Page 84 of Cava with My Colleague

“That was . . .” she starts.

“Yeah.”

“You still remember how it works.”

I laugh, pressing my face into her neck. “I have a good partner.”

“You had a very enthusiastic partner.” She runs her fingers through my hair. “Carlos?”

“Mmm?”

“Can we do that again?”

I lift my head to look at her. She’s smiling, flushed, beautiful.

“Not immediately,” I say. “I’m fifty-six, not twenty-six. But yes. Absolutely yes.”

“Good.” She kisses me softly. “Because we have fifteen years of missed orgasms to make up for.”

“That’s not how it works,” I say with a chuckle.

“Isn’t it though?” Her smile is mischievous.

We stay like that for a while, tangled together, until the discomfort of the position makes us move. Jade uses the bathroom, I take my turn, and we resettle with her tucked against my side.

There’s the click-clack of dog nails on the floor. I see Izan’s shadow in the doorway, then he sighs heavily and flops down next to his bed.

“Your dog is judging us,” Jade says.

“He’s judging me. He’s very protective of his routine.” I kiss the top of her head. “Worth it, though.”

Jade’s quiet, tracing patterns on my chest. She feels so good against me. I’m trying to remind myself that this contentment, this heart-racing feeling of satisfaction and giddiness, is simply because it’s been so long for me.

I can’t help but wonder, though . . .

“Jade? What happens next?”

There’s a beat where Jade’s finger pauses, and then it resumes. “We have Seville tomorrow,” she says. “Our last presentation.”

“Right.”

“And then I leave for Monaco.”

“Right.”

“And then I fly back to Austin.”

“Right.” I squeeze her and her hand stills. “So this was . . . what? One night?”

“I have two weeks before I leave.”

Before she goes home.

I don’t want to push. I don’t want our last presentation to be overshadowed by the fact that she’s leaving. If she’s giving me two weeks, I’ll take two weeks.

“Okay.”

She tilts her head up and kisses me softly. We settle back down, her head on my chest, my arm around her shoulders. Outside, the Madrid night is quiet. Inside, Izan is snoring again.