She slurps her coffee, Saul has her order dialed in to the microgram, and eyes Dario like he’s on a dessert menu. She winks at Dario, who pretends not to notice. “You’re a lucky woman, Zoey. Very lucky.”
“I know.”
“Three attentive men. All of them handsome. All of them clearly devoted.” She shakes her head. “In my day, we were lucky to get one who remembered our birthday.”
“Times change.”
“They certainly do.” She bites into her scone and moans. “Jesus, who made this?”
“Dario.”
“Did he now.” She looks at him again, reassessing. “Honey, chain him to the stove and don’t let go.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Enzo nearly snorts coffee out his nose. Saul’s shoulders are shaking. Dario’s giving them the Mobster Death Glare but I can see the dimple fighting to break through.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to rescue the brioche before Martha proposes,” Dario says.
He stalks to the kitchen. I follow, because I know that look. He’s about to break into a fit of giggles and that’s basically the eighth wonder of the world.
The door swings closed and Dario finally cracks, real, full-belly laugh, the kind that makes his eyes crinkle.
“Chain him to a stove,” he mimics in Martha’s gravel voice, then grabs me and buries his face in my neck.
“She suspects I’m the leader of a sex cult in her town and she’s absolutely correct.”
He just snickers, mouth against my ear. “She’s going to have the whole senior center making bingo cards for who gets to touch my arms next.” He nuzzles my hair, voice all low and rough. “I’m not leaving. At least two months. Maybe more. I’m done pretending I’m bi-coastal.”
I grin. “We both know you’re bi, period.”
He chokes on a laugh. “Even Saul is starting to grow on me.”
“Like black mold.”
He shrugs. “Toxic, but weirdly comforting.”
I poke him in the chest. “You’re getting sappy. That’s my job.”
He drops the armor, meets my eyes. “I want you to have everything, Stevie. No more halves.”
My throat goes tight. “You’re not allowed to make me cry before breakfast. It’s a health code violation.”
He kisses me like he’s got something to prove. “Tonight. All of us. We’re ready if you are.”
“I want that. I want all of it.”
“Greedy girl.”
“Always.”
Enzo pokes his head in. “If you two are done groping each other, we have a line out the door.”
“We weren’t groping.”
“You’re always groping. If you stop for more than ten minutes, the health department calls to check if you’re dead.” He grins. “Martha wants Dario to bring her next scone personally. She specified the ‘sexy apron.’”
Dario groans. “Tell her I’m in witness protection.”
