NAOMI COLE—SEPTEMBER
MY HANDS RESTED GENTLY on the chilly railing of the balcony I was currently standing on, my eyes surveying my immediate area and trying to soak in as much as possible. The rose colored hue of the morning sky illuminated the Eiffel Tower that was mere blocks away from the apartment that Dante had rented for the two of us, towering over each and everything other structure in the city. Below me was one of the bustling streets, filled with both tourists and Parisians who were fed up with the tourists.
The aromas from the café directly across from the apartment had me closing me eyes and inhaling the smell deeply, wanting to remember everything about this moment for the rest of my life. Sure, I could take a picture, yet I always felt like that made the moment less of something that I could hold onto for myself. It wasn't something I necessarily wanted to share with anyone else.
I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back into a growingly familiar toned chest. Angling my neck just slightly, I caught a glance at Dante who somehow looked like a model after just having woke up.
"How do you do it?"
His brows furrowed. "Do what?" He questioned in his low, slightly raspy morning voice, sending butterflies straight to my stomach.
"Look so perfect when you just woke up. Or know the right things to say all the time. Or take me on the best vacation I could ask for."
His lip twitched for a second as if he wanted to smile, just for it to disappear moments later. I held back a sigh at the realization that he was probably back to his non-smiling self.
"I could ask the same of you," he whispered in my ear, spinning me around so that my back was pressed against the balcony and his hands were placed firmly on either side of me as he gripped the railing.
He pressed a gentle kiss to my neck, just below my ear, trailing more and more down as his hands moved from the balcony to rest on my waist. I couldn't help but to sigh at not only the feeling of his lips leaving a hot trail down my neck, but also the place we were in—both figuratively and literally.
"The city's beautiful, isn't it?"
"So beautiful," I replied, gazing out at the vast majority of the city that we could see from our position. "It was so shocking to wake up this morning and actually see where I was."
We had landed in the city so early in the morning that everything was blanketed in the darkness. It wasn't until this morning that I was able to finally soak in my surroundings and become enthralled by the view. In a funny way, I felt like the suspense of having to wait for hours to see the beauty of Paris only added to the magical experience.
"What are we doing today, sweetheart? It's up to you," he muttered, moving to stand beside me as his mahogany eyes scanned the distance. "Within reason."
I rolled my eyes at him for thinking I may suggest something impossible—although I might have thought about it. "I want to visit that little café down there and sit outside on the street and have a conversation with you pretending I'm not a tourist and a true Parisian."
He chuckled and I pouted, unsure of what was so humorous about my ideal beginning to the day. "We might have to alter that last part. How are you going to act like a true Parisian if your French is horrendous?"
I scoffed and pretended to be offended by his words, placing a hand over my chest. He shrugged, letting me know he was only being honest with me.
"What next?"
"Then I want to walk down the street with you and look at all that this section of the city has to offer."
"And after that?"
"Come back here and lie in that bed reading my book with the Eiffel Tower behind me."
He smiled at my plan, shaking his head at how unusual it was compared to what most other people would be looking forward to. As much as I wanted to explore the entirety of Paris, we had the next day to do that and I really needed to rest after the way Saint Tropez had went. I was more than glad Anna hadn't followed us to Paris, but I would never admit that aloud.
"Can I add one more thing to that plan?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow as he moved to stand before me yet again, his thumb caressing my cheek while his other hand crept down towards my ass.
I gulped at his sudden change in pace and the intense look of lust in his eyes. Taking notice of this, he chuckled and only moved even closer to me, our bodies practically pressed together.
"It's a yes or no question, Naomi," he added when my silence ensued, my mind consumed by just how sexy he was and the deep timber of his voice. He let his hand slide under my thigh, lifting my leg while the other dropped to rub across the fabric of my panties.
"Yes," I breathed out, shuddering at the feeling of one of his fingers sliding into me, a grin on his face from the satisfaction he received from catching me off guard.
And then he took me on that balcony without any hesitation or regard for being seen or heard.
***
I COULDN'T KEEP A grin off my face as Dante and I sat at one of the tables outside of the café, sipping our coffee and people watching. I was more than ecstatic that Dante shared my love for people watching and creating my own stories for them based off of what I observed about them.
Dante's hand rested delicately on my thigh as I watched him pick up his mug and bring it to his perfect lip. He sent me a wink when he caught me watching him, only making me blush in response.
"I like making you blush all the time, sunshine."
My brows furrowed and I pulled back, looking at him in utter confusion. "Sunshine? What happened to sweetheart?"
"I can't add a new one?" He muttered, patting my leg and sending sparks up my leg towards my core.
My eyes flowed up to the balcony across the street—the balcony he had just absolutely ravished me on. Yet another blush covered my cheeks and I brought my coffee back to my lips to hide it.
"Dante, can I ask you one of those important questions now?"
Because we were in a neutral space, I figured it was best to have this conversation in a location where he couldn't get very upset or just get up and walk away. It was perfect.
When he nodded, I continued with, "When did your last relationship end?"
The way his jaw clenched as soon as the words fled my mouth was unable to be ignored and only made me worry that he would dodge answering or completely shut me down.
Instead, he adverted his gaze, but responded nonetheless with, "About six years ago."
That was a bit of a shock. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, six years wasn't the worst, but for someone so attractive and still young enough it was a bit surprising. It made me wonder what his reason for not dating could be and that had my nerves on high-alert.
All I could manage out was a simple hum, nodding my head and sipping the coffee yet again. When he sighed, I whipped my head in his direction only to see that he was still staring directly at me.
"You're not gonna ask why?"
"No, because every time I ask you to expand and explain something you act like I'm somehow in the wrong for wanting to know more," I retorted, feeling my tone change to a more tense one as I got louder.
"Because you don't have to know everything, Naomi."
"But I deserve to know something. You know so much about me while I'm still in the dark about a man I let fly me out of the country and am in a full relationship with."
The way he looked at me with nothing but simmering anger told me everything I needed to know. He thought this was just me causing yet another unnecessary disagreement when in all honesty I had every right to be even a bit frustrated. I was tired of holding this back.
"You just don't listen, do you?" He snapped back, his voice raising as well. People were beginning to glance over at the two of us. "I tell you that it's hard for me to open up about this stuff and you just keep pushing and poking. Give me time!"
He huffed and turned away from me, taking a bite out of the one of the croissants we had purchased and turned to look at a few passersby. It was petty—and I could acknowledge that—but I needed to have the last word. There was no way I would let him act like his avoidance of giving me answers was peachy keen—because it for sure was not.
"I do nothing but listen to you, Dante. That's all I've been doing from the beginning...following your plans, your timeline, your feelings! I'm not going to give up my happiness in this relationship just to make sure you're comfortable all hours of the day! We're supposed to be a little bit uncomfortable with each other at the beginning," I gushed passionately, my voice raised even higher as I used my hands and arms to prove my point.
"Naomi, you're causing a scene."
I opened my mouth, ready to snap back without any holding back, yet all that came out was a laugh that did not mean I was amused. Quite the opposite, actually.
"You're the one that needs to listen. I just told you all of that and all you can do is tell me I'm causing a scene," I finally sneered as I stood from my seat, my voice now close to a whisper. "Enjoy the rest of your coffee."
With that said, I marched back across the street to the apartment with my head held high. There was no way I would just concede to what he wanted me to do and say and how he wanted me to act. We were in a relationship, but that would never diminish who I was before meeting him and the way I stood up for myself.
Never.
***
WHEN AN HOUR HAD passed and Dante still hadn't shown back up to the apartment, I conceded and peered out the window to see that he had disappeared completely. If he didn't know the language fluently, I would worry, yet I turned back to reading my book assured that he would eventually come back and we could peacefully talk through this morning's incident.
Not much later, I got a message from him letting me know that he had went to a last minute meeting with Khalil and Mr. McNamara. I simply read the message so he would know that I at least saw it before I decided to get up and be productive. If giving myself a bubble bath counted as being productive.
The owner of the apartment had left us a gift set of bubble bath to go along with the clawfoot bathtub that the apartment came with. I let out a deep sigh as I settled down into the coconut scented bath, a playlist of mine playing in the background as I continued reading my book.
"You look comfortable," a monotone voice sounded suddenly about ten minutes into it, my book almost falling into the water at my surprise.
I turned my neck to see Dante standing in the doorway with a bag of what appeared to be food in one hand while a book was in the other.
Taking notice of my interest in what he was holding—although I didn't ask—he said, "I stopped and got us some dinner after the meeting...and then I saw a bookstore and found this for you."
My hard façade almost faltered at the sweet fact that he had been so thoughtful, yet I reminded myself that this was most likely him trying to work his way back into my good graces.
"Food and a book isn't going to fix what happened this morning, Dante," I lectured, turning away from him and leaning back against the back of the tub with my eyes closed.
When my eyes popped back open, they landed on his now that he was standing beside me, leaning over the tub.
"I know this isn't going to fix that...communication will. That doesn't mean I still can't treat you to these types of things. Can we just enjoy dinner together before this gets cold and talk about it afterwards?"
I was shocked by how genuine and heartfelt his words sounded, the tender expression in his gaze only intensifying that. I bit down on my bottom lip, considering what he had suggested and whether it would be beneficial or not. Sure, dinner would most likely be awkward with the tension between the two of us, but I couldn't defy his efforts.
"Yes," I smiled softly, lifting my hand out of the water so that he could take it and help me up.
His eyes raked over my entire body as I stood in front of him, snapping back up to my face when I suddenly wrapped the towel around me tightly. He wasn't going to be getting any rewards tonight.
Once I was dressed in my pajamas—with little Eiffel Towers all over it—I took a seat across from him where he had already laid out our cuisine of French dishes on two plates. I watched as he poured as both glasses of wine before we began eating in silence.
Wanting to dismantle the awkwardness, I spoke up and inquired, "So how was the meeting? What was it about?"
He lifted his head swiftly, almost as if he were surprised that I had even spoke. I didn't think the disagreement was that negative that he would think I would ignore him the entire time.
"It went well. Mr. McNamara just gave us background information about the people we'll be networking with tomorrow. He...sat you and I at the table beside each other for dinner tomorrow night, but we can't be...you know."
I nodded, knowing exactly what he was implying. No one could get an inkling that we were dating, or not even more than simple office acquaintances.
We fell into yet another bout of silence, finishing off our food without uttering a single word to one another. Nonetheless, the passion was still definitely there, he had me flustered with just the way he glanced up at me tenderly every once a while.
"Come here," he muttered, grabbing my hand and walking me over to the window just over the bed where we could sit and stare out at the setting sun behind the tower. "I was wrong this morning," he muttered after moments silence, almost as if it was hard for him to admit that he was wrong.
"We both were. I shouldn't have made that little dig at you and we both shouldn't have blown up the way we did," I replied back, intertwining our fingers and gazing up into his eyes that seemed to be reflecting the rosy sky. "I just...I just want you to feel like you can tell me anything without me judging you."
He bit down on his bottom lip as he nodded. "That's hard for me. I...I just guess that I'm too worried about what other people think of me."
His face contorted as he expressed how he felt; he looked like he wanted to take the words back. I wanted to berate whoever had told Dante that he was weak or wrong for being honest about how he feels.
"And you don't have to worry about that with me. I promise you," I smiled sweetly, grabbing his jaw and lowering his head, capturing him in a calm, yet emotion-filled kiss.
"Six years," he muttered as he pulled away.
"Huh?"
"Six years since my last relationship," he shrugged, pulling me back against his chest.
"You prove day after day that you're an old man."
Dante's expression remained neutral at my words, only for him to toss me onto the bed moments later. We cackled like wild as we tickled and fake wrestled with one another, the negative tension between us completely eliminated.
a/n: i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! the charity event is next chapter and then i think i might flash forward in the story a bit
what did you guys think about their argument? do you think they were both wrong? did one of them overreact?
how do you think the charity event will go? do you think anything bad will happen?
i hope you enjoyed!! make sure to follow me on instagram @ blkvenuss