“I should change.” She hesitates before backing out of the doorway, whirling around on her strappy heels. Her voice fills with doubt, and I realize I’ve made her insecure. I’m such an asshole.
“What?” I quickly jump to my feet and pace toward her, placing my hand on her shoulder. “No. You look beautiful. So fucking beautiful.” I draw her into a long, hot kiss, devouring her mouth before letting her up for air. “Jesus, every guy in the bar tonight is going to have their eyes on you. I’m going to lose my shit.”
“Okay, Caveman.” She giggles as I kiss the ticklish spot on her neck, making her squirm out of my arms. “That’s enough for now. Are you sure I look okay? I’m not used to dressing up, but I wanted to impress you. I mean, the girl you used to have a crush on is going to be there.”
“Mission accomplished, babe. Besides, there’s this new girl I’m…” She presses her lips on mine for a hard kiss before I can finish my sentence. “Thank you for the dress. You didn’t need to secretly slip your credit card to Soraya before we left. I could have paid for it.”
“You can pay me back later with a blow job.”
“You’re an ass.” She smacks my chest playfully. “I was already going to do that. Now you ruined the surprise,” she scoffs.
“Come here.” I take her hand and lead her to the couch, pulling her onto my lap after I sit. “I got you something.” I reach over her and hand her the photo sitting on the coffee table.
“You reframed the picture of my dad?”
“I wanted you to have it for your desk. I know you had to leave your things behind. I want you to be able to see him every day.”
Her lower lip starts to quiver, and she squeezes her eyes shut. “Marco…this is…so nice…”
“Hey …don’t cry, baby. Let’s go have some fun.”
“Okay,” she sniffles. “Marco, I have something…to tell you…later when we get home.”
“Me too. We can talk later. I have something else for you.”
“Marco,” she scolds, “you need to stop spoiling me.”
“Not happening.” I give her a quick kiss on her cheek, pulling out the new iPhone from my suit jacket.
“You got me a cell phone?” Her brows knit together. “You shouldn’t have …it’s too expensive. I can’t accept that.”
“Yes, you can. I’d like to be able to keep in touch with you when I’m not here. I miss you when we’re not together. I need some way to get in touch with my employee. What if you’re late for work? How am I going to contact you?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who makes me late for work every morning, when you wake me up with your face between my legs,” she deadpans.
“Now you can call me the night before, and give me the courtesy of letting me know I’m going to be making you late.”
“You’re distracting me by not making sense,” she chuckles.
“Besides, you can send me naked selfies to keep me occupied when I’m sitting at those long therapy sessions with my brother.”
“Not happening,” she snorts.
My phone chimes, letting me know the Uber I ordered is out front. “Come on. The car’s here.”
“Okay…but if I get one dick pic…I’m giving it back.”
“I don’t need to send dick pics, Angel. You get the real thing.”
I follow her out of the gym, watching her hips sway, already thinking about when I get her home tonight. My life is perfect since she came into it.
I lock up the gym and catch Mila out of the corner of my eye, sidestepping a young couple holding hands as she walks to the waiting car. She stops dead in her tracks, looking intently across the street like she sees a ghost.
“Babe?” I rush to her side. “Are you okay?” She stares across the street, frozen. I glance over to see what she’s looking at but don’t see anything out of place. “What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing,” she stutters. Her body shivers when I wrap my arm around her. “I could swear I saw…never mind. It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
Maybe things aren’t so perfect yet. But they will be when Matteo finds the asshole for me.
Chapter Fourteen
I’ve been so focused on hiding out the past year, trying to get my life together, when was the last time I had some fun? I’m excited about tonight. I fretted at first when Soraya invited us. I had nothing to wear, but she insisted we have lunch and a shopping day. She seemed so genuine with her invitation; I couldn’t refuse.
I’m not used to wearing frilly, girly things, but she helped me pick out the perfect dress and a pretty pair of wedge heels my feet will probably regret by the end of the night. She curled my hair before she left to get ready herself, and I put the finishing touches on my makeup.
I’m feeling pretty sexy and determined to have a good night tonight.
That was until I glanced across the street, and thought I saw Louis leaning against a lamppost. He turned hurriedly, and I couldn’t get a good look. By the time Marco noticed, he was gone. My mind’s probably playing tricks on me. Maybe I’m seeing things.
But it shook me.
I’ve been having an internal fight with myself ever since the night at the hospital with Marco. One minute I’m set in my decision to leave after his fight; then he continues to wear me down with all his sexy, caring ways.
For now, I’m going to enjoy myself. I’ve decided I’m going to tell him everything when we get home tonight. There’s a four-letter word swirling around in my head I can’t deny any longer. I know I relied on a man once before, and it nearly broke me. I swore I’d never do it again. If I’m being honest, there were plenty of signs with Louis. I chose to ignore them.
The only emotion I see when I look into Marco’s eyes is respect, and dare I say...love.
He deserves my honesty. I just hope he can forgive me because I want my life back. I deserve to be happy.
We push through the door of Tiny’s. It’s dingy looking from the outside, but clean inside, with an old-time Brooklyn feel. Marco ushers me in, and I notice a small dance floor and a pool table area in the back. I’m going to have fun tonight, I tell myself because I deserve it. I’m going to focus on my man, and later we’ll talk.
The bar buzzes with excitement, but it’s a Friday night in Brooklyn, so I pretty much expected it to be. The place is clad in dark wood and dimly lit by candles and low lighting. Ed Sheeran’s appealing voice sings softly through the speakers about falling in love in mysterious ways.
My breath hitches when Marco squeezes my hand, stroking his thumb back and forth. It’s a simple touch, but I feel it everywhere in my body.
“Over there.” Marco spots Soraya at the end of the bar with her arms waving over the crowd.
“You made it.” I’m immediately engulfed into a warm hug. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks. You look beautiful. I love that dress on you,” I say, admiring her off-the-shoulder wrap dress, matching the royal blue tips of her hair.
“This is Graham.” She smiles with a pink blush on her cheeks.