Page 68 of Desire

I pressed my lips against her forehead before securing her in her booster seat. After making Azaria’s plate, I offered to do the same for her grandparents, but they declined.

Aziel leaned against the breakfast bar, quietly watching us move around the kitchen. Although he didn’t greet me, I assumed he greeted his parents before they came down. I proceeded as if he weren’t in the room, making myself a plate and sitting down with his parents.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked them.

“Like a baby,” Mr. Harris responded.

“Me, too, which is partly why I woke up so late. I’m usually up at six a.m,” Mrs. Harris said.

“You’re retired. Why do you get up so early?”

“I like my quiet time, I guess.”

“Are you trying to say I talk too much?” her husband questioned.

“Maybe.”

They were adorable and reminded me a lot of my parents. I smiled, watching them engage with each other, but when my eyes accidentally connected with Aziel, I rolled them and frowned. Mrs. Harris noticed my expression had changed and shook her head.

“Son, are you planning to eat, or are you going to stand there watching us until the food gets cold?” she asked.

“I was waiting to see if my wife would offer to fix my plate like she did yours.”

“She’s not,” I replied.

“Sounds like someone’s in the doghouse,” Mr. Harris teased.

“After breakfast, we’ll get ready to head home. You two have some things you need to discuss and need your privacy,” Mrs. Harris offered.

“That’s not necessary. Besides, I owe your husband some stuffed peppers.”

“If your son does what I know he’d better do, there will be other times,” Mrs. Harris told Mr. Harris.

Mrs. Harris didn’t hold her tongue and was all about business. I loved it. Eventually, Aziel made him a plate and sat next to me. Luckily, Azaria and I finished at the same time, and I didn’t have to sit next to him long.

An hour later, the elder Harrises were headed home. The tension in the house was thick, but I didn’t plan to address why. Aziel made himself clear, so there was nothing to discuss unless he’d changed his stance.

“Mommy, I can go to the park and see my friends?”

“The park? I don’t know, Ria.”

As far as I knew, Aziel didn’t want us to leave the house unless necessary.

“Please.”

“Maybe Daddy can take you.”

“Me, you, and Daddy, go to the park and see my friends.”

The last thing I wanted to do was share space with Aziel, but I would do it for Azaria.

“Ask Daddy if he wants to go.”

She cheered as she ran from the family room, down the hallway, and to Aziel’s office. A few minutes later, she returned to the family room with him in tow.

“Daddy say we go to the park. C’mon, Mommy.”

I looked at Aziel and his eyes were on me. The smirk he wore annoyed me more than the fact that I would soon have no choice but to talk to him. Thankfully, he didn’t force a conversation on the way to the park, but as soon as we arrived and Azaria was engrossed with the other little girls who were there, he wasted no time.

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