Enraptured

Chapter 82

He looked as if he was going to rescind himself to say goodbye to me instead, but I didn't want him to leave so quickly already. Startling both him and myself, my uncontrollable mouth ended up abruptly shouting, "Wait!"

Demetrius halted mid-step and looked back at me in surprise. "Yes, Belle?"

My heart felt like it could jump out of my chest out of embarrassment at any moment. What was I thinking? Shouting at him like that?

He must've thought I was going crazy, but this was my chance to ask him why he had been avoiding me.

Holding my hands tightly to my chest in an attempt to calm my heart, I tried to push out my question, "Y-You... I-I... Um..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Belle?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted out, "C-Can I make dinner t-today?"

My eyes widened when I realized I had asked the wrong question.

Not realizing my internal dilemma, Demetrius softened at the sound of my uncontrollable stutter and replied, "Everything in this house belongs to you, Belle. You don't need to ask for my permission for anything."

I nodded solemnly.

I messed up! That wasn't the question that I wanted to ask him.

"Please don't push yourself too hard while I'm gone... I'll be back in the evening..."

I perked up at the sound of his retreating footsteps. Was he leaving already?

But before my lips could even part in an effort to protest, he already closed the door behind him with a soft "Goodbye, Belle."

I faltered mid-step once the door clicked shut.

I wanted to talk to him a bit longer. At the very least, I wanted to ask him to have dinner with me, but I had missed my chance once again.

I sighed at the thought as I made my way back to my reading chair.

He was keeping such a large distance between us. Was he doing it out of consideration for me? Out of fear of triggering me again?

Though I appreciate the thought, I didn't want us to stay estranged from each other forever. On the off chance that my memories would never come back, I wanted to rebuild our relationship.

We were husband and wife.

Surely I would be able to fall in love with him a second time if I already did it once. Not that it should be all too hard by the looks of how respectful and ridiculously handsome he was.

I was actually still in minor disbelief that I managed to somehow reel in such a good man.

I just needed to learn how to get over my fear.

With a newfound confidence, I plucked my recipe book out of the corner of my room and made my way downstairs into the kitchen. All the countertops were spotless like usual.

I made a note to myself to thank Demetrius later for keeping the house so clean, among all the other things that I wanted to talk to him about. I was truly grateful to have such a helpful partner, but I haven't been showing him how much it meant to me.

Thus, I wanted to at least make his favorite food for dinner as a small thank you.

As I flipped through my cookbook, it slowly dawned on me that I had no clue what Demetrius liked to eat. He had been making all my favorites this last week, so I had no clue what his preferences were.

Wallowing in my self-pity, I didn't realize that I was no longer alone until I felt a small tug on the hem of my shirt.

I glanced over to my side and found Theo peering over the counter curiously. "Are you making dinner today, mom?"