The Informant

Chapter Three

"Mm, this is absolutely delicious!" I said with a small moan, pointing to the dish Dante had suggested. My eyes were closed, trying to cut off all other senses and zero in on taste alone.

"I know. Enzo is the best, we grew up together."

"Enzo? The chef?" I asked.

"Mhm." He answered between bites, the fork sliding past his lips had me jealous of an object. It was a close sexy second to his accent.

"Small world then, huh?"

"Actually, we came to America together. Opened up this place and..."

Opened up this place? "Wait, you own this?" I said, waving my hand around the restaurant.

"Sì, bella." He said nonchalantly.

"That's... I'm speechless. This food... It's amazing." I said twisting my thumb and index finger to make a circle, creating an A-OK sign.

"Grazie." He said with a sexy smile.

The word 'sexy' was becoming over-thought real quick. I don't think I've thought the word so much in one meeting as much as I have tonight. But I couldn't find another word to describe Dante. Every other word was too... boring, and frankly, not descriptive enough.

I mean come on, a tall, dark Italian dude built like a brick house with an accent to match. Let's not forget to mention sweet, and perfectly straight teeth. Plus, he owns a delicious Italian restaurant. This guy has got to have something wrong with him, he's too perfect.

Maybe he's got a small prîck...

Probably not.

After dinner and an exchange of our phone numbers, he offered to walk me home. Like a perfect gentleman. It was actually quite refreshing, him being a gentleman that is. Too many women idolized tools.

Our conversations were light and filled with jokes. He was actually quite funny, even when he did sprout off in Italian and I had no clue what he was saying. I'd asked 'what' so many times that I'd just given up and nodded my head like I understood.

It made me wonder if most of his friends were also fluent in Italian. Maybe he wasn't used to speaking every word in English.

I really liked Dante, he was charming and witty, all at once. And I found myself thinking I could probably fall for this guy, and fast if I weren't careful. The thought scared the shît out of me. The last thing I needed was to fall for anyone. At this point, ever. I didn't want to fall for anyone ever again.

Honestly, I felt I needed to find myself again before I jumped into the water with anyone else. Logan had fûcked me up, and I wasn't afraid to admit I had baggage.

But, I was lonely and his company was entertaining, and fun. Plus, my sexual needs hadn't been met, ever. I wanted to explore. I'd never had, and now that I was divorced, I could. And I wanted to with Dante. It felt a little wrong, but lord help me, he was sexy! Could I keep feelings out of this? I think I could. Lord knows I don't want to be in another relationship again, at least for a couple of years.

I'd kept my hatred for Logan at bay for years. I'd kept that I wasn't in love with him anymore for years. I'm certain I could keep love out of the mix, right? Maybe I should make it known to him as well. We could be... Fûck, what's that saying again, friends with benefits? Yeah, we could be friends with benefits.

Our sèx would have to be in the dark though. I'm not entirely ready to let anyone see my saggy postpartum body. At least not my tîts. Before Julian I'd had perfect breast. But after, when they swelled up with milk -and felt like they'd rip apart- left them stretched out and marked and slightly saggy.