Page 19 of Desire

I nodded. “I’d gotten stood up by the same guy for the third time. Just when I was ready to give up on dating, I saw an ad for Arranged Hearts and figured I’d have better luck if someone else were in charge of finding the right man for me.”

We’d finished eating and moved to one of the chaise loungers underneath a large umbrella. It was warm, and I only wore one of his T-shirts with nothing underneath, while he wore a pair of boxer briefs.

I sat in front of him with my back against his chest. His fingers raked through my hair when he wasn’t massaging my scalp. This was the most at peace I’d felt in my life.

“How do you think they did?”

I angled my head so I could look up at him. “So far, so good.”

He softly kissed my forehead while I secretly pinched myself again to make sure this wasn’t a dream.

“When I realized you were my match, I wanted to give Arranged Hearts a blank check,” I confessed.

“A blank check? Are you crazy?”

“Nah, but that should tell you how excited I was about you becoming my wife. First, I smelled your perfume, but I couldn’t believe God would give me a blessing so good. When you spoke to your father, I recognized your voice, and it set my soul on fire. You are the only person my body reacted to in that way, so I knew it had to be you.”

She shifted her body, causing me to wonder if I’d said something to make her uncomfortable.

“What was your dating life like?”

“I wouldn’t call what I did dating. It was more about the physical for me.”

“Typical,” she said, shaking her head.

“I wasn’t as bad as you probably think. I am the mayor, you know, so I gotta keep a low profile.”

I’d be the first to admit I got around, but there were limits to what I could do as mayor. Most of my dirt was done before I ran for office. When I won, women from my past came out of the woodwork, spreading non-truths all over the internet and local news outlets. As a politician, especially a Black one, gossip came with the territory.

“What about Azaria’s mother?”

My body tensed, and I hoped Desire hadn’t noticed. My daughter’s mother was a sore topic for me. She was the first person in my adult life with who I’d attempted to have a real relationship, and it was a huge mistake. The only good thing that came from our union was Azaria.

“We didn’t work out.”

“I figured that since we’re married. I knew you were a single father, but how often does she see her mother?”

“Never. She signed her rights away.”

“She—oh, wow. Does that mean she doesn't see her at all?”

“That’s exactly what that means. She hasn’t seen Ria since she was four days old.”

“I had a feeling she didn’t see her mother often because she’s always been very attached to me, but four days old?” She shook her head. “I couldn’t imagine. Start from the beginning, please. I need to know how this came about.”

I sighed because talking about this wasn’t something I liked to do.

“Iris and I had been dating for about a year before I became the mayor. We never had an official title, but I liked her more than most women I’d dated. I wasn’t in love with her, and there were no sparks or fireworks when I was in her presence, but we worked. She understood the demands of my career and the goals I wanted to achieve, which didn’t leave much time to spend with her. Anyway, she got sick and was on antibiotics for a week, which weakened her birth control pills. I wasn’t concerned because I always wore condoms. One night, the condom broke, and Azaria was conceived.”

“I gather she wasn’t happy.”

“She seemed… indifferent, but she was adamant about not having the baby unless I agreed to marry her.”

“I’m assuming marriage wasn’t on the table?”

“Honestly, marriage was never high on my to-do list. At that time, I had no interest in it and refused to be bullied into marrying someone I knew I wasn’t in love with because she was pregnant with my child.”

“How did she handle it when you told her?”

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