Page 27 of Final Chance At Love (Chance At Love Duet 2)

“Roasted chicken with squash and vegetables. It is already cooking in the oven. We just have to make up the salad.”

“Ok, we can cut it all up together and we’ll be done in no time,” I declared while trying to find two cutting boards. “Voila!” I announced victoriously.

I put one in front of him and kept one for myself. Going into his fridge, I pulled out lettuce, tomatoes, fresh corn, avocado, cucumbers, and red onion.

“Ok,” I started while he was just observing me. “Let’s wash all these, we’ll put corn to boil, you take red onion and cucumbers to cut, and I'll cut up the rest of the items.” I chuckled as he took my lead and started to do as I said. “I finally get to boss you around. I can die in peace now.”

His shoulders were relaxed. I felt like I’d never seen Kristoff that relaxed as I had in the last twenty-four hours. I liked him like that. He was still intense but also felt much more approachable.

“Don’t worry, beautiful, I’ll be back to bossing you around later this evening.” His tone was full of suggestion, and my face immediately flushed imagining what I assumed he meant.

Soon after, our salad was done, and we set the table together. I noted absentmindedly that we work well together in the kitchen. And in the bedroom, I added. No sooner than the table was all set, the oven beeped and Kristoff took food out of it.

As we sat down, Kristoff opened a bottle of white wine, and poured some in both of our glasses. There was soft music in the background, he must have put on before coming back to the table.

“A toast,” he murmured as he leaned over to me and kissed me on the mouth. “To many more days like this.”

I glanced at him in a slight surprise but didn’t say anything. I would love many more days like this! We clink our glasses, and I noticed him watching me carefully as we both took a tiny sip.

As I put my glass down, I smiled at him. “I’m starving. Buon appetito!”

Dinner was great, and we both were relaxed. Not sure if it was the wine, food, or physical energy we burned out while hiking.

“How old were you when you got married?” Kristoff’s question caught me by surprise.

I chuckled. “Well that came out of nowhere. How old were you?”

He smiled. “I see you are dodging the question. So I’ll go first. I was thirty-one and it lasted barely two years. It was a mistake all the way around. We didn’t love each other so it was no surprise it didn’t work out.”

I laid my hand on his. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes things work out for the best even though it doesn’t seem like it at that very moment.” Kristoff succeeded in everything so I couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been for him.

“Yes, they worked out for the best for me,” he confirmed.

“I got married when I was barely twenty-one,” I answered his earlier question. I took a deep breath. Sharing my past didn’t come easy to me. “Sienna came shortly after. I started dating Jack in college, shortly after my parents died and I came to the States.”

He took my hand and brought it to his lips, like he understood how much it cost me to open up.

“That’s young,” he spoke softly.

“Yes,” I agreed, locking my gaze with him. “Too young. It was good in the beginning. When the baby came, we had to grow up fast. He refused and things got bad fast.”

I looked away from Kristoff and out the large kitchen window. “Anyhow, he started having interests elsewhere. I focused on my career and girls. Truthfully, we should have ended the marriage many years ago. I guess I kept hanging on, refusing to admit a failure. Or maybe I hoped it would turn into what my parents had, which is ridiculous if you think about it. Hell if I know now.”

“From the moment I laid eyes on you,” his voice was a soft praise. “I saw your strength.”

I turned my head back to him surprised by his comment.

“Don’t be surprised,” he commented. “You know your strength.”

“I’m surprised you don’t mind it,” I replied.

“No, I don’t mind it. I love that about you.” His look told me he meant it too. I could almost feel my heart swell with hope as I smiled at him.

Even when we were done with our food, we stayed at the table talking, sipping the wine. He told me about his plans on his latest acquisition and asked for my opinion on various topics. I felt flattered and happy that he cared about my opinion on his business decisions.

I noticed the sun setting through the kitchen's large windows. “You know, we’ve been sitting here for hours.”

“I have nowhere else to be,” he replied to that. “Do you?”

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