46. Gideon
Chapter forty-six
I straighten my tie, roll my shoulders back, and knock on her door. My heart pounds heavily in my chest as I wait for her to answer. I don’t know why I have the nerves of a schoolboy about to go on his first date, but something about Mina sets my nerves on edge. As if any wrong movement by me could scare her off. We’ve spent plenty of time together recently, but most of it has been in group settings. I’ve spent a few nights cuddling her in bed between one of my brothers, but this is our first real date.
The door creaks open and she stands there wearing an understated little black dress that looks perfect on her, showing off her gorgeous curves. Since living with us she’s filled out to a much more healthy size, no longer looking on the brink of starvation.
She’s wearing a thick pair of tights underneath and her brown hair is flowing softly around her shoulders.
“Wow. You look gorgeous, Love,” I say, eyeing her up and down. “These are for you.” I pass over the bouquet of pink and purple tulips.
“Tulips?” she asks, her eyes happily surprised as they meet mine. “You remembered.”
“Of course I did, Love. I remember everything you tell me. ”
A small blush tints her cheeks pink and she bites her lip before turning to place the flowers in a vase on her dresser.
She turns back towards me and licks her lips. Is she as nervous as I am? I reach for her hand, which she offers me easily, and take a step towards her. She has to tilt her head to keep eye contact with me, and when I get close enough, I ease my arm around her waist, pulling us close together.
“Gideon?”
“Hmm?” I ask, my eyes scanning hers. She’s so breathtaking, I can’t keep my hands off of her right now. Knowing she dressed this way for me… it does things to me I wasn’t prepared for.
“What are you doing?” she whispers as I lean closer.
“I am really trying to be a proper gentleman here, Mina. But you are so captivating right now, I don’t think I can wait until the end of the night to kiss you.” Hoping the kiss eases some of the tension coiling inside of me, I lean down and seal my lips against hers. They’re soft and plush, just like I remembered. But instead of settling something inside of me, they light a fire within me instead.
I can’t stop my hand from holding her at the nape of her neck, tilting her head to give me a better angle. She moans as my tongue meets her in an erotic dance that claims her as mine.
Finally, when I feel my cock straining against my boxers to be freed, I pull back, not wanting to get carried away. I take a small step back, straightening my tie and shirt, and wink down at her as she tries to compose herself.
“Do you have a sweater or a jacket?”
“Yeah, right here,” she says, grabbing a jacket I had somehow missed her holding, but was now on the floor at our feet. I smile, knowing that my kiss had made her drop it .
I take it from her and move behind her, helping her into it. Once it’s on, I tie the belt around her waist, then take her hand.
“Alright, let’s go to dinner, shall we?”
We haven’t even ordered yet and I’m kicking myself for my choice. The restaurant is so fancy that Mina looks uncomfortable here, with the multiple forks, cloth tablecloths and live pianist.
“I’m sorry, Mina. I knew nobody had taken you to dinner yet, so I wanted to take you somewhere really nice.”
“Oh, that’s okay, I don’t mind it here,” she says, obviously lying to make me feel better.
“Mina, give me your hand,” I say, laying my hand across the table, palm up. She places hers in mine and I squeeze it before speaking. “I want you to be comfortable. If you aren’t comfortable here, we can go somewhere you are.”
“You like it here though, right?”
“I enjoy their food, yes, but—”
“Then we stay. I want to try something that you enjoy, Gideon.”
I frown at her, not sure how to argue with her anymore. I just want her to be comfortable. She smiles at me as she pulls her hand back and resumes looking at the menu.
I stare at her for a minute before asking, “does anything look good to you? Or would you like me to order a few things for us? ”
“Oh, really? I’d love that. I haven’t had anything on here before, I don’t know what to order.”
“I got you, Love. What about a drink? Would you like a glass of wine or a cocktail or something?”
“Can I have whatever you’re having?” she asks me shyly.
“Of course, but you have to be honest if you don’t like it, and we’ll get you something else.”
“I will.”
The waiter comes over and I order for us while Mina looks at me with a soft smile on her lips. After he leaves, she sighs. “What’s wrong? Are you not enjoying yourself, Love?”
“It’s not that, I was just thinking that I like being able to look at you, but you feel so far away on the other side of the booth. I guess I’m just used to being so close to you guys lately,” she says with a shrug. “It’s dumb.”
“It’s not dumb. And it’s something I can easily fix,” I tell her as I climb out of the booth. “Scoot over, then,” I tell her as I move to sit beside her.
“Hmm… Yes, I like this. Now you’re trapped in here and can’t run away from me,” I tell her, threading my fingers with hers.
“You thought that was a possibility before?”
“I don’t know, spending one-on-one time with me, you might realize I’m kind of boring. You might want to run back home to one of your more exciting boyfriends.” I try to say it in a lighthearted tone, but my worry comes through.
“Gideon… You don’t really believe that, do you?” I lick my lips as I consider lying to her. “Tell me the truth. You and me, we don’t lie to each other, not anymore, right? ”
I give her a nod before replying. “Sometimes I worry about that, yes. I think you’re gonna wake up one day and realize you don’t need me.”
“Gideon,” she says, grabbing my hands and turning us more towards each other. “I have not been doing my job as your girlfriend if you don’t realize how much you mean to me. You’re my rock. You’ve been there since my first day of school, you were the first person I met who was kind to me, who saw me. We might have had a slower start than the others, but it doesn’t mean I love you any less. You are mine , Gideon, and I’m yours. I love you.
“How did I get so lucky to have a woman as amazing as you—love me?” She gives me a shrug and I lean in close. “I love you, too,” I whisper before selling my lips to hers.
“Oh my goodness, Gideon!” she says, laughing right before I spin her around and dip her backwards. Pulling her back up, I grab her hips, pulling her against me as we sway back and forth to the beat of the music. “I had no idea dancing was so fun!” she says with a huge smile.
The restaurant I had chosen was located in a hotel, which happened to also have a pretty decent bar that had a bit of a dance scene on Saturday nights, which is where we found ourselves after dinner.
The music starts to change songs and Mina pulls me down to talk in my ear so I can hear her over the roar of the music. “My feet are sore!” she yells. I immediately bend down and lift her up bridal style and head for the bar to settle up my tab. We both had an additional two glasses of wine, which Mina learned she loved.
“I just need to settle the bill, Love,” I tell her, placing her on one of the bar stools as I flag the bartender down.
“Mina, I want to ask you something, but I don’t want you to agree just to make me happy, there is absolutely no pressure.”
“Okaaaaaay…” she says, her smile slipping a little.
“Would you like to spend the night with me—” Her shoulders immediately drop in relief.
“Oh! Of course I will.”
“There’s more,” I hedge. “I was going to say, would you like to spend the night with me here? In this hotel?”
Her eyebrows slightly furrow before a huge smile takes over her face. “I’d love that.”
I give her a firm but heated kiss before pulling back to smile at her, turning to finish paying my tab.
“Hey! I know you! You’re that bitch that got my son killed!”
The second the man starts speaking, I place myself between him and Mina. He tries to get around me and I have to physically push him backwards. “Hey, back off!” I tell him sternly.
“That little psycho lied about my son touching her, then she got him killed for her lies!” His voice gets louder and louder causing people to start staring.
I’ve never seen this man before, but he looks incredibly drunk, stumbling all over the place. He probably has her mixed up with someone else.
“Are you Brad’s dad?” Mina asks softly from over my shoulder. My eyes shoot back to the man in question, and I see the resemblance .
“Don’t you dare say his name you little bitch!” he yells as he tries to move around me to lunge for her. I manage to hold him back, but Mina still lets out a squeal of fear as she jumps off the stool to try to move further away from him.
“You need to leave, sir. If you try to touch her one more—” before I can finish my sentence, he throws his entire body in Mina’s direction, making her scream.
That’s the moment I lose control. Nobody touches my girl.