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“Amen,” Marissa murmured.
“You think he’s the man for you?”
“I’m not thinking that far ahead. He might be one of those people placed in my life for a season, and I’m going to enjoy him while I can.”
Chapter Thirty
This was crazy.
Marissa shouldn’t be sneaking around with a client, but here she was with a weekend bag inside of Bruno’s home for the second weekend in a row. Like all new lovers, they couldn’t get enough of each other and had sex multiple times each night they were together, until they were both exhausted.
She placed her bag on the chair near his bed and then left the bedroom. In the living room, she paused. Bruno had put out new photos.
Last weekend he showed her pictures of his family and told funny stories of growing up with six brothers and sisters. She knew the names of both parents and would easily recognize them if she ran into one of them around town.
What caught her eye was a black-and-white close-up of Bruno holding a baby nestled against his chest. Beside him sat Audra, laughing, her attention captured by someone to the right of the camera lens.
Marissa didn’t recognize the baby. She hadn’t seen a picture of her in any of the other frames, in the photo album, or the battery powered picture frame that automatically scrolled through dozens of photos of the family.
What made Marissa stop and stare was the care with which Bruno cradled the child, his large hand naturally supporting her head while she slept against his chest. She looked comfortable. In fact, she knew the baby was comfortable because she’d fallen asleep on his chest several times herself.
Emotion clogged her throat. From the way he talked about his sister’s kids and the gentle way he held this little girl, he’d probably be a great father one day. She pushed aside the sense of longing that filled her and went to find him.
Bruno was in his domain, the kitchen, newly remodeled within the past year. A showpiece with a huge island in the middle with a sink, a large stainless steel refrigerator, and a separate standing freezer with double doors. He also had double ovens, a pasta maker, and there was fettuccine hanging from a drying rack on the counter as if he’d made the pasta right before she arrived.
But there was no mess to be seen on the counters. Everything was spotless. The only other evidence that he had been working in the kitchen was the bowl in front of the meat grinder, filled with meat. No surprise, he ground his own beef.
He stood in front of the refrigerator with the door open.
“You added a new picture on the bookshelf. Whose baby are you holding?”
Bruno glanced over his shoulder. “One of the newest members of our family. Remember Ivy mentioned Audra and Damon adopted? They now have an 18-month-old boy and his three-month-old sister. The picture was taken when they brought them to Sunday dinner at my mother’s house. For some reason she took to me. When anyone else tried to hold her, she cried, so I held her until she fell asleep.”
“That’s wonderful they were able to keep the siblings together.”
“They agreed to an open adoption, so the kids will have contact with their biological parents, as well.” He removed items from the refrigerator. “Are you ready to get to work?”
“Yes, sir.”
Cooking with Bruno was one of Marissa’s favorite parts of their times together. She had learned a lot already. He had taught her better knife and chopping methods and the basics of making a good gravy. She was slowly learning techniques that she wished she had learned growing up but hadn’t because of her less-than-stellar upbringing.
Tonight’s menu was simple comfort food—meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, and a salad with homemade dressing. They worked together with ease, their movements as smooth and efficient as if they had been choreographed ahead of time.
As they cooked, they caught up with the happenings during the week. She told him about several clients she’d recently acquired, and he shared the business mishaps that had occupied his time. When they finished, instead of eating on the back patio like they did last time, they took their food to the most unusual and interesting part of his house—the tower.
The first time she came to his house, she had expected a mansion, but Bruno lived in a one-story home with a basement. He did not, in fact, have a dungeon down there. The house was exactly the kind of place she imagined for her and Theo, though theirs would be much smaller, of course, and wouldn’t have the extra bedroom suite, game room, office, man cave, and theater room in a huge lower level like his did.
But she’d have a yard where she could plant flowers, and instead of the tiny bedrooms at the apartment, she and Theo would have nice-sized rooms with plenty of space. Then she could decorate her home with all the great finds she had purchased at Home Goods. She needed to get in touch with her loan officer soon to find out how much house she could afford.
With careful steps, they accessed the tower through a door in the middle of the house, up a winding staircase. Bruno had placed two chairs and a small table with a votive candle on top for them to eat dinner.
During the day, they could see for miles with the naked eye, but he also had a telescope that allowed them to see even farther.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Marissa said, as she sat down. “Do you spy on your neighbors from up here?”
“Not at all,” he replied. Then he smirked. “Well, maybe a little.”
They shared a laugh.
