Chapter 18
“What did you do, Lionel?”
He stole my breath away. A part of me screams to hold my horses. It’s like an avalanche, a thousand things go through my head at the same time. Lionel has upped his game and in no way was I prepared for the rule change.
“This can’t be.” I know I have to build my walls up again and find a way to protect myself. But my heart hits the gas, it only cares about thundering toward a stroke. “What is all of this?”
I swear a bit of color goes up Lionel’s cheeks, but he tries to hide it as he shrugs and smiles mischievously.
“I-I… had this in my office,” he explains. “I-i-it wasn’t a big deal.”
But for me it is, it’s as big as Mount Rushmore.
“No one has ever done something like this for me,” I mumble, and it’s true.
“Wait until you see what we’re going to have for dinner,” he replies. He looks gorgeous. This new Lionel with messy, clean hair, without a drop of gel, and a trace of a beard does things to my lady bits. “Then you can hang a gold medal around my neck.”
A giggle bubbles up in my throat.
“Frozen lasagna,” I reply, looking again at what is in front of us. “I suppose you didn’t have much free time with all the stuff you did.”
He smiles, making the butterflies flutter again. “I’m a resourceful man. I should remind you, Mrs. Kral. You can’t build an empire without learning a trick or two.”
A smile is drawn on my face without being able to help it. “Don’t tell me you cooked for me, I feel special.”
“Good, you’re special,” he says full of conviction. “And speaking of food, everything is burned to perfection and ready to serve.”
My eyes are still glued to the front. Lionel has set up a white screen he must use for his presentations on one side of the pool. On the opposite side, there’s a pedestal with a projector. A blanket is spread out on the ground with some cushions. The patio lights are off, so the space is only gently filled with the gold ambient lighting coming from the house.
The atmosphere is romantic, seductive. I should walk away, go to seek refuge in a closet or under the bed, maybe even run away to Carrollton, but I’m staying. With him.
I take his hand and stand on the balls of my feet to kiss Lionel on the corner of his mouth.
“Thank you,” I mumble as I try to walk away, but his right arm is already around my waist holding us chest to chest.
The entire planet has disappeared. I can’t hear anything other than the beat of my heart.
His hand goes down my back, something deep inside me vibrates to feel his need, his desire. Oh God, soon one of us will end up crossing the Mississippi and I’m afraid it’s going to be me.
“Stella,” Lionel has only said my name, but it feels like he has said something more seductive, let’s take this party upstairs. “ Hvězda, there is so much I want to tell you, so much I want to do to you.”
His fingers tighten on my behind, while he brushes his nose down my face, then down to my neck.
“What are you waiting for, Big Bad Wolf?”
“This savage is trying to be a gentleman,” he replies, his lips on my skin, marking my skin with his heat. “Dinner and wine, remember?”
“Did this toad really become my charming prince?”
A laugh echoes in his chest, vibrating mine as well. “No—a lion, the king of the jungle. But keep in mind, Stella, however tame he is, the lion will always be wild.”
Now I’m the one who laughs. “Ooh, I’m so scared.”
Of course not, what I want is for dinner to end soon so we can move this party upstairs.
“We should eat, I’m hungry.” And the tone of his voice makes it clear to me he isn’t precisely talking about the food, whatever it is he made.
God have mercy on me.
“Feed me then.”
“As the lady wishes.”
“You didn’t lie, dinner in a box,” I tell him when I see what’s sitting on the blanket, the cardboard square in front of us that holds our meal. Lionel is standing behind me, his arms around my waist. I drop my head onto his shoulder, delighted to smell the scent of his cologne. I want to give in to the mystery and him. My favorite combination.
Dreaming is free… yeah, I know the hustle is sold separately. And it’s becoming harder to fight as my feelings get deeper for him.
His fingers entwine with mine as we walk close together, our shoulders brushing. A soft cool breeze is blowing, but I don’t feel it. It’s warm and cozy in between his arms.
“One of my talents is skillfully pressing numbers on the phone and ordering takeout,” he whispers in my ear. “And movie night is not complete without pizza and beer.”
Netflix and chill, right? That means sex in the middle of the movie, without worrying about the ending.
I already want him to do the other things his fingers are skillfully good at. His hands are on my belly, and even though there are layers of clothing separating us, my skin is crying out for his touch.
Taking our relationship slowly has been truly overrated.
What if his hand sneaks up my shirt?
Or down the waistband of my skirt?
“Shall we?”
“How about we have dessert first?” A girl has to do what she has to do.
“First things, first.” Yes, that is what his voice says, but his lips are telling a different story.
“You said we were creating new traditions in our home.” Ha, I’m using his words against him.
Well done, Stella.
“Yes, Friday is movie night on our patio.”
“Does the story have a happy ending?” I ask, feeling short of breath.
“Well, it depends on us, baby.”
“What is this all about?”
“We’re rewriting the beginning. We can’t erase the past, Stella, but no one said we can’t edit it.”
This is more than putting things into perspective, as Alexandra said, some spell has been cast on Lionel and now he’s doing the same on me. The bad thing is that I’m falling without being able to avoid it. My strength isn’t enough to step away and what am I going to do when the bubble bursts?
“Lionel…”
“Does that mean I’ve earned a kiss?” he asks with a mischievous glow gleaming in his dark eyes.
He has earned more than that. This man is my husband, the man with whom I decided to share my life. He survived the attack for a reason, nothing in this world happens by chance. Lionel stayed here for a reason. He’s doing his part to make things work between us, and I’ll do the same.
I’m going to give our relationship another chance. Seriously this time.
“Indeed, you’ve earned a kiss.” Under the stars, the night is perfect.
This time, when Lionel’s lips touch mine, it feels different. How can I be kissing someone I thought I knew so well, and at this moment he tastes so different?
He kisses me eagerly, possessively, while his tongue brushes against mine. I feel like I’ve waited all my life for this kiss. One of his hands rests on my back, the other on the nape of my neck, wrapping his fingers between the strands of my long brown hair, holding me where he wants me.
Luckily he has a good grip on me, because I’m like a helium balloon, if he lets me go, I might never touch the ground again.
The feeling is fantastic. And I want to be kissed like this for the rest of my life.
“First, let’s have dinner, then we’ll see where the night takes us.” But he wants this as much as I do. And the bulge hiding under those jeans he’s wearing speaks for itself.
“Doctor Zhivago? You have totally outdone yourself, Mr. Kral.” With the help of a remote, he starts the film. The dramatic music plays in the background announcing what is about to begin.
“What can I say? It’s an epic love story. “
“Like ours?” Let the fireworks begin!
“We still haven’t written the ending.” Lionel drops onto the blanket, tugging on my hand for me to do the same. My body seeks his, settling next to him almost instinctively. Until the roar of hunger in my stomach reminds us dinner is waiting.
The box is in front of us, and Lionel opens it in quite a theatrical manner. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those who believe pineapple belongs on pizza?” I tell him before I finish lifting the lid.
He smiles playfully. “We haven’t reached that point in our relationship where we feel comfortable discussing something so momentous. So, to avoid a philosophical argument, I ordered supreme, a classic.”
I laugh out loud. “A classic never goes out of style.”
“That’s what I thought,” he says, his voice full of pride. “It’s my favorite place. It was nothing but a hole in the wall when I discovered it during my college days, since then I’ve become a fan. It’s not Chicago-style, or the same as what they eat in the East, but I thought you would like it.”
The truth is, it’s actually delicious, a light and crisp crust with a mountain of cheese. I bite into it carefully so as not to leave white threads everywhere.
I’ve only eaten deep-dish pizza once, and I don’t really remember much. So besides the one they sell at Carrollton—which I still really like—I have nothing to compare it to.
“Listen.” Lionel’s tone changes, he’s stopped being playful and has become serious. “Beginning Monday, I need to return to the office, at least part-time.”
My heart stops, like he just told me that he plans to travel to a distant land or something, it’s silly, but I can’t help it. Our bubble is about to burst.
“Don’t make that face,” he teases me a little, although it doesn’t go very well. “My employees are efficient, but some matters are exclusively on me. I’m compelled to take care of what it took me so much hard work to build, there are many people who depend on me.”
“Yes, of course, I understand.” At least the rational part of my brain does.
“I’ll go to the office from Monday through Thursday, especially in the morning, like I used to,” he begins to explain. “In the afternoons, I’ll come here for therapy, so we’ll still have time to do things together. Now that a few days have passed, I would like to show you around the city.”
His voice sounds in higher spirits now. The truth is, the idea of hanging out with Lionel is exciting. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, just as long as we’re together. It sounds perfect to me.
“We’ll have to go out with security around us, of course. The police are still investigating what happened, so we must be careful.” With how close I was to losing him, those words are a bitter reminder, as his eyes don’t leave mine. “Also, one of the men I hired will escort you when you go out.”
Me? Why me?
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Lionel, nobody knows who I am.”
A sad smile is drawn on that mouth that I’m dying to kiss again, and he looks down, while intertwining his fingers with mine.
“After you arrived at the hospital, your information leaked to the press. Your Instagram account is public, so it wasn’t hard for them to get a photo of you and publish it everywhere.”
In an instant my life has changed.
I look at him with my mouth open, stunned.
“You know this is all your fault, right?” I claim. “Until I met you, I never published a personal photo, only of the soaps and other products we sell. But you got it in your head that our special moments had to be documented.”
Lionel clears his throat, looking at the place where our fingers are intertwined.
No, that’s not true. His gaze is fixed on my ring finger.
To be exact, at the thin gold band that has been there since the day he put it on in front of the judge.
“A woman like you deserves something special,” he says softly, tracing the edge of my band with his finger.
The film continues to roll, but neither of us is paying attention to it. Someday we’ll have to try to watch it again.
“It’s special to me,” I reply, telling the truth. “You gave it to me, what could be more special than that.”
“And what does it mean to you?”
That question leaves me confused. I have to look at it for a moment and think well before answering.
“A perfect circle, without beginning or end. Eternity.”
He seems to have liked my words, because he looks me into my eyes with a little smile.
“We can do better,” he says. “We can make our forever more beautiful.”
I have no idea what that means, nor do I care much now.
I search for his mouth with mine, while my hand slips under the gray shirt that he’s wearing—the one that I’m so jealous of because it embraces the muscles of his chest in the way that I want to.
We’re definitely crossing the Mississippi tonight.
“I’m sorry,” says a female voice that seems to come from the terrace. “It seems like I’m interrupting a special moment here.”
However, it’s clear to me that the speaker doesn’t have a drop of remorse.
“What are you doing here?”