Chapter 30 #2
“I hate it when you’re right.” I am hungry. Given that I’ve barely eaten anything today, I could eat a vegetable plantation.
Grabbing the serving spoon, Eli plunges it into the lusciously melted cheese and scoops a heap of the creamy pasta onto it. He pulls it in the air, the gooey strands of cheese stretching long and teasing me some more.
“I love it when I’m right,” he says, serving me first, tapping the spoon against my plate to displace the stubborn pasta.
“Oh, I know you do,” I counter, teasing him as he serves himself next.
“Eat, Sapphire. You’re going to need your strength.” He rests the spoon inside the dish and picks up his fork.
Since last night, Eli has been acting differently toward me, in a good way.
Flirty.
“Is that so?” I take another sip of my cranberry juice and glance at him over the rim of my glass before setting it back down.
“That is very much the case, yes, Sapphire.” Using his fork, he points to my food. “Now eat.”
He’s back to being bossy again.
The man has so many facets, each one with its own unique strength in dominance, forthrightness, and confidence.
I dig into the steaming pasta, blowing on it to cool it down first, and as the first mouthful hits my tastebuds, they sing with delight, enjoying the best mac and cheese they’ve ever tasted.
“This is amazing, Eli,” I say mid-chew, covering my mouth.
“It’s my mom’s recipe. It has a hint of mustard in it.”
I already want seconds.
“So,” he says, leaning back with a napkin placed on top of his lap, “what’s coming up this week for you and the business?”
I rattle off my schedule I’ve already memorized. “Work meetings, two events: one on Tuesday and another on Thursday. We are all set for your staff conference in a few weeks’ time. There is nothing left for us to do other than write my opening speech. I do those myself.”
“Does that take you long?”
“About two hours, sometimes longer, as I like to take my time and inject humor, combine it with your values and your business mission to create something unique to jumpstart the day.” It sets the vibe and helps me gauge the crowd, allowing me to see who I need to impress the most. Usually the people who’ve been in their job too long and need to move on, unless I persuade them otherwise.
“Is that before or after the Boomwhackers?”
“Before.”
He rolls his eyes. “I can’t wait,” he says, deadpan, his face as straight as a ruler, but I won’t be taunted, although I do like poking the bear.
“I’m going to make you a musical conductor.”
“You will do no such thing,” he says sharply, as if a wave of shock just hit him.
“Are you sure about that?” I press him more for a reaction.
He drags his hands down his face, momentarily flustered. “Sometimes I have no idea what the hell you’ll say or do next.”
“Well, that makes two of us then.” I lift my glass and cheers him in the air.
He bursts out laughing, his rich laughter echoing off the walls, causing Ghost to finally jump down from the sofa and start exploring Eli’s apartment.
“You’re great, Sapphire. I don’t think you realize how refreshing you are.”
His words have my heart singing with delight. “I thought I was annoying?” I’m being coy and cute, and he knows it.
“And I thought I was a grumpy bastard?”
“I never said that. Grumpy, yes; bastard, no.”
“But you thought it.” It’s not a question.
I raise both hands in the air as if I’m under arrest and say, “You got me.” My drink sloshes around in the glass, and I set it back down on the coaster.
For the remainder of our meal, we share playful conversations between bites, teasing each other and reveling in the banter and our natural rapport.
When Eli has finished his meal, he puts his knife and fork together, aligning the ends of them, too. He fiddles with them until he’s happy with them, the focus on his face deep and thoughtful.
I wonder why he does that with everything. I’m tempted to ask but don’t want to pry.
“I meant to ask you something, before I book the retreat. Can you take us?”
“You still haven’t booked it?”
“No,” I sheepishly reply. “I was sort of hoping that you would cancel.”
He bites his bottom lip, thinking before he says, “I was sort of hoping that you would cancel.”
Laughter leaves my throat. “Touché.” Well played, Eli.
Snickering to himself, he starts, “Joking aside, it might be good for us to still go, to help us get to know each other better.”
And it might teach him a thing or two about loosening his grip on his life. It can’t be good for him being that uptight all the time.
“I’ll probably hate it all, you know that, right?” he asks.
“I’m counting on it.”
“Fucking minx,” he grumbles, then takes a sip of his drink. “Where is the retreat?”
“It’s east of Napa Valley. It’s about a two-hour drive.” I’m praying the traffic is kind to us and we get there sooner.
“I’ll drive us,” he confirms.
“That’s just as well as I don’t have a car.” I should have thought about that before I suggested it.
His mouth drops open in surprised dismay. “What do you mean you don’t have a car? How do you get around?”
“With my bike, trolleybus, BART, and cabs, or I walk.” However, I would really like a chauffeur to drive me everywhere in air-conditioned comfort, with a television. I think Ghost would like that.
“But what happens if you have an emergency?” That seems to freak him out for some reason.
“Then I call a cab.” I’ve never had an emergency, but that’s what I would do. “It’s not that complicated.”
“I don’t like relying on other people. It makes me feel…”
“Out of control.”
“Something like that.” His defenses go up, and he avoids eye contact.
I believe this is what he meant when he said his mind isn’t right: he struggles with controlling it, and managing things like keeping his desk neat and aligning objects is what keeps it in check.
Or maybe I’m wrong. Whatever it is, I’ll find out eventually because I want to help whatever’s bothering him to make him act that way.
It also makes me wonder if me being in his apartment makes him nervous. If he hasn’t been with anyone for a few years then this must be new territory for him and I think I’ll be the only woman he’s invited to his apartment since he broke up with Tia.
This is huge. A massive step for him.
Hell, now I really hope Ghost doesn’t puke up a furball on his luxurious sofa.
Eli messes with his silverware once more so, noticing his discomfort, I pivot the conversation. “Did anything scandalous happen at the wedding yesterday?”
His body goes loose, his shoulders dropping a few inches with relief.
“Funny you should ask.” Eli’s voice is now lighter too.
“One of my mom’s friends decided I was deliciously charming and tried to grab my ass; well, she did grab my ass.
” He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, closing his eyes as if recalling the awkward encounter, then shudders. “It was bad.”
I choke on a laugh, “Deliciously charming? You?” I poke fun at him.
“You’ve no idea how charming I can be, Sapphire.” He says my name like a warning, his eyes twinkling. “But I don’t want to be charming with you tonight.”
The air grows thick around us, dense enough to pierce it with a knife as he switches the mood.
“No?” Thank God. I want the unhinged version of Eli, one that no one else gets to see.
As if he’s done waiting, he pushes his chair back impatiently, the legs squealing loudly as they drag across the hardwood floor, then he extends his hand, and he stands there, devilishly handsome, looking powerful. “No, Sapphire, tonight I want to make you forget every man before me.”
Well, when he says it like that…
“And after you?” I can’t stop myself from pushing his buttons.
A dangerous tilt of his head is what follows next, along with a clenched jaw that tics slowly, and a look that could stop time itself through his slitted eyes.
Without a word, he does a gimme gesture, twice, with his fingers, urging me to stand as his laser-focused gaze burns into mine.
Slowly, I lay my hand in his palm, his fingers wrapping around mine possessively as I rise to my full height, and before I know what’s happening, Eli’s pulled me into his chest, and I greet him with a humph, excitement coursing through me at the speed of sound, my hand lying flat against his solid chest that I’m desperate to see again.
He stares down at me, his expression alight with desire. Closing the gap between our mouths, Eli bows low because I’m so short by comparison. “There will be no after me.” He accentuates the syllables on those two words.
I believe him. I hope he believes it, too.
Good things never last around me, they always leave.
His confession from earlier spins around my mind like a top, now fueled by my determination to prove him wrong. The confidence in his tone makes it sound like he truly accepts what I said earlier, that I want this as much as he does.
“Then kiss me like our forever is already written in the stars.” I cup my hand around his neck, and his vein pulses wildly against my palm, fire rushing through mine with enough energy to believe that I’m already his.
A flicker of doubt flashes across his face so quickly that I might have missed it if I blinked, but it’s enough to show me he still doubts. His mouth may have formed words, but his mind hasn’t yet accepted them.
I close the decreasing distance, and that’s all it takes for him to pull me toward him, pressing his lips to mine.
As he takes the lead, sparks race through my body, illuminating every dark corner I didn’t realize was there.
The sensation of his mouth slanting over mine makes me moan.
He tastes like fruity cranberries as our tongues collide, and for a moment, I can’t picture ever wanting to kiss anyone else again.
The whiskers of his beard graze my chin, rough against the softness of my skin, as he tilts his head, savoring every inch of my mouth.
His lips press and pull in a rhythm that fluctuates between gentle and urgent.
Fingers trace the curve of my jaw, thumb gliding over my cheek, while the heat of his palm spreads through me.
His free arm snakes around my waist, pressing me flush against him, the contact of his chest sending a pulse through mine.
Every breath he exhales rattles against me, and I’m caught in the quicksilver of him: close, closer, impossibly close.
As our kiss deepens, I breathe a sigh, overcome with euphoria. It touches my soul, floods my senses, and makes me shiver in his strong arms, the place I never want to leave.
I realize that with the food he cooked for me tonight and his infuriating charm, dinner has become a dangerously delightful experience.
His hard cock presses against my stomach. A sharp gasp escapes me, and my hands clutch his shirt as heat radiates between us. It’s thick and threatening to suffocate us both.
“Take me to bed,” I murmur, voice trembling amid our fevered kisses.
Eli pulls back slightly, eyes moving over my face, searching for any sign of hesitation.
But he won’t find any; I know what I want.
Him.
I nod, smiling up at him, and any tension in his jaw disappears into the ether as my face communicates everything I don’t need to say.
In one smooth movement, Eli lifts me into his arms, and I squeal at the surprise, instinctively wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Then he hurries down the hallway to his bedroom, I assume.
“I want you, Eli,” I confirm. His lips are on mine again as we burst through a door, before he lays me down on a soft mattress that bounces way more than my own. It’s like a soft fluffy cloud.
“I want you so fucking bad,” he mumbles between heated kisses.
He’s usually composed, but now Eli’s control shatters, his hands trembling with barely contained need as weeks of tension snap between us, electric and urgent.