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“Have you eaten since the food I brought you earlier?”

“No . . .”

“Like I said, it’s been six hours and . . .” He looked at his phone. “Forty-four minutes.” I snorted out a laugh. He cut his eyes at me. “Somethin’ funny, beautiful?”

Beautiful. That one word sucked the giggles right out of me. In its place was a deep yearning. He’d called me beautiful before. The way he said it made me believe that he thought I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. My core heated and my cheeks warmed.

Avoiding eye contact, I opened the to-go box and smiled. White rice, rotisserie chicken, and cooked carrots. I was a foodie at heart, but during flares, simple meals that were easy to digest were best. It seemed like Gino remembered all about my eating habits from the in-passing conversations we’d had.

To distract myself, I tore open the plastic silverware and took a tentative bite. It felt like I no longer knew how to be around Gino. This was no longer casual, according to him, and my head swam as I tried to process what this all meant.

Gino busied himself with the other items in the bag, but I kept my eyes on my food. I didn’t even look up when he got up and walked around. I knew by now that if Gino wanted to do something, he was going to do it. My eyes snapped to him when I felt his hands on my stomach. He struggled to wrap something around my midsection. I quickly discarded the box of food onto the coffee table.

“Gino, what⁠—”

“How does this shit work?” He grumbled as he fiddled around. I quickly realized it was an electric heat pad.

“You have to switch it on. See? Right here.” I pointed at the switch connected to the cord.

He nodded sharply and flicked it on. When he finished, he stepped back and put his hands on his hips. “How that feel?”

I giggled. “It takes a few minutes to fully warm up. This was so thoughtful. Thank you.”

I already had one of these, but it was old, and I’d been meaning to get a new one for a long time.

“It ain’t nothin’. I made this chick at the store help me wit’ this shit. If she got anything wrong, I’ll go back and see ’bout her.” He gestured toward the coffee table where the rest of the items were now out of the bag. There were some fuzzy socks, a fuzzy throw blanket, some applesauce, bananas, plain crackers, tea, and a whole tea kettle.

It was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me. “Gino, this is so sweet . . . Thank you.”

He sat down, closer to me than he was before. His arm stretched across the back of my couch, and I could smell his cologne.

“You ain’t gotta thank me, Yaya. I just want you to be good.” His phone rang before I could respond. He frowned, but when he looked at the screen, he said, “Hold on, baby. I gotta take this.”

Baby. This man was about to make me melt into the damn couch. I had never felt so taken care of by a man. I couldn’t tell if it was the heat pad or the proximity of this fine-ass man next to me, but I felt hot all over. I focused on breathing and calming my mind while he spoke on the phone. I didn’t even hear what he said or get an inkling for who he spoke to.

My thoughts scattered when his hand that was still draped behind me on the couch massaged my shoulder. “I wanted to stay and chill wit’ you, but I gotta go handle somethin’. You gonna be okay?”

Sadness filled me. I realized I didn’t want him to leave, but I also realized there was so much I needed to ask him and get answers to before I could really lean into my feelings, so I cleared my throat and nodded. “Yeah. I’m just going to finish eating and go to sleep. Thank you, Gino. Really.”

He leaned into me so close I thought he might kiss me. Instead, he smiled and said, “Stop thankin’ me. This is just the beginning.”

He pinched my chin and then stood up. “Call me if you need anything. I mean it, Yaya. If I find out you was over here suffering and ain’t call me, it’s gonna be a problem. Come lock up. I’ma get you a security system too.” He fussed as he looked around my living room.

All I could do was look at him incredulously. This was not at all how I expected my day to go. I was too tired to even understand if I was happy, scared, or upset about it. All I knew was that I liked Gino . . . a lot. I had for a very long time, and the way he showed up for me today made it hard for me to keep my feelings at bay.

Gino helped me stand, and we walked to the front door. He opened it and then hugged me around my waist. I hugged him back and breathed him in, and just like that, he was gone just as quickly as he came.

I didn’t even make it back to the living room to put everything away before a text came through to my phone.

Gino: Rest for the next couple of days. Don’t worry about work. Your job will be there when you’re better.

I grinned. A couple of days off was exactly what I needed, but what I craved was in the form of a six-foot something man who looked at me like I hung the stars. I could only hope that I wasn’t out here looking like a fool, because I really, really liked Gino. There was no denying that anymore.

Chapter Five

GINO

My fingers drummed along the desk as I stared at Kyle Knight. I spun around slowly in his chair behind his desk as he peered at me from his spot in one of the flimsy chairs I didn’t like.