Page 66 of Scripted for Love and Poison
“What? Of course I won’t be ditching you. Certainly not for him!” she protested. That had to be the most ridiculous idea. “I thought you were the one contemplating taking some time off.”
“Time off?” His eyebrows knitted together. He sounded genuinely confused—and a bit offended. “Why would I want to takeanytime off fromyou?”
“We had the most hideous Christmas break!” Sol finally came clean. And it was only after she said those words that she realized it had probably been the wine that gave her the courage—or lack of common sense—to do it.
“What? It wasn’t hideous! It was great!” Was he being serious? “Okay, perhaps it was a bit cramped,” he admitted when she didn’t say anything. “And an absolutely different experience than when we traveled alone this summer. But I’m still glad we got to spend the end of the year together. Not sure your parents share my enthusiasm ...”
“I’d like to tell you that they’ll warm up to you, but I wouldn’t get my hopes too high if I were you.” She sighed. “Don’t take it personally, though.”
“So you hated Christmas?”
“A little. Didn’t you?”
“Not really,” he said, his eyes fully on her from across the table. “You know I don’t like prying. But how have the holidays tended to be in the past when you were in a relationship?”
“By the end of both my marriages, utter misery and reproachful hell,” she admitted. “I think I’ve been divorced too many times, and now I’m scarred for life!”
“There’s no such thing as having divorced too many times!” He sounded genuinely sincere. And that was one of the reasons Sol had allowed herself to fall for him. Even if she was still terrified about what the future could hold for them. Because one thing was sure: She didn’t want to go through a separation again. Not from him. He listened, he always knew what to say, and he looked like an Italian model.
“In any case, it’s ridiculous that you were thinking I was going to leave you, for David or at all. I actually wanted to ask you?—”
“Se ...” he continued her unfinished sentence, speaking in Italian and with anticipation. But was it really the right moment to open herself to him even more and say those words?
Fuck it!
“Si querrías venir a vivir conmigo,” she told him.
“You’ll have to tell me if I’m getting ahead of myself and totally misunderstood you. You know my Spanish is still limited. Ma sì, andrò a vivere con te.”
“Seriously?” she asked him, surprised. “Now it’s me who is wondering if my limited Italian is deceiving me.”
“It’s not,” he said.
“We’ve just had some very shitty days, and you still want to live with me?”
“Perhaps that way people will stop thinking I’m too young for you and this is just a fling that will soon run its course,” Luke said. Sol was looking forward to people not correcting her while she referred to him as her partner. She normally didn’t care what others thought, but she realizedshe, too, was tired of some folks around them deeming their relationship only temporary. “But these last few days haven’t been so shitty. And I recall, once we’ve been finally able to find some time for ourselves, they’ve been actually remarkable. All we needed to smooth things over was shagging and talking.”
“You make it sound so easy,” she said.
“Isn’t it easy?” His eyes were still pinned on her. Had he blinked at all since telling her the secret for a working relationship? Shagging and talking.
“My past experience indicates that it’s definitely not easy,” Sol explained.
“I’m not talking about past relationships, cara. I’m talking aboutus,” he said, and she could feel her insides melting.
“If it wasn’t that I already told you that I love you, I’d probably be telling you after what you just said.” She was blushing, and her heart rate had spiked.
“You still can tell me.” He smiled, and she realized how much she’d missed this flirty version of him.
“I’m going to admit thatwehave something special,” she said, and she was loving the food, the wine, the conversation, and most especially the company. “But, for argument’s sake, I don’t think it’s as easy as simply shagging and talking to sustain a relationship. There’s more than that.”
“Of course, but those two are necessary pillars.”
“You should have given Jason Zit your advice the other night. Perhaps saving his marriage was just what he needed not to have ended up poisoned,” Sol said, and she regretted the words the moment they came out of her mouth. She’d tried being clever, but the joke felt ill-timed and in poor taste.
“What makes you think so?” Luke’s demeanor hadchanged. He no longer was a lover thinking of all the ways to seduce his partner. He was in his detecting mode.
“Forget about it. I’m obviously a bit tipsy. Not sure why I said what I did.”
