Page 37 of Hale's Pawn
I look up at her. “Yes?” I answer, ready to bolt.
“There’s a delivery for you,” she says.
“Can I bring these upstairs and then come back to get it?”
Sisi steps out from around the desk with the biggest bouquet of red, white, yellow, and orange roses. “A girl can’t pass this up now, can she? Apparently, I’m supposed to tell you the meaning. Red symbolizes love and romance. White represents new beginnings and budding love, and yellow is for friendship. So a mixture of all this, is for you.”
I know I have that same goofy-ass smile and it’s because of Oran. “Thank you.” I balance the bouquet and make it upstairs. I try the door and it's unlocked. I walk in.
“Whoever gave you those roses is a fucking gentleman,” Oran says as he leans against the wall, looking like the sexiest man alive. I check him out, he’s wearing a blue jean shirt with the top buttons open, folded up at the elbows, and tucked into dark gray jeans and a brown belt. The brown boots match his personality. I look up at his hair and I love how it’s wavy up top as it dries.
“Thank you and, yeah, I’m the luckiest girl ever,” I say. “You look very handsome.”
“I agree.” He grins. “You are the luckiest girl in the world. You’re Oran Hale’s girl, obviously.” His grin gets wider. “Thank you for the compliment and pass me those flowers, plus the clothes. Go get ready. I have a gift for you in the bathroom.”
I nod, giving him everything. I go to the bathroom and there’s a red dress hanging on the wall. I smile when I spot the splits. The black open-toe heels are a perfect match. I don’t hesitate as I get dressed. It takes me about ten minutes since my hair is also done already. It was parted on the side and gelled down into a low ponytail. I look myself over in the mirror. The halter-like dress is lace at the top and gives the illusion of me being nude underneath. It covers my back perfectly in the spots that need to be covered. As for the bottom half, it is open around the sides and then it cinches into a long dress with two splits positioned right near my thighs. I walk out of the bathroom once I’m settled. “How is it?” I ask Oran.
Oran looks up from his phone. He doesn’t say anything for what feels like so long and then he clears his throat. “Fuck, I can’t believe I bought you this dress, but now I want to take it back. You look fucking edible, Bug.” A look crosses his face between lust and admiration. “We should stay in.” Oran frowns for the first time ever since I’ve met him and that’s saying a lot.
I snicker. “We, my sexy-ass husband, are not staying in. We did not get dressed up for us to stay in.”
Oran mumbles something underneath his breath but he still gets up. I make my way to Oran and I bring my elbow out so he can slip his arm right in. Oran rolls his eyes lightly, slapping my elbow away. I laugh as we walk to the door. We walk out and once the door is locked, Oran gives me his elbow. I smile at him.
Tonight was the perfect night.I’ve never had a perfect date before and I want to share it with everyone. We’re on our way back to the resort and Oran has his hand caressing my thigh. I switch to the camera on my phone and I take a picture for myself. A picture of his hand laying possessively on my thigh. I keep that for me. I take a 30 second video of the way Oran caresses my thigh with his thumb. I rewatch the video, wondering what he’s saying in that touch. I post it with the caption:A peaceful night with the most perfect man in the world…@HaleSpawn
The craziest thing is that to me, it’s the truth. I look at my other notifications that I didn’t bother to look at all day and see I’m tagged in a picture. It’s a picture of me at dinner looking out at the sunset and I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself smile so hard. His caption makes me want to tell him what I fear is too early to say.Conversations in the Dark ~John Legend~
I look at Oran but he’s driving and not really paying attention. When did he post this? Tears well up in my eyes and I look out the window. I know the song and it tugs at my heart. This can’t be right. I can’t possibly feel like this already, can I? I’ve known this man for a little under a month and it took me years to fall in love with Eli. I sigh, trying to keep my feelings at bay. I shut my eyes because my soul is ready to say it but my mouth can’t because of the uncertainty. The hurt and the pain that I’ve endured wrecked me and it’s crippling me, keeping me from wanting to express what I feel so easily. I clear my throat, turning the music playing low in the car. Oran squeezes my thigh as we get to a red light. I look at him and he returns the look. I lose my breath and my heart in the deep gray of his eyes. I can’t fight it, but I can’t tell him either. He smiles at me as if he knows, but he says nothing. Oran leans in giving me a quick kiss and when the light turns green, we’re back on the road.
Once we get to the resort, Oran comes around and opens my door. He gives me his hand and I place mine in his. I trust him. He took care of me when I needed it, he held me when I cried, he kissed me when I truly wanted to be kissed. He did these things for me and asked for nothing in return.Don’t fucking hurt me.I told him that night in the shower when he saw my back and now, through the song, he let me know simply he won’t break my heart. Is that why he was smiling at me like he knew a secret that I didn’t know? I say nothing as I let him lead us to the room. Once we get in, I stop as I hear John Legend’s song You & I starting to play. I take a deep breath and enter first. The bouquet that was there earlier is no longer on the bed, instead the petals are sprinkled all over the floor leading to the bed. My emotions get stuck in my throat and Oran turns me around. “We never really did have a proper wedding song. How about we replace that morbid shit with this one, huh?”
I’m speechless so I just nod. Oran gives me his signature smirk as he dances with me. I can’t handle the look in his eyes so I shut mine and lay my head on his chest, dancing with him. He chuckles but doesn’t elaborate on why. “Tell me something you’ve never told a soul before,” Oran speaks up as we continue dancing.
“I’ve never been on a date,” I confess.
“Eli?” he questions.
“We didn’t go out on proper dates. Now that I think about it., it was always us three. Him, Lina, and I. Eli and I were only together when it came to sex or just hanging out at the house. He’s never taken me anywhere, really.”
“It didn’t bother you?”
“I didn’t notice. I thought that was what couples did.”
Oran says nothing. He just holds me closer to him and when the song ends, he walks me over to the bed and sits me down. He gets on one knee, lifting my leg up. “Let me show you what a boyfriend does.” He winks.
I playfully scoff as he takes my heels off. “You kind of missed that chance. We’re married,” I say as a sort of a ‘duh’ moment.
Oran shrugs. “Yeah, we are, but baby, we’re starting from the beginning. After one date, I’ve decided that I want to make you my girl, so you’re my girlfriend. We’ve made it official.” He wiggles his brows.
“You’re a mess,” I say, laughing.
“A hot mess,” he offers. He reaches out for me, pulling me off the bed. He cups my face in his hands and kisses me hard. I moan into his mouth, kissing him right back.
Oran pulls away and turns me around. He unzips my dress slowly and he lets it fall to the floor. I’m bare and, for the first time ever, I don’t feel uncomfortable with my back to him. I let him touch my scars and I feel as he kisses my back. I slightly turn to look and Oran is on one knee, kissing all my scars. Then I feel as he comes back up. He turns me to face him. “Let me worship your body tonight, Ains. Let me show you what this knight can do for a Bishop.” He winks. Before I could say something smart, Oran kisses me hard, showing me exactly that. Oran worships my body like it's been offered to him and I let myself fall completely, not caring about how scared I should really be.
Once Oran has completely destroyed my world once again, he grumbles something about sleeping here and leaving in the morning. I’m not opposed to anything. I slip out of his arms, going to the bathroom. Once I’m done, I make my way to bed, but before that, I grab my phone and go back to Oran’s post. I know I can’t say it just yet, but I can write it. Under the comments, I leave him the only one that I need to say.I love you.My chest feels less heavy and my body seems to be coming down to earth again. I slide into the bed and Oran wraps his arm around me. He’s asleep, or so I think, but he pulls me close to him. “I know…” he whispers and buries his nose in the crook of my neck. All I can think about before I fell asleep was that he knows… He knows how I feel about him.
19
