Page 72 of The Breakup

“What’s on the menu?” she asked.

“Besides you?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Grilled salmon and asparagus with baby red potatoes. You said you’re trying to pull back from fried foods.” It was a gamble to cook something a little healthier because I didn’t want her to think I was implying she was gaining weight, but she had been saying on a regular basis she wanted to find a better balance, so I took a chance. Trying to be thoughtful. Potentially stepping on a land mine.

“That sounds delicious.”

The relief I felt was ridiculous.

I had actually texted Camden and asked him what I should make to seem casual and not like I was trying to impress her, but also considerate of her dietary wants. I had humiliated myself to my brother, who had spent twenty minutes sending me insulting GIFs about me being whipped. But in the end he had come through and had suggested a wine to accompany it. I had questioned my motives for making such a big deal out of it, but the simple truth was, I liked her. I wanted her to enjoy herself.

Bella fingered her horseshoe necklace. She wore it every day now. “I feel very lucky, you know.”

That touched me. She had been through hell and yet she genuinely looked happy. Grateful. I guess she was just glad she hadn’t married that little prick. “Me too.”

We went into the cabin and she pretended to help me. Bella wasn’t exactly familiar with the kitchen. But she was good company, chatting away, and she did set the table. She even went outside and plucked some wildflowers and stuck them into a glass on the table. She had that way about her. She made everything just a little prettier. Homier. It was her nature.

I poured two glasses of wine and handed her one. She set hers down on the table without taking a sip. I wasn’t sure when I had started liking wine. Maybe when I met her. I’d never been a wine drinker. She followed me out to the grill.

“How’s the job search going?” I asked her as I laid down the filets and asparagus in a foil packet.

“I have an interview next week at a children’s home. That could be a stretch with my skill set, but it’s an interview at least. I’m starting to think this is going to be harder than I thought.”

“There aren’t any adoption agencies around here, are there?”

“Not close by. The closest is in Bangor.”

“You’ll find something. I think you’ll do awesome at an interview because they can see your personality and compassion. That’s more important than what’s on paper.”

“You are definitely trying to get in my pants,” she said, laughing. “So full of it.”

“What? It’s true! I can’t give you a compliment?” That was the odd thing about Bella. She was modest. A girl that intelligent, sweet, and attractive and she was always demurring. It was fucking crazy.

“Maybe I need to get used to it,” she whispered. “I’m used to being appreciated for my sense of fashion or my makeup skills. So thank you.”

“Those things are not what defines you,” I said. “They’re bonus features, nothing more, nothing less. Someday we’ll be old as fuck and no one is going to care how you do your makeup.” Hell, most people probably didn’t care now.

Her smile was sweet. “Bonus features, huh? You can be very romantic when you want to be.”

It wasn’t a skill I had ever honed. Hell, I hadn’t even known I was capable of being genuinely romantic. I could do charming, but Bella was right—that was blowing smoke up someone’s ass to get what I wanted. With her it was real. I felt those things. “Maybe I should try it more often.”

“I have no objections to that.”

Despite my blue balls, I thought maybe Bella was on to something with this getting-to-know-each-other thing. I hadn’t dated for real since high school, and that was puppy love. Now what I actually felt happening with Bella was attraction, because dude, I wanted to nail her so hard. But it was also friendship. It felt…pleasant.

Talking to my mom about Charlie had been good for me.

Inside, I served Bella dinner with a flourish, pretty fucking proud of myself. I did like to cook, but I never had much opportunity to do it.

Our conversation was easy.

And we both knew where this night was going to end.

It had been five weeks since I had touched her. Our brief time together had been enough of a taste to make me crave more. I wanted her with an intensity that was drawing my balls tight and making my dick hard even as I forked salmon into my mouth. I had gotten two fancy-ass cupcakes for dessert, but she said she was full.

“Trust me, I’ll eat that later,” she said. “But right now I can’t eat another bite. It was really good. Thanks, Christian.”

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