“I’d prefer white sauce,” said Angie. “Especially if you are going to be adding pork. Meat like that deserves a rich and cheesy sauce, adding it to a red sauce that is so tangy would be a disservice to it.”

Richard kissed her on the forehead and said, “I think I just got even more attracted to you than I already was. I don’t know how it’s possible but it happened.”

Angie chuckled and she watched Richard hop out of bed and walk completely naked into the kitchen. He was so comfortable with his body. He was not a chiseled Greek god by any standards. He was in his late forties so his body was starting to show some signs of wear and tear, it was starting to look like it was just a little saggy. However, he still looked extremely fit. He didn’t look like he spent all of his time in the gym, but he certainly looked like he paid attention to his health. He probably ate right and worked hard to maintain his fitness, probably by doing things like running and push-ups. She liked that about him.

She liked that he was mature enough to actually care about his body and put effort into staying fit. She liked that he was not the kind of person that would simply eat whatever he wanted to eat and allow himself to grow as fat as he wanted. She was very unattracted to men that did this. They seemed like such children, unable to be adult enough to take care of themselves. If they weren’t mature enough to take care of themselves, how could they be mature enough to handle anything else? How could they be mature enough to hold their own in a world that could be brutal to people that did not know how to live in it?

She walked into the kitchen after putting one of Richard’s robes on. She was not as confident as he was with her naked body, even though she had a very good body indeed. She just didn’t feel comfortable walking around naked, she didn’t feel like she had the kind of body that looked good while she walked around.

She stood next to Richard and watched him as he stirred the sauce. He had a look of complete and utter concentration on his face. She was surprised at the intensity of that look. She had seen it before. It was the same look that he had while he was working on an important case. It was the same look he had while he was working on the appeal of a client that needed him to give it his all. He was applying the same level of passion and determination to cooking a meal for her. She couldn’t help but appreciate this. She couldn’t help but appreciate the fact that he was so dedicated to something as seemingly trivial as making her a good meal. It made her feel special. It made her feel like she was worth putting so much effort in for, and she really was not used to feeling that way. She had had men that really liked her before, but none of them had made her feel truly special. None of them made her feel the way Richard was making her feel right now.

She was grateful to be here. She was grateful to have him right now, cooking for her and spoiling her and making her feel like she was worth all of this special treatment.

“Here have a taste,” said Richard. He offered her his finger and she licked the sauce off of it. It tasted delicious. It was creamy and cheesy but what she loved more than anything about it was that it tasted Italian. He had added herbs and spices to it that only Italians would add, and this brought a great deal of authenticity to the dish. She also loved that he had done something so intimate with her, that he had offered the sauce to her on his finger rather than from the spoon. It felt good that he felt so comfortable around her because, once again, it made her feel special.

Once the pasta was done, Richard took it out in two bowls, set it up on a tray and took it to the bedroom. “Are you sure that we should be eating on the bed?” asked Angie. “Those sheets look… pretty expensive.”

“Sheets can be replaced,” said Richard. “But the memory of eating in bed with such a beautiful girl? That can never be bought in the first place. If you drop sauce on my sheets and ruin them, I will consider it to be the price of what we are experiencing, and it is a price that I am more than willing to pay for something that is so incredibly special. I think you should be comfortable right now, just eat and enjoy yourself. That is what today is for.”

Angie snuggled up next to him on the bed and began to eat. “This is absolutely delicious!” she said. “How did you get the pork to be so tender?”

“It’s a secret,” said Richard. “A secret family recipe. I’ll tell you some time. Maybe the next time I cook it. Pork is such a delicious meat, it’s the best meat there is I think. It doesn’t just taste better than beef and other red meats, it’s texture is far superior to the texture of these other meats as well. I feel like people that don’t eat pork are really missing out on what would undoubtedly be the best meat that they can possibly get their hands on.”

Angie enjoyed the pasta for a while, and then she asked Richard, “So that day we went out shopping. Didn’t you have work to do?”

“I did,” said Richard. “I had a fair bit of work to do, but you had to go out shopping. I mean, I don’t get the chance to take such a gorgeous girl out shopping every day, now do I? I think that I would be doing myself a disservice by forcing myself to go back to work instead of taking advantage of the incredible opportunity I had and going with you to the shopping plaza. I don’t regret it at all. My legal team handled the work that I left behind, and what little they were not able to deal with was dealt with when I got back. I work so hard, I kind of deserve to have a little break now and then.”

“It’s so sweet that you took time out for me, though,” said Angie. “I mean, I wouldn’t have expected it at all, but you did it anyway. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” said Richard, “I was doing it for me just as much as I was doing it for you. I think that you sell yourself short. You are worth all of these things. I hope you know that. You are worth special treatment. When I am around you… I just want to treat you special. I want to make you feel like you are a person that everyone should put before everything else. I have honestly never felt this way about anyone before. I have never felt the need to make someone feel special before. I have never been this attracted to anyone before, is what I am essentially trying to say.”