Page 76

Patting his bare stomach, he laughs. “Is that Elio’s motto for the restaurant? If it is, it needs to not be.”

I glance down at the sweatpants he’s wearing. “How are you this sexy all the time?”

“Cute and sexy?” His brow cocks. “I’m sounding more and more like the perfect guy with each passing day.”

He is the perfect guy. That’s the problem.

I push my hair back from my forehead before tugging on the bottom hem of the shirt I’m wearing. It’s the Knight’s T-shirt he handed me the other night. I debated putting it on again when I found it slung over the back of a chair in his bedroom, but I wanted something to cover me that I knew would be easy for him to remove because I’m selfishly hoping for another round with him before I go home.

His gaze follows the movement of my hand. “Tell me you’re naked under that shirt.”

I point at the spot where he tore my panties off earlier. The evidence of that is the piece of shredded pink lace in the middle of his kitchen floor. “You know the answer to that.”

“The answer is I’ll order the pizza, and before it arrives, you’ll come for me again.”

“How?” I ask in anticipation.

He reaches for where he left his phone on the kitchen island. “Your choice. Hand, mouth, dick. Choose your favorite.”

“You’re my favorite,” I whisper.

It’s not quiet enough, though. I can tell by the way his gaze darts up from the phone to land on my face. “You’re my favorite too, Opal.”

I should remind him that what’s happening between us is strictly casual. It’s the right thing to do, but for this one moment in time, I’m going to bask in what it feels like to do the wrong thing.

“How does pepperoni pizza sound?” he asks with a grin as he taps his fingers over his phone’s screen. “I’m on the Franzini’s site, ready to place our order.”

“Sounds good to me,” I say, nodding.

“I should warn you that you’ve had the best, so it won’t be nearly as good as that.”

I know he’s talking about the pizza he made me, but his words apply to more than that. He’s the best I’ve ever had. In bed, out of bed, and in quiet moments like this, he’s the best man I’ve ever known.

“I know.” I nod.

“Ordered.” He places his phone on the island. “Did you make a decision, Opal? Tell me what I need to do to make you come for me again.”

“Kiss me,” I say, not because it will get me off, although the way the man kisses does send me close to the edge. I want to feel his lips on mine before he takes me again.

“Yes.” His voice is deep as he walks toward me. “Kissing you is almost a spiritual experience for me.”

I stop his movement when I press a hand to the middle of his bare chest. “What do you mean?”

He cups my face in his hands and stares into my eyes. “I feel peace when I kiss you. I feel centered. I know I’m where I need to be.”

With that, he lowers his lips to mine and kisses me in a way that makes me feel I’m exactly where I need to be, too, at this moment in time.

47

Opal

I smile as soonas I see who is waiting for me outside Turquoise Crown when I arrive at work. It’s Malvie and this time, she’s not holding anything food-related. In her hand is a small bottle of champagne.

Assuming she’s here to toast the fact that the bar officially opens soon, I call out to her to grab her attention away from the phone in her hand, “It’s time to celebrate!”

She looks up. Her eyes widen as she sees how I’m dressed. I found a hidden treasure trove in my apartment early this morning. As I dug through my closet, searching for a pair of sneakers I knew my tired feet would appreciate, I came across a small cardboard box in the corner. I instantly knew that it didn’t belong to me.

My mom and dad insisted on taking the lead the day I moved into my apartment. I wasn’t in any shape to argue since I was in a daze. As my dad helped the movers I hired carry boxes to my apartment, my mom unpacked what she deemed ‘essentials.’ They were the few things that would fit in the crowded space. Everything else was either left in the box it was packed in or tossed back into an empty box. At the end of the day, my parents crammed all the boxes filled with the ‘non-essentials’into my closet.