We continue chatting on the drive to her apartment. Once we park, I make my way around the car and open the door for her, as I’ve done all night. My mother did raise me to be a gentleman, even if I haven’t ever used those manners. Cecilia deserves the best.
I open her apartment door and follow her up.
“Oh, you don’t have to walk me in,” she says when she realizes what I’m doing.
“Sunshine, in this apartment on this side of town, I’m always making sure you make it into your unit. For safety, and because I was raised right.” It comes out teasingly, but little does she know how serious I am. I will always protect her.
When we get to her door, she invites me in. She’s timid about it, and not for the first time, I wonder how experienced she is with men.
A woman who looks like her, who is her, an absolute goddess of a woman, has to have had hundreds of men lining up for her.
But not anymore. No other man will ever have her again.
“No, sunshine. I’m just walking you to your door.” I turn down her offer, because if I enter that apartment, I’m not going to be able to hold myself back. And I want to take this slowly. Iwant to win her over before I get the prize that is her body. I need her trust first.
I lean down to kiss her cheek, but she turns at the last minute and captures my lips with hers.
The unexpected contact has me warring with my resolve.Would it really be so bad to be with her?
I kiss her back gently, despite every fiber of my being screaming to take control. She’s a delicate flower, and I won’t ruin her.
When I’m on the verge of coming in my pants… again… I pull back.
It’s mortifying enough that I did so at the club for the first time since I was a teenager. I can’t make it a habit.
We separate, and she opens her door.
“Buenas noches, mi héroe,” she says dazed.
Her blown pupils, flushed skin, and rapid breathing give away her arousal. I have to take a step back, needing the space to restrain myself.
“Buenas noches, sunshine,” I repeat back, competent enough to know it means goodnight.
She giggles as I butcher her parent’s language.
She shuts the door, but I stare at it a little longer, wondering if I could break in to watch her sleep again.
Realizing I don’t know her or Gracie’s sleep schedule, I sigh and leave.
But it doesn’t matter.
Soon enough, we’ll be going to sleep in the same bed every night. In my bed. In my secure penthouse.
Chapter 25
Cecilia
I close the apartment door behind me and lean against it. I close my eyes and just relive the events of tonight.
“That good, huh?” Gracie’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.
She’s sitting on the couch, watching a true crime documentary, spoon-eating a jar of peanut butter. So, she’s having a her normal Friday evening.
I sit on the other end of the couch and throw my hands up in defeat.
“Is it too early to say he’s perfect?” When what I really want to ask is, ‘Is it too early to know he’s the one?’
“Oh, wow. I didn’t expect it this soon,” she says wide-eyed.
