Page 106 of Lease to Love

It wasn't enough. None of it had been enough.

I'd missed her with a kind of persistent, low-grade ache I'd only ever associated with unfinished business. The difference was that this wasn't a deal I could close, a problem I could solve, or a number I could move around on a spreadsheet until it behaved.

I just wanted more of her.

More of her laugh.

More of her hands on me.

More of the way she said my name when she forgot she was supposed to be pretending.

And I wasn't particularly interested in examining what that meant… Not yet.

Because today, we finally had time.

We were going to The Wharf. Just oysters, a fall market, cool air off the water, and several hours where neither of us had to be anything for anybody but each other.

Exactly what we needed.

Summer took full advantage of the opportunity to turn the afternoon into an eating competition.

We made it through two rows of stalls before she handed me something involving crab, butter, and enough Old Bay to qualify as a controlled substance.

I took one bite.

She watched me expectantly.

I swallowed and nodded. "Good."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's it?"

"What did you want?"

"I wanted a reaction."

"I reacted."

"You didn't even close your eyes!"

I looked at her. "Baby, I'm not going to fake an orgasm over crab."

She slapped my arm, laughing before pouting. "Roman. I wanted you to appreciate the crab."

"I did appreciate the crab." I said, mocking her voice.

"You looked like you were reviewing a quarterly report."

I shrugged. "I have a professional face."

"You have an asshole face."

"Weren’t saying that when you were sitting on it earlier."

She slapped my arm again and laughed so hard she had to lean against me, and I wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

We ate our way through the market after that, stopping whenever something smelled good enough to justify another purchase. I fed her bites from my plate. I stole food from hers. She accused me of cheating when I won a stupid little carnival game we'd stumbled across, then kissed my cheek six times in retaliation.

I slapped her ass every time she walked ahead of me. She’d threaten me with some kind of bodily harm, and I’d do it again.