Page 67 of After Midnight
"For sure," I nodded. "That's why I wanted to tell you."
She smiled. "So…when are you seeing him again?"
"Tomorrow," I smiled. "I'll give you a full report when it's over."
"You better," she pinched me softly. "Now let me do some digging and see if I can find out this nigga's net worth."
I laughed, but then—paused in thought. Curious. "You know what…"
Ronnie laughed. "Bitch, I know."
Chapter 17
Iwas falling for her.
Free falling actually, with nothing to stop me and no support to catch me if I hit the ground. Every conversation we had, I felt myself slipping deeper. I’d be at work and my mind would drift to her. I'd be driving and catch myself replaying something she said. Thinking about the way she smiled.
This felt…dangerous, but only because I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. I guess that was the downside of being a Loverboy—I was at the mercy of my own feelings. But I was grateful to be feelingsomething. That spark that was missing…Gianna had lit that fire back in me and I didn't want it to extinguish itself because of my fear, realistic as it was.
I couldn’t even tell myself to slow down because I didn’t want to. She excited me. And I don't even think she was tryingtoo hard—it was just her. Free-spirited. Uninhibited. I wanted to experience that again. For myself of course, but with her as well.
We hadn’t seen each other for a week after our last date, but we talked every day. Texts, calls, little check-ins. And there would be times she’d disappear for hours. I knew why of course. But knowing didn’t make it easier.
However…it messed with me more than I wanted to admit because I wanted her to myself. And every time I saw her face on FaceTime, every time she looked at me the way she did…it felt like she wanted the same thing.
We were both able to carve out some time for this afternoon. It was a beautiful day—sunny, blue sky with a slight breeze. Perfect for a picnic. I was waiting outside my car, for her to pull into the parking lot. Five minutes later I saw her car. The butterflies came and I found myself grinning immediately. She parked next to me, I went over and opened her door quickly.
"Hi, beautiful." I held out my hand.
"Hi, handsome," she smiled taking it and allowing me to guide her out.
"Come here. Let me get my arms around you."
She laughed lightly and stepped into my open arms. She smelled sweet, like honeysuckle and caramel. My arms wrapped around her waist securely as she stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around my neck.
"I missed you," I murmured without thinking.
"I missed you too," she whispered.
My heart softened. We slowly pulled apart.
Kissing her cheek softly, I looked her up and down in appreciation. She was wearing this pretty, soft pink dress. I looked down at her pretty, white painted toes peeking out from the bottom. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you, you look cute yourself." She adjusted the collar of my white polo before smoothing her hand over it softly.
I smiled and took her hand. "I got us some good eats for our picnic." I guided her to my car and grabbed the wicker basket and red checkered blanket.
"So is every date we go on going to include food?" she joked.
I closed the door and looked over at her. "Yeah, probably." I nodded.
We laughed.
"I ain't mad at it." She shrugged, taking the blanket from me.
I led her to the perfect spot laying the blanket down carefully. She took off her shoes and sat down, stretching out her legs with a smile. "This is nice," she sighed.
"I have one more thing for you." I smiled holding up my finger. I jogged to my car to grab the elaborate arrangement of flowers. Orchids, mixed with white and pink roses, and baby's breath. I could see the smile on her face widening as I approached with the flowers. "Courtesy of my florist." I handed them to her.
