Page 35 of Recipe for Romance (Applewood #2)

Nic seemed to age five years with just that one question, shrugging before she rested her head against his chest. “It was okay. Fine, I guess.” She wrapped her arms around him again and shimmied against his body.

“I’d rather talk about your holiday.” Aiden shook his head, not wanting to press her on it but also feeling the fiercest urge to soothe her and make everything better.

Giving her the time she needed, he filled her in on his time with his family, including his newly formed partnership with his brother.

“That’s amazing, Aiden. I bet Felix was so happy. ”

“He was,” Aiden admitted. Seeing his little brother light up with joy was by far the best result of their partnership, but he wanted to get back to her.

Clearing his throat, Aiden steered her toward one of the window boxes that faced out to the river.

Lifting her hands to his mouth, he placed a kiss there before resting them in his lap.

“What I want to know is why you don’t look happy. Will you tell me?”

Nicole pasted on a smile he could tell was fake from even the farthest distance.

“I am happy, happy to be back here with you.” Aiden speared her with a look, causing her to sigh as she leaned her head against the glass and gazed outside.

“Ugh. I’m not sure why I expected this holiday to be different from any others, but I suppose I thought that with me training and everything, we would be closer.

” Her eyes were sad and shining with moisture when she faced him again.

“We weren’t. It was like it always is, a house full of people who work for or with my dad, him cooking in the kitchen with a bunch of other famous chefs and not having room for me in there.

” Her shoulder bobbed slowly as she blinked away her tears.

Hearing her pain, witnessing it firsthand had Aiden’s hands balling into fists, anger on her behalf flooding his system.

“It’s so dumb. I mean, I’m twenty-five. You would think I wouldn’t care so much about what my dad thinks. ”

Aiden pulled her into his lap and held Nic as her body shuddered with grief and hurt.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Angel.

” The endearment spilled out automatically.

That’s what she had always seemed like and had since become to him, his angel.

Nic sniffled, cuddling closer like she wanted to crawl into his chest. He would gladly let her, especially if it meant she was safe from ever having to feel this kind of pain again.

“I think we’re programmed to always want our parents’ approval.

That’s why it hurts so badly when we don’t get it.

” Aiden had the approval of his parents and had since a young age.

It completed him in a way he couldn’t really put into words, and he wished more than anything that he could transfer even a small drop of that feeling over to her.

Sadly, things didn’t work that way either.

Nicole nodded against him, his hands finding their way to the back of her neck to rub it. The gesture wouldn’t relieve her pain, but he couldn’t sit there and do nothing. She leaned into the touch, making him feel the slightest bit better about being able to help her in that small way.

After another moment, she peered up at him, looking relieved.

“Thank you.” She kissed his chin, a silly yet sweet gesture she’d started not long after they began sleeping together.

“Now, take me around this gorgeous place and help me take my mind off things.” His dick stirred at the idea of really taking her mind off things, but he held himself back. She needed comfort, not his cock.

Aiden stood, keeping her in his arms, cradling her as he walked.

Nic laughed and slapped playfully at his chest, but she didn’t protest, merely wrapping her arms around his neck and sighing happily as he told her about everything that had been accomplished in the few days she’d been gone.

After touring the small second floor that was really more of an elongated balcony with enough room for a few two tops, he showed her the offices, the bathrooms, and the kitchen before ending at the bar that had been her brainchild.

Setting her down, Aiden watched as she marveled over the marble, stepping behind the bar and running her hands over the top.

“This is amazing,” she said. Her eyes lit up as she continued to explore it, pretending to mix fancy cocktails like out of some movie.

“It almost makes me wish I was a mixologist.”

Aiden chuckled, leaning against the hard surface. “I’m not sure we could afford to replace all the broken glasses.”

Nic stopped mid cocktail shake and glared at him, though her eyes and lips were smiling. “Rude,” she pouted. Abandoning her imaginary drinks, she stepped up next to him and gestured at the flip books. “What are these?”

“Oh.” Aiden opened the one with linen samples and slid it in front of her. “I was actually hoping you would help me with some of this.” He pointed out the list of items he needed to order, and quickly if they were going to be able to have a soft open in January.

Nicole scanned the list, her eyes growing brighter with each line she read.

“You really want to know what I think?” Aiden scowled, offended that she would think her opinion unimportant, especially to him, but before he could voice that, she held up a hand and jogged over to her purse.

“Forget I asked,” she said, handing him a bag of trail mix.

“I shouldn’t have questioned you like that when you’re at a three out of five on the hangry scale. ”

Aiden chuckled, opening the bag and popping a handful into his mouth.

“So there’s a scale now?” He didn’t mind even the slightest that she was poking fun at him.

He’d laughed more with her than he had in ages and if the light feeling in his chest was the result, he would let her tease him until the end of time with nothing but a smile on his face.

Nicole nodded, turning her attention to the linen book and running her fingers over the different fabric swatches. “Yup. When you’re at a two or below, it’s safe to question or tease you, but if you’re at a three or higher, it’s safer to hand you a snack and back away slowly.”

Aiden bumped her with his shoulder, just because he didn’t mind her teasing didn’t mean he couldn’t give a little back. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing your purse could double as a vending machine then.”

Nic beamed at him, apparently loving the ribbing as much as he did. “Exactly.”

They fell silent as she continued looking at the books, Aiden content to let the lack of conversation hang there while he watched her, enjoying the way her delicate fingers would smooth over fabric, how she would place silverware pictures on top of tablecloth swatches and bite her lip as she considered the pairing.

She was more fascinating to watch than any of the random shows or movies recommended to him over the years.

Her lips moved slightly as she spoke to herself in a tone that couldn’t even register as a whisper, and he’d become so transfixed by those lips that he barely noticed she’d finished with the books and was staring at him. “All done,” she said brightly.

Aiden frowned, glancing at his watch. Apparently he’d stood there watching Nic for nearly an hour. Shaking his head to clear the stupor he’d stumbled into, he grabbed a pen and paper. “Tell me what you think.”

Nic pointed to dark wood tables and soft gray fabric as well as leather chairs.

“I think you should go with these. The mixture of hardwood, muslin, and leather textures will give a nice varied feel to the space but will blend well together too. And no tablecloths. That’s just additional cleanup you aren’t going to want to deal with.

” She flipped the linen book open and pointed at a creamy ivory napkin.

“This will lighten up the tables, the colors contrasting nicely and if you feel it,” she took his hand and brushed it over the cloth.

“It’s soft, but sturdy, so it will hold up to a lot of washes but not be scratchy against your fingers or mouth.

” Nic beamed at him and looked around at the other books that were piled on the bar. “Is there more?”

Aiden nodded, passing her a magazine for aprons and other items for servers and kitchen staff. “Obviously we don’t have any employees yet, but we need to have something to show them when we start interviews next week.”

Nic bounced on her heels. “Oh, can I help interview them? I was so good at mock interviews in school that people even asked me for help outside of class. It was like, the one thing I could actually get right.” Ignoring the self-deprecating dig, Aiden focused on her other words.

He loved seeing her so happy, so confident in what she was doing that saying yes was a no brainer.

“Of course.” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that it was her restaurant as much as his, but he held it back.

He had a lot of thinking to do and more decisions to make.

As soon as Aiden had some things figured out, they would have the talk they’d been putting off, only this time, instead of negotiating the present, it would be more about planning the future they could create together.