Tay paused and then nodded, and something tight loosened in Guilia’s chest. She’d spent so long waiting for Tay to come to her, but she now realized that she was going to have to lead this slightly more than she had been.
A lot more than she had been.
“Come on, tesore.”
“Yes, Daddy.” There was that phrase again, and completely sincere. She wasn’t used to Tay speaking without a kernel of mischief hidden in each word or response, so this was throwing Guilia. That didn’t mean that they weren’t thrown when Guilia headed toward her room.
“You live in the Submissive Suites?” asked Tay, clearly confused.
“Si, but don’t get any ideas, tesore.” Guilia sensed how Tay was getting ready to make a cheeky comment. “It’s merely for its proximity to the kitchens.”
“Ah.” That apparently made sense to Tay. “For early morning baking.”
“Exactly.” Guilia nodded a greeting to Jenna who was dressed for the Dungeon and heading out of her room.
Tay’s eyes were big, following Jenna as she went over to the elevator.
“Don’t stare,” said Guilia. “It’s not polite.”
“I’m sorry,” said Tay. “But she looksamazing.” One glance at Tay’s face had Guilia realizing that the Little was envying the outfit, rather than desiring the other woman.
“You like leather?”
“Nah,” said Tay. “It’s too hot, and gets sticky and sweaty and…” They shuddered. “But the way she wears it—like a badge of honor. I love that. She’s soconfident.”
Guilia chuckled under her breath as she unlocked the door to her suite and let Tay precede her. They were still tentative, looking around the rooms until they saw the bookshelves that Guilia’d had put in. An entire bookcase filled with cookbooks.
“Wow!” All signs of reticence gone, they bounded across the floor and started pulling books out and flicking through different recipes. Guilia had to help them get her copy of Artusi’s cookbook down without accidentally crushing them.Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Wellwas a staple of Italian cookery and a hefty volume, and Guilia had two copies—one in Italian and a second in English.
“Did you know that Artusi doesn’t add tomatoes to his version of Bolognese?”
“Of course not!” said Guilia. “That’s a differentsugoaltogether. Just like this American Alfredo rubbish is completely unheard of in Italy! You don’t need to add cream to a pasta dish—just decent Parmigiano and eggs.”
Tay laughed then, a bright bell of a sound that made Guilia jump. “I know; I did study over in Italy.”
“You did?”
Tay nodded and sat down on the couch. “You didn’t know that?”
She thought back to looking through the CVs that Derek had presented her with, but Tay had been the only person actually trained in fresh pasta making who’d applied, and once Guilia had seen them, they’d sent all details of their CV out of her head.
It was very difficult to think of anything other than Tay when in the room with them.
“I must have. Did you enjoy it?” She set up an espresso for herself, paused and raised an eyebrow at Tay in question.
“Yes, please, my ADHD means that it doesn’t disrupt my sleep. And I loved it. I’d have happily stayed there.”
“Why did you come back to the US then?”
“I was a student,” said Tay with a casual shrug that clearly belied their actual feelings on the subject. “My visa ran out, and my family wanted me back home.”
Guilia poured out the fresh coffee into two small cups and brought them over to the couch. “Here you go.” She didn’t say anything else, having long learnt when Tay was not saying something.
Tay continued not saying something for a few minutes, sipping their espresso and letting out a very loud and satisfied sigh. But the longer the silence stretched out, the more they realized that Guilia was leaving space for them.
“My family…” they began, and Guilia want to punch the air in delight. Yes! Finally they were sharing without being pushed. And then she saw Tay’s face, and all of that delight dissipated into concern.
They were clearly holding back, holding themselves together.
