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Grace bit her bottom lip as she contemplated how to respond.
Call me when you get back? - Grace
I will. - Alexander
There was a long pause.
Good night, gattina. Sweet dreams. - Alexander
***
To give Alexander a taste of what his job would entail should he decide to stay, his boss had asked him to join her in Kansas City for several meetings. He’d been introduced to the company executives and a handful of lawyers the company worked with on a regular basis. It wasn’t as bad as he’d feared, but he still wasn’t sure this was something he wanted to do long term.
Their final meeting ended and he began gathering his things. Alexander wanted to get on the road home as soon as possible. He’d received a voice mail this morning from the jewelry store saying the necklace was ready to be picked up. As they had no plans tonight and neither had to be up early tomorrow for work given the holiday, he wanted to go all out and make this special for Grace. That meant he had some planning to do.
“Heading back?” Janet asked.
“Want to beat the traffic.”
His boss wasn’t fooled. “Sure you do.” She shook her head and chuckled. “Enjoy your long weekend.”
“Thanks. You, too.”
The drive between Kansas City and St. Louis seemed to take longer than it did the first time around. Maybe that was because he was anxious to get home. He turned on some music, hoping that would make the time go faster.
He ran into some traffic about a half hour outside St. Louis. It took him almost thirty minutes to travel less than five miles. Luckily, once he got past the accident, things got moving again. Still, it was later than he’d hoped. So instead of going home and changing first as he would have liked, he drove straight to the jewelry store.
There weren’t any other customers in the store when he arrived, so he was able to get in and out quickly. He made a quick pit stop at his apartment to shower, change, and grab enough clothes for the weekend since he didn’t plan on sleeping at his place for the next few days.
Alexander didn’t even have to ring the doorbell. She was there waiting for him with a shy smile on her face. He scooped her into his arms and gave her a thorough kiss. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
They separated so he could close the door, remove his coat, and set his bags down.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
He reached for her again, crushing her against him. “Starving.”
Grace giggled. “I meant for food.”
“Oh.” He leaned down to kiss her neck. “Yeah. That, too.”
She tilted her head to the side to give him better access. “I made lasagna and some garlic bread. I figured you’d be hun—”
His lips covered hers as he backed them into the living room toward the couch. He reached between them and began working her sweater up her torso. “Do you have anything in the kitchen that will burn or catch on fire if it isn’t attended to in the next fifteen minutes?”
Grace shook her head. “No.”
“Good,” he said, working his own shirt over his head and letting it drop to the floor. “There’s something that needs my attention first.”
An hour later, their bellies full of pasta and bread, they curled up on the couch to watch a movie. He ran his fingers through her hair as she rested her head in his lap. It was one of the most relaxing things he’d done in a long time—just the two of them, lounging on the couch. There was nothing requiring their attention. No reason to rush to bed since they didn’t have to be up early the next day.
The movie ended, but neither moved. He glanced down to find her looking up at him. There was something in her eyes that had him concerned. “What is it?”
She smiled and reached up to cup the back of his head, drawing his face down to hers. He allowed the distraction, mainly because he didn’t want to push her. This thing between them was still so new and they both had baggage.
“I saw you brought a bag,” she whispered.
