open. Seven thirty a.m. An ungodly hour for a Saturday. But the persistent tapping on my door had dragged me out of my much-needed sleep.
“The condo better be burning down,” I called in the direction of the closed door.
Saoirse’s muffled laugh came from the other side, then she pushed it open, peeking her head into my dark room.
“Hi.”
I cracked the other eye, taking her in. She was fully dressed and far too bright-eyed.
“You don’t look like you crawled through smoke to get to my bedroom, so I’m assuming there’s no fire.”
With a soft laugh, she strode across the room and plopped down beside me on the bed, pushing my hair off my forehead. That small gesture was all it took for most of my grouchiness to fade.
“This is the last farmers’ market of the season. I wanted to see if you’d like to come with me.”
I would have liked her to climb into my bed and wrap her lips around my cock. Or put her head on my chest while I slept. None of my preferred activities involved me getting out of this bed before ten.
“As much fun as that sounds, I’m going to have to pass.” I closed my eyes, hoping she’d leave me in peace.
“Mmm…too bad. I noticed you really like the cheese I bought you, even though you never mentioned it. I was going to buy you more, but now…”
The genuine disappointment in her voice woke me up a little more. My eyes opened so I could look at her in the dim light. She stroked my hair off my forehead again and sighed.
“Okay, I’ll let you sleep. You need it. And I’ll even bring you some cheese.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “See you later, Luca.”
She was on her feet when I remembered the fucking honey guy. The man she’d been reeling in for months. He’d see her in her pretty little dress, probably spend time with her, make her laugh, all while I lay in bed.
“Hold on.”
She swiveled around. “Are you coming?”
“Yeah. I’m coming.”
Spending time with Saoirse was easy. We strolled through the market, no direction in mind. She pointed out her favorite booths, introducing me to people she’d come to know. Each time she told another person we were married, they gifted us something—from apples to jam to a small, carved-wood ring holder.
She wandered ahead of me while I got stuck talking to the cheese guy about motorcycles. I kept one eye on her, so I didn’t miss when she stopped at a booth and the man running it walked around to her side to give her a hug. The massive fucker even lifted her off her feet.
Honey guy. Spinning my wife around. Making her smile. She’d been reeling him in, and it appeared he’d been caught.
Barely saying goodbye to the person I was speaking to, I charged in their direction. He’d set her on her feet but was still far too close when I reached them.
I slipped my arm around her waist, pulling her back against my chest. She yelped, turning her head to look at me.
“Oh god, Luca, you surprised me.”
I squeezed her hip. “Introduce me to your friend, Saoirse.”
“Oh, of course. Luca, this is Mick. Mick, this is Luca.”
Mick had torn his eyes off Saoirse to study me, and I studied his overgrown Viking man bun, wannabe hipster ass right back. His jaw rippled when he landed on my fingers curled around Saoirse’s waist.
“Mick, of course.” I rocked back on my heels. “My wife has told me all about you and your honey.”
His gaze lifted to Saoirse’s. “You’re married?”
“I am.” She held up her left hand, wiggling her fingers. “We got married a little over a month ago. It was a whirlwind.”
He folded his arms over his big chest. “I wondered where you’d been.”
I chuckled. “I’ve been keeping my wife busy.” He could let his little imagination run wild by guessing exactly what I’d been keeping her busy doing.
He grunted, not bothering to acknowledge me in any other way. “Congratulations. I wish I’d known.”
“Now you do,” I said flatly.
Saoirse laid her hand over mine and drove her elbow into my side. “Thank you, Mick. As I said, it’s been a whirlwind. Sorry I haven’t been by in a few weeks. I made sure I had time to stop by today since it’ll be a while before I see everyone again.”
“Thanks for coming.” He averted his gaze, eyeing the slowly streaming crowd. “It’s a busy day. Gotta get back to it. Pick something out if you want. My wedding gift to you.”
He turned his back on her and returned to his place behind his table. Saoirse stared after him for a moment before removing my hand from her hip. Instead of dropping it, she wove her fingers between mine and tipped her head to the side.
“Come on. There’s more to see,” she said as she pulled me along.
“You okay?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I feel bad for stringing him along. I could tell he was disappointed.”
When we were far enough away from Mick and his honey, I tugged Saoirse to the side between two booths and wrapped my arms around her waist. She slid her hands up my chest to curl them around my neck.
“Here’s the thing, pretty girl: Mick had his chance and didn’t take it. He saw you, gorgeous fucking you, and didn’t do everything he could to have you for himself. That alone tells me he’s not good enough for you. The douchey man bun and his sad little pout sealed the deal. Don’t feel bad for moving on. If he’s disappointed, that’s on him.”
She scooted closer and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. “That was exactly what I needed to hear.” She kissed me again. “Thank you for coming with me, Luca. I would have had a guilt spiral if you hadn’t set me straight.”
She went in for another kiss, but this time, I caught the back of her head, keeping her mouth sealed to mine. What started as a hard, closed-mouth kiss melted, her lips parting for my tongue to sweep inside. Always mindful we were outside, in view of anyone who cared to look, I kissed her with slow, gentle caresses, licking away any residual sadness. Saoirse didn’t get to be sad over other men in front of me. I’d cure her of that quickly and with precision.
She pulled away first. “I bought you something.”
I huffed a laugh. “When did you do that? I always had my eye on you.”
“I’m sneaky like that.” She reached into her canvas bag, pulled out a small package wrapped in white tissue paper, and handed it to me. “I saw it and decided you needed it.”
I flipped the package over, frowning. Saoirse trailed her fingertip over my knuckles.
“Why do you seem confused?”
My frown deepened. “I’m…”
“Just open it. It’s not jewels like you keep giving me. It’s only a little something.”
Tearing the tape carefully, I unfolded the paper, revealing a small pewter motorcycle attached to a key chain. Though it fit in the center of my palm, I immediately recognized it was a model of a Rossi bike from my grandfather’s day.
“It’s an M50 Road Knight.”
She leaned in, peering at my hand. “Is it? I saw it had a Rossi symbol.”
I closed the paper, replacing the tape, and tucked the package in my pocket. “Thank you.”
Her head canted. “Is it me you’re not good at accepting gifts from, or is it a general thing?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it began with the cheese board. You’ve never said a single word about that. Then your wedding ring. You barely looked at it. And now this. I know the key chain is small, but you gave it a glance, then put it away. It’s a pattern, but I wonder if it’s specific to me or not.”
“I didn’t realize I was doing that.”
“You are.”
I took the key chain out and unwrapped it, wadding the paper up, and attached it to the house key in my pocket.
“My grandfather rode this bike. He took me for a ride on it when I was a kid. My first ride. You didn’t know that, but it took me aback. I needed a minute to recover my equilibrium.” I clutched the key chain in my fist. “Thank you for giving me this. I’ll think about him when I unlock my door.”
“That’s a good thing, I assume?”
“Great thing,” I answered. “As for the cheese board, I ate the hell out of the cheese. The board is on my counter. You noticed I’m sure.”
“I did.”
“When you gave it to me, I wasn’t sure about you. No one gives me gifts out of the blue, and you handed me something you had put a lot of thought into at what was supposed to be our first meeting. You threw me off balance, as you have a tendency to do.”
She crinkled her nose. “I don’t. Do I?”
I smoothed my fingertip down her nose. “You do, pretty girl.” I glanced at my ring. That wasn’t something I wanted to talk about. “I’ll try to do better next time.”
She arched a brow. “Assuming there’ll be a next time.”
Taking her chin between my fingers, I tipped her head slightly. “Knowing you, there will be.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “Fine. Gift giving is my love language. I can’t help it, so prepare, Luca. I will give you thoughtful presents.”
A lightness I hadn’t had for months bloomed in my chest. All because of Saoirse. Even though I continued to mess up. Even though I was absent more often than not and incredibly deficient at accepting gifts. She continued being this…fucking brilliant surprise.
“I’ll be ready. Promise, pretty girl.”
Saoirse had me drive her to a café where I learned she’d been working for the past two weekends, helping out a friend.
I’d pictured the friend as someone like Elise, but I was far off the mark. When I pulled up to the curb, Kenji—a tattooed, rock star–looking Japanese guy—was leaning against the brick wall beside the café, one booted foot kicked up.
“There are lots of other people working with you, right?” I eyed the handsome motherfucker, wondering if he was Saoirse’s type.
“Yes. Well, it’s Kenji, me, and his brother, Riku. He hired some other people to work with him next weekend, but—” She squeaked when I pulled away from the curb. “What are you doing?”
“Finding a parking spot. I’m coming in with you. I’d like to meet the man you’ve been spending so much time with.”
I felt her boring holes in the side of my head.
“Did you even notice I wasn’t home?”
My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Of course I knew you were out. I didn’t know what you were doing. Now I do. I’m going to meet Kenji. You don’t mind, do you?”
“I don’t mind as long as you’re nice.”
I pulled into a parking lot two blocks from the café. “Oh, I’ll be nice.”
And I would, as long as Kenji didn’t look at my wife like the honey guy did. I found it hard to believe he was happy in the friendzone with Saoirse, but we’d see.
Besides, I was curious about what she’d been up to over the past couple weeks. Now seemed like a great time to find out.
