Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
F ranklin
As I stood on Junicia’s porch, I thought about how things had progressed between us over the last couple of weeks.
I went from barely speaking to her to wanting to spend all my free time with her.
The shit was crazy to me. I knew she needed more time to get over her ex, so I wasn’t trying to push a relationship on her, but I was really feeling her.
We’d had multiple conversations, and she knew how to keep me entertained but also would entertain herself when I wasn’t that talkative.
Sex with her had been out of this world, but it was more to it than that. I enjoyed her energy and her company. My house didn’t even feel the same since she went back home. I found myself missing her when she wasn’t around.
We spent all our time at one of our houses, and I felt like we needed to get out of the house for a little bit. It was good to see how someone acted in a different environment. I had my hands in my coat pockets because it was cold as hell.
“Hi, Franklin,” Junicia greeted me when she opened the door.
My heart sped up as I looked into her beautiful eyes. She wore makeup that enhanced her beauty. Her hair was in the signature style she usually wore it in. The only other thing I saw her in was a scarf or a hat when she ran errands.
“What’s good, Junie?” I loved the way she blushed whenever I called her the nickname I had given her.
She stepped onto the porch and closed the door.
“Did you set the alarm?” I asked before she could lock the door.
She slapped her hand on her forehead. “I forgot.”
Chuckling, I said, “I’m going to need you to set it before we leave.”
“I can do it from my phone.”
“Nah, sweetheart, I need you to do it now before you forget again.”
I smirked when she opened the door and stepped back inside. I heard her press the buttons, then a few seconds later she came out again.
“All set.”
“Thank you.” I put my hand on the small of her back and led her down the steps.
Ever since that shit with her ex, I had been taking her safety seriously, and that was why I connected her with someone I knew that owned a security company.
I reached out to him myself because I wanted him to personally do the job, even though he usually sent someone else.
I didn’t doubt that he didn’t have good dudes working for him, but I trusted him, and I wanted to make sure shit was the way it was supposed to be.
“Why didn’t you keep your car in your driveway? We could have just walked over there,” Junicia said as I opened my car door for her.
I waited until I got in the car and started it before I responded to her. “Because this is our first official date, and I wanted to treat it as such. If I lived anywhere else, I would have had to pull into your driveway. Sit back and let me treat you like my passenger princess.”
“Well, okay then.” She giggled as she put her seat belt on.
Junicia’s ex was trash, and I wanted her to see that I wasn’t anything like him.
We had been having a good time, but I knew she still had her guard up a little, and I didn’t blame her.
My guard was up a little as well. She had her own money, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to use me for mine.
I didn’t see her being that type of person, but it was still too early to tell.
“How was your day?” I asked.
“Busy as usual. Some days I love it, and others, not so much. I don’t know what else I would do, though. I have to stay busy, and I love talking to other people. How was yours?”
“Maybe you should think about other things you want to do. If you ever become unhappy, then leave the job. No job is worth your peace. Just like no person is worth your peace, either.”
Over the last two weeks, she filled me in on some things about her ex, and I knew she was unhappy for a while. I wished I had said something to her sooner, but I believed everything happened when it was supposed to. She needed to see him for what he was on her own time.
“You’re right about that. I’ll have to think about what else I could do because nursing and all aspects of it is all I know.”
“I get it, but you don’t have to have the answer now. Maybe take a vacation. Sometimes a break helps.”
“It has been a while.”
It had been a minute since I took a vacation as well.
Maybe she and I could do something together.
I kept that thought to myself, but things were progressing faster than I would have imagined.
I needed to know she was fully done with her ex before I took things any further than they already had.
The dude was in jail, but who knew what would happen once he got out.
It wasn’t like he had to serve a lot of time.
“Think about it and see.”
“I will.” She smiled and turned up the radio when a song she liked came on.
Typically, I would have said something about someone touching my radio, but I let her slide. Her being in her little music zone helped me from having to talk too much. That was something I appreciated about her, though. She didn’t expect me to talk all the time.
If she asked questions or initiated a conversation, I was all for it, but a lot of times we just let the music or the television provide entertainment, and it didn’t seem to bother Junicia at all.
The rest of the ride to the restaurant was spent listening to the music. Every other song Junicia would sing along, and even though she could barely hold a tune, I liked listening to her enjoy herself.
When we arrived, I pulled up to the valet. The attendant opened the door for her before I could get around to it.
“Thank you,” she said as she stepped out. She smiled at me when I reached my hand out for her to grab.
It was cold, so I rushed us inside.
“Hello. We have a reservation for Brown,” I told the hostess when we entered.
“Hi, yes. Your table is ready. Follow me.”
I let Junicia walk ahead of me, but I kept my hand on her back. Men were looking at her as we walked through the restaurant, so I had to let them know she was taken. Technically, she was single and could do what she wanted, but they didn’t need to know that.
The table was located near a semi-secluded corner to give us a little privacy. It was an upscale restaurant, so nobody would bother us anyway.
I pulled the chair out for Junicia, then helped her out of her coat before draping it on the back of her chair. Once she was settled, I took my jacket off and put it on the back of my chair before sitting down.
“Thank you,” I said to the waitress as she put the menus down on the table.
“Your waitress should be with you shortly.” She smiled, then walked away.
Junicia and I picked up our menus and looked them over. I picked a steakhouse that I hadn’t been to in a long time. I had never dined there on a date, but I came occasionally after work a few times when I didn’t feel like cooking but wanted steak.
After a minute or two, Junicia put her menu down and looked around the restaurant.
“This is nice. I came here before for a work function. Have you been here?”
“Oh, y’all doing it like that at your job,” I teased. “I’ve been here a time or two.” A weird look crossed her face, and I had a feeling I knew what she thought it was. “By myself,” I reassured her.
“I didn’t say anything.” The corner of her mouth turned up into a teasing smile.
“You didn’t, but I could see the question dancing in your eyes.”
She dropped her head and pushed a strand behind her ear. I saw the moment her cheeks flushed.
“You think you know me.”
“A little, but I’m trying to learn more.”
Before she could respond, the waitress came over and took our orders.
Junicia ordered a steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus, while I had the same thing but with a baked potato instead.
I also told the waitress to bring us a bottle of wine.
This restaurant sold wine by the bottle, and if it wasn’t finished by the time you left, they would let you take it home.
I liked that because I could never finish the bottle in one sitting, but they were the only place in the area that sold Peach Pastel Wine.
It was a wine that was made in a brewery in North Valley.
North Valley was only a couple of hours away, but I wasn’t trying to drive there all the time for some wine.
It was worth it, though. I was familiar with the CEO of the company, and occasionally he would send me a bottle.
“Speaking of learning more,” Junicia said when the waitress walked away. “I want to know more about you. You know my fears, but I don’t know any of yours.”
I had to sit with that for a second because the only thing I was afraid of was my past coming back to haunt me, but I couldn’t tell her that. We weren’t there yet. I knew I had to give her something, though, so I told her a small thing I was afraid of, but it was honest.
“I’m afraid of being with someone who couldn’t accept me for who I was.”
“I don’t see how they wouldn’t because so far you have shown me that you are a nice guy that was protective. You may not talk a lot like some of these other men, but you know how to hold a conversation. To me, you’re like the threat no one saw coming.”
I didn’t know how to feel about the threat part, but she was right. It wasn’t like I went around boasting and bragging, so if people ever did see the other side of me, they would be surprised.
I must have been taking too long to respond because she said, “It’s not a bad thing,” before I could say anything.
“I didn’t think so. I was just processing what you said because nobody has ever described me like that. At least not that I know of.”
The waitress had returned with the wine, glasses, and two glasses of water. She opened the bottle and poured each of us a glass before walking away again.
I watched Junicia as she raised the glass to her lips. Her lips were so damn sexy to me, especially when she had them covered in gloss. I adjusted myself because my shit was getting hard as I watched her. It didn’t take any effort on her part for me to get aroused.
“I’m going to need twelve bottles of this wine. It is so good.” She gushed after she took a sip.
I chuckled and shook my head. “I don’t know about twelve, but we can get two when we leave.”
A bright smile crossed her face before she took another sip. “Sounds good to me. I don’t know where this wine has been hiding, but I love it.”
“It’s not sold anywhere else but here. I know the creator of it. Maybe I can take you to his brewery one day.”
“See what I mean. You know wine creators and shit.” She laughed.
I laughed along with her. I didn’t know that many people, but I had a few people I associated with from time to time.
“That’s it. Just him, and his family. I mainly only talk to my best friend, and now you.” I winked at her.
The waitress returned with our food. After we had everything we needed, we dug in.
We pretty much ate in silence for the most part, only saying a few words here and there.
The food and the wine were too good to be talking anyway.
Junicia had at least four glasses of wine, and I knew she would be tipsy by the time we left.
I wanted her to enjoy herself, and she did.
As long as she was with me, she could let her hair down and not have to worry about anything.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” I asked when she reached for her glass again.
Her eyes were low, evident that she enjoyed the wine.
“I am. I like you, Franklin.” She did that blush thing she always did.
I leaned forward with my elbows on the table. I only had two glasses of wine since I had to drive us home. I wasn’t tipsy at all, but I felt a slight buzz.
“Stay the night with me.” I lowered my voice even more. “So I can fuck you until you fall asleep and wake you up with my head between your legs.”
Her breath hitched as we stared into each other’s eyes for long seconds. The wine had me feeling some type of way and I couldn’t wait to show her.
I licked my lips, waiting for her answer, but as soon as she opened her mouth, I heard a voice that I least expected to hear.
“Franklin.”
“Mother.”