Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Having hope is scary. In my life, a little hope usually leads to a whole lot of disappointment. I decide to switch gears and try to just live in this moment right now. I’m here with a man who treats me like his little princess, and I’m going to savor every second of it.
We complete our appetizers and entrees, and Luke holds his hand out to me. “I need to work off some of this food so I can have dessert. Dance with me, baby.”
“Oh, I don’t know how to dance.” I shrug, suddenly feeling very insecure.
“That’s the beauty of it, sweetheart. Dancing is a little like sex. If you just hold on, I’ll be happy to take care of the rest.”
A rush of excitement washes over me as I imagine this big man taking me the way he has. “Okay, if all I have to do is hold on.”
He leads me onto the dance floor and pulls me against his massive frame. I loop my arms around his neck and lay my head on his chest.
With his hand on my lower back, he moves me back and forth to the rhythm of the music. Soon, the sound of the instruments fades and all I can hear is the beating of his heart against my ear. I don’t even feel like myself anymore.
It’s like I’m on the outside looking in on a couple in some romantic movie. It isn’t long before I feel his penis stiffen against my hip. I look up at him and smile.
“I can’t help it, baby girl. You do it to me every time I’m close to you.”
We dance until we see the waiter return to our table with our dessert and make our way back to our seats.
“I got cheesecake for you and tiramisu for me, but I figured you’d probably want to share.” He takes a forkful of his dessert and holds it up to my mouth. I try to look seductive as I take the fork in my mouth, but I make myself laugh instead. Luke grins from ear to ear at me. “You’re even sexier when you don’t try.”
He checks the time and says, “We better finish up. I have a little surprise for you.”
“Are we going home?” I ask, hoping I don’t seem ungrateful. I’m just not ready for the night to end.
“No, we’re going on a special trip.”
We drive to the harbor, and Luke parks in the passenger parking lot.
“When you said trip, you meant it. Are we taking a boat somewhere?”
“Not exactly. It’s just a ferry ride around the harbor. You’ve never done this before?”
“No, I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Well, there’s nothing like seeing the city lights out there under the stars. I think you’re going to like it.”
“I already like it, and we haven’t gotten on the boat yet.” I hold his hand and skip up the pier.
He’s right about seeing the lights from out here. When you’re in the city walking along its dingy streets, you have just a tiny frame of reference to use to evaluate your surroundings.
Out here, you can see everything and the place is bigger than you can imagine. All the colorful lights dance on the surface of the water, making the city I thought was so terrible look like a magical kingdom.
Luke takes me in his arms and tells me, “Sometimes you have to step away from the things you know so you can get a different perspective.”
“It’s like you just read my mind, Daddy. I was thinking something just like that.”
“Meeting you is what did that for me, sweetheart.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before I met you, I thought my career was the most important thing in the world. It was going to be the thing that defined me as a person, so I worked all the time. It didn’t matter if it was when I was here in the city or after I moved to your little hometown. People, hobbies, and yes, even women didn’t have a place in my life. If I wasn’t at work, I was at the gym or in my bed. Alone in my bed, by the way.”
“And I changed that?”
He pulls me tighter and kisses my temple. “You change it more every day. When I’m not with you, you’re all I think about. Now, I hate going to bed alone. I do my job, but I catch myself zoning out wondering what you’re doing. Before you, I thought this was my life, but now I can see the possibilities.”
“What possibilities?” I look into his eyes, hoping I’m not misunderstanding him. Everything he’s saying just seems too good to be true.
“The possibility of having a family. The thought of having some kids and watching them grow up. Best of all, the possibility of growing old with you.”