Luca stared anxiously at Sophia while she sat across from him and sipped the lightly sweetened americano he had made for both of them.
She made a dramatic show of smelling the drink, taking a small sip, and thoughtfully tasting it before swallowing. Except, at the teasing smirk on her face, he knew that she was messing with him.
"Really good job for your first attempt," Sophia complimented him. "Maybe you'll get promoted to barista after only a few days working. That's pretty impressive."
Sophia couldn't help finding it adorable when relief spread across Luca's face. She was finding a plethora of new emotions the longer they were together. The anger and confusion from the beginning was justified but it was so nice to see other sides to him.
"I'll do what I can to help since you're letting me live under your roof without asking for payment," Luca said, his expression turning serious. "When I return to who I was before, I'm going to repay all of your generosity."
Except at the thought of him returning to his life and leaving her behind, Sophia found herself feeling a pang of sadness. She had just gotten used to having him there but her mind didn't want to accept the fact that it wasn't permanent.
She often worried that she was starting to pine over a man who had a girlfriend on the other side. Yet no matter what she did, her feelings kept snowballing and she found them hard to control. She magnetized toward him even though she always tried to resist.
"You don't have to burden yourself," Sophia assured him. "You've been a big help. I'm not sure what I would have done if you weren't there when Grant came to my house a few days ago. You're even going to get the staples out of your head tomorrow so you can do some heavy lifting for me."
Sophia laughed lightly, trying to chase away the dread of him leaving. It was strange for her to care so much when they had just met one another.
Luca agonized over it for a moment. It had been more than confirmed that the two of them weren't anything to each other before she found him in an alley, but how could he bring her with him into his life that was likely incompatible with hers? She filled his head up completely, being the only person he knew when he woke up. It was hard to think of her being anything less to him than that.
Both consumed in their thoughts after a while, they finished their breakfast, only a few more words shared between them before Sophia went back to the kitchen to clean.
Since they still had a little while until the store would open, she decided to make some cinnamon rolls since a lot of people dropped by to get fresh ones early in the morning. However, an idea struck Sophia and she glanced at the man who was standing behind the counter, looking off through the bakery and thinking hard about something.
"Luca," she called. "I wonder if you've ever kneaded dough before. For some reason, I doubt it."
He looked over his shoulder at her, his determined expression returning and she was immediately intimidated.
"Why do you doubt that?" he asked.
Times like that, Sophia wondered how he viewed himself. He was a handsome man who clearly took care of himself. She doubted that he was a drug addict despite what the blood work at the hospital said. She imagined him looking good in a suit considering that's what all of the men in finance wore. To think he had ever rolled out dough in his life was ridiculous.
"Just a hunch, I guess," she responded lightly. "Want to learn how?"
She was clearly in a teaching mood, or maybe it was just that her exhaustion was making her want to speak to someone so she could distract herself from it.
He seemed eager to learn and he rolled up his sleeves.
After helping him thoroughly wash his hands, Sophia brought him to the metal countertop in the center of the kitchen.
"I just made this dough for cinnamon rolls, but it needs to be kneaded before I can let it proof," she explained. "They're hard to mess up, so I think it's a good place to start."
At first, Luca seemed hesitant to approach her before she gestured for him to come closer. The moment he was in her presence so closely, she felt nervous but she had to press on without reacting, knowing he would back off if she acted even slightly uncomfortable.
"First, you need to put flour on your hands so the dough doesn't stick to them," she explained.
Next to them, there was a large bowl full of flour and Sophia gently pressed both of her hands in it, covering her palms and fingers. Luca followed her instructions.
She then sprinkled some of the flour onto the counter and reached for the other bowl that had the freshly made dough that they needed to knead. After dumping it onto the flour on the counter, she grabbed a metal scraper with her left hand and pulled the dough back to herself before it could settle down too much.
"Put your hands on it," she gently directed. "Pull back then push forward with the heel of your hand. Gently turn it while you do."
She pulled back once and pushed before gesturing for him to try to do it himself.
Luca's hands were much larger than Sophia's. He covered much more of the dough than her hands did so he tried to be as gentle as he possibly could.
"You can press it a little bit harder," she assured him.
Without thinking, she stepped closer, put her hands over his, and showed him how much pressure he could use with the dough. Despite how he looked, he was certainly a gentle giant.
His hands underneath hers felt electrifying. Not only was the contact intense but the smell of him became overwhelming now that one of her arms was pressed against his so they could stand close to one another while she taught him.
Sophia pulled her hands away when he seemed to understand what she was saying, but when he paused, her eyes snapped up to his. She knew she was probably blushing but she couldn't help it. Her pale skin showed everything.
Even though he continued kneading, he couldn't help the question that fell from his lips.
"Do I make you nervous?" he asked, his deep voice gentle but the question hit Sophia hard.
He cast a sideways glance at her.