Atonement(63)
“So soon?” she inquired.
“Yeah, haven’t you been listening to me? I already told you some shit went down two night’s before and I am not going to get into it over the phone but it’s time for us to come home. We want a week to ourselves before I start my job and he starts all the craziness that will involve opening his own place. It’s time so…take care and we’ll see you back in Seattle,” I explained as my lover’s arms squeezed my waist and it sent butterflies through almost every part of my body.
“Okay, take care of yourself.”
“Will do, sis. Love you and bye for now,” I responded.
“Love you and talk later,” Caitlyn said before the phone call ended.
Colin took the phone from me and threw it on the sofa before he turned me around and stared into my eyes. “I’m not an alpha male?”
I clicked my tongue sarcastically. “Please don’t tell me that offended you. I’m happy you aren’t one and I would never want you to be one if that makes you feel better. You’re a gentleman and believe me I want one of those more than I have ever desired an alpha male. I’m not that kind of woman and you know that. It’s hard for me to surrender and give up control.”
He pinned me to the wall before our lips met and we kissed with such ferocious tenacity, I knew the chances of us going out tonight were practically nil. He pulled away just as suddenly.
“So, Ms. Bardot, what separates an alpha male from a gentleman?”
“Mmm,” I thought, “well, for one, an alpha male takes and sometimes he asks permission but often he doesn’t and that irritates the hell out of me. Don’t presume just because I let you claim me once it’s gonna naturally happen again. That doesn’t fly with me.
“A gentleman, on the other hand, always asks. And you do. In your own way, you have never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. A gentleman respects his grandparents’ house and despite telling them I’m his girlfriend, he doesn’t try to f*ck me in the guest room. He waits until we are alone and it is appropriate. A gentleman cares about my feelings and is concerned about my well being. Never have you ever once forgotten what I have been through and it makes me love you that much more.
“You waited for me and you took your time. You acted like a gentleman when we met your ex-girlfriend and you were respectful to both her and her husband. You always treat me like I am a piece of precious metal and you never take me for granted. I love you for that.”
“I love you more than you would ever know. I believe I started to fall in love with you the moment Drew introduced us because there was a vulnerability about you that was so precious, I wanted to protect you at all costs, even from yourself.” He touched my face so softly and I closed my eyes in surrender to the feeling of skin against skin. “By the way, happy birthday, sweetheart. I am taking you out somewhere special our last night here to celebrate in style.”
“Thank you but turning twenty-nine is hardly a milestone for a woman so we don’t have to celebrate it. All it means is I am one year older and none the wiser.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Honey, sexually speaking, you are coming into your own. I love you are getting older and I will love you just as much on your thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth and seventieth birthdays too.”
“You’re too good to be true,” I whispered ever so softly in his ear.
He sighed before he replied, “I know…which is why you should realize I’m not.”
Chapter Seventeen
THREE DAYS IN Paris is no time at all and one can only realize this when they have spent such little time in the city. I was no stranger to the “City of Light” and neither was Colin so it was easy for us to narrow down our itinerary as to what was important for us to see this time around and what wasn’t.
We awoke late the first full morning and grabbed breakfast on the go from the local boulangerie in the sixteenth arrondissement where we were staying. Then we decided what we would do for the day. That first full day in Paris was actually spent in the suburb of Versailles where we toured the cathedral and the famous chateau the suburb was named after. That took up most of the afternoon itself as the chateau was only one part of the tour. The second part included the magnificent grounds which were devised in a maze-like way of beautiful greenery, a multitude of gorgeous statues and fountains galore. Although the day wasn’t exactly warm and the weather was overcast and rain looked like it constantly threatened the day, we had a blast.