Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
Then again, maybe this surprise wasn’t some sort of material object. Maybe it was some sort of an activity, an experience that we could share together. Now my mind felt like it was expanding even further.
A feeling of warmth spread through my chest at the thought of the two of us creating new memories with each other.
I quickly glanced at the digital clock above the oven and wished for Elio to come home sooner. My nerves couldn’t take much more of the suspense.
I gave the pasta one final stir before lifting the pot over to the sink to drain the water out. A muffled noise came from the front hallway.
“Hello? Cat?” Elio called out.
“Hey! I’m in the kitchen.”
I heard Elio’s heavy footsteps carry him toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him leaning in the doorway of the kitchen with a smug looking expression on his face as he watched me move about.
My cheeks flushed. “And how was your day?” I asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Boring,” he muttered and stepped further into the kitchen. “It smells amazing.”
“Well, you’re not the only one who can pull off a surprise,” I said with a knowing smile.
He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I melted into his embrace and leaned my head back.
“You know you didn’t have to do all this,” he said lightly as he bent down and placed a kiss on my head. “If you wanted, we could have always gone out somewhere. I wish I’d known that this was your plan all along, I would have tried to come home much sooner.”
My heart slammed in my chest. “Elio, it’s just spaghetti Bolognese,” I giggled. “I know that you love it, and I wanted to have something waiting for you when you got home.”
His eyes grew hooded. “I love you.”
“Mm, I love you too,” I said back. “Now tell me what the surprise is.”
Elio chuckled and nodded his head. “I know that you’re done with your classes for about a month, which is good because now you’re given a proper break of time,” he said.
I raised a brow.
“Well, I thought that with everything going on that we deserve to get away for a little bit,” he said.
My voice filled with tantalizing amusement. “Oh? Get away? As in, go on a trip?”
Elio turned me in his arms and tucked a tick lock of my hair behind my ear.
“I met with Alessandro today. He wants us to fly to Italy so that we can meet a few people,” he explained. “And then we can vacation a bit while we’re there.”
My breath caught in my lungs. My eyes grew wide at the unexpected opportunity that I hadn’t ever considered. Among all the random possibilities my mind had cooked up, a trip to Italy was never on the list.
I hadn’t been to Italy since I was still a child. I had to admit to having thought about going back once or twice in the past, but something always seemed to stop me from pursuing the idea.
But maybe with Elio with me, I’d finally be able to do so.
I wanted to feel excited about this. “Elio, that sounds amazing. But—”
He glanced down at me with a curious expression.
“But what?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and pressed through the jumbling nerves that fluttered in my stomach.
“It’s just that… well, I feel a little scared about going back.”
The look on his face forced me to explain myself better.
“The last time I was there, I ended up losing the most important man in my life,” I said solemnly.
I couldn’t even bring myself to think that it could happen again, this time with Elio. The very thought caused me to shiver and my stomach to churn in knots.
No, I wasn’t about to let fear rule my life like this and keep me from having any memorable moments going forward. I shoved what nervous feelings I had down and tried to think on a more positive note.
“Maybe we can take a trip to the Uffizi Gallery and maybe the Accademia Gallery,” I said.
Elio’s worried expression shifted. He smiled and nodded his head in support.
“Yes, we will go to all the great art galleries you want to,” he insisted.
I hugged him tightly and felt him rest his chin on top of my head. I felt so secure—so anchored.
“We’ll leave tomorrow afternoon so that we’ll get there in time to sleep a bit before starting our day in Florence.”
There was no mistaking Elio’s excitement for this trip, and I don’t want to be the one to drag the mood down.
But as much as I wanted to be excited about it, I just couldn’t shake my nervous feeling.
*Elio*
The room was still dark when I opened my eyes the following morning. Part of me wanted to laze about in bed for another few hours just to relish the feel of having Cat’s soft, warm body wrapped around my own. But we couldn’t.
Even though our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave till the afternoon, I wanted to take Cat out shopping for a few new pieces of clothing for our trip. I didn’t want either of us to have to worry about figuring out what to pack.
The whole thing was rather short notice. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of taking a trip back to Italy. And the thought of being able to bring Cat with me made me all the more excited.
It had been years since either of us had been there, and I figured that we both deserved a break.
I knew it was a bit cruel to have left Cat in total suspense yesterday, not giving her any sort of indication about what the surprise was. When I finally came out and told her, I watched as her bubbling anticipation morphed into something resembling uncertainty.
The hesitant look in her eyes caused my muscles to tighten with worry. Thank God, she gave me some sort of explanation about her reaction, otherwise I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
To hear that a lot of Cat’s worry revolved around what happened to her father led me to feel a sharp pang of sympathy that quickly shifted into determination.
I was determined to erase this fear and worry from her mind about going back to Florence. Around the time we had finally settled into bed for the night, I decided that I wanted to make this one of the most memorable trips for us. As soon as my business with Alessandro was completed, I planned on doing nothing but spending all my time showing her all the magnificent sights.
I turned my head to see Cat still blissfully asleep. It was peaceful to see that all that worry and concern had temporarily left her features. The corners of my mouth started to curve upward into a loving smile. She looked so beautiful that it pained to wake her and ruin that.
I slowly reached out my hand to cup her cheek. “Cat,” I whispered.
“Mm.”
“Come on, we need to get up,” I told her.