Chapter 61
STEPHANIE
“This is delicious,” I told Tiana between mouthfuls of her home cooked seared steak dish. She was experimenting with new recipes to present to her boss, who was in the process of redoing the menu for the restaurant where she worked. “This is a definite winner.”
She smiled radiantly, tucking tendrils of her dark, wet hair behind her ears. “Yeah? I’m going to be trying some others this week. I really want one of them to make it onto the new menu. How awesome would it be to have something I created on an actual menu?”
“I’m already proud of you just for being one of the chosen ones who gets to have a shot at it,” I said, regretting that I was on my last bite.
“Yeah, well, not all of us can be wrapped up in the new guys in our lives,” she said, her tone light and teasing. “You were still going to tell me what happened after you got to his apartment.”
Bursts of happiness floated through my veins as I thought back on my weekend with Jeremiah. “I can honestly say the last few days have been some of the best days of my life.”
“Regular orgasms tend to do that for a girl.” She smirked, refilling her glass water bottle. We’d put in a few hours at the gym this afternoon when I got back from Jeremiah’s, even though my muscles were already sore from spending every single minute of the last couple of days with him.
I flushed thinking of all the positions he’d had me in. He was determined, creative, and insatiable. Three qualities I found I liked when it came to lovemaking. “He’s definitely talented, I’ll tell you that much.”
She chugged her water and refilled the bottle again, then did the same with mine. “You better stay hydrated. After all that exercise this weekend and again in the gym this afternoon, your body might go into shock.”
I laughed, sticking my tongue out at her but accepting the bottle she held out to me. “If I ever moved in with him, that would be a real possibility.”
Tiana paused where she was standing, carefully cleaning her professional set of knives with a special cloth now that we were done eating. Her olive eyes widened. “Have you guys talked about moving in together already?”
I choked on a sip of water, sputtering as I banged my palm against my chest and shook my head. “No. God no. Sorry, that came out wrong.”
Her shocked expression faded, and she started giggling. “Your brain must really be fried after spending all that time with him. Although, this is you we’re talking about. You do have a way of talking before you think.”
I bumped my shoulder against hers when I walked past her to rinse my plate. “What can I say? I’m an honest person.”
“An honest person who nearly gave me a heart attack and almost choked herself, but yeah. I guess you are.”
Resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at her again, I realized that while we hadn’t talked about moving in, I also hadn’t told her what we did talk about. “He asked me to go steady with him.”
Tiana lifted a dark brow, her eyes glittering with humor. “What is this, high school? Did he actually ask you to ‘go steady’?”
I rolled my eyes, rubbing between my brows with a specially chosen finger. “It was sweet. Besides, the way he asked doesn’t matter. It’s that he asked. I officially have a boyfriend.”
After setting down the knife she was cleaning, Tiana squeaked and launched herself at me in a big hug. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve that smile he puts on your face and so much more.”
I returned her hug and smiled at her heartfelt enthusiasm. “Thank you. I mean it, by the way. I would never have met him if it wasn’t for you.”
She released me and waved her hand dismissively. “You two would’ve found each other somehow, I’m sure. And it was you who turned him from rich bastard into someone worthy of dating.”
“I didn’t turn him into anything. It was all already there. I think he just has a hard time letting people see past the billionaire into the man.”
Tiana rocked her head from side to side, then shrugged. “I’ve never been a billionaire, but I guess it makes sense. People would expect things from you, treat you differently.”
I nodded. “I don’t think it’s always easy to know who’s around you for you and who’s around you for the money or the chance at an appearance in a tabloid.”
Scrunching up her nose, Tiana went back to her set of knives. “I would hate that. It makes me happy for him too that he found you. When you got home that first day after your interview, who would’ve thought the bastard would ever win you over?”
“His cocky side is still there, trust me. I just find it charming rather than annoying now.”
Tiana laughed. “It’s ironic that the personality trait that almost made you run the other way is now something you find charming. Maybe I should revisit all my annoying exes. You never know, maybe there was a charmer in there somewhere.”
She ducked when I chucked a dish cloth at her, neatly sidestepping it. “I didn’t say he was that bad, did I?”
Raising both her eyebrows, she nodded. “You made him sound like the villain in a Disney movie.”