Page 60 of Unforeseen Love

ChapterThirty-Eight

Theo

Finally, they are easing some of the lockdown restrictions, allowing non-essential businesses to open with Help Out Eat Out.

I’ve never been the kind of guy who actively goes on dates, even when I was with Orla. We’d go out, of course, she’d tell me where or what, and I’d just make sure I had my wallet with me.

But with Sienna, I wanted to plan something outside of the flat and work. We’ve managed to fall into an unspoken routine, where we compartmentalise work—keeping it separate from our sex life. I can’t even remember the last time I slept in my room. And it’s not just about the sex either. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fucking amazing, but there are more nights where we’re both too exhausted to do anything but shower, eat, and then fall into a restful slumber.

I don’t know how I would have coped, in all honesty.

But I look forward to a reprieve, one where I can stay up all night worshipping her over and over again and show her just what she does to me.

Because she has a power over me that no one ever has before. She can bring me to my knees, not just metaphorically speaking either.

I tap on her bedroom door. “How are you doing in there?” I’m beginning to get a little impatient. She agreed to a date on the condition we got ready separately. I wipe my hand over my face, my palm brushing against the short hair of my freshly trimmed beard.

I don’t have long to ponder the thought when her door opens. My jaw drops as she steps out into the hallway.

“Stunning,” I say as I take in her appearance.

I twirl my finger in the air, and she shakes her head as her cheeks heat but obliges me. She turns in a slow circle until she’s facing me again, her hair down in loose curls, wearing a low-cut emerald-green summer dress which stops just above her knees, and she’s wearing a pair of wedges which elongates her legs and makes her a little closer to my height.

Leaning in, I kiss her on the cheek, because if I go anywhere near her lips, we won’t make it out of the flat. I breathe in her signature scent and am cocooned in a sudden burst of happiness. How is it that I never saw it before? How Sienna is like the rising of the sun, and man, if she doesn’t set me ablaze.

“You look handsome,” she says as I take a step back.

I find myself wanting to puff out my chest and preen at her compliment. I’m wearing a smart pair of jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, accompanied by my dress shoes. But I did make a concerted effort not to wear one of my many slogan mortician T-shirts. To be fair, I don’t think she would have even minded. After her initial reaction to my T-shirt when I first moved back, but if anything, she has an even drier sense of humour than I do. And that’s saying something.

I ordered us a cab for the short drive to Vagabond––an urban winery––and when she told me she’d never been, I knew this was where I wanted to take her on our first official date.

It’s in West Circus Village, just on the edge of Battersea Power Station, which used to supply a fifth of London’s electricity. After decades of sitting derelict, it’s since been redeveloped and is now an iconic and innovative London destination.

We’re both quiet on the drive over there. I got in the back with her and kept my hand in hers, resting it in the space between us. I never thought it would be possible to find a comfortable silence until Sienna. I feel like she takes me as she finds me. Okay, granted, I haven’t always been the best version of myself in her presence, and maybe there was a reason for my behaviour in some deep and twisted way.

I want to show her how good we can be as a couple.

I make sure to leave the driver a tip through the app, and when we exit the cab, she links her arm in mine as I lead her into the winery. We’re both in our face masks but remove them as soon as we’re seated at the table. I booked us a bespoke tasting, so we have our own waiter. Sienna’s eyes roam over the place, which is both unique and quirky, and I know I made the right choice just from her smile alone.

We spend the evening trying wines sourced from all around the world before getting stuck into our steak sharer. She doesn’t know it yet, but I have her favourite cheesecake back at the flat. I know she likes something sweet after savoury, and I couldn’t have her going dessert-less on our first date. I doubt she’d even say anything. She’d probably pull out a mars ice cream from the freezer and call it done.

I’ve noticed Sienna is low maintenance, she can take it or leave it, and if she doesn’t have something, she’ll just go without––the complete opposite to Orla.

“Thank you,” she says as we wait in the warm summer evening for our cab. “But I wish you’d let me go halves.”

Shaking my head, I lean down and kiss her forehead until I remember I’m also wearing my mask. She lets out a giggle, and then before I know it, she’s full-on laughing. I also notice how heavily she’s leaning into me now. I think the alcohol has hit her now we’re out in the open and the fresh air.

Eventually, her laughing subsides, but she’s a little unsteady on her feet as our cab pulls up, and I help her in and buckle her seat belt before going around and climbing in beside her. As soon as we pull away, she rests her head back and closes her eyes.

Not exactly how I saw the end of our date going, but I think it was a good one as far as dates go.

Back at the flat, I manage to rouse her awake long enough to get her out of the cab but end up picking her up––bridal style––and carrying her upstairs. Opening the front door is tricky, but I manage without incident.

Taking her straight to her bedroom, I lay her down on the bed, remove her shoes, but don’t bother with her dress. Her hair is fanned out around her head as she holds her arms over her chest, and I can’t help but smile because she’s a cross between Morticia Addams and Snow White, but mostly, she’s unapologetically Sienna, and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about her.

ChapterThirty-Nine

Sienna

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