Chapter 16
A few months later.
I woke up on my birthday to the scent of breakfast filling the air from the kitchen downstairs and Jeremih crooning “Birthday Sex” through the home theater system I’d set up in the living room.
The smell alone caused my stomach to rumble with delight.
I rolled over to my right side and noticed Lex wasn’t there.
We didn’t live together, but I’d granted her a spare key to my place a few weeks after moving in so she could help me get my house together, and she kept an extra toothbrush in my bathroom to use whenever she spent the night.
After stretching out my limbs like a starfish across my king-size bed, I tossed the covers off my body and slowly climbed to my feet.
I dragged myself toward the bathroom to take a piss before grabbing my sweatpants from the dresser drawer and sliding them over my boxers.
When I swung open my bedroom door, the music got louder, and I noticed a trail of rose petals leading all the way downstairs.
I followed the trail all the way to the kitchen and found a small black envelope with a red ribbon tied around it on the countertop next to the stove that read “Open Me” in Lex’s familiar handwriting.
I looked over my shoulders, hoping to spot her before I followed the directions and read it aloud.
“Good morning, birthday boy. I hope you had a good night’s rest. Every man deserves to start off his special day with a nice home-cooked breakfast, so sit down and enjoy. I’ve made all your favorites. XOXO, Lex.”
I wasted no time grabbing a plate out of the cabinet next to the stove and filling my plate with three golden brown pancakes with the edges crisped just the way I liked them and topped with butter and syrup, fluffy scrambled eggs with cheese, two strips of turkey bacon, and a small bowl of piping hot grits that glistened with a glaze of butter sugar coating the top.
Lex was far from a chef, but her cooking smelled like Heaven, and I had definitely worked up an appetite.
After practically licking my plate clean, I walked over to set it in the sink where I found the next envelope. It read, “Full yet? Well, I hope you’ve saved room for dessert, because I’m just getting started. Follow the petals back upstairs toward your bedroom.”
I folded the note back into its natural crease and slid it back into the envelope as a smile stretched across my face.
It was kinda sexy knowing she was somewhere around my crib playing hide-and-seek while watching my every move.
My legs propelled me along the rose petal trail back upstairs toward my bedroom, where there were more petals leading into the master bathroom that weren’t there before.
Inside, I noticed the tub filled with warm water and bubbles that smelled like my body wash, with the next note lying on top of the folded towel.
I picked it up and opened it. It read, “Take off your clothes and enjoy a relaxing soak in the tub you rarely ever use, but do it slowly. I like to watch.”
“You lil freak,” I muttered out loud, followed by a snicker.
Slowly, I undressed and stepped into the tub to wash my body.
She was right about one thing: I could count on one hand the number of times I’d used my tub since moving into my house, and even then I’d have fingers leftover.
Still, it was the thought that counted, and I wasn’t about to fuck up her little scavenger hunt.
When I finished, I stepped out, dripping wet, and wrapped the towel she had rolled up neatly around my waist and headed toward the sink where the next note was. Once again, I opened it and read it to myself.
“Now that your stomach is full, and your body is bathed, it’s time for me to massage you. Drop your towel and go into your bedroom.”
Lex had gone above and beyond for my special day, especially for first thing in the morning.
I was stunned. I opened the bathroom door, and my eyes immediately zeroed in on the woman of my dreams, Alexis Rosewood, lounging across my bed covered in nothing but body oil and surrounded by rose petals.
Every curve of her body spoke to me, instantly making my dick spring to attention.
“A butt naked massage? Oh hell yeah.”
She giggled. “It’s only right, birthday boy. Now, lie on your stomach and let me take care of you.”
I did as I was told, and she climbed on top of me, straddling my back. I heard her rubbing her palms together before she pressed them into my spine. Her coffin-shaped nails traced the outline of my tattoo, causing a relaxing desire to ring deep in my bones. I groaned with pleasure.
“Happy birthday, baby,” she whispered in my ear.
“Thank you . . . for everything,” I said, turning myself over to face her while she still straddled me. “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
“Anything for you, Oak. I want you to know how much I love you.”
I sat up, resting my weight on my elbows to look at her.
The softness in her gaze sparked a thread of emotion inside me.
I’d known it for months, but some days it was still hard to believe that she was really mine.
Simply being with Lex was what pleasure without climax felt like, and I had no intentions of letting her slip through my fingers.
Hell no. I was holding onto her for dear life.
“I love you too,” I replied before pressing my lips against hers. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
If I hadn’t solidified the thought before that moment, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be the next and last man to put a ring on her finger.