Page 94 of Cloud Storm

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Because the sunset is waiting for us.”

A waitress comes to take our drink order and we barely notice her as we kiss. He breaks away to tell me that he brought me here to enjoy the sunset we missed that evening, but in order to see the beautiful surroundings, he needs to remove his mouth from mine.

And that’s okay. As good as it feels, we’re at a fancy place and I don’t want to be crass.

I feel my lips tingle from his kiss. I don’t want to eat. I just want to skip the meal and go back home.

We can make grilled cheese as a midnight snack.

“You’re killing me, woman.”

“Me?” I ask coyly.

“Yes, you. With those eyes, and those lips of yours.” He smirks. “And especially those tits.”

“Behave, Suit,” I warn him, my voice just above a whisper.

“Give a man a break,” he answers, making a face. “I’m a gentleman, not a saint.”

When the sun sets, the live piano music is still playing and we manage to eat our dinner instead of each other. I’m enjoying the background, but more than that, I’m mesmerized by the man who has his strong arms around me, murmuring dirty things in my ear.

???

We make a stop to kiss in front of the famous sailor and nurse statue as we leave. Lancelot wasn’t lying. He’s making amends for the past.

“I’ve heard there’s another one like this in a little town close to Rome,” he says, with his hands on my cheeks, his forehead resting on mine, keeping me close to him. “We should go there sometime.”

“Rome as in Italy?” This man and his ideas…

“Yeah, why not? You said you dreamed about traveling. I want to give you that, I’d give you the world.”

The only thing I really want you to give me is your heart.

But thinking about his statement, I don’t have an answer, or even a passport. “You’re crazy, Suit.”

He’s wearing a panty-melting smile as he says, “I’m crazy about you, and you love it.”

An ‘I love you’ is seconds away from falling from my lips, but somehow I manage to keep my mouth shut while he takes my hand and guides me to his car.

As soon as he leaves the parking lot, he makes a left, and this is odd. My spidey sense is on alert when he takes the road toward the freeway. We’re heading north, the opposite direction to our homes.

“Where are we going?”

“I have a surprise for you,” he says, my hand entwined with his, resting in his lap, his eyes on the busy road ahead.

“Lancelot, you don’t need to give me more gifts,” I reply, thinking of the origami cranes he makes for me. He always leaves them on my table before going to work.

“This is not a gift,” he clarifies. “There is a place I want to take you.”

“Where?” I ask, the curiosity killing me.

“Do you trust me?” he asks before kissing my hand and biting my fingers softly, a smile playing on his lips.

With all my soul, I want to answer him.

“Just tell me where we’re going,” I say for the hundredth time.

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