Page 75 of For Butter or Worse
She hung her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes. She glanced around. There was a lightness in her that he hadn’t seen before. “Do you think we’re the only ones here?”
“When I called, they told me no one comes up on Mondays. It’s just us.” His gaze flitted from her mouth, back to her eyes.
Her hands traveled down the front of his shirt. A dare. “So we’re all alone?”
Her mouth smelled like apples and cinnamon, and when he kissed her, she tasted like the cider they’d been drinking. He backed her up and against the tree, cradling her head as he continued to press his lips into hers.
As her fingers slinked their way around his neck and into his hair, he knew he couldn’t just be friends with benefits. Not anymore. And now he’d just have to find a way to tell her that.
28
NINA
Nina was at a booth in the restaurant, folding napkins by making crisp, satisfying and easy-to-understand lines.
She needed a simple task she could manage, since her last date with Leo had her head absolutely spinning. Their impromptu sex on her kitchen table was one thing, but then, in the middle of the night, she’d surprised herself by waking Leo up for another round by trailing her tongue along his inner thigh. And then there was their apple-picking date, which sounded wholesome, until she remembered that he’d fucked her against a tree...
She had no idea that she was someone who liked sex in public, but, apparently, she really did. Because the sound of Leo’s groans as he thrust into her would not leave her head. And she suspected the scratches from tree bark meeting her arms weren’t about to vanish any time soon, either.
The wordsLeoandbest sexdid not belong in the same sentence. Logically, she knew this. But then again, neither did the wordsfeelingsandLeo. That hadn’t stopped her from developing them for him, though.
“A table last night ordered this beautiful 2000 Bordeaux and only drank half.” Jasmine sat across from Nina, the bottle and two wineglasses in her hands. “Can you imagine being so heartless?” She removed the cork with a flick of her thumb and poured them both a glass that nearly hit the rim.
“It’s, like, ten a.m.,” Nina replied. But she still took the glass, swirled, sipped, then took another sip because, fuck it—the world was upside down. ShelikedLeo. He mightlikeher. Drinking was necessary to sort through all those new feelings.
Jasmine reached across the table and held on to Nina’s free hand. “We need to go over finances. So drink up. Meet me in your office when you’re done.”
Nina squeezed her friend’s hand and Jasmine left. She’d told Jasmine everything. Well, close to everything. Jasmine knew they were in a “relationship,” emphasis on the air quotes. And that they’d hooked up on Halloween. But Nina hadn’t given her the newest updates—that she couldn’t stop thinking about Leo, and they’d slept together...a lot. She also hadn’t spilled that they’d gone on a date, just for fun. And that he’d been texting her, and she’d kept him on read for the last day.
Leo:You haven’t insulted me today. Everything all right?
Leo:I’d assume something was wrong, but it’s very hard to injure a banshee.
Leo:That was a joke. I know you’re more witch than anything else.
Leo:You might be shocked to hear that I actually do love talking to myself. I’m quite good company.
And then:
Leo:Are you...ghosting me? Is this what ghosting is?
What was she supposed to say? She wanted to be the cool, casual woman who could enjoy sex and carry on, but she just wasn’t. She was developing very real feelings for Leo that she didn’t have time to dissect. She had enough unknowns in her life, especially with her restaurant, and she didn’t want Leo to become another puzzle she had to solve. Even if that puzzle cracked dad jokes that made her laugh, brought her apple picking and fucked her against trees. Hating each other was so simple and clean compared to whatever this was.
Her phone pinged and her fingers stopped folding. That was another new side effect of sleeping with Leo—she was checking her phonea lot, and if it wasn’t him then she felt...disappointed.
Charlie:We still need to talk.
Well, a text from her ex couldalsomake her feel disappointed. How about that. Charlie wasn’t the type to grovel or beg. And yet, here he was, blowing up her messages.
Apparently, all the men in her life had been simmering on the stove up until this very moment, and now they were threatening to boil over. Leo wanted to know that she wasn’t avoiding him—she was and she wasn’t. And Charlie wasn’t used to being turned down. The shock of not having Nina crawling back was probably the only reason he’d even bothered to text again. He needed her to acknowledge him and stroke his ego, the way he always had. But hadn’t she done enough of that during their two-year relationship?
She needed to cut Charlie out of her life. The sooner she was rid of him, the sooner she could focus on keeping her restaurant afloat.
Only bad shit happens when we’re in the same room, Nina texted back to Charlie.
“Nina?” Jasmine shouted from down the hall.
Nina ran a hand through her hair. She’d deal with a response to Leo later. She silenced her phone, took a sip of the wine and walked toward Jasmine. Her office seemed small, because she’d crammed it full of bookshelves with recipes and hanging potted herbs. There was also one shelf dedicated to framed photos—three of Nina and Jasmine from cooking school, and one solitary picture with her mom and sister taken at the opening of Lyon. She thought of Vinny’s, and how the entrance was lined with photos of Leo and his family.
