Page 30 of Forever: The Companion

When was it ever the right time?

Not that it mattered.

She heard the clock ticking now.

Loud and clear.

Funny, how something like that could change in a second.

The man playing the guitar brought the song to a close with applause from everyone in the shop, and Renzo, too. Even Lucia joined in, which finally seemed to catch her husband’s attention and let him know she was there waiting for him.

He gave her a wink.

She blew him a kiss right back.

The little girl stepped off his toes and beamed up at him. “Thank you for helping me practice my English, Mister.”

“Thank you for that dance,” her husband replied.

And there went her heart.

Melting into a puddle.

He said goodbye to the little girl, paid for the items that he had sitting on the floor next to where they’d been dancing, and then he joined Lucia in the doorway. For a second, she just stared at her husband as he slipped both arms around her waist and pulled her close enough that he could tip his head down and drop a soft kiss to her lips. Between them, she held tight to the painted surfboard.

“Found someone to dance with, did you?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t know where you were.”

“Mmhmm, well, I’m not that jealous about it. It was terribly cute.”

The grin he flashed her was downright sinful. “Oh, are we back to me being cute, baby?”

“Well …”

“I can always remind you why I soar far beyond cute.”

“Not here, you can’t,” she replied.

She was sure they still had an audience, even if she was too caught up in her husband to notice the rest of the people.

Renzo made a face. “Mmm, maybe not.”

Before Lucia lost her nerve, she asked the thing that was waiting on the tip of her tongue. “Do you want a baby?”

He tipped his head to the side, a small smile curving his lips in the sweetest way. “You know the answer to that, Lucia.”

“Yeah, I know you want kids. I meant … do you want them now?”

That made him pause.

She waited him out.

“I just … was waiting on whenever you were ready for that,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“And we’re always busy.”

“We can’t slow down a bit?”

Renzo arched a brow. “Babe, I can do anything for you.”

Yeah.

She knew that, too.

“So, let’s slow down.”

He dropped another kiss to her lips, although this one lingered just long enough to make her forget about the market entirely. “Let’s slow it down, Lucia.”