19
A iva looked herself over in the full-length mirror. Knox was due to pick her up at any moment, and she’d just finished getting ready. The lilac cutout dress she wore popped against her melanin. She had only worn it once before and thought it would be perfect for a first date. The dress went down to her feet, slits housed on either side of the dress up to her thighs. Her legs would play peek-a-boo all night.
She grabbed the matching clutch and checked that she’d moved everything she needed to it before walking out of her bedroom. It was her first date in a long while, and Meila had asked her to turn her location on as if she thought Knox would attempt to kidnap her. However, she understood her sister’s worry, and better safe than sorry was more than just a saying.
She’d only been seated in her living room for a couple of minutes when there was a knock on her door. She looked through the peephole before pulling it open and smiled at the bouquet of lavender roses he held.
Knox looked her over, and she could feel the heat of his gaze as he took in what she wore. Aiva took that time to appraise him as well. He wore a black dress shirt rolled to his forearms and a pair of khaki slacks. She’d still yet to see him in anything he didn’t look good in. He handed the flowers to her, and she thanked him.
“Do you know what the definition of temptation is?” he asked, and Aiva tilted her head.
“I do, but I feel it isn’t the definition you have in mind.”
He placed his hands on her waist, and she moved the flowers aside as he pulled her in. “It isn’t.”
“Then what is it?” she asked, looking up into sea-blue eyes.
Knox leaned down, lips mere millimeters from her. “You,” he informed her before his lips pressed against hers. He kissed her slowly, his tongue breaching her lips to dance with hers, to taste her. As if he was proving to her she was temptation personified for him, and damn, did she believe him.
When they separated, Knox placed a final kiss on her lips, and Aiva invited him in so she could put the flowers in water. She rummaged around her cabinets for a vase, added water to it, and placed the roses inside. She wasn’t sure the last time someone she dated, though technically it was their first, had given her roses, and she was sure she’d never received lavender ones.
Roses securely displayed on her bar, Aiva walked over to Knox, who was looking at pictures on the mantel of her fireplace. The one he was currently looking at was of her and all her siblings.
“You have a large family.”
“On Edison’s side, yeah. Believe it or not, those are all my siblings.”
“Even the little girl Meila’s holding?”
“Yes, that’s Kayley. She was six at the time. She’s nine now.”
Aiva looked at the picture one more time. She was sure it was the only one all the siblings had taken together. Mainly because someone was always missing when they had gatherings their father attended. Usually, that person was her.
“I’m ready if you are,” she stated.
“After you, gorgeous.”
She led them out of the front door, locking it behind them. Once outside, Knox placed his hand on the small of her back and steered her toward the passenger seat of his car. He opened the door for her before going around to the driver’s side. Aiva put her clutch in the door's pocket and put her seatbelt on.
When Knox was behind the wheel, he backed out of her driveway, and she turned to him, inquiring where they were going, but he told her it was a surprise. She’d never been the biggest fan of surprises, partially because what other people thought was exciting, she usually didn’t, and partially because she disliked being in the dark about something that concerned or involved her, and surprises did just that. However, she would try to wait until they got to where they were going.
She enjoyed the soft sound of jazz playing as they drove. She was a big fan of jazz music, had quite a collection, and was constantly adding to it, or one of her siblings was for her birthday or Christmas.
They pulled in front of a building twenty minutes later, and Aiva furrowed her brow, looking at it. The outside looked minimalistic and modern, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Knox got out, opening her door for her, and she removed her seatbelt, grabbed her clutch from the door, and took the hand he offered.
When they entered the lobby, she immediately knew they were in an apartment building. He led her to an elevator, and they rode it to the fourth floor before stepping off. She thought maybe he’d brought her to his place, which was presumptuous of him, but he led her to a door marked stairs. He took her hand as they walked up them.
He keyed in a code, she heard a beep, and he pushed the door open. As soon as she stepped onto the roof, Aiva was stunned by the sight before her. Right in the middle was a glass dome; string lights lined the supports along the arches. A table sat within it. Tea light candles floating within the glass centerpiece filled halfway with what she assumed was water, and a single lavender rose in front of one of the place settings.
From the top of the dome, more string lights traveled out to the posts a few feet away. To the right, there were two chefs preparing dinner, the delicious smells carrying to them on the breeze.
Knox placed his hand on the small of her back and steered her toward the dome. He pulled her chair out, and she sat, picking up the rose and bringing it to her nose before sitting it near the edge of the table.
“This is…I don’t even have words. It’s not what I expected, but in the best way.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I have a question. We are on the roof of an apartment building, right?”
“We are. It was zoned commercial originally. I bought it a few years ago and turned it into short-term and long-term rentals. Believe it or not, this was a greenhouse, but several of the panes were missing, and almost all the plants had died. I had no idea what I wanted to do with it once we got it cleaned up, so it just sat here.”
“Wait, so it hasn’t always been like this?”
“No. This happened after I left your office a few days ago.”
Aiva let his words sink in. He’d done this specifically for her. Naturally, she hadn’t thought chefs stood up there all-day cooking, but she’d figured it was something that came along with the complex as an amenity to the tenants. His setting it up for her made her smile, and she felt this warmth blossom in her stomach.
The male chef came over with two wine glasses and a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket. He poured them each a glass, leaving the bucket and bottle and telling them their first course would be out soon. Aiva smiled in thanks before taking a drink of the white wine and turning her attention back to Knox.
“That was really sweet of you,” she stated, picking back up on the conversation they’d been having. “And you’re clearly trying to ruin me for all other dates.”
“All other dates with men that aren’t me, yes,” he responded, smirking at her, but she got the impression that he was not kidding.
K nox wiped his mouth with his napkin, placing it aside before picking up one of the mints on the small tray that had just been left on their table. He watched Aiva drink the last of her wine as she sat back in her chair. The conversation had flowed easily as they’d eaten, and she’d laughed at his dad jokes while playfully calling him corny.
“I’m stuffed,” she announced, taking the other mint. “Five courses were too much.”
“I didn’t make you eat them, gorgeous.”
“No, you didn’t, but how was I supposed to say no when it all looked and smelled so delicious?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ll keep that in mind next time.”
They were alone now. The private chefs he’d hired exited a moment ago. He’d given them the use of one of the short-term rentals to hang out in until he and Aiva left.
Knox had been admiring her all night, but now he took in every inch of her. Drank in her entire being as she sat across from him, brown skin glowing under the soft light, her natural hair thick, free, framing her face. The color of her dress complemented the smooth richness of her skin. She was absolutely breathtaking, and that they vibed well was a bonus.
He tried to think back to whether it felt that way when he and Mia first started dating, but he couldn’t. There was so much bad that it was often hard for him to recall the good times with her if they happened outside their bedroom.
His attraction to Aiva felt different, conversations with her flowed differently, and he knew that with this coming on the heels of his divorce, that could have been a bad sign had he not been checked out from his marriage for a year before filing. Even then, it had been over long before that.
Dating was new for him again, and he knew that everything he was feeling and the comparisons he was making could stem from him not having done so for years. He wasn’t na?ve enough to think that some of it didn’t. However, the connection he felt with Aiva wasn’t something he’d fabricated in his mind because he wanted it to be true.
No, he’d felt it from the moment he’d walked into her office. Physical attraction came first. She’d pulled a response from him he hadn’t felt toward any woman in a couple of years. The intellectual attraction came next, built from conversing about his divorce, as arbitrary as that seemed. Then he wanted to call her just to talk, stopping by her office to see her when he could have asked whatever it was over the phone.
He’d already known that he was going to ask her out, and he’d meant to wait until everything was finalized to let her know. But they’d been in mediation, and Mia made that comment about him paying for Yasmine. It was how she’d calmed him down, the irritation he’d felt from her on his behalf.
Sure, it could have just been her response as his lawyer, but he’d felt it was something different. That feeling had him all but telling her that once the proceedings were over, once he was an unattached man, he planned on asking her out.
He’d also meant what he said to her when she accused him of ruining future dates for her. Knox wanted them to pale in comparison if they weren’t with him. As selfish as it sounded, he wanted her to be let down by them, but he knew she wouldn’t get that chance because she wouldn’t want to date anyone else if he had his way.
Playing for keeps had always been something he strived for, and it’d only worsened when he’d been drafted. It only solidified that he needed to work for what he wanted and then work even harder to obtain it and keep it. He put that philosophy to work at that moment.
She was his, even if she hadn’t realized it yet, and he wasn’t na?ve enough to assume that forever was automatically in their cards, but he was confident enough to know that they could take it one day at a time, and he would be capable of making her want no one else.
Dating had changed since he’d been off the market, and he wasn’t sure of the dating handbook anymore. What he knew was that he was going to court the woman sitting before him as if he were attempting to gain favor with the gods. Like the goddess, she was.
He pushed his chair back, standing and Aiva looked up at him, following him with her eyes, as he walked to her side of the table, holding his hand out.
“Dance with me.”
He expected her to tell him that there wasn’t any music, that it would be awkward to dance without any. Knox could remedy those counters. However, she placed her hand in his and stood. They stepped a few feet away from the dome, and he pulled her into his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck, and they swayed in sync as if they heard the same slow, melodic tune in their heads.
Several minutes ticked by as they continued their impromptu dance before Knox took one of her hands from around his neck and spun her, leaning her back in a dip. Slowly, as he brought her up, his lips connected with hers, and as her hair blew on the breath of the wind, he tried to steal hers from her lungs.
Knox brought one of his hands to the back of her neck, holding her hostage as he kissed her, stole her air. Tighter . He pulled her tighter against him, and she released a soft moan into the kiss. It traveled past his lips, settled on his tongue, and he savored it.
When his lips finally left hers, it was for no other reason than they both needed to breathe, yet he still placed delicate kisses on the sides of her mouth.
“I want to take you somewhere,” he spoke against her soft lips.
“Okay,” she breathed in response.
He released her, allowing her to grab her clutch and the rose from the table. Her hand in his, he led them down the stairs to the fourth floor. They stopped off to inform the two chefs they were leaving, and Aiva praised their courses again, as she had after each one.
Back in his car, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed away from town. Where he wanted to take her was only about fifteen minutes outside of town, but it would take them forty minutes to get there. It was tucked off, and Knox wasn’t sure how many people knew about it. He stumbled upon it by accident himself.
The drive was spent with her hand in his as it rested on her exposed thigh. Her dress had been doing hell on his body. Her long, gorgeous legs played hide-and-seek with him all night.
Once they pulled off on the unmarked dirt road, Knox drove as far down as it allowed. He turned the car off, leaving the headlights on to illuminate the small arched bridge in front of them. She looked around for a moment, probably trying to figure out where they were.
Before getting out, Knox grabbed two quarters from his middle console. He took her hand and led her to the middle of the bridge. Pulling her to stand in front of him, he wrapped one arm around her waist as she placed her hands on the railing, looking down into the stream.
“Wow,” she stated, taking in the fireflies flitting about along the grassy area. The moon reflected in the slow flow of water. “I had no idea this was here.”
“I didn’t either until I stumbled across it by accident. I missed a turn, turned down here to turn around, and curiosity got the best of me when I saw the bridge.”
“It’s simple but amazing.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a wishing stream.”
Aiva looked over her shoulder at him. “Why do you say that?”
“I got hurt in a game a couple of months after finding it, came here, and wished that I’d never sustain a career-ending injury. I ended up here again after Mia told me she was pregnant and was using it as an excuse for everything awful she did or said. I threw a coin in the water and wished for a little girl that was her polar opposite, and got Yas.”
“I don’t know if I’d count that first one,” she teased.
“That was the first time I got injured. I chose to retire after the second time. I could have played a few more years, but the potential damage it would have done down the line may have been irreversible.” He took her hand and placed one quarter in it. “So, make a wish.”
Aiva hummed, thinking of what she wanted to wish for. When she had, she kissed the quarter before tossing it into the stream.
“You want to kiss mine, too?” he asked. She laughed lightly but did so before he threw it in. “What did you wish for?”
“If I tell you, it may not come true,” she told him, and Knox thought that was fair enough.
They stayed there for several minutes, a firefly coming up and landing on her hand briefly before flitting away from them.
“I’m going to take that as a sign that my wish will come true,” she said.
They returned to the car after that, and Knox drove back to her place. When he pulled into her driveway, he got out and walked her to her front door. She unlocked it before turning to him.
“I had fun tonight.”
“Enough fun to do it again?”
“Definitely,” she responded. “This was not only the best first date I’ve been on, but the best one in general.”
“And the next one will be just as good,” he assured her. Aiva smiled at him, and Knox leaned down to taste her lips briefly. “Sleep tight, gorgeous.”
“Goodnight, Knox.”
With that, he watched her enter her house before he returned to his car. He already knew what they’d do next weekend.