Page 87 of The Through Duet
“And maybe Ruben wouldn’t mind having a coffee with me while we wait on you ladies,” I suggested.I mean, if Ms.Ruiz was this important to Leandra, then only an asshole wouldn’t take a personal interest in her also.
Ms.Ruiz looked back at Leandra as she said, “Oh, I think we have a keeper here, dear.”
“Which is a good thing since she’s never getting rid of me now,” I snorted, serious as a heart attack.
Leandra just smiled at me, and if she could just smile at me like that for the rest of my life, I’d die a happy man.It reached her bright blue eyes, made her cheeks pink, and she looked like she was fucking glowing, and I wanted to keep that look on her face permanently.Though I knew that it was an impossible dream, I wanted Leandra to never have another bad day in her life.
“Well, it just so happens that I don’t want to get rid of you, so sounds like it’s working out for everyone,” she quipped.
“Okay, in addition to coffee, I need a shower and to check out a few things on my schedule,” I informed them both.“So, how about you ladies do your thing, then call me when you’re ready for your pedicures?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ms.Ruiz replied eagerly.“I’ll even call Ruben to let him know that we have plans today.”
Hopefully, Ruben liked to talk sports.
Chapter 19
Leandra~
While this afternoon couldn’t have gone more perfectly, the weight of my mother’s visit was still bearing heavily on me.She’d been awful, and though Dalton had handled her expertly, was it really fair to ask him to put up with the likes of her venom for the rest of his life?
After Dalton had left to go handle his business, Ms.Elena and I had gossiped a bit more before I’d had no choice but to take a shower and begin the rest of my day.Of course, before getting on with the plans for the pedicures, I had called Rya to tell her everything about last night, and we had squealed in delight like a couple of high school girls.Now, being my best friend, I had overshared to the point where she had begged me to stop, but it’d been all in good fun.Dalton and I were finally in a good place, and no one was happier for us than Rya; I knew this.
At any rate, after the pedicures and dinner with Ms.Elena and Ruben, we were now at Dalton’s because he’d said that he wanted his sheets to smell like me, and I wasn’t sure how, but he just kept making my heart swoon with all the things that kept coming out of his mouth.
I also finally understood why Rya had defended him so much.She’d always known the Dalton that I was just now meeting, and so I could see why she hadn’t wanted to take sides.Dalton really was a good guy when he wasn’t being a jackass.
Watching him with Ms.Elena and Ruben had also been something else.He’d been so sweet and patient with them, and nothing made older people feel more valued than someone actually paying attention to what they had to say, and Dalton had been the perfect conversationalist.Of course, according to Rya, Dalton adored his grandparents, so that could have had a lot to do with it.Nevertheless, I was still giving him credit for the kindness that he had shown to two people whom he’d just met today.
“Are you sure that you got enough to eat?”Dalton asked as he walked back into the living room after grabbing us a couple of beers.
“Yes,” I answered, chuckling a bit.“And don’t do that.”
“Do what?”he asked as he handed me my beer before taking a seat next to me on the couch.
“Try to feed me all the time,” I answered.“My frame will gain weight really quickly if I’m not careful.”
“Well, for the record, I’d rather see you chubby and happy than skinny and miserable,” he said, surprising me since I’d never seen him go home with anything less than perfection.
“Really?”I asked, genuinely curious.“But...but the women that I’ve always seen you with-”
“Were women that hit on me, not the other way around,” he pointed out.“In all the years that you’ve known me, have you ever seen me hit on a woman?”
As I thought about it, he was right.“Well...no.”
Then, as casually as could be, he reached for the remote control as he said, “Call it crazy, but I always felt like that’d be going too far in front of you.”
I didn’t say anything as he automatically switched the current channel to Investigation Discovery, and this must be what it felt like to be cherished.I knew that Dalton had no interest in this channel, but it was easy enough for him to appreciate my interests with no questions asked.
Suddenly, it made me feel more awful.
“Dalton?”
“Yeah, baby?”he asked as he turned away from the television to look back at me.
“I...I want to...to apologize for my mother this morning-”
“Whoa,” he quickly rushed out.“Let me stop you there, Leandra.You donotneed to apologize for that woman.”
