God knows how long she’d spent desperately trying to scrape together the money to keep their apartment, then the week on the street before Bartolini had taken her in. The trouble she’d endured shattered him.
She entered the kitchen for two bowls of wedding soup. Her spine was stiff and straight. Her eyes downcast.
He walked over to the pot and took the ladle from her hand. “I will get this.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know. You are always fine.” He waited a beat. Long enough for her gaze to rise and meet his. “And I am sorry.” He meant that he was sorry for what happened the day before but when her eyes darkened with hope, he sucked in a breath, caught her hand. “I should have come back the next day. I should have pounded on your door until you would have talked to me. I should have known you loved me.”
She said, “We were young.” But her gaze clung to his.
They weren’t young now. They were both free. A world of opportunities awaited him, and her responsibilities to her sister had been fulfilled.
Would it really be so wrong to try again?
Lily scampered out of the kitchen, careful not to slosh her soup. But as the door swung closed behind her, she heard Chef Rafe say, “I thought we decided it is best for you to stay away from her?”
Mic said, “Yeah.” He paused a second, as if considering that, then he said, “But we’re not kids and I’m only here for a few weeks. There’s nothing wrong with us spending some time together.”
Her steps faltered. Another woman might have been insulted that he was thinking of her only as a lover. Maybe even entertainment while he was here. Not someone to keep in his life permanently. But she knew the past would never allow them to have another relationship. And if that wasn’t enough, he was going to Paris and in a few months she’d be renting out her condo and moving to Florence. But she still desperately wanted her one more night.
So when Mila suggested they go to Pia’s Tavern after work and she heard Mic agreeing, she accepted the invitation too. Except she didn’t go directly from Mancini’s to Pia’s. She raced to her condo, showered, fixed her hair and put on makeup and her best jeans and sweater before she left for the local tavern.
When she entered, the short, round bartender was adjusting the channel on the television above the shelves of whiskey, gin and rum behind the shiny wood bar. Flames from the old stone fireplace in the back kept the January cold at bay. In the far corner, playing darts, was the crew from Mancini’s.
As Lily’s eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed everybody but Rafe seemed to have needed the night out. Their demanding, hyper-vigilant chef was not in attendance.
But Mic was. He’d taken off his chef’s smock and wore jeans and a bright blue sweater that made the color of his eyes seem even bluer. He stood beside Allegra, holding her arm back, showing her how to throw a dart, but Lily didn’t get jealous of the intimate pose. She knew when Mic was romantically interested in someone. A certain look came to his eyes. That look wasn’t there for Allegra.
She slid out of her old black wool coat, hung it on a convenient hook near the dartboard.
When Mic heard her, he glanced up.
“Wanna buy a friend a beer?”
His eyes darkened, then warmed, and she smiled. That was the look he got when he was interested in someone.
“Sure.”
He motioned for the bartender, who came and took orders. Lily ambled to a table when the bartender brought her beer and Mic followed her.
He slid to the seat across from her. “You changed clothes.”
She smiled. “I don’t get out much. I wanted to look nice.”
“Liar. You changed for me.”
She laughed. “So you’re getting smart enough not to accept my silly lies.”
“The last one wasn’t silly.”
“No, but I thought it was necessary.” She sucked in a breath to change the conversation. She didn’t want to talk about the past or the future. She wanted to be with him. “And here we are. Eight years later. Eight years smarter. And neither one of us coy.” She met his gaze. “Would you like to come back to my condo with me?”
Mic almost spit out his beer. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Lily’s condo with her.
It was what she wanted. He could see it in her eyes. But something wasn’t quite right. They’d never made love just for sex. It had always been about love. And what she suggested now, a hook up, gave him an odd feeling he couldn’t quite interpret.
So he left the decision to chance. “How about if we play darts for it?”
She laughed. “What?”
“If you beat me, we do as you wish.”
She rose from the table. “Wow. I’ve never had a man turn me down before.”
Jealousy speared his heart as he also rose. “There have been many?”
She laughed and took his arm, leading him to the dartboard. “There was no one.”
He said, “What?” but she ignored him, walking to the board and removing the darts for them to play.
The thought that she’d spent eight years celibate rattled through him. Confusion destroyed his dart game, and she easily beat him. And he wondered if that hadn’t actually been her plan.
He met her gaze. “Looks like you get your wish.”
She smiled and reached for her coat on the hook, but he grabbed it before she could and held it for her to slide on. “So we go back to your condo now?”
She turned, her eyes bright with humor. “You must be invited again?”
His heart kicked. He hadn’t realized how much he’d longed for her smile, her presence, until that very second. With the pretense gone and all questions answered, he just wanted to be with her.
“No. I don’t need to be asked twice.”
She headed for the exit. He followed her, opening the door when they reached it, and she walked into the cold night.
Still, as much as he wanted to be with her, something about this troubled him.
“So you worked for Signor Bartolini for eight years?”
“Actually he died a while back. But Melony and I were there for years. He made his home our home.”
He took comfort in that, and relaxed a little.
