Page 25 of Falling for Famine
“I’d like to take her on a nice getaway for a few weeks. I’d hoped there would be some way you could permit me that honor. I’ll happily accommodate any financial or labor deficit her absence creates,” he said to everyone’s surprise—mostly mine.
“What?” I asked, confused. I was, however, relieved that it hadn’t been a marriage proposal done in poor taste. It felt like I’ddodged a serious bullet because the guy next to me was whacky and hard to pin down.
Ghost’s eyes whipped over to me, the entirely too sensual smile back on his face. “I wanted to surprise you. I know how important Felix is to you, and how you would hate to leave him to manage Dolci Caldi on his own.”
Take me on a vacation? What?
My eyes widened when I realized what he was doing. He wasn’t going to leave me. He wanted me to go with him to find Ares. As if to confirm my train of thought, his hand squeezed around my hip and pressed me into his side.
Felix laughed loudly. “If you can convince this stubborn girl to leave for a few weeks, then you’d be doing me a favor, Limos.”
I leveled a glare on Felix. “Excuse me. This is coming from the guy who doesn’t take a day off and won’t hire help.”
“I’ll bring someone on if you agree to go,” he said to my shock and awe. “Hell, I’ll hire two. Just promise it’ll be weeks and not days.”
Clara’s eyes went wide in surprise. We both knew how incredibly stubborn he was about help in the kitchen that wasn’t me. He’d rather burn his hands on the stove than let anyone else in his kitchen.
Felix’s blue eyes softened. “Baby girl, you need it. Please say you’ll go with him. I can tell he’ll take care of you. I feel it in these old bones of mine. You haven’t been taking care of yourself, and you need to.”
“You just met him,” I argued without thinking.
He laughed and leaned back in his chair, flicking his eyes over to the guy next to me. “We fathers just know these things, and this is one of the good ones.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. The fact that Ghost had won him over on the first meeting was insane. Felix hated the men around me. He rarely liked any of the boyfriends I was actuallydating, but he’d been convinced with a few words from Ghost? What was happening?
I noticed everyone’s eyes were on me, waiting for my response, including Ghost. He didn’t speak again. He knew I’d answer Felix. I always did.
I wet my lips. “You really want me to go with you?” I asked the Horseman next to me, the question insinuating more than the other two would ever know.
“I do, Nomi.”
My eyes and nose burned with emotion, because I really thought today was my last. I thought I’d have to say goodbye to Felix. And sure, I did, but maybe not forever. Maybe those letters would stay as a memory of what I could’ve lost.
“Okay,” I finally said, smiling. “I’ll come with you.”
Clara shouted her excitement and ran over to hug me. “I hope you have the time of your life, chick. You deserve it.”
I laughed and hugged her back. “Thanks, Clara. Make sure the old man doesn’t work himself to the bone and gets lots of sexy time with Maude.”
After a garbled noise of protest from Felix and giggle from Clara, Felix stood and shook Ghost’s hand again, his eyes a bit misty. “Take good care of my girl,” he said in a hoarse voice.
My lips trembled as I went to him and wrapped the white-haired man in my arms, dropping kisses on his face. “I love you, Old Man. You better hire help or I’ll cut my vacation short and ruin your life.”
His happy laughter was next to my ear as he kissed my cheek and wiped away a tear that broke away from my eye. “Sassy ingrate.” Then he nodded toward the door. “Now, get. I expect you to come back tan and fat.”
“That’s my line,” I grumbled.
We shared a smile before I pulled away and returned to Ghost’s side. He didn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around me, likeit was a perfectly normal thing for us. I didn’t shy away from it like I should. I allowed myself the indulgence of how good it felt to be in his arms for as long as it lasted.
As we left, I glanced at him. “Will he be safe if we leave?”
He nodded. “I’ve called in a favor. He’ll be watched over just in case.”
My lips were trembling again and more tears broke away. “I don’t know what to say.”
He turned toward me, his hands cradling my face in a way he never had before. “Then don’t say anything, little wisp. Just come with me.”
I nodded, and my heart pounded as we continued our short walk back to my apartment. I didn’t know what changed his mind, but for the first time since he told me I was going to die, I finally dared to hope.
