That's Amore! - Janelle Denison [61]
His genuine shock surprised her. "Really."
His expression was so dumbfounded she almost laughed. Almost.
She nudged him in the arm. "Hey, I have an idea. I'll work and you stay home and take care of the kids."
Shock turned to insult. "What?"
She hadn't been serious, but his reaction insulted her. "What's so wild about that? People do it all the time nowadays."
"Not people I know."
She didn't know any that did it that way either unless the guy had been laid off or outsourced, but hey, if she loved her work and he didn't…
She leaned back on her hands. "What would you do for a living if you could do anything in the world you wanted to do?"
Back to shock.
"Come on, Nick, the question's not that difficult. Surely you've thought about doing something else."
"Never."
"Never?"
He averted his gaze. "Well, okay, maybe I thought about being an attorney at one point."
"Then why didn't you become one?"
"Because my grades weren't quite up to snuff for a scholarship and I didn't want to ask my father for the money."
"So?"
"So what? Do you know how much law school costs?"
"So? We'll get a student loan." Her use of the word "we" where moments before it had been her and him caught them both off guard.
Efi smiled at the same time Nick did. Just like that they had become a couple again. Not the same devil-may-care couple that looked only to where they might catch a few minutes alone to heat up the bed-sheets, but rather two individuals who wanted to share everything together.
"We're 'we' again," Nick said.
Efi smile widened. "Yes, I guess we are."
"Does this mean we're on again for tomorrow?"
Efi's heart skipped a beat. While neither of them had ever vocally said the wedding was off, they'd understood that if things hadn't changed between them, it wouldn't have been right for either one of them to go through with the ceremony.
"We need to get a few things straight first," she said, tracing patterns on the bedspread increasingly closer to his leg.
"Such as?"
"Such as I don't stop working at the pastry shop."
He slowly nodded. "Okay."
"That we need to talk further about the children issue."
"But we agree now to have at least two."
"Over a period of years. And not right away."
He considered her. "I can live with that."
Now came the tough one. Efi cleared her throat and pushed forward with it. "And that you put me above your parents."
A painful expression came over his face.
"Nick, it's not what you think. Right here, right now I promise you I will never try to come between you and your parents."
He searched her face. "Then why do I need to put you above my parents?"
"Aside from the fact that I'll be your wife and the mother of your children?"
He nodded.
"To guarantee you don't allow them to come between us."
He thought on that one.
"And I promise to do the same thing with my parents." Although her parents had never tried to come between them or made any outrageous requests of him or his family, she thought wryly. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Far from it. Your parents are used to getting what they want from you."
"And I'm used to giving it to them."
She leaned forward on her arms, putting their faces inches apart and allowing her to stare at his delectable mouth. "Yes, well, now I'm the one you should be giving all that to."
"Efi?" he asked after staring at her mouth for a long time.
"Hmm?"
"I'm finding I want to give you much more."
She smiled and kissed him lingeringly. "Oh?"
He groaned. "Mmm. Much more."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
CHAPTER TEN
Day seven…
EFI SAT IN THE BACK of the car that was to take her to the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church. Her father had hired the brand-new black Mercedes and the inside smelled of fine leather, newness … and of nerves.
She toyed with her white gloves, readjusting the sugar cube her mother had tucked inside her right one to guarantee a sweet marriage and life with Nick. Somewhere pinned to her slip where no one could see was one of the Greek eyes that were supposed to ward off evil. She'd never gotten through to the company that