Page 25 of Tempted By the Taurus
"They should've. You're ten dimes, baby. More than a ten."
She smiled a little. "Thanks for that. In my past relationships, I hadn't felt like that or even let myself feel like that."
I frowned, leaning forward with my arms on my legs. I tilted my head and studied her. "Why not?"
She shrugged. "I guess I could say from watching my parents in my childhood, they were happy until they weren't happy. In my relationships, I didn't allow myself to be happy. I was scaredI'd be let down in the end," she mumbled. "So, I either ended the relationships, or they did. But you want to know what's funny about it?"
I didn't know what to say, so I kept quiet.
"My parents are happy now, and they are the best of friends. Isn't that crazy?"
I stayed silent for a moment, trying to find my words. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I'm happy now."
I sucked in a breath. Now I understood where this was going. "You can continue to be happy if you allow yourself to be. You don't have to look at your past relationships or your parents' relationship with each other. Don't you think you deserve to be happy?" I let her think on that as I rubbed a hand down on my head, staring down at the ground. "I was happy too, and in a relationship that ended badly. It made me not want to put my all into a relationship again..." I started.
Leighton glanced at me, waiting for me to continue.
"When I love, I love hard. Nya knew that — that's my ex's name. I thought we were happy. I mean, I worked a lot and broke a lot of dates. I guess I can own up to that part and say I could've been there for her. But I always made up for it. She kept saying she was tired of my working all the time. She said I never had time for her or Ni'Asia — that's my daughter's name. However, I felt like I did. I had to make time for them, just as I did for my work. She knew my business meant a lot to me. But she didn't care about that. If I could spend all day with her at home, she would be happy, but I wouldn't. One day, Nya packed her and Ni'Asia's things and left me. I tried for a while to make things work for us. It wasn't my proudest moment, but I begged her to come back to me, and that didn't work. After trying and seeing that, she no longer wanted me, so I stopped trying. I vowed I'd never let another woman hurt me how she did."
It had been a while since I got that off my chest. It needed to be reiterated. That was why I didn't know why I was here with Leighton. I knew I couldn't stay away from her, though. She brought something out of me. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that with your baby mama."
I shrugged with a deep sigh. "It's all good. Some things happen the way that they do. It's just something you can't change."
She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." She yawned, covering her mouth. "Oh man, I'm sorry. I guess I'm getting sleepy."
I smiled. "It's all good. I guess it's time to wrap this date up, huh?"
She laughed. "I really enjoyed myself with you today. I don't want it to end."
"I feel the same way. Don't worry, we have tomorrow too."
I stood up and held my hand out to Lee, helping her to her feet. As soon as we got into the car, she passed out, and I drove in comfortable silence.
When I pulled into her driveway, she was knocked out. Damn, I hated to wake her up, but I knew I needed to. She was sleeping peacefully, and here I go about to ruin it.
I tapped her thigh lightly. "Lee, wake up. You're home."
Her eyes fluttered open, and she stretched the best way she could. "You must've been speeding. We got here too fast."
I snickered. "Nah, you slept the entire drive from the park to your house."
If I didn't get this woman out of my car, I'd be fucking her right here and now. She looked good enough to eat, even with her sleepy eyes.
"Are you ready to get out?"
Leighton nodded and unsnapped her seatbelt. I got out of the car and made my way around the car to open the door for her. Once she was out, we walked to her front door in silence.
"I know you'll probably be asleep by the time I get home, so I'll just text when I get there."
She bobbed her head. "Okay, goodnight. I enjoyed my time with you tonight, and because of you, I might have a hangover in the morning."
I chuckled. "You're welcome." I stepped closer to her and pulled her into my arms. I kissed her lips sweetly.
The small gasp that escaped her mouth had me deepening the kiss. I ran my hands up and down her body, trying to be a gentleman, but I needed to feel her ass. I bet it was soft, too. I cupped and squeezed it. I felt myself getting an erection and had to pull back away from her. If not, I'd be telling her to invite me in, which was something I didn't think she was ready for.
