“How long did I sleep?” She looked out the window and it was still daylight, but the sun wasn’t as bright.
“A few hours. You needed it. We both did,” he assured her. “Holly brought home fried chicken. Matt is setting the table. You have just enough time to shower.”
She sat up, making sure the sheet covered her bare breasts. She still didn’t feel confident in sitting in the nude while Tony was fully dressed.
“Okay. I seem to have worked up an appetite.” She gave him a sultry smile and he grinned.
“Me too. It was wonderful, Alicia. I hope this is a new beginning for us.”
“I hope so, too. I guess I have to teach you how to conduct a romantic date,” she teased him, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Please do, before Matt makes me sit through more movies. I doubt they are very realistic.” He stood up. “Matt wants to update me. I will see you downstairs.”
Alicia got up and showered. She borrowed another T-shirt from Tony and added her jeans, going downstairs. She caught a glimpse of Holly in the kitchen and headed that way. “Hey.”
Holly turned toward her. She was dressed in jeans and a green sweater. “Hi, hope you’re hungry. I picked up some takeout.”
“Starving,” Alicia admitted.
“Let’s go sit down and ea
t, then.” Holly led her into the dining room. Matt and Tony stood by the window talking, but stopped when they came in. Alicia was curious, but she didn’t ask. They all sat down and started filling their plates with food.
“I have some good news,” Matt said after a few minutes. “We caught the kid who stabbed you and he sang like a canary. Novak paid him.”
Alicia perked up. “That is good news.”
“Now we have proof Novak is behind all this. We have enough things to put him away for a long time and he knows it,” Tony added, looking satisfied. “Now we hunt him down.”
“We just need to find him.” Matt looked determined. “And we will.”
“I know that,” Alicia said with confidence. She knew they were all determined to get Novak, and they would. She just wished she could remember more. There was always that shadowy figure besides Novak that she could never remember.
After dinner was over, Tony asked her to stay again. She was tempted, but she also knew her parents would not approve of her constantly staying with Tony. Plus, she didn’t want to wear out her welcome, either. This whole relationship was still new. She was feeling a little overwhelmed and needed the space to go over the changes. So much had happened lately.
“I think I need to go home. I can take the pills if I feel any pain,” she told him. “You have an early start tomorrow anyway.”
He held her in his arms and sighed. She loved how his arms felt around her body. She was tempted to stay. Making love with him had been amazing. It was something she could easily become addicted to.
“Fine. I don’t want to take you home, but I will.” He sounded like a little boy who didn’t get his way and she hoped someday they could have a little boy who resembled Tony.
Alicia giggled and kissed his chin. “Tomorrow we can try our date night again. This time I will plan it, and it won’t involve any beer or Dee.”
“You’re never going to let me forget the horrible dates,” he groaned, raising his head up toward the ceiling. Matt and Holly had insisted on doing the dishes. Alicia knew they were giving them time to be alone.
Alicia shrugged. “Maybe in fifty years or so.”
“Fifty years with you sounds too short, baby girl,” he assured her, looking serious.
Alicia smiled gently at him and caressed his cheek with her hand. She could feel his beard growing in. She touched his rough skin, loving the manly feel of it. “See, you can be romantic. I feel emotional now.”
“That is not romance. That is the honest-to-goodness truth,” he insisted, wrapping his arms around her waist, being careful. He pulled her close and kissed her mouth. She opened up to him and moaned. She loved kissing him. He put his all into it like everything else he did. Her stomach was fluttering with excitement and the secret place between her legs was getting excited and ready. She was ready to strip him of his clothes and explore his hard, muscled body.
“Should Holly and I retire for the night?” They heard Matt’s teasing voice in the doorway. Tony let her go. Alicia buried her heated face in Tony’s chest. Her knees were weak and her heart was beating in overdrive.
“I was kissing my girlfriend goodnight.” Tony dared his brother to argue with him.
“Girlfriend?” Matt asked, his eyebrow arching up.