Page 63 of Becoming His Muse
“And now you’re done thinking,” she stated, taking a seat. “I guess that’s good for you.”
“Olani, you can’t blame me for how I responded, but I’d like to discuss it. I thought we could have dinner at Shaw’s vineyard tonight.”
“What time?” she asked after a beat of silence.
“Does eight work for you?”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Elion would have preferred to pick her up, but he wouldn’t push his luck. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He exited the office, saying goodbye to the receptionist as he passed her. Once in his car, he headed towards his house. He had six hours before he was to meet Olani that night. He was mentally prepared to continue their previous conversation. What he was still unsure of was if he was emotionally ready for it not to go in his favor.
Elion showed up at the vineyard half an hour early. He wanted to ensure everything was set up and that the atmosphere wouldn’t seem stifling for their conversation, whichever way it went. Since the vineyard would be open until ten, Shaw had a private table inside the vineyard to give them privacy away from everyone else. The final vineyard tour was ending when he arrived, and he knew the string lights would be more than enough to illuminate the area.
He returned to the entrance to wait on Olani, one of the servers locked the vineyard entry behind him. He hadn’t been waiting long when he saw her car pull into the parking lot. He walked over, opening the door for her.
When she stepped out, he couldn’t help but take her in. She was punishing him. It was the only thing he could think of. Her dress wasn’t provocative, but it hugged her in all the right places, accentuating those curves he loved so much. She always looked beautiful, and Elion realized he’d gone too long without seeing her. It seemed he’d helped in punishing himself.
“You look enticingly beautiful,” he complimented.
“Thank you.”
He gestured for her to go first, and he refrained from placing his hand on the small of her back. It’d been a while since they were out with one another, and there’d been this much space between them or where he hadn’t been touching her in some capacity.
They were let into the vineyard, the gate closing behind them, and he took the lead. Their table wasn’t too far in, but the distance would drown out the noise of those in attendance and give them the needed privacy. Elion knew they could have had the conversation at either of their houses, but doing it initially in public seemed like a better idea. It would be easier for either of them to leave if they didn’t like the direction of the conversation.
He pulled her chair out before taking his own. He picked up the bottle of wine chilling in the bucket and poured each a glass as they waited for their food. There was no need for menus since he’d asked Shaw to serve them the same meal they had the first time they’d visited. He wasn’t sure if it was for nostalgia or if he wanted it in case he had to soften her up.
“You wanted to talk,” Olani stated after a few seconds of silence.
It seemed she didn’t want to waste time getting to the point. “I should start by apologizing for walking out the way I did. Had I stayed, maybe we would have been able to talk it out then and come to an understanding.”
“Or if you’d bothered to respond to my texts or answer my calls.”
Elion raised a brow at her as she took a drink of her wine. He thought it was obvious why he hadn’t done those things. “If I had, are you sure we would have had this conversation? Whichever call I answered, the text I responded to could have been the last time we spoke. I wasn’t at a place where I would have been able to keep my emotions out of it.”
He could admit that much. Had he taken any of her calls, he likely would have said something he regretted because he would have been speaking from a place of hurt. He didn’t want that. So, he’d taken the time to think, weigh the scenario, and see how he’d feel if the shoe was on the other foot.
“What I did wasn’t any different from if we’d matched on a different dating site or hired a matchmaker. I understand you were upset about it, but were you really that mad?”
He shook his head. “You don’t get it. I was never mad, Olani. I was hurt that you thought you needed to lie to me. I could understand not telling me on our first date, but what reason did you have for not telling me after that?” She was quietmomentarily as she thought, and Elion took the question in a different direction. “Was I the only person you were dating?”
He could see the exact moment she took offense to his question. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m not trying to say anything; I’m proving a point. Was I?”
“Yes.”
“When you made that decision, you could have told me because you’d committed yourself to me in this process. You liked me enough to put all your eggs in my basket. You could have told me then.”
“I could have, but you said it yourself. I’d bet all my chips on you. What would I have gained from telling you and having you walk away?”
“I wouldn’t have walked away.”
“But you did,” Olani protested.
“Did I? Because I’m sitting right here.” Yes, he’d left, but he told her he needed to think.
