Page 75 of Made to Love Ya

“This is what me fighting for you looks like, Talia.”

Tears sprung to my eyes. “You’re so sweet.”

“Baby, there’s nothing sweet about me. I’m just a man who loves you like this.”

“Zae, you remembered,” I stated and pointed at the flowers.

“That they’re your favorite flowers? Yes,” he whispered while he wrapped his arms around my waist.

A violinist stood in one corner and played music softly, and my heart melted inside of my chest. Izael took my hand and helped me lower onto the blanket. There were several platters on a low table beside us.

“It smells delicious,” I observed and looked skeptically at the covered dishes.

The food I had eaten here on several occasions smelled great, but the aroma didn’t match what I remembered the flavors to be.

“Well, let’s see how it tastes,” he stated.

I watched as Izael fixed our plates and then poured me a glass of wine.

“Aren’t you going to drink any?”

“No, I’m driving. If I had been thin

king, I would have hired a driver for tonight.”

“What about me? I’m driving.”

“I was hoping that you wouldn’t. I was hoping when the night ended, you would be coming home with me.”

My heart danced inside of my chest.

“So, what did you want to talk with me about?”

“Everything that happened.”

“How long did you know that it was me?”

“The night that I used your computer to access my email so that I could sign a contract. It fucked my head up so bad that I didn’t sign that contract until a couple of days later.”

“I’m so sorry, Izael. But I didn’t know you owned this restaurant.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t know that you were T’s Temptations.”

“Well, I’ve always kept that hidden. I made that decision from the minute that I decided to do it because with all the friends that I have in the industry, I never wanted to feel the pressure to write a good review just because I was friends with someone. And if I chose to write a negative one, I didn’t want that to impact my friendship with people.”

“No, I get it. That makes sense. Because I damn sure felt a way when I realized that it was you who wrote those things.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you owned this restaurant?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. I hadn’t told most people because Asante advised me not to. I would have told you, but the subject never came up between us. You knew that I owned a few restaurants and had an interest in others. When I realized who you were, I realized at the same time that you couldn’t know that I owned it.”

“If only we had just talked about things.”

“You’re right. I usually came in stressed and wanted to just disappear in you.”

“And I just wanted to surround myself in the cocoon of loving you and being loved by you.”

“I was wrong for not telling you as soon as I knew, but this was why it was important for us to spend quality time together. We needed to be strong to overcome challenges. Not living together was tough enough, but we both needed time to get our minds right, Chè.”

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