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Her brown eyes widen as she gasps “Goodness, no, no, I don’t need that et started? Would that be okay?”

I nod and smile at her

“Giveoff to my home office When I return, there’s a check for fifteen thousand dollars in ers around it “If you need more, just let me know, okay honey? I’ll be et there”

Simona’s eyelashes flutter with shock as she stares at the paper

“Thanks, James” Her eyes start to tear up, but she quickly blinks the moisture away and flashes me a shy smile “You don’t kno much I appreciate this”

I lean over to kiss her forehead

“It’shard and you’ll be needing your energy tonight”

She giggles at the innuendo and we settle into the meal with aplomb Once the mains are done, Simona disappears for a ue pie

“How did you know this is my favorite?” I ask, stupefied

“I didn’t,” she laughs “It’s just a coincidence,” she says, serving e bite

“Goddaet better than this, sweetheart A beautiful woman, a tasty ood to be alive”

She giggles while taking a small bite of pie herself

“You know, Ja a bit of cream from her lips “I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I have no idea what your job is about”

“I’m an executive at ht?”

She nods

“Yes, but what do you do?”

I decide to be vague

“My family’s into a lot of stuff, and over the years, it’s been built up into a huge conglos The business is boring, honey, and I don’t want to have you falling asleep at the table But you know that I took soht? I took a sabbatical from my job and traveled the world for a year”

Her eyes widen