Page 83 of When Love Takes Over
“Ha! You have a point, but I’m zero for zero for women named Dinah. You cool with me giving your mother my ass to kiss?”
“If that’s what it takes. Speaking of my mother, we’re meeting her for dinner tonight, but she doesn’t know you’ll be there.”
“This should go well. Is your father coming?”
“Nah. At first, I thought he should be there because I’d be more likely to keep my cool, but he can’t help but go into protector mode when it comes to her, and I need to get a few things off my chest. Respectfully, of course.”
A knock on his door interrupted our conversation. It was Tanya with our food.
“Good afternoon! Here’s your lunch. Malyah, Anika is doing a great job down there, but she let us know right away she wouldn’t be bringing any desserts. Maybe you can send some with Mr. Goode every now and then. By the way, we were blown away when the rumors about you two being married started floating around because nobody had a clue you were dating. How did you?—”
“Tanya, put the tray down and take a breath,” Kenzo said.
She looked at the tray she was still holding and nodded before placing it on his desk. After stepping back from the desk, she exhaled.
“My apologies. I’m a bit of a chatterbox, especially when I’m excited. I guess I should have said congratulations and left it at that. This is my first time ever seeing you together, and you’re married. How crazy is that? Do you have?—”
“Tanya, thank you for bringing this up. We’re about to eat before it gets cold.”
“My bad, Mr. Goode. I’ll get back to work.”
She scurried out of his office, closing the door behind her, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d talk to her a few times when she picked up breakfast or lunch, but I was usually in the kitchen and didn’t socialize much. I had no idea she had such a vibrant personality.
“She’s a burst of energy,” I said, still giggling as I stood and went to sit in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk.
“That’s putting it lightly. Who said you could get up? I like when you sit on my lap.”
“I can’t sit on your lap while I eat.”
“If you can sit on my face while I eat, sitting on my lap shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Oh my God. You must be stopped.”
We continued to converse while enjoying our lunch. He received a text that caught his attention for a minute and had him smiling and grinning at his phone. I tried not to feel a way, but I wanted to know what the hell he was looking at.
“C’mere,” he said, still smiling at his phone.
My nosy ass didn’t hesitate when he summoned the way I usually did, and he didn’t have to pull me onto his lap because I resumed my position willingly.
“Ronin sent the pictures,” he told me.
“Oh my God. Let me see.”
He gave me his phone, and I held it at an angle where we could both see the screen. Every picture was magazine-worthy, and I became emotional as I swiped through the album. We didn’t look like two people who’d only met a week prior . . . We looked like two people . . . in love.
“Do you like them?” he asked.
“I love them all. You?”
“You couldn’t pay me to believe the two people in these pictures aren’t in love.”
“Yeah. We are pretty convincing, huh?”
I looked at him, and his eyes were already on me. He reached up and caressed the back of my neck while holding my gaze.
“Very.”
“Areyou sure you want me to go? I’d be perfectly fine having a grilled cheese sandwich and chips. You can let me know how it goes when you get back,” Malyah said.
