17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Mars

I spent the rest of the day checking my suppliers for things I wanted to stock for the holiday season, but I couldn’t get what Mika said before he left out of my head.

My ex had been a selfish user, but I’d never been afraid of him. I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. I was just glad my new friend was here in Vesper and was safe, but it did make me sad that he didn’t trust himself to date. I hoped that, with time, he would find someone he could trust, although I was sure trust was hard for him after his past experience.

I wanted to fix dinner for Samuel, so I left the shop early so I could go to the store and get what I needed. One of the dishes I’d learned to make for Troy was stuffed shells with a homemade Bolognese sauce. I might have kicked Troy to the curb, but I was keeping all the recipes.

This dish took a while to make, but the results were worth it. By the time Samuel made it home, the food was in the oven, and I was cleaning up my mess.

“Oh man, it smells fantastic in here,” Samuel said, stepping up behind me and kissing my neck.

My hands were wet and soapy from the sink, but I turned in his arms, put my hands on his face, and pulled his mouth to mine for a quick kiss. Then I spun back around and went back to work. He wiped his wet beard against my cheek before giving my ass a swat and mumbling brat .

“So what smells so good?”

“Stuffed shells with a homemade sauce. It’ll be ready in about half an hour.”

“Is that another of your spite dishes?” he asked.

“No, just a dish I learned to make. It’s one of my favorites. I also make a mean pot roast, but that’s a weekend dish because it cooks for about four hours in the oven.”

“Stuffed shells sound great, and I’ll be looking forward to your pot roast. If they’re half as good as that shrimp dish you made, I’ll love it. You’re really an excellent cook.”

I chuckled. “I’m good at following directions.”

“Mmm, I do love a boy who can follow directions.”

I rolled my eyes and tried to give him a playful hip check, but he quickly hopped back out of the way.

“You said thirty minutes, right? So that gives me time to take a quick shower before dinner, then.”

A little bit later, Samuel joined me in the kitchen. He set the table while I pulled the food out of the oven and placed it on a trivet in the middle of the kitchen table.

I grabbed a couple of wine glasses and the bottle of Chianti I’d picked up. It wasn’t the most expensive wine, but I loved the way it tasted with a red sauce like my Bolognese.

I handed him a wine glass before going to my seat. “Do you ever eat in the dining room?”

“Only on the holidays. Why? Would you rather eat in there?”

“No, not at all. I just wondered. I like it in here. It feels more homey.”

“Homey, huh?” He looked around the kitchen. “It was just a kitchen until you moved in. Now I agree it does feel homey.”

“I didn’t move in. I’m just staying until I find a place.”

“We’ll see. Now let’s try this food. It looks delicious.”

We both filled our plates, and I watched as Samuel scooped up a bite on his fork. He smelled it and then put it in his mouth. “Oh, man,” he moaned. “Mars, this is awesome.”

I let out a breath. “Good. I’m glad you like it.”

“I don’t just like it, Kitten. I might not ever want to go out to eat at an Italian place again.”

I took a bite myself, and even I had to admit it had turned out really good. We spent the next few minutes eating, and finally, Samuel put down his fork and looked at me.

“So what do you have planned for this weekend?”

“Other than our date?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t forgotten.

“Yes, other than our date.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, nothing really. Next weekend, I have a yule log workshop, but nothing this weekend.”

“Did you put that on the calendar?”

“I did.” One thing I’d learned about Samuel was if he said something, he did it. Like when he mentioned we should put a calendar on the fridge, the next day he came home from work with one.

“Good boy. That’ll make things a lot easier for us to make plans. But if you don’t have anything planned this weekend, maybe we should go shopping and grab you some cool-weather gear.”

I’d never been one to pout, but I seriously didn’t want to give him back his hoodie. “I like wearing your sweatshirt.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “You can keep it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need some things of your own.”

“Thank you, and you’re right. I need some gloves for sure.”

“We’ll take care of that Saturday then.” He slid back his chair. “Give me a few minutes to load the dishwasher, and then we can watch a little television before bed.”

“How about if we work together? That’ll go faster.”

“Are you in a hurry, Kitten?”

“Well, yeah. Couch cuddles are my favorite thing.”

Samuel

It had been years since I shared a bed with someone on a consistent basis, and if anyone had asked, I would’ve said I liked it that way. But when I woke up Friday morning with Mars curled against me, I knew I’d want to wake up this way every day for the rest of my life.

I watched him sleep as long as I could without feeling creepy and then decided it was time to get up and fix our breakfast. But before I could go, his eyes fluttered open, and he gave me the most adorable sleepy smile.

“Good morning, Kitten.”

“You’re still in bed. I don’t ever get to wake up next to you. You always wake up so early.”

“Or maybe you wake up too late.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss. “But it is time for me to get up. What do you want for breakfast?”

“It’s too early to make decisions. I’ll eat whatever you fix.”

“Okay, eggs and toast it is then.”

He sat up in bed and stretched. “Eggs and toast sound good.”

My gaze moved over the half-naked man sitting in the middle of the bed, and I almost said screw it and stayed in bed with him. But if I did, neither of us would make it to work on time.

I leaned down and gave him another kiss. “I’ll see you in the kitchen.”

A few hours later, I was sitting behind my desk at work, still trying to decide what we should do on our date. I wasn’t happy with any of my ideas so far, and was running out of time, so I gave up and called Danni.

She answered right away. “What’s up, Sam?”

“Hey, Danni, you gotta minute?”

“For you? Of course I do.”

I smiled. Danni was the best. When we made the decision to get divorced, I wasn’t worried about losing my wife. I was terrified I would lose my friend, and I was thankful every day that hadn’t happened.

“I assume this has something to do with Mars.”

“Steven told you?”

“Of course he did, and I told him I thought Mars would be good for you.”

“Well, thank you for that. He was less than thrilled when we told him.”

“I know, but he’ll come around. He’s a little bit like his father and doesn’t like change. It takes him a minute to wrap his brain around things when they do. Now, what can I do for you?”

“I want to take Mars on a date, but I haven’t been on an official date in years. I don’t have any idea what people do nowadays. Keith and Robert suggested the play the local community theater is putting on, and I could do that, but I’d rather go somewhere where we can talk.”

“So you want suggestions?”

“I do. You’re good at that. What do you think we should do?”

“Hmm. Well, I guess, start with dinner, someplace where you will both be comfortable, not somewhere fancy.”

“Okay, I can do that.”

“And, afterwards, do something special for him. Take him somewhere that will show him you pay attention to what matters to him.”

“I’m not really sure that I’ve done a great job of that.”

“I don’t believe that for a second. If there was one thing you were always good at, it was paying attention.”

“He puts pretty much all his energy into the shop. I haven’t seen him do anything just for fun.”

“Well, that’s a shame. He’s such a sweet young man. Have you been in his shop? It’s adorable.”

“I haven’t. I should probably fix that.”

“Yeah, you should. Now I have an idea for your date. Have you ever heard of a supermoon?”

By the time we got off the phone, I had a full plan for our date, and I had Danni’s support, so I was feeling pretty good.

So good, in fact, that Fox’s update, which was basically that there was no update, didn’t even bother me, and by the time it was time to go home and get ready to take Mars on our date, I was excited about what I’d planned.