Page 41 of Alex

His smile disappears as he glances down at the noodles spun around his fork.

My heart breaks for him, and I wish I could take my question back. “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me if they are terrible memories, or if it will ruin the mood.”

“It’s actually nice to talk about my mom.”

I raise my eyebrow at him. “Really?”

He shrugs. “Well, her leaving still hurts, but it’s nice to talk about the good memories. Dad doesn’t mention her anymore. He hasn’t since she left.”

“Life has probably been hard on him. Not that I know what it’s like for your spouse to leave, but Iwould imagine it would turn your life upside down.”

He nods his head and dips the corner of his garlic bread in the Alfredo sauce before taking a bite. “I think part of the reason I cook so much is that deep down, I’m still hoping she will come home. I should probably hate her after the way she left, but I miss her.”

His words sink into my heart and mind, making me miss my mom.

Alex gets up and grabs two bottles of sparkling water from the commercial sized refrigerator. “What about your family?”

He hands me one of the waters, and I stare at the bottle as I take a deep breath.

“I’m an only child. My dad left when he found out my mom was pregnant, and my mom died the night I met you.”

“Oh, Elise, I am so sorry.”

Now it was my turn to shrug. “You didn’t know.”

“Maybe not, but I knew you looked sad, and I didn’t want to leave you alone. It reminded me of my downward spiral the few weeks after my mom left.”

“I no longer had a choice in my life but to get a job and become a responsible adult.”

“On the chance that this is going to sound totally cheesy, I’m glad you got the job you did, or else I might not have found you again.”

His gaze is heated, reminding me of the way he took his fill of my naked body.

Alex shakes his head and changes the subject. “If you could plan a perfect date, what would it be?”

I try to imagine my perfect date, but there are too many options. “Day or night?”

Alex pauses, his fork an inch from his mouth. “Are they different?”

Giving him a smile, I nod. “Of course they are. There’s also a difference between new dating and long term dating.”

He leans forward, like he’s intrigued to hear my answer. “Like what?”

“Well, usually in the beginning, it’s fancy dinners and extravagant dates, but then it turns into tacos and margaritas while sitting on the couch.”

He frowns as he processes what I just described.

“It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have tacos and margaritas while on an extravagant date. But anyway, what would be the difference between day and night?”

I lean forward, forgetting about the last few bites of my food as I get way too into this conversation.

“A day date could be kayaking or sailing. It could be going to a museum or even a bookstore. Day dates are usually in the let’s get to know one another and not in a sexual way kind of stage.”

He grins and winks. “I guess we skipped that stage.”

His wink ignites a fire deep in my belly, leavingme wanting to beg him to take me right here and right now.

I scoot my chair back and stand. “Well, thank you for cooking us dinner and for the conversation. I need to get back to work if I want to finish before the sun comes up.”

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