Page 15 of Only You

“Eggplant parmesan. Since you’re an Israeli vegan and all.”

It took me a moment to realize he was referring to the joke I made via text message the other day. “Is parmesan cheese vegan?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Guess not. If you don’t want it then…”

“I was joking!” I quickly said. “I’m not even close to vegan. I’ll eat anything.”

I’ll eat anything?I winced.What a stupid thing to say.

He held a plate across the railing. “Be careful with this one. My room only came with six dishes, and one of them is shattered on the ground below.”

Ugh, did he have to mention that again?

“Sorry,” I said while taking the plate. It felt like a hostage exchange. Fortunately I didn’t drop this one.

“How about some of that wine?” he asked.

“Oh, right.” I opened the bottle while he retrieved a glass from his room. He held the glass across the balcony while I poured. One or two droplets fell to the ground below, but those were the only casualties of the transaction.

We sat at our separate tables and began eating. The eggplant Parmesan wasphenomenal,crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Everything was quiet except for the scraping sound of forks and knives on plates as we enjoyed our meal together.

I eyed him across the balcony. When I had seen him earlier, his thick hair was damp with sweat and messy, but now it was combed down the side. He had the perfect amount of dark stubble along his jaw.

I’m having dinner with a ridiculously-sexy guy and I can’t think of two words to say to him.

“Where did you get the mask?” I asked.

“I always travel with a mask,” he replied. “A habit my dad gave me. He was stationed in Korea, and over there everyone wears a mask while traveling. Guess they had the right idea long before all ofthis.” His fork gesture encompassed our balcony, the city of Rome, and the entire pandemic.

“Guess so,” I replied.

Another silence stretched, both because I didn’t know what to say and because I was busy wolfing down the food. The cheese covering the eggplant was gooey and fresh.

Finally Donovan put down his fork and fixed me with his steel-grey gaze. “This is dumb. What happened in the lobby was a misunderstanding. Hell, it’sfunnylooking back on it. If I can laugh about it, so can you. In case you didn’t notice, we have more important things to worry about. So stop being embarrassed, all right?”

He was firm and said it with a disarming smile. Not like a stranger scolding me—but like a friend nudging me away from my destructive thoughts. It was easy to believe him.

“You’re right about having more important things to worry about,” I said. “Did you see there are six new cases in Washington?”

He nodded. “Wonder how long before it spreads. You from there? Washington?”

“I’m from Indiana,” I replied. “No cases there so far.”

He took a bite of eggplant and said, “That’s because nobody wants to visit Indiana.”

“Hey!” I said. “We’re notthatboring. I live in Elkhart, just two hours from Chicago.”

“Two hours is a long way. Where I’m from, if you go two hours in any direction you cross through a bunch of states.”

“And where might that be?” I asked.

“Boston.”

“You don’t have an accent.”

Donovan shook his head. “My dad was in the Army. We moved around a lot. California, Texas, South Korea. Never stayed long enough for an accent to stick.”

“Is that why you’re in Italy?” I asked. “The Army brought you here?”

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