Page 54 of Better Left Unsaid

“Perfect,” I supplied, feeling tears sting my eyes, thinking about Mom. It was one of the first times lately that I thought about her and wasn’t mad. Or sad.

“The apple never falls far from the tree, whether we like it or not,” she replied.

Before I could say anything in response, the chimes sounded and in strolled Dom. I watched as he coolly removed the aviators from his eyes and folded them, tucking them in the front of his light blue shirt. He looked very suave. Just as he always did.

“It looks like you’ve got reinforcements,” Liliana said, patting my shoulder before starting toward the back again.

Dom nudged his head toward her in greeting. “How are you doing, Liliana?” he called, pulling out the chair across from me and taking a seat.

“I’m an old lady and I don’t have any pain. I can still work. So, I can’t complain.”

Dom and I chuckled. “Glad to hear it,” Dom replied. “My nonna hasn’t talked about much else since your last bridge game. Said you didn’t play fair.”

She rolled her eyes. “She’s a sore loser. As bad as my brother. Never could stand anyone else winning. At some point he stopped playing altogether.”

Dom grinned. “Then I believe it’s safe to say where my father gets it from. Can’t stand to lose.”

“In games or in life?” Liliana questioned. “Before I go around back, do you want anything to eat? I couldn’t convince Maria to have something. Tell me I can you.”

Dom’s eyes roamed to the counter. “How about a slice of turtle cheesecake?”

Without a word, Liliana retrieved a piece and brought it over with two forks before retreating to the back.

I shook my head, knowing what Dom was doing. He knew I loved turtle cheesecake. The corners of my lips turned up. “You know me too well, Dom Deluca.” And it was true, he did.

He shrugged, took a forkful of the delectable dessert, and passed it to me. While I ate it off the fork, he said, “And we both know Peanut so well, so let’s take a look at these designs and serve up something she’s going to love.”

He angled his head as I turned the book to him so he could take a look, too. Coming across a six-tier cake with a mermaid theme, Dom whistled. “Where was this when she was going through her under the sea phase?”

I loved how involved Dom was in Isabella’s life. To her, he was family, and it was the same way for me, of course, but I thought it was sort of beautiful how he showed up as a male role model for her.

I curled the bottom of my hair with my finger. “I know, right? Oh, there’s one you have to see, though. It’s an Italian sponge cake that looks heavenly.”

“Looks it,” he agreed about the Italian sponge cake after I flipped to the page I temporarily marked with a sticky note. “Hey, what about this one?” he questioned, pointing to a two-tier round cake I passed. It had quilted fondant on the bottom tier and giant, frosted roses on the top.

I nodded. “I think if we can make it orange and hot pink, she’ll really love it.” Then, without thinking, I took another forkful of the cheesecake and let the flavors linger in my mouth for a minute. “Mmm,” I moaned absentmindedly, my eyes closing. Hearing myself, though, I opened my eyes as wide as could be.

Dom stared at me, his eyes roaming from my lips to my eyes and back again. He said nothing, though. Nada. Why couldn’t he say something? Was he thinking what I was thinking?That our hookups have finally made things between us awkward even though we didn’t want it to. Real good, Maria. Just stare at him staring at you. Perhaps you’re waiting for him to read your thoughts. As though he has that capability.

I laughed and shrugged, biting my lip. “Me and my cheesecake, huh?” Not much was better than it. Except—

Oh, damn. Was that why he was looking at me that way?

Ugh. I never had overthought these things before, so why now?

He shook his head. “Nothing weird about you enjoying your food. You always moan when you like what you’re eating.”

“Really?” I asked, bewilderment coloring my expression.

“What’s wrong? You seem off,” he noted his observation.

Real great. So it was me. I was making things awkward.

“Maria—”

“Yeah?” I practically jumped down his throat, hoping the only thing that was going to come out of his mouth was—

“Let’s just move on.”

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