Chapter 39
The Empress allows herself to express passion and receive love.
CAL
Danny texted a little later. “Can’t talk. Just want to let you know I got Biz to listen to reason. We’ll talk more later. See you at 7:00.”
I putz around all day, just waiting until time to meet Danny tonight.
Turning off Hwy 92 into Mountain Park I wondered how this community was such a well-kept secret. The curving hilly roads were dotted with rustic cabins and bungalows, yet it was only a few miles from downtown Atlanta.
Danny hears me pull up and comes out to greet me. He kisses me passionately. “I missed you.”
“You saw me eight hours ago.”
“It seemed like eight years,” he says.
“Got anything to eat? I’m starving?”
“Me, too. For you. Sex first. Food second. Talk last.”
Tonight, there are lit candles sitting on every possible surface.
I begin peeling off my tee shirt, but Danny stops me. “Slow down,” he commands. He lifts the shirt over my head, kissing my neck.
Every cell in my body is begging him to go faster.
He sweeps my hair off my neck and kisses my collar bone. “Relax. We’ve got all night.”
So, I relax. I practice what I preach, to be in the moment and present for our partners. I put all other thoughts and worries and what ifs out of my mind.
He continues to kiss lower and lower. “You smell good.”
I have never felt so sexy in my life. I am not in the best of shape, unless “round” is considered a desirable shape. But this man, kissing around my belly button, which is the exact location of my muffin top, declares, “You are beautiful.”
After a couple of hours, Danny props himself up on one elbow and nudges me. “You awake?”
All I can muster is, “mmmmmmmmmhmmmmmm.”
“This is going to sound really corny, but you know in the movie JerryMcGuire when Tom Cruise says to Renee whatever her last name is, ‘You complete me?’”
“Mmmmmmmhmmmmm.”
“I always thought that was a cheesy line. Until now. Cal, you complete me. You are the missing piece of my life. I have felt more alive and happier today and yesterday than I’ve ever felt in my life. For so long I’ve felt my life was over. Now, I feel like it’s just beginning.”
A knock at the cabin door startles me. Biz again? I tense but relax when Danny says, “It’s just Grub Hub. I ordered food for us while you were sleeping. I hope you like grilled chicken salad.”
Danny opens the door with the chenille throw wrapped around his waist and hands the man two one-hundred-dollar bills. “Keep the change. Have a good night.”
I take a minute to freshen up while he unpacks the food. When I emerge from the bathroom, the dining table is laid with a tablecloth, candles, and flowers. A single red rose stem crosses my plate.
Danny holds out my chair. I ask, laughing, “Tell me again how it is you are single?”
There is a long pause. Too long. I look up. Danny moves the sharp cutlery away from my side of the table before he says, “Technically, I’m not single.”