Chapter 43
ESSENCE
ONE WEEK LATER
“Good morning, beautiful.”
I turn over sleepily, rubbing my eyes and yawning, and snuggle into Dante’s chest.
“Good morning,” I say with a smile on my face.
It’s been a week since Dante chased me in the woods. That night was intense, to say the least, but it made me realize just how strong our bond is.
We were made for each other. I hate that it took so long for me to realize it, but it’s okay. We’re together now, and that’s all that matters.
I’ve since moved in with Dante officially, so now I have my own space in his closet and drawers, and part of our bedroom has been fixed up to make Lunchbox as comfortable as possible.
He’s still a puppy, and he’s still very much attached to both Dante and me, so he had no problem giving Lunchbox a space in our room.
Evan always hated Lunchbox being in our room, but Dante is the complete opposite. He wants Lunchbox to feel just as at home here as he does me, and I’ll always be grateful for how sweet he is to my little fur baby.
And speaking of Lunchbox being comfortable here, he seems to have healed from Evan’s trauma pretty quickly. I was prepared to deal with it for as long as I needed to, to get him the help he needed. But he gets so much love and compassion from Dante, and it’s done so much for his mental health.
Living with Dante has been nothing short of a dream. He cooks for me, helps me clean the house, takes care of Lunchbox and his needs, takes care of me and my needs…
He’s everything that Evan wasn’t, and every day I fall more and more in love with him.
To be loved so deeply by someone is something I’m not used to, but being called beautiful every day, having someone listen to me when I speak instead of getting mad and telling me to go away or screaming at me, getting as many orgasms as I can take…
Yeah, I can definitely get used to that.
“Do you want to take your new car for a ride today?” Dante asks, nuzzling his face into my hair.
Excitement and gratitude fill me at that. Yesterday, he surprised me with a car of my own.
“I’m sorry it’s not brand new,” he’d said, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. “But it’s only five years old, and my friend assured me it’s been very well taken care of.”
I rounded the car and stood on my tiptoes to press a soft kiss to his lips. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, sliding his tongue in my mouth and deepening the kiss.
When we pulled away, breathless and red-faced, I tapped his nose playfully. “You bought me a new car and you’re apologizing because it’s not new?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
I spent last night showing him how appreciative I was of his gift.
He is probably the best gift I could have asked for.
Dante and I reluctantly get out of bed and get dressed, then he takes Lunchbox outside to run around and go potty while I make breakfast. Dante wants to start training him to follow commands and stay in the front yard off-leash until he finishes putting the fence up.
I have no idea how to train a dog, so he can take the lead on that.
As I’m setting breakfast on the table and Lunchbox’s in his silver bowl with his name engraved in it—a gift from Dante—I look out the kitchen window.
Dante is playing catch with Lunchbox and chasing him around the yard with the biggest smile on his face.
He’s smiled a lot since Leo died, but this is the first time I’ve seen him truly happy. At peace, even.
We’re both still on the path to healing, and I can’t imagine going on this journey with anyone else but him.
I giggle excitedly as Dante and I cruise down the highway, singing obnoxiously loud to a song on the radio. Despite the chill, the back window is down just enough for Lunchbox to poke his head through and bite at the wind as it whips in his face.
This is perfect.
My new car drives like a dream; I don’t even care that it’s used.
I’m still so grateful that Dante was kind enough to buy me something as huge as this.
I’ll spend the rest of my life figuring out how to repay him, even though he’s made it more than clear he doesn’t want anything from me but my unconditional love.
We drive around the city for a few hours, just to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather.
Luckily, Dante and I both have amazing bosses who put our needs first, and they’ve allowed us to take as much time off from work as possible. We both plan to go back to work next week, although Dante really doesn’t want me working anymore.
“Why?” I’d asked when we were lying in bed a few nights ago.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and cupped my cheek. “I don’t want you to work so hard, Essence. You’ve done enough; it’s time to let someone take care of you.”
I get where he’s coming from, but I’m used to working for what I have. I’m definitely not opposed to staying at home, but I’d rather we were at least married first.
And I don’t think I’m quite ready for such a huge life event, so going back to work it is.
A few hours later, I pull up to Ebony’s house so she can see my car.
“Hey, sis!” I yell as I run up the driveway to greet her. She wraps her arms around me and holds me tight.
“Matthew has been so lonely without you,” she says as we pull away.
I pout. “I miss him. Is he still at school? We brought Lunchbox.”
She nods. “Chris just left to go get him, but he has swim lessons today so they won’t be home for a while.”
Her attention travels over my shoulder, and when I turn around, I realize she’s looking at Dante.
My heart skips a beat as I watch his tall frame get out of my small car.
He rolls his head around and stretches his neck, and I instantly feel bad for making him drive around with me for so long.
I hadn’t taken into consideration that he might be uncomfortable, and of course he didn’t say anything because that’s who he is.
Ebony hums appreciatively and crosses her arms over her chest. “I take it things are still going well with the hunky firefighter?” she asks, waggling her eyebrows.
I laugh and roll my eyes, but I feel my cheeks burn. “Yeah. He’s amazing, Ebony. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
She nods and runs a hand down my arm. “You deserve a guy like him, baby girl. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, not even when you and Evan first started dating.”
I nod in agreement. “Yeah, but, uhhh—please don’t mention Evan around Dante,” I say quietly as he walks up the driveway to where Ebony and I are standing on the porch.
“Why?”
“He gets mad.”
Mad is an understatement, but she doesn’t need to know how dark Dante’s mind can get. I don’t need her worrying about me anymore.
“Okay,” she agrees.
When he reaches us, Dante wraps an arm around my shoulders and smiles politely at my sister.
“Hi, Ebony,” he says like a perfect gentleman. “It’s good to see you again.”
Ebony smiles. “Hi, Dante. Thank you for taking such good care of my baby sister.”
He looks down at me; my stomach does all kinds of backflips any time he looks at me like that.
“She’s my whole world, Ebony. I’ll always take care of her.”
He kisses me softly, but respectfully in front of Ebony, and the three of us chat for a bit before Lunchbox starts barking at us from the car.
Ebony follows us back to the car and stops to pet Lunchbox.
“I want to see you more, Essence,” she says, leaning against the driver’s side window.
I nod. “I want that, too. And to see Chris and Matthew. And I know he’s been dying to see Lunchbox again.”
She chuckles. “He’s been talking my head off about him for the past couple of weeks.”
Ebony and I hug through the window, and then she watches as I back out of the driveway and drive away.