.”
“True.” He placed another peck on her nose and then turned back to the stove and flipped the French toast and placed it on a plate next to the stove. “I hope you are hungry.”
“I am.” At that moment she was starved for something other than food, but she would take the French toast. “Let me help you set the table.”
“No need. I’ve already done it. I just need for you, beautiful, to sit down and let me take care of you.”
She was quick to sit down. She didn’t have a lot of people who took care of her so she was going to soak it all up. Dante treated her so well it was like a fairy tale she didn’t want to leave.
Dante placed the plate before her and then sat his own plate down before he took a seat. On the center of the table there was a fruit salad. They both dived into the food.
“This is delicious.” Madison popped a strawberry into her mouth. Seductively, she hoped. “Thank you for making food for me.” She meant it. And couldn’t think of the last time somebody had.
Her mom hadn’t been into cooking and preferred for Madison’s grandma to feed her or to hire help that as an adult, Madison knew they couldn’t have afforded.
“No problem. I love cooking. Happy to be able to whip something up for you. You deserve it.” Dante finished off his last bite of French toast. She wanted him to use that mouth on her next.
They ate the rest of the meal in comfortable silence. Both snuck peeks at each other. It seemed like they were more than friends with benefits, and she was excited for it. Her first real relationship. But was this what she wanted, a long-term relationship with a possible criminal?
Madison hid all her doubts and set her fork down. “It was delicious. Let me help clear the dishes.”
“Sounds good. I’ll take any help I can get.” He gave her a wink. “Let’s do your suggestion of going to the farmer’s market and get some fresh food to make for the weekend.”
“That sounds like a great idea. Let me go change.”
****
Dante looked forward to spending the day with Madison. There was so much to learn, and little by little he was peeling back the layers as they spent more time together. Madison went to the bedroom to change clothes, and he followed to grab a shirt for himself.
He decided to change into jeans and dropped his pants before he put on boxer briefs and then pulled up his pants.
When he turned around, Madison’s eyes on him and they were heated with desire.
It made him feel good that she wanted him, but he wanted to share some things with her as they built up more trust between each other.
“Come, let’s go.” He held out a hand out for her, and there was no hesitation, she placed her hand in his. He curled his fingers around hers, careful not to hold too tight.
“It’s down the street. Let me grab some bags to put our finds in.”
Hyped as they left and went to the farmer’s market, he could feel her excitement as they moved through the stalls and looked at various produce, as well as some people’s stalls that displayed their crafts.”
“Oh wow, isn’t this painting pretty?”
Dante nodded. Not as pretty as her.
“I’m a sucker for a sunset or sunrise picture. I just love them.”
He decided to come back and get it for her. Maybe see if the guy could make a special one for her. He had noticed the sunset and sunrise pictures tacked to the walls at her place in between her designs, it looked like she had taken them herself.
They walked hand in hand through the market and stopped to chat at various interesting finds in crafts and food items. They filled their bags as they went.
“We better get home,” Madison said.
“Why?” He had a warm feeling in his chest that she called his place home.
“The bags are getting heavy; we won’t able to carry them soon.”
She smiled the most beautiful smile at him, and he wished this wouldn’t end, and could go on forever.
“Let’s stop at a couple more stalls. I want to check out the cheese and honey vendors.”
Holding hands still they traipsed back and forth from one end of the market to the other and added to their finds. Dante knew he had to find a way to make this relationship work.
He had started to care for Madison. Even still he wasn’t willing to put a name on what he was feeling or allow his plans for the future to take hold. He didn’t want his dreams to be shattered. And he could see a future with Madison.
And that scared him. He hadn’t considered the possibility of marriage since Monica, and even then the feeling hadn’t been as intense as it was with Madison.
“Ok, I think we stopped at every stall and you almost bought something from everyone. This was an expensive trip.” Madison smiled up at him.
“I guess, I did, didn’t I? But I like to support local businesses and some of it was your fault.”
“My fault? How?” She brought her hand that wasn’t holding his hand to her chest.
“You liked something at every stall, so I had to buy it. I couldn’t resist giving you what you want.
” And that was true. He would move mountains to give her what she wanted, and he hoped one day she would realize she wanted him.
But this was the second time she mentioned something being expensive.
Was she enjoying his money more than him?
She rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his mouth. He knew she meant it to be quick, but he couldn’t resist and deepened it and even with all the packages he held. He still wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer to him.
When they came up for air, her eyes were dazed and glassy and he couldn’t wait to get her home. He knew she was still on her period and would be for the entire weekend visit, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t kiss her.
And kiss her he would.
“Come, let’s take our purchases back to my place.”
Something like a frown passed over her face and disappeared. “Sounds like a plan.”
Dante was curious if something had changed? It seemed like they had both enjoyed their time out. They walked hand in hand toward his car. He carried all the packages in one hand. They were cutting off circulation in his fingers as they twisted up around his fingers with movement.
But he wouldn’t let her carry any. He wanted to hold her hand and keep this idyllic experience going for as long as he could.
****
Madison watched Dante unload all the bags. He wouldn’t let her help. “I feel like I’m just sitting here like a bump on a log.”
“A pretty bump.” He smiled at her and her heart melted. He thought she was pretty. She looked down at the table. She wasn’t used to getting compliments and didn’t know how to take it. Was he was feeling the same tugs and yearnings for a longer arrangement?
She couldn’t believe she was thinking that. She needed to snap herself out of it. What they had going was fine. She didn’t even know how much longer these intense emotions would last. Besides, they only had two months left to their deal. Who knew what would happen after their time together was up.
“What can I help with?”
“Well, now that I have all the ingredients out, shall we look them over to find out what we can make with them?”
“Sure.” Madison got off the stool and walked over to the counter where he had displayed everything.
“What are you thinking?” Madison looked at the spread.
“I don’t know. We have that garlic bread, spinach, peppers, and tomatoes. We could do salad with homemade croutons and maybe that thick-cut bacon on the side. What do you think?”
“That sounds delicious. I was thinking that for dinner we do the free-range chicken with the kale and potatoes and maybe an orange or lemon sauce.” Madison set the ingredients to one side.
“That sounds good. Are you going to make it?”
“Yep. What if you make lunch and I’ll be your sous chef and then we make dinner together?”
“Ok, let’s get eat. I’m getting hungry.”
They worked in companionable silence. It was seamless as they moved around the kitchen together as if they had been doing this for years. It was nice to be able to work together in such a smooth way, and they had the meal prepared fast and sat down to eat.
“So what was it like for you growing up? Did you have any other siblings? I know you mentioned your brother that played pro ball. Is that right?” Dante picked up his silverware.