Tame his Beast - Claire C. Riley Page 0,41

obviously feeling a little nervous too.

My stomach rumbled. “That actually sounds perfect.”

“Plus, I remembered that lasagna was your favorite.” He grinned. “It helps to know your customers, huh?”

“Clearly,” I replied with a smile.

He guided us through the apartment toward what I thought would be a small kitchen, given how big the living room was, but it was actually a huge kitchen. A large AGA cooker sat along one wall and there was a large island in the center of the kitchen, separating the kitchen from another small lounge area with a dining room table, a little sofa, and some bookshelves. A large metal rack hung from the ceiling over the island and stainless-steel pots and pans and some baskets with fruit and vegetables hung. It was every chef’s dream to have a kitchen like this. No wonder he didn’t need us to eat in the restaurant downstairs.

“I love your place. It’s so much bigger it looks from the outside,” I gushed.

He placed his hand on my lower back and guided me to the island before pulling out a stool for me to sit on. Lorenzo smiled and looked around.

“Well, it used to be three separate apartments, but my dad bought each one of them over the years as the restaurant and his family grew. When he retired he found that he couldn’t stay out of the restaurant, and so my mom made him buy a house for them far away from the restaurant and I took it as my opportunity to completely revamp the place.” He ran a hand through his hair almost nervously.

“You have brothers, right?”

“Yeah, two. Mateo and Carlos. Neither of them were interested in the restaurant business though.” Lorenzo fell silent, his thoughts elsewhere for a moment, and I realized that I must have hit on a touchy subject.

I put my hand on his arm. “Hey, I’m sorry if I said something wrong.”

Lorenzo looked back at me and smiled, the expression vanishing. “You did nothing wrong. I just don’t talk about my brothers much—none of us do.” He fell silent a moment, his expression darkening. “Let’s just say they chose a different path than I did.”

*

The food was amazing, the wine was gorgeous, and Lorenzo’s company was perfect. The evening was going just how I’d hoped, after a nervous start from us both.

“Let’s go sit,” he said, gesturing to the small sofa opposite the kitchen after we’d finished eating. “I’ll clean up everything tomorrow.”

“I don’t mind helping to clean up,” I offered, but he shook his head.

“Absolutely not, but I appreciate the offer.”

I was feeling good. The soft music was still playing in the background, the lights were low, and I was on my third glass of wine and feeling a little fuzzy. Beast was not in my thoughts as Lorenzo and I sat next to each other on the small sofa and continued talking for a while. We talked about Jenna and his parents, about the hospital and the restaurant. There never seemed to be a lag in our conversation, and it almost seemed too good to be true. The evening had gone so well—much better than I had expected—and we’d learned that we had a lot more in common than we first realized. And I found that my little spat with Beast didn’t even cross my mind.

Lorenzo took my glass from me and placed it on the coffee table in front of us before turning back to me. My heart was galloping in my chest, my blood humming through my veins as he reached out to cup my cheek in his hand.

“If you don’t mind, Belle, I’ve been wanting to do something all night,” he said, his voice soft and silky. “I’m not sure how much longer I can restrain myself.” His eyes dipped to my mouth and then back up to my eyes.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak right then, and Lorenzo leaned in and kissed me.

The kiss started off slowly, almost gentle, but slowly built until it was passionate and full of desire. My toes curled as his tongue danced with mine, and he deepened the kiss as I returned it. Lorenzo had been a gentleman all night—constantly checking that I was okay, that my glass was filled, that I was comfortable—and he was no different now as he pulled me closer, his arms reaching around me to stroke up and down my back.

“Is this okay?”

I nodded again. “Yes, definitely,” I said, reaching for him greedily. My hands went to his shoulders,