allow her one more moment of that, she’d be really grateful.
3
The crushing weight of anxiety lifted as soon as Matteo opened the door with a smile that she had a feeling was reserved only for her. Normally his grim-faced man employee answered the door, and that guy made Marie nervous. She stuck her hand out tentatively for Matteo to take it, and he pulled her inside with a laugh.
“What’s wrong, Marie?” He kissed her cheek softly, an odd look in his eye. It was gone before she could define it, so she just smiled and leaned into his kiss.
“Nothing, I just thought it might be that guy that normally answers the door.” She closed the door and then followed him through the house to the dining room. She eyed him up as they walked through the house and wasn’t surprised to find that in the black lounge pants and long black t-shirt, Matteo was just as sexy as he was in a suit. “What are we having?”
“Gumbo, potato salad, and French bread from what the cook told me.” He sat down with a smile that was more of a smirk than anything. “She’s so bossy.”
“Cajun women can be,” Marie said with a husky laugh, though she wasn’t sure she’d deem it bossy. More like confident and self-assured in their decisions. “It sounds wonderful.”
Matteo guided her to a chair before he took one beside her. He’d asked her how she was doing when the cook came in with a trolley. The table was set with white bowls, saucers, and tableware already so all she had to do was set the food down on the table before she went back out again with a wish that they enjoyed their food.
Marie turned to Matteo with a smile as he ladled gumbo into a bowl. “I’m doing alright. It’s weird, being at home alone, but it’s not as bad as I thought. I was afraid I’d turn into this blubbering mess that couldn’t handle being on her own, but it’s not been too bad. After that first night, anyway.”
Marie looked away as she didn’t want him to see the hurt in her eyes. She’d wanted to ask him to stay with her, to come to her so many times, but he’d told her he’d contact her in a few days. She’d had to assume he’d be busy if he said something like that. Normally, she’d have expected him to ask her to come to stay with him, but maybe she’d made too many assumptions lately.
“Good, I’ve wanted to come and see you, but, well, things are getting a bit complicated for me down here, and I’ve spent a lot of hours at the uh-” Matteo looked away, his eyes squinted before he turned back, his face clear, “at the office, basically.”
She wasn’t stupid. She’d started to catch on that he didn’t exactly have an office a while ago. He had to be at a lot of places, though, and take care of a lot of things that he never explained. She didn’t ask, because at first, she didn’t feel like it was any of her business. Now, well, she was almost afraid to ask. She feared his answer, not his reaction.
“I understand,” she assured him and turned her attention to her food. It was spiced perfectly, and everything had blended together nicely in the gumbo. The rest of the food was heavenly too, but almost anything would be after a week of eating cans of ravioli she’d found in the cabinet and sandwiches.
She hadn’t seen much point in cooking over the last week, she just didn’t have the heart to go to the effort. A bowl of microwaved heat-attack-in-a-can here and a sandwich there wouldn’t hurt her, anyway. She hoped.
Dinner was quiet after that and she enjoyed the comfort of not being alone, even if the other person wasn’t speaking. She’d been quiet all week, she’d wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice, but he was eating so it would be rude to speak.
“Do you want anything for dessert? I think we have a chocolate cake?” He wiped his mouth and put the napkin down in his now-empty bowl. His eyes smiled at her and her heart skipped when she saw contentment in his eyes.
“No, but a walk outside would be nice.” She felt a little closed off inside the house, far too insulated, and wanted the wildness of the outdoors, even if it was only a small dose. The mosquitos were