Leo(A Sign of Love Novel)(28)

He stares at me for a few seconds and I start squirming at his intense gaze so I ask him what he's thinking.



He comes around the bar and sits on the stool next to me and I turn towards him and he takes my hand and says, "I was just thinking about how much I appreciate you sharing with me tonight. And I was also thinking that from where I'm standing, you've done a pretty remarkable job of not letting your past make you hard. There's not a harsh or bitter thing about you, not a single thing, not your attitude, not the way you hold yourself, not your eyes, not your smile, not the way you treat people, always taking care of the people who are lucky enough to have your love, and that's just you. Life obviously took a lot from you and I know you've been cut deep, but the fact that you relied on yourself to make it through and that you didn't let it make you cynical or cold, that is all you. Own that. That's what I was thinking."

A tear slips out of my eye, I can't help it. He's making slow circles with his thumb on my hand and staring at me with those soulful brown eyes and that's when I fall in love with him, just sitting in his kitchen, I fall head over heels.

He smiles at me and gestures to the small glass table in the eating area next to the bar and I stand up and walk there as he pulls two placemats out of a drawer and puts them down on the table and then places napkins and silverware for each of us.

I sit down and he returns to the kitchen to dish up two plates and returns with them, and the bottle of wine.

He refills our glasses and we dig into the food, which is completely delicious.

"Okay, truly impressed," I say. "This is amazing." And it is. The steak is tender and succulent and the potatoes are spiced perfectly with crispy skin on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. The salad is crisp and even though it's from a bag, it's the perfect compliment to the dinner Jake's made from scratch.

When we've eaten in silence for a few minutes, I say, "Will you tell me about your parents? How did your dad pass?" I glance at him, nervous that I've brought up a painful subject, but he answers quickly.

"Heart attack. It was sudden. He lingered for a week afterwards but got a blood clot. That's what actually killed him."

"I'm sorry, Jake." I pause because his face seems like it's gotten hard. "You must miss him."

He sighs. "Yeah, I do. I wasted a lot of years with my dad that I can't ever get back."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Really. It wasn't ok for a long time but I've come to a place where it's getting there." He pauses for a minute before he continues. "I realize now that there are a lot of paths in life. Some we choose and some are chosen for us. I was dealt some shit, just like a lot of us are, and I made a lot of poor choices too. I have to take responsibility for those. But the only thing we'll get from trying to figure out where another path would have taken us are questions there are no answers to and heartbreak that can't be healed. Regardless of how we got there, all any of us can do is move forward from where we are.”

He pauses and then says, "I'll tell you all about it, Evie. You've already given me so much of you, and I want to give you me, but not tonight. Tonight, I want to enjoy dinner and enjoy you and not bring up a bunch of shit that's going to put me in a bad mood. Okay?"

"Okay," I whisper, because it is. I feel like I know everything and nothing about Jake both at the same time and how can this be? I know how hard it is to share painful things with people, and that you have to feel ready to do that, no one should ever push you. I also know for sure that the man sitting in front of me is a good man. The rest will come. Everyone has a past, right?

He grabs my hand and squeezes it and we finish our meal and then I help him clear the table. I rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher as he drops the pans in the sink to soak.

I excuse myself to use his restroom and when I come back, he takes my hand and leads me to the couch. He pulls me down on his lap so that I'm straddling him and then his eyes get lazy and God, that's beautiful and I put my mouth on his because I can't stop myself. I lick the seam of his lips and he opens for me and I'm the one to moan this time as he takes the back of my head in his hand and tilts it so that he can plunge his tongue in deep and then we're kissing like we can't get enough of each other, like if a herd of zebras trampled through his living room right now, we wouldn't even come up for air.

A growl comes from deep in his throat and a flood of wetness saturates the area between my legs and so I grind down on his lap and he tears his mouth from mine.

"Fuck!" he clips and his eyes are fiery. "God, Evie, you feel so f*cking good." He's breathing hard.

"Jake," I say, breathing hard too, "I'm not sleeping in the guest room tonight."

"Thank f*cking christ."

Then he stands up with me still in his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist and he carries me down the hall to his bedroom, kissing me the whole way.





CHAPTER 14



Jake nudges his half-closed bedroom door open with his shoulder and although the room is dim, the only light coming from a door that is barely cracked leading to what I'm assuming is the master bath, I can see that it's similarly decorated to the rest of the condo. There is a huge, and I mean huge, black four poster bed against the far wall, two sleek, black dressers and a set of white bedside tables flanking the bed. On the floor is a white, fluffy rug that looks like it’s supposed to mimic an animal skin. The bedding looks like it's dark gray and white, although because of the low lighting, I can't be 100% sure.