Page 77 of Beautiful Disaster

“You okay?” Aleks asks.

“Yep… Can he come or not?”

“It’s fine by me,” Julien says. “He’ll have to pay his own way, though, since everything’s already been arranged.”

I nod quickly and mumble another thanks. Jesus, I really am fucked up today.

Aleks comes over and wraps an arm around me. “Hey, he’s going to adore you if he doesn’t already. I’m sure of it.”

“You don’t know that.”

When the doorbell suddenly rings, my heart leaps into my throat. Fuck, why am I so damn nervous? “I’ll get it,” I tell them and rush off.

With a deep and calming breath, I answer the door to see the hottest man alive standing there. He’s smiling, and I love his red nose from the cold.

“Hi,” I say breathily, just staring at him.

“Are you going to let me in, or are you going to make me stand out here all day?”

My face heats, and I step aside. “Right, sorry.”

Mason hands me two bottles of wine and removes his coat. I hand them back and hang up his jacket in the front closet.

Cradling the bottles, he leans down and kisses me. I melt into him. My feelings for him are growing way too fast, faster than I’m used to. It scares me a little. If he ever leaves me, which they all do, it’s going to sting more than it usually does. It also pushes me to make him as happy as possible. I’m not sure I’m ready for another rejection.

“You look handsome, Jinx,” he says, pinching my chin gently. “Did you wear blue just for me?”

“Yeah,” I say pathetically, my heart and stomach dancing uncomfortably as I smooth my hands over my sweater.

A part of me doesn’t want to share Mason with anyone. I want to keep him all to myself. The other part of me wants to shout out to the world and show him off. Still, my family deserves to know him, and he should know them.

When we step into the kitchen, I hold my breath. Julien’s the first to shake Mason’s hand. “Welcome,” he says.

“Thank you for having me.” He holds up the two bottles of wine. “I brought a bottle of red and a white from my personal reserves. This is a bottle of Borgogno Barolo 2016. And this is a 2022 Tiberio Trebbiano d’Abruzzo.”

Aleks takes the bottles and sets them on the counter. “You’re so nice. Thank you.”

Mason doesn’t even ask to help. He simply takes a knife from its sheath and helps me dice vegetables. He kisses my head, pulling a smile from me.

“I’m glad you came,” I whisper.

“I’m glad to be here, Precious.”

We’ve wrapped up eating dessert, half-eaten pie sitting on our plates as we sip more wine. Two dogs sleep under the table at our feet, tired of begging for scraps they won’t receive. Meanwhile, my stomach feels like it’s going to explode.

“So, then she storms into the restaurant, head held high, and walks right up to a couple having a romantic dinner. She takes his Pasta alla Genovese and dumps it right on his head.” Mason chuckles, swirling his wine and taking a sip. “Turns out that was her husband, and he was cheating on her. That was probably one of the more dramatic cases I’ve seen while running a restaurant.”

“Psh, he got what he deserved,” Tink says. “What a tool.”

I yawn and rest my head on Mason’s shoulder. He wraps an arm around me, fingers traveling across my arm.

“What did you do?” I ask.

“What could I do? I gave her three free dinners. No one’s at fault but her ex-husband, so I felt like I should give her something.”

“What an idiot,” I scoff. “Seriously, who cheats on their wife out in the open in such a small town?”

“Indeed.”