Normally, Honey wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to skip straight to dessert. After all, what kind of confectioner would she be if she refused? But tonight she was focused on her pasta intake: “We’ll need the energy.” They both knew what sort of night they would be having. She wouldn’t be skipping dessert, of course, but she had to have her priorities. Plus, she didn’t want him to hurry through a dinner he had clearly so carefully planned, not on her account.
She ate what was put in front of her, just happy to have something that wasn’t salad or red wine. Twirling noodles onto her fork, Honey listened to Will as he started again. “The Duomo?” Maybe prettier in the daytime, he supposed, and she agreed, though she was agreeing more out of the fact that they had already done one vista and she honestly wasn’t sure how he could top that. “Yeah, maybe,” she agreed between bites. She didn’t know if they could put it off for tomorrow. She wasn’t sure how long she could — no, should — stay; she might not make it to next light.
Honey owned Honeydukes, so in theory, if anyone could skive off work, it would be her. She could do whatever she wanted. But should she? Spending the entire weekend here wasn’t the smartest idea, not without some proper planning, at least. She had employees who would very much be showing up to a dark Honeydukes tomorrow.
Maybe they should just plan another holiday. An actual, planned holiday that she knew about in advance. That was a couple-y thing, wasn’t it? Either way, it wasn’t something she would be discussing with Will now. There was still the rest of the evening to enjoy, after all.
He seemed excited; his smile was contagious. She loved that about him and she did her best to return his grin between bites of pasta. “That sounds great,” she said about nothing in particular, rather lost at his suggestions. She didn’t know enough about Florence, or Italy for that matter, to have any suggestions of her own, anyway.
But as Will reached out a hand and slipped down the strap of her shoulder, he had her full attention. She put down her fork and nudged her plate just a bit away from her. “That’s how you feel, hmm?” She liked when he compared her to works of art, especially when the comparison was laced in innuendo. But before she could act on it, maybe give in to his earlier suggestion of skipping out early and becoming better acquainted with their hotel, he had already moved on. Men didn’t usually move on to new ideas before acting on their ideas to undress her and she was caught off guard.
“Break in?” Honey raised both eyebrows, turning in her chair to take a proper look at him. “You’re having me on.” She let out a laugh, eyeing his wine glass to see if he was really that far ahead of her. She lowered her voice unnecessarily, the volume in the restaurant was already sufficient to keep their conversation private. “We’re not breaking in,” she finished with another laugh to mask just how bad an idea she thought that was. He had a business to run just as much as she did, didn’t he?
But never one to disappoint him, Honey raised her eyebrows again, leaning in close enough to kiss him. She gave his hands a squeeze before moving one hand further up his leg. “The ‘uncovering a masterpiece’ idea had merit, I think.” She planted a light kiss on his lips, only to be greeted with another cheer from the background. This wasn’t exactly the sort of audience she enjoyed.
Before she could make another suggestion, though, their table was being inundated with cakes, truffles, and limoncello. Honey put a bit of space back between them, though she left her hand on his leg, hopefully enough to distract him from making another illegal suggestion. Her other hand found the glass of limoncello and before she could remember Will’s warning against it, Honey took a sizeable sip. She coughed but managed to swallow her mouthful. “S’good.”
