41. The Most Romantic
41
THE MOST ROMANTIC
Gage
Powered by fast legs and determination, I walk to our date, doing what I often do along the way—think about the future.
But this time it’s different.
I’m not obsessing about security. I’m hoping for something else entirely. Nearly an hour post-meeting with Celeste, and I’m not at all shell-shocked anymore. Not one bit. Everything is clear.
Sometimes you don’t get what you want. Or, really, what you thought you wanted. But I don’t want that second location anymore. I don’t think I have for a while. I’m not even sure I realized that until Celeste said no.
But when she did, a light flickered on. I hadn’t given the location much thought recently. I hadn’t invested energy in it. I’d lost interest in it because I want other things now.
As I pass the courtyard at The Escape, I glance at the fountain in the cobblestone courtyard, then beyond to where Elodie and I had our first kiss, a kiss that changed who I thought I was—a guy who believed things didn’t work out. That’s not me anymore. Thanks to her.
I turn the corner. The Lyft app tells me that she’s now in the car. She’ll be here in ten minutes. I’m almost at the restaurant where we had our first date nearly two months ago. Where I hope we can recreate it tonight.
I reach the Mediterranean-fusion café, then pace in front of the restaurant till the Lyft arrives and the woman of my dreams steps out.
My heart stutters. My breath catches. I’ve won the lottery for all time.
This is what I want.
Her. Us. Our future together as a family.
I head over to her, take her hand, and then drink her in. With her hair curled at the ends, her shoes clicking, and a little faux fur jacket over her shoulders, she is a vision in retro pin-up.
She’s always been beautiful. Her face captivated me the night I met her. But as I’ve come to know her, I’ve learned her heart is her most beautiful feature.
I’m about to tell her I can’t breathe without her but she speaks first.
“Tell me everything,” she says eagerly with avid eyes, squeezing my hand. “How did it go? Did Celeste love your suggestions? Did she say yes?”
“Nope.”
Elodie blinks, irked for me. “What? How could she say no?”
I wave a dismissive hand, not for Elodie, but for the location I no longer want. “She said Special Edition was worlds better,” I explain quickly. “And it’s all good.”
There is no more waiting. There is only now.
Letting go of her hand, I cup her cheek. Hold her face. “I promised myself I’d wait until the new year. Until we’d finished working together. But I just can’t wait any longer. I can’t hold this in. I am out of my mind in love with you. I love you so much,” I say, and her eyes sparkle, more blue, more bright than I’ve ever seen. Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. “I love you madly. I’m so in love with you, all these feelings drive me wild every single day. I couldn’t wait a second longer to tell you that you are the love of my life.”
A shudder seems to slide down her body.
Her lush red lips part slowly, full of wonder, like she can’t believe what I’ve said. She’s the one shell-shocked now, and I wish I had a camera to capture this moment, but I also know I will never forget it for my whole life.
“You don’t have to say anything,” I continue since I didn’t tell her to hear it in return. “You don’t have to say it back. I just couldn’t take another breath on this earth without telling you how I feel. I don’t want you to feel like you have to be impulsive. I just?—”
She covers my mouth with hers and shuts me up with a kiss that makes my heart soar. That melts me. I feel this kiss deep in the center of my soul. It’s a kiss that says, I love you too. I can feel it in the way her lips coast over mine, in the way her fingers play with the back of my hair. When she breaks the kiss, her gaze is vulnerable, full of the same raw hope I feel. “I’m so in love with you.”
I breathe the biggest sigh of relief in the world. And joy too. Unmitigated joy. “Thank god,” I say with a little bit of a laugh.
“I love you. I love you so much,” she repeats, then laughs too. “It’s so good to say it. To feel it.”
“Yeah?” I can’t quite believe it. It’s almost too good.
“Yes, I love you so much. You’re the most romantic person I’ve ever known, and it’s all real. You’re romantic because you listen to me and you care and you love and you give and you protect and you make me feel incredible.” She grabs the collar of the shirt I’m wearing, as she fiercely says, “I’m not letting you go.”
I press my forehead to hers, feeling calm, feeling peace. And seeing the true future. Not the one that I’d thought was lined with financial security. But the one that offers the possibility of soul-deep love.
I breathe in her perfume.
Slowly, she pulls back, meets my gaze. “How do we do this?” She sounds hopeful but nervous too.
There’s so much to figure out. Our marriage. Special Edition. The girls. The house. The details are a little overwhelming. But if there’s one thing I know about my woman, it’s that every now and then, she likes it when I take control.
“We’ll figure it out after my trip with Eliza. Just know that we’re in this together, and we’ll work it out like we’ve worked out everything. Let’s just have fun tonight. Let’s enjoy our date,” I say, then nod to the restaurant entrance.
She smiles. “You’re recreating our first date.”
“I am.”
We go inside and after we order, she asks with some concern, “You really didn’t get the place? And you’re not upset?”
I shake my head, take her hands in mine, and say, “I have everything I want right here.”
A smile. A pause. A moment I want to cherish.
Then her words: “Me too.”
* * *
When dinner ends, we head to the hotel where I booked the same room we had the night our first date was cut short. Once I open the door, Elodie acts coy and playful, tapping her chin. “Where did we ever leave off? If memory serves, I was unzipping your jeans,” she says, then her hands play with the ridge of my erection.
I shake my head. “If memory serves, you were sitting on my face.”
“No, you finished me.”
“I’ll finish you again.” I toss her over my shoulder and take her to the bed.
This time I undress my wife all the way.
This time when I lay her down on the white duvet, naked and resplendent, I place my hand on her neck, curling it over the creamy skin of her delicate throat, feeling her pulse beat beneath my palm.
For me. With me.
Her eyes are wide, flickering with excitement, passion.
Her gaze follows my hand. Then me as I stare at the metal of my ring, glinting against her skin. This is where the gold band belongs.
I run my hand down her flushed chest.
Every breath she takes is shaky, excited. “Are you staring at your ring as you touch me?” She sounds enchanted.
I nod, enthralled by her, owning every second of this new kink of mine. “I am… wife .”
A tremble runs through her entire body as she watches my palm coasting over her breasts, then down her belly. She shivers under me, her smile burning off. “Keep going… husband .”
I move lower, settle between her thighs, spread those beautiful legs apart, and gaze once more at the ring on my hand as I touch her soft flesh. “This ring means you’re mine,” I say.
“All yours.” Then her head falls back against the pillow, her hips arch up against my face, and I kiss her. It’s a recreation of our first date, but really, it’s a whole new first date as I savor the taste of my wife on my tongue, my lips, my face. She gives herself over to me, gasping, clawing at the sheets then coming apart on my mouth with a needy cry, my name a filthy prayer.
I’m undressing as she shakes off the fog of her orgasm, sitting up, reaching for my pants to undo them. “My turn,” she says like she did that night.
I shake my head.
She pouts. “Why not?”
“Baby, I need to be inside you. I need to feel you.”
I step away from the bed, shed my pants and boxer briefs. My cock springs free, eager, hungry for her.
I climb over her and she pulls me close. For several mind-numbing seconds we kiss like that, naked, skin hot, mouths finding each other. Saying nothing out loud but saying everything with our bodies and our lips. Until I can’t take another minute. I break the kiss. “Need you,” I say.
“Have me.”
It’s a wonder I’ve waited this long to tell her how I feel. And as I sink inside, I know. I just know. She is the rest of my life and it starts tonight.