Page 177 of All at Once

He walks over to the refrigerator. “We should. I got the few things we didn’t have for it the other day. I figured it would be a fun thing to make to celebrate the apartment and all.”

“And I thought that I couldn’t get more impressed by you?” I voice out loud.

“Oh this is nothing,” he says.

Luca’s also put so much effort to back his words and has made me feel validated not because I need him to, but just byloving me in spite of my flaws. So I take the moment to express how I feel back to him, considering how he still continues to brush off all the amazing things he does as if they’re not much. With the subtle things sometimes making myentire day.

“This isn’t a dig at your exes, but they really lost a gem,” I confess.

“You think I’m a gem?” he asks bashfully, but with sarcasm.

“The prettiest gem I’veeverseen.”

“That sounds more likeyou. But thank you for the compliment.” He chuckles as he starts placing the ingredients onto the counter. While I eagerly look through everything, he gives me a warm grin. “I’m guessing that you want to make the key lime pie then?”

I tilt my head at him knowingly. “Is that even a question?”

While he continues to organize everything, my loose shirt falls a bit off my shoulder, revealing a glimpse of my bra. When Luca looks at it but doesn’t comment, I tease, “If you’re curious, I finally found a yellow one that I thought was cute.”

Though his cheeks look even more flushed than before, he pretends to glance away playfully. “I don’t knowwhatyou’re talking about. I didn’t see anything.”

“Oh you didn’t?” I roll down my sleeve slightly and notice his posture changes again.

Putting down the bowl of limes, he moves in closer, pinning me between the counter as he places his hands on both sides of my hips as a barrier. “You’re not behaving…”

“Andyouare?” I counter.

His lips are dangerously close again, so I tease them with my fingers.

It’s then that his mouth travels along my exposed shoulder. He could very easily just kiss down to my breasts. So of coursethat’s exactly what hedoesn’tdo. Instead, he traces his mouth along my collarbone, moving just inches above my cleavage when I feel his lips curve into a smug smile. And then he leaves the softest kiss, making my body scream when he lets go.

Acting oblivious yet again, he asks, “So you’re liking your job?”

Still with my neck tilted to the side, I groan, “Thanks to you now I need to take a seat.”

“I mean, I’d offer, but the pie,” he teases, while brushing his fingers across his lips.

My body whimpers, wishing we’d be doingthatinstead right now. But when my mind has a second to gather itself, knowing how fun this will be, I reply to his previous question, “Yeah. I love this job. Which is afirst.”

“That’s awesome. I’m happy for you.” Luca smiles so warmly as he kisses my hair.

“Thank you for helping to push me to come here,” I say.

“No, that was all you,” he says.

“I know that you don’t make a change unless you really want to be the one who wants to make it, but having a push from someone who has your best interests in mind is always nice. Like you could have easily insisted for me to move to Marbella, but you didn’t.”

“Of course I wanted to, but that wouldn’t have been fair.”

“See that’s what I mean. You’re a gem.” I cup the side of his face, giving him the biggest kiss possible as he grins into my lips before we begin working on the recipe.

As I start squeezing the limes, they immediately splash onto Luca’s cheeks. “You know the bowl is over there?” he mocks.

When some of the limes he’s preparing splash on my arms a moment later, I dish back, “Wherewere you saying the bowl was again?”

“Maybe these are extra juicy limes,” he concludes.

“That sounded so weird.”

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