Page 41 of Cru's Crush

“Do you want to choose or let the captain?” he asked.

“If you don’t mind,” I said to the man who studied us.

“My pleasure. Cru said you want tuna, yellowtail, and salmon. He also said you’d be open to lobster in place of the sockeye.”

“Yes, please.”

Cru removed his arm but remained close as we waited. I brushed his hand with mine, wishing he’d hold it, but he didn’t. As much as I yearned for him in this setting—a smelly, damp market with concrete floors—how would it be when we worked in the vineyards and the winery? The latter was equally damp and smelly, just of grapes rather than fish.

And what about when we were home after a long day of work, making the evening meal together after we’d both changed out of our work clothes and werefresh out of the shower? In the summer, I knew he’d wear shorts once we were home, like I probably would.

Cru leaned down so his mouth was near my ear. “What are you thinking about?” he whispered.

“Summer.”

His head cocked.

“Don’t ask,” I whispered back.

His eyes blazed, and he nodded once. “I won’t. At least not yet.” His smirk told me he saw this as an opportunity to get back at me for teasingly torturing him the morning at the cottage and later in the lingerie store. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to see what he’d do.

As it turned out,he didn’t do anything, at least not on our way to the produce market, bakery, or kitchen supply store. I sat on pins and needles the entire return trip to Los Caballeros, then again after we took our purchases in and put them away. In fact, he hardly said one word to me. I was beginning to realize I didn’t know Cru half as well as I thought I did.

Maybe his teasing and flirting, in all the years our paths crossed, he’d done because he knew I wouldn’t take him seriously since I was with Beau. Now that hewasn’t a barrier between us, Cru realized I might take his playful banter to mean more than it did.

The other thing that bothered me was how everyone assumed he and I were together. Didn’t anyone think I was capable of being on my own? Did I always have to be linked to a man? Men certainly weren’t defined by whoever they were dating or married to.

I prepped three kinds of salsa plus two types of sauce. Captain Bob had cooked the lobster tails while we waited and chopped it, the tuna, and yellowtail in the way I’d told him I’d serve it. The salad was prepped, and the dessert we’d purchased at the bakery would only need to be cut later. Besides plating and serving, I’d still have to air fry both the raw and toasted nori, but I wouldn’t do that until we were almost ready to eat.

“Anything I can do?” Cru asked when he returned from the caves where he’d chosen a few wine options.

“Everything is set. I was wondering, do you still keep horses on the estate?”

“We have a full stable.”

“Would it be possible for me to ride?” I asked.

“Of course. I’ll change, and we can go,” he offered.

“You don’t have to join me if you don’t want to.”

His eyes scrunched. “I’d like to.”

“Very well, then. I’ll change and meet you outside in a few minutes.”

“Daph?” he said as I walked away.

“Yes?”

“Is everything okay?”

I turned around and put one hand on my hip. “Everythingis okay.I’mokay. There’s no need to keep asking.”

“Gotcha.”

“How about you, Cru? Is everything okay?”

He smirked. “Yes, Daphne.”