Page 22 of Kiss me Forever

I personally think I could lose ten pounds, but I don’t dare say that to this woman. She’s Italian and I might get a long lecture about the importance of a good appetite. She’s tiny herself though, but again I don’t dare say this. I’m a bit panicked that she wants me in the kitchen with her. If she sees what a terrible cook I am she might not find me suitable for her son. What if she thinks her son will starve with me as his girlfriend?

She stops at the counter that’s filled with various ingredients. “Today you will help me make fresh pasta, a lesson all kids should know,” she announces as she moves over to a rack, then comes back and hands me an apron. Magnus is already pulling his own apron from the wall. “Magnus will work on the sauce.” It shows that they’ve done this many times before.

“I’ve never made pasta before. I don’t want to ruin anything,” I tell her, fighting panic.

“You’ll do beautifully. I can tell by your hands. They’re the hands of a woman who works,” she tells me as she holds my hands up for inspection. I look at them at the same time realizing how unsophisticated they are. I don’t wear fake nails, and they do tend to get dry with working with so many books.

I don’t continue to argue with her, not wanting to set a bad impression. I listen carefully as she instructs me on what to do, her voice patient and kind as I scoop the flour on the work surface, add the eggs and begin mixing. I find I’m really enjoying it as the big glob turns into a beautiful dough. I carefully watch as we each make our own pile, then seal it to rest. She pulls out dough that’s already rested and shows me how to roll it. When we get to the point we’re cutting it, I’m grinning ear to ear.

“I can’t believe I’m making fresh pasta,” I tell her with true joy rushing through me.

She beams at me. “There’s nothing as satisfying as feeding your family with your own hands. The secret ingredient to great Italian cooking is always love,” Isabella tells me.

I lean over and hug her, overcome with emotion, my eyes filling. I pull back horrified at my action. She laughs and grabs me, giving me a long hug in return. I’m falling in love with Magnus’s mother as quickly as I’m falling in love with him.

“That passion I see in your eyes, is exactly what I still feel today when cooking for my family. It’s a gift to give a love of creating beautiful dishes,” she says. “We feed the bodies and the souls at the same time.”

I look over at Magnus who’s staring at us and I beam at him, so grateful I decided to come with him. Now I don’t know why I was ever scared because this is great. Isabella moves over to Magnus and tastes his sauce before she hits him in the arm.

“You’re distracted my boy. This needs much more basil,” she tells him. He laughs as he leans over and kisses her cheek.

“Yes, I’m distracted. It’s impossible not to be with two such beautiful ladies in the kitchen with me.”

She chuckles. “My son the charmer,” she says. She then moves over and starts showing me how to put a lasagna together. I’m not sure how much food is on the counters, but there’s no possible way we’re going to be able to eat all of it. It’s never ending.

We get into a rhythm, and I find myself smiling as the conversation flows, Magnus showing his mother the upmost respect, and her love for him more than apparent. They’re also including me, truly making me feel like a part of their family. My heart swells just a little bit bigger when it comes to this man.

We’re deep into our cooking when the door bursts open and a whirlwind of energy enters the house as Bianca, Magnus’s sister, comes rushing inside, talking a mile a minute about her latest dating disaster. She turns the corner into the kitchen.

“. . . and then he says—” She abruptly stops, her eyes widening as she notices me standing beside her mother cutting up vegetables.

“Who are you?” she boldly asks looking from me to her mother to Magnus, then straight back to me again.

“Um, I’m Piper . . . a . . . uh . . . friend of Magnus’s,” I stumble out.

Her eyes spark with interest. “A friend, huh? Interesting.” I don’t know what she thinks about me being here but with the mischievousness in her expression, I’m afraid I’m in for some trouble. The woman is absolutely stunning with dark hair, dark chocolate brown eyes, stunning olive skin, a figure that has to make men sweat, and confidence oozing from her.

Bianca gives Magnus a long look. “It seems you look quite smitten, Brother dear.” I gulp as I look between the two siblings. “I want to hear every single detail of how you met. My brother doesn’t bring women home so this will be a good story.”

Knowing he doesn’t normally bring women home makes my nerves jump all over again, but it also warms me from head to toe. What does this all mean? I need to not read too much into this.

My heart is racing, and I decide I’m leaving this one up to him. I’ve already proven I don’t know what in the heck to say. I’ve never met a man’s family before. I haven’t been serious enough about a man to want to meet his family. This one is so close knit that if either of them don’t approve of me I have no doubt I’ll be out. I realize this will crush me. Even knowing this, though, I don’t want to try to pretend to be someone I’m not. I need to assure myself that I’m enough as I am. It’s still scary.

“You’ll get details, but for now why don’t we try not to scare Piper away?” Magnus says as he smiles at his sister. She thinks about it for a moment, then smiles.

“Okay, I’ll try not to scare your girlfriend too much,” Bianca says as she winks at me. “I’m not above embarrassing my brother, though. Girl, I have some stories to tell you.”

I laugh as Magnus groans. Maybe he’s regretting bringing me now. Since the attention is off of me for the moment, I relax again, and enjoy watching Magnus squirm. I wish I had this same kind of relationship with my brother, but at least I do with Livie. We’ll embarrass each other all day long, but never do anything hurtful.

“Did you know that Magnus used to be afraid of the dark? Yep, Mr. Big, Strong, and Confident was afraid to sleep without a nightlight. He’d sneak into my room at night, convinced there were monsters hiding beneath his bed. He refused to go back to his room even if I offered to go look beneath his bed. He’d freak out and tell me no way, that they’d get me if I did that,” Bianca says with glee as Magnus swipes his towel out at her. She barely dodges him as she dances away while laughing.

“Don’t you have some cooking to do since you’re so late?” he asks her. He then looks at me. “I was like seven at the time and I certainly grew out of that,” he adds.

“Doesn’t matter how old you were. It was still funny, especially since I was two years younger than you, and I was big and brave,” Bianca says. She looks at me again. She has so much more. “When he was fourteen he was trying to impress a girl by climbing a tree. He got his foot stuck and was up there for over an hour. She grew bored waiting for him to come back down, and we had to call the fire department to get him out. He was desperately tugging and swearing which got him in trouble with mama. The department took an hour to show up. He was begging us to never say a word, but I have pictures that I’m more than willing to show you.”

I burst into laughter, imagining his horror at being stuck while trying to be so cool. Fourteen is such a vulnerable age for young men. “I’d love to see the pictures,” I admit.

Magnus groans again. “What was I thinking in bringing you here?” he says, but he’s smiling. He’s taking the teasing in stride. This is the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him. He’s more than comfortable in this home. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of, and shows me this isn’t an act he’s been putting on for me this past month. This is the real Magnus. The cold man I met a year ago was the act.

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