Page 117 of All at Once

I only see him.

Walking to our table with butterflies jumping from all corners of my stomach, I say, “Sorry I’m late. This is kind of a big deal for me. And Imayhave spent a little too much time getting ready.”

We don’t even need a candle when his smile lights up the entire place.

Luca gets up to pull out my chair as I take my seat, so nervous that little gestures like this would have slipped from my mind. Yet I’m grateful he remembers them, before he takes his seat again. “It’s a big deal for me as well,” he says. “And you look stunning.”

It’s nice to hear that he cares as much as I do.

As he glances down at my dress in awe, I blush. “I’d prefer not to comment on how you look to not further embarrass myself.” When he chuckles, I just shrug nonchalantly. “You look good, I guess.”

He smirks. “Do you want a drink?”

“Yes please, but I don’t really feel like having any alcohol tonight.”

“Two virgin mojitos it is,” Luca gestures with his fingers.

I gesture back toward him. “Obviouslymy favorite drink.”

After he orders the drinks, he looks at me with pursed lips. “Shit. I knew I forgot something.”

“What?”

He claps his hands. “The extragarnish.”

I roll my eyes and snort. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Jokes on me actually because your concoction doesn’t taste half bad.”

“I’m glad you finally understand the madness.”

When our salads arrive, my butterflies have somehow traveled all the way up to my fingertips as the lemon slice I’m holding slips from my hand. It lands right into the cup of dressing next to my plate, covering my chest with the mixture of olive oil and herbs, and splashing onto Luca’s shirt from across the table. In my defense, why the fuck was the lemon slice big enough to be anentirefull lemon?

Luca’s face is creased so intensely that I feel a negative reaction from him coming. Is he pissed that I ruined his shirt? Annoyed at my clumsiness once again? My father’s voice echoes in my head in this moment, remembering his reaction every time I would make the smallest slip-up as a child. I expect it now from Luca, an automatic, almost conditioned expectation from what I grew up believing was normal.

Panic rises in my chest, but before I can profusely apologize to Luca, he bursts into laughter. I exhale a breath, and let myself giggle along with him.He’s not your father, I remind myself. He’sLuca. The man I’ve fallen in love with. And his reaction to this moment proves that perfectly.

Luca gets up from his chair as I struggle to clean the dressing off my skin.

He almost kneels down in front of me, not helping the shaking state my hands are still in. “Jasmine, what are we gonna do with you?” He smirks. “I really should have worn my Hazmat suit.”

I scoff. “That’s not the way I wanted to ruin your shirt…”

He bites down on his bottom lip, while helping wipe the pieces off my chest. “Itwasn’t?What did you have in mind then?” He locks his mischievous eyes with mine.

“When you stop looking at me likethat, maybe I’ll think of something,” I whisper, low enough for only him to hear. It’ssurprising that I even manage to say this, with the way his fingers were gently brushing over my chest a second ago.

Once Luca sits back in his chair and reaches for his drink, his brows furrow even deeper as he looks into his glass. “I didn’t know my virgin mojito came with evenmoregarnish.”

I lean forward to look at his cup, and sure enough find more pieces of my salad dressing in his drink. I laugh in frustration. “I wonder how many tables got a chance to taste my dressing.” My eyes immediately widen at my terrible phrasing. “Mysaladdressing.”

Luca almost chokes on his drink. “I have no words.”

As we finish the Spanish churros with hot chocolate that we ordered for dessert, he asks, “Have you told Georgia about us?”

“Us?” I repeat, the word making my heart flutter.

“Yeah, that we…” He licks his bottom lip seductively. “Kissed.”

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