Chapter Twenty-One #2
Being alone with her in her apartment stirred something I didn’t know what to do with—equal parts thrill and nerves, a tightrope walk between comfort and danger.
I didn’t want to misinterpret her signals.
Hell, being a guy was damn hard. I wanted her, but unless she made it super clear she wanted me back, I wasn’t going to make any further moves. I was going to wait and be patient.
“The pasta is delicious,” she said, ending my inner musings. “Let’s eat.”
We sat opposite each other, flicking gazes over the flickering candlelight. The spaghetti was perfectly al dente, tossed in a silky tomato-basil sauce simmered to perfection—bright with garlic, just enough heat to tease the tongue, and finished with a dusting of sharp parmesan.
Sue filled me in on her chat with the girls. “They went nuts when they saw the ring.”
I grinned. “Glad to hear they’ll keep our secret.”
“Absolutely. It’s a slim possibility, but if anyone asks they’ll back up our pretend romance.” She took a mouthful of wine. “Unfortunately, Neil may be a pain in the ass.”
“Why?”
“Nikki says his wife dumped him, and he’s got his eye on me like never before.”
I didn’t even know the man, but I already hated him for breaking Sue’s heart—even if he’d done me a favor. The thought of him sniffing around her made my spine tighten. I could feel the sudden tension in my jaw, the pulse in my temple.
I put my glass down carefully before I crushed the damn thing. “If he gets anywhere near you, I’ll disabuse him of that notion.”
Sue looked surprised, maybe even pleased with my reaction. I knew some women got a kick out of men fighting over them. Hell, it’s why we did it. Although a fist fight wasn’t my first go-to in modern times.
I pursed my lips thoughtfully. “Maybe I should stick Britt on him. Until his wife gets her share, he’s still a rich man, right?”
She barely managed to swallow her wine before bursting into guffaws. “Oh, I’d pay to see that. Maybe they know each other. Warwick’s a small place, and surely Neil would have noticed her back then. But I can’t imagine her living in the countryside, plucking truffles.”
“Now that’s something I’d pay to see.” I pushed my empty plate aside. “Thank you for dinner. It was delicious.”
“You’re most welcome. I was in a hurry, but next time I’m going to cook some pasta myself.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I’d love some spaghetti carbonara made by a genuine Italian woman.”
“Just to be clear, real carbonara doesn’t involve cream. Or garlic. Or—God forbid—peas.”
I blinked. “Wait. No garlic?”
She pointed her fork at me. “No garlic, no cream, no onions, no parsley, no lemon zest, no avocado. No culinary crimes.”
I raised my hands in mock surrender. “I didn’t know the recipe was sacred.”
“It’s not sacred. It’s just correct. Egg yolk, pecorino, guanciale, black pepper, and pasta. That’s it. Anything else is just pasta cosplay.”
Cam grinned. “Wow. That was… passionate.”
I watched her amused and a little entranced. If she put this much passion into cooking, I could only imagine how passionate she might be in bed. I swallowed, yanking my mind from between the sheets.
Sue went on with no loss of enthusiasm. “Once you’ve seen reels with fettuccine alfredo labeled carbonara, you become scarred for life. My grandmother would rise from her grave and throw a wooden spoon at their heads.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I bet she was formidable.”
Her smile faltered just a little. “I don’t really remember her.
I only met her once when I was three. She and my grandfather came to see us, but traveling from Italy to US and vice versa isn’t easy or cheap, so that was the only time my dad was reunited with his parents.
I’ve never been to Italy and now that my grandparents are gone… ”
My expression softened. “I’m sorry you lost them. But I’d love to take you to Italy one day.”
She guffawed. “That’s quite unlikely on a teacher’s salary.” She changed the subject quickly. “So how did the conference call go?”
She’d already asked, and while I didn’t want to be distracted, I got the message and gave in with a small nod.
“It went really well. I sold the program to one of the largest education ministries in the country. They’ve been looking to modernize their system, and they accepted our bid. They want everything installed during their summer break—which is winter here.”
“Will you have to go there?”
The words sounded almost wistful, as though Australia was the moon and she didn’t want me to go there.
I smiled gently. “I will at first. But I’ll be assigning a Denver team to manage the project once it’s off the ground. If the other states jump on board, it could be massive. Have you ever been to the Land Down Under?”
She scoffed. “Does Mexico count?”
I chuckled. Led by an impulse, I reached across the table and slid my hand over hers. “You should come with me. Australia’s incredible. It really is a whole other world.”
She gulped her wine. “Sure. Just let me consult my bank account and the tyrants I work for. Also, I don’t do well upside down.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. Between the price of flights and my work, I’d have to fake my death and cash in someone else’s life insurance. And no,” she added, “you can’t pay for it. I told you—I’m not that kind of girl.”
I cocked my head. I couldn’t figure her out. All the women I’d ever dated expected me—no, demanded—that I pay for things, for clothes, for jewelry, for trips. Susanne was the first woman I had to convince to let me buy her gifts. I wasn’t used to this. I didn’t know how to feel and how to react.
I leaned back, studying her. “Then I’ll hire you.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Teacher training teachers. Make it official. We’ll go over Christmas—two weeks off, and I promise to make it worth your while.”
“You’re bribing me with fake employment now?”
I gestured evasively. “I prefer to think of it as creative staffing. Think about the gorgeous beaches, the kangaroos, the koalas—”
“And giant spiders. And saltwater crocodiles.” She gave me a pointed look. “Do you always manipulate people with charm and loopholes to get your way?”
I gave a mock sigh. “I’m being a control freak again, huh?”
“Oh yeah.” She shifted gears. “Will you be at school tomorrow? Or just Dawna?”
“We’ll both be there. I wouldn’t let you face the dragon lady alone.”
She stood and picked up our plates, carrying them to the kitchen. “Thank you. If she doesn’t read the Weekender, someone else will. And Luke will definitely be there. Trying to keep him quiet is like trying to put the genie back in the bottle.”
I laughed and pulled my phone from my pocket. “Excuse me—this thing’s been vibrating nonstop.” I glanced at the screen and felt my smile fade.
How would I break this news to Sue?
As though sensing something was wrong, she froze.
“What is it?”
I looked up, my eyes meeting hers. “Well... my sister just texted. She and my mom are coming to Easter dinner, too.”
She sat down hard, the air whooshing out of her lungs.
“Your mom and sister? Oh boy! I can handle my family—I trained for that my whole life. But yours? What if they hate me? What if they give you some kind of ultimatum not to marry me?”
I burst into laughter and reached for her hand before she spiraled all the way into the cascade of what ifs.
“Hey,” I said, keeping my tone as gentle as I could. “We’ll prepare. We were going to go through everything for your family anyway—we’ll just have a slightly larger audience than we planned.”
“Yeah.” Her lips looked bloodless.
Inside, I wasn’t quite calm myself.
My mom was insightful, sharp, and intimidatingly perceptive. She’d spot cracks in our story faster than I could code a firewall. And Becky? Becky didn’t believe in subtlety. She had a sixth sense for bullshit—especially mine. This could blow up in our faces.
But I couldn’t let Sue see that. She was already unraveling, and I needed her steady. So I squeezed her hand again and stood.
“I’ll pour more wine. You grab your laptop. Let’s find that questionnaire and start studying again. We can pull this off, you’ll see.”