Page 22 of Loving Her

“We don’t need it. You’re going to get the deep-fried banana cheesecake and you are going tolove it.”

“I bet I am,” Sasha replied with a grin.

The food at Chiara’s was indeed as incredible as it sounded. Sasha groaned as she pushed aside her plate with the remains of her grilled sea bass. “I can’t possibly eat dessert,” she announced, wishing she could open the top button of her best black trousers. They didn’t have any kind of forgiving elastic in the waistband, and she was only just shy of being uncomfortably full.

Ruby’s recommendations had been thoughtful and exactly what Sasha might have ordered for herself if she’d been alone. The baked clams just by themselves had been revelatory—they’d have to have been, to get Ruby to eat any seafood apart from shrimp and love it—the crabmeat salad generously portioned and perfectly put together. The tableside-grilled sea bass was delicate yet bursting with succulence and flavor, and it wasn’t the least bit overdone. So, Sasha knew the dessert Ruby had suggested would be amazing as well.

She was just so full.

Ruby was also eyeballing the last of her duck and its accompaniments—which Sasha had also tasted and swooned over—and seemed to feel dubious about dessert as well. But she looked up at Sasha with an adorably woeful look on her face. “I want the cheesecake,” she whispered. “But my stomach…”

She clearly had intense feelings about this banana cheesecake, which only made Sasha want to try it more herself, not to mention to get the rush that came from doing something nice for Ruby and seeing her smile. Sasha took a careful deep breath. “Why don’t you get a go box for that, and then we can split the banana cheesecake?”

The grateful look she got in return made her feel like she’d just saved a puppy from oncoming traffic. “Yes, please, let’s split it,” Ruby burbled in glee, raising her hand ever so slightly to get their waiter’s attention. Sasha basked in the glow of that happiness that she loved so dearly.

The dinner had been incredibly romantic: candlelit, excellent wine—a beautiful Italian red with a full body, followed by glasses of a delicately fruity white to go with their entrées—and the most incredible food Sasha had ever tasted. Their conversation had flowed and centered on themselves in a way it never had before; usually they talked about their friends, their work, the Lounge, the movies or concerts they’d all go see as a group.

Sasha realized somewhere between bites of sea bass and potato terrine that this was possibly the first time she and Ruby had ever truly been alone since they met years ago. She did consider Ruby her best friend, and they did things together, but never alone together. Someone from their friend group was always there. And this week, they’d been surrounded by family until they escaped to go sleep.

While Sasha had known a lot of factual, observable information about Ruby, after that night she knew just how passionately Ruby felt about her work, whether published under her own name or someone else’s. How characters lived in her head, acting out their stories, revealing themselves bit by bit. How she kept a notebook by her bed to write down middle of the night ideas, and some mornings she woke up to find she’d written either a whole story outline or three pages of scribbled nonsense.

After two glasses of the red, Sasha had found herself talking about how, at the age of three years old, her mother had carefully taught her how to wash and peel potatoes and carrots for stew. At five, she was learning how to tell a weed from an herb or vegetable in the garden. When she was ten, her father began teaching her how to grill in the lazy, humid warmth of the Minnesota summers. Everything she loved about food was rooted in how much her parents loved her, and it had become how Sasha herself showed how much she loved the people in her life.

That, she realized, was skating a little too close to the edge of danger, and she redirected the conversation back to the dinner itself. And to what the rest of the Fierellis were doing.

“I wonder where they really went for the rehearsal dinner,” Ruby had wondered. “And how they all kept this secret. Because I know they all had to be in on it. At least my siblings and their spouses, anyway. But they’re all such gossipy bitches! Ican’t believe nobody let this leak.” She’d reached across the table to give Sasha’s hand a gentle squeeze, and her little smile was lovely. “What a nice surprise this was. It's lovely being here in this place I’ve come my whole life, with you.”

Sasha had swallowed hard, and Sasha had smiled, and Sasha had poured herself the last of the bottle of red.

Now, a wide white plate with two forks and a mountainous wedge of something battered, fried, and delicious looking drizzled in caramel was being placed in the center of their cleared table. “That… looks pornographically good,” Sasha stammered.

“It is.” Ruby handed her a fork and gestured with her own, a tiny smirk lifting the corner of her mouth. “You first. I want to see your face when you try it.”

There was something in the way she said it, something a little seductive and naughty that Sasha was sure Ruby had no idea was there. But it was, and it made Sasha blush. Focusing on the cheesecake, she broke through the tender pastry crust with her fork, making the thick caramel run down over the creamy ivory filling. Mesmerized, she lifted a bite away and slowly slipped it into her mouth as Ruby watched.

The groan fell from her lips before she could even think to stop it. “Jesus Christ.”

For the second time in a week, she wanted to propose to a baked good. The bakers and dessert chefs of Staten Island were truly masters of their craft, because she had never, ever had it so good in terms of sweet treats. The cream cheese and banana filling was warm, fluffy, and melted on her tongue. The caramel had been made with delicately browned butter, giving it a deliciously nutty depth of flavor. She couldn’t even talk about the perfectly flaky, buttery batter.

Across the table, Ruby’s eyes were half-closed, and the moan that came out of her mouth was just like the one this morningthat had made Sasha remember the bachelor party and…everything else. “I could eat this forever.”

“Get me the recipe and I would make it for you forever,” Sasha breathed. She hadn’t said it this morning over the aragostines, but she couldn’t help but let it slip now.

Ruby’s eyes opened and their gazes locked. Curiosity was beginning to stir in those blue depths. Curiosity and… possibly the slightest hint of realization? Was she connecting the dots? The delectable bite of dessert began to dry in the back of Sasha’s mouth.

“Ruby? Ruby Fierelli!”

A dark-haired man about their age was standing by the table, a broad grin on his handsome face and good humor in his brown eyes. Ruby squealed a little as she leaped to her feet to give him a huge hug. “Mike! I didn’t think I’d get to see you before the wedding!”

“Same! Isn’t this the night of the rehearsal dinner?” Mike stood back and looked at Ruby quizzically. “Why are you here?”

Ruby looked back at the table, where Sasha was sitting awkwardly with her mouth full of cheesecake that suddenly tasted like sawdust and fear. She tried to smile as Ruby indicated her. “My family thought my partner and I could use a romantic dinner out together. They tricked us and dropped us off here. So, they’re… I don’t know where, but we’re here.” Ruby offered Sasha a soft smile before she turned back to Mike. “This is Sasha Ashford. She’s the chef at the Indigo Lounge, I’ve told you about the Lounge.”

“Oh, wow, this is the genius chef I’ve heard so much about?” Mike edged past Ruby to get to Sasha, who found herself forced to swallow the cheesecake and stand up to shake his hand. “The way Ruby talks about your food in emails, I know my husband and I have got to come out to visit someday. I’m Mike Colangelo.”

The name rang a loud bell. “The prom date? When you broke your wrist?”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily. “I can’t believe you got that story out of her! She always forbade all of us to talk about it, she was so embarrassed. You really are someone special if you know about that.”

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