I heard the water shut off and I slowly stood and walked to the door. I pushed it open and walked in as he turned to watch me. I couldn’t hide the appreciation from my face when I saw him standing there with a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. The water was running down his perfectly toned abs, forming two steady streams in the v-shaped taper of his waist, disappearing beneath the towel. And my eyes studied each ridge in his stomach.
I walked and stood beside him at the vanity and he watched me closely while I leaned back against the sink. I had never attempted to flirt with Brian, even though it was unavoidable a lot of the time. But I wasn’t being discrete this time and I wasn’t sure how he would react. “Why have you never made a pass at me, Brian?” I asked, flashing a flirtatious smile at him.
He tilted his head curiously at me. “What do you mean?”
“I appreciate that you haven’t,” I admitted, and watched his face growing even more puzzled.
“Do you want me to?” he finally asked.
I let my hand brush his as I pushed myself away from the sink. “No.”
He stood facing the mirror, but still watching me in the reflection as I walked to the shower. I smiled back at him before I pulled my shirt over my head. I let it fall to the floor and kept my eyes on his while I slowly stepped out of my pants.
The muscles in his back tensed when I reached for the clasp of my black lace bra and he turned his head to look over his shoulder at me. But just before I pulled it away, his eyes dropped to the floor and I let it fall to the tile. I smiled when his breathing grew heavier and when I slid my panties down, his grip tightened on the sink in front of him.
I turned to the shower and felt his eyes fully on me then. I looked back over my shoulder to see him taking in my figure and there was a hunger in his eyes that made my skin tingle. I smiled and his eyes locked with mine. I waited for him.
“Chloe,” he exhaled quietly.
He stepped toward me and I watched while his hand slowly brushed the hair away from my neck. He sweetly kissed my shoulder, so softly there was no pressure behind his lips, but the very touch of them made my body quiver. He slowly kissed his way up to my ear, his breath warming my skin with every kiss. His fingertips slowly ran down the curves of my hips and my breathing deepened as his lips parted in the base of my neck. His tongue played softly against my skin until I let my weight fall into him and slowly turned to face him.
His eyes lit with passion while he studied every inch of me and his hands were gentle but strong against my back as they ran down to my thighs. His lips met mine and the sweetness of him took my breath away.
My hands explored his stomach and I slowly pulled the towel away from him. As it fell from my fingers, he picked me up and pressed my back against the shower door. His hand ran through my hair as his eyes held mine. I lost myself in his touch while he softly kissed me. He slowly pulled me away from the door and carried me back to his bed. He laid me down gently and for the first time, I actually experienced what it was like to really make love.
I exhaled as he fell beside me and I couldn’t fight a small laugh. “I had no idea,” I said, turning to face him.
He turned on his side and his eyes studied my body again as he ran his fingers across my bare skin. “Chloe,” he said, taking his time before looking back into my eyes. “You really are stunning.”
I could no longer deny that I had completely fallen in love with this man.
“I never made a pass at you because I didn’t think you wanted me to, Chloe. But it has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Being so close to you, and wanting, needing to be closer but having to stop myself.”
I smiled and his hand found mine. “I was just so scared of losing you.”
He pulled me closer to him. “Chloe, you will never lose me.”
“I know.” I had realized that a long time ago, I just hadn’t admitted it.
I walked to the shower and turned back to smile at how intoxicating he looked lying there on those sheets. And wow, did he look incredible! If I had known that was what I was missing out on, I would have offered Mila a fair trade and saved us all a lot of trouble.
Standing under the water, thinking about how truly happy I was in that moment and every moment I shared with Brian, butterflies danced in my stomach. I looked down watching the skin as if it might actually be moving from the feeling, and giggled at how much I had always thought the butterflies to be a made-up reaction.
Brian was standing outside the shower when I opened the door and he stepped forward to wrap the towel around me. “Coffee?”
“And food,” I said following him out to the kitchen.
We cooked breakfast together like we had many times, but it was different now and it was different in a good way. We weren’t awkward with each other like I would have thought. We were still us but somehow even closer than we were before.
“Can we paint the nursery today?” I asked him when we finished our breakfast.
“Absolutely.”
He grabbed my plate to put it in the sink and I went to my room to get dressed. I settled on an old pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that paint wouldn’t hurt. When I walked into the room where Brian stood stirring paint, I stopped to admire him before he noticed me.
“You ready?”
I nodded and walked over to look down at the paint with him. We decided to paint the wall her crib would be against gray and the other walls lavender. I was rolling the soft gray onto the previously beige wall when I asked Brian for the first time, “What are we going to name her?”
“What do you want to name her?”
“I don’t know, what do you think?”
“I like Harper,” he said.
I smiled as I said it out loud. “I love it!” I didn’t know if he had chosen the name because of the restaurant we celebrated at the day we found out she was girl, but either way, I couldn’t think of a better name for her.
“You do?” he asked happily.
“I do!”
He smiled at me before turning back to the wall. I grabbed my roller while I thought of how perfect her name was and I looked back to see him staring at the wall.
“Are you okay?”
He turned back to me, “Will you be okay for a bit? I have to go somewhere.”
His sudden need to leave left me uneasy. “Yeah, of course.”
He dropped his roller and hurried out of the room without saying anymore. I sat there and listened to the front door close and my stomach sank as I thought maybe my seduction was a mistake. What if he regretted crossing that line between friends and lovers? Would we be able to act like it never happened if that is not what he wanted our life together to be?
I was standing looking at the finished paint when I finally heard the door open and I held my breath as I anxiously waited for him.
His forehead was glistening with sweat and I forced a smile at him as I started to feel the awkwardness I had feared. But he leaned in and kissed my cheek sweetly and I felt my shoulders relax slightly while I hoped that maybe I was worrying over nothing.
“What do you think?” I asked.
He looked around. “I think she is going to love it here,” he smiled back at me.
I studied him and watched his nerves playing on his face. He grabbed both my hands in his and his honey brown eyes were focused intently on mine.
“Chloe, I know that we have a complicated history,” he said and my breath caught when I thought, this is him telling me we had made a mistake. But I was completely lost on the situation when he dropped to one knee. “But the one thing I know more than that, is that we have an incredible future ahead of us.”
He kept hold of my left hand while he pulled his other back to his pocket. I gasped when he pulled out a black felt box and opened it to an incredible diamond ring.
“Chloe, I promise to always strive to be the man that you deserve and I promise to give you my whole heart.”
My eyes filled with tears as he smiled up at me,
pulling the ring from the box.
“Will you marry me?”
Tears fell steadily down my face as I smiled back at him and I didn’t think about how crazy it was for us to even consider getting married or how much of a leap of faith it would be, I only saw him and knew that I never wanted to be without him.
“Yes, Brian!” I cried out and he slid the ring onto my finger.
He jumped up and took me in his arms. He kissed me again and asked, “How soon?”
I looked down at the generous diamond sparkling in the light and then back to him. “Whenever you want.”
“I will give you any kind of wedding you want, Chloe. But I want you and Harper to both have my last name.”
I wanted the same thing. I didn’t need a big wedding and a fancy dress, I had already had that. What I had never had before was pure and selfless love and Brian gave that to me. That was all I wanted. And with Harper being due in a couple of months, we did need to hurry to all have the same name.
“Okay, let’s do it. Let’s elope,” I said to him, smiling down at my ring.
“Really?” he asked with a smile playing across his perfectly full lips.
“Yes.”
He fumbled to reach into his pocket and I watched him hurrying to book a flight. “Vegas?” he asked mischievously and I couldn’t hide my excitement.
He let his phone fall to his side as his eyes filled with a proud accomplished glimmer. “We leave in an hour. I will print the marriage certificate applications if you need to get ready.”
My stomach danced with giddy emotion as I ran to my room. I changed into a simple red dress that hung just below my knees. I hurried into my bathroom to fix my hair and make-up and I stopped to look at myself in the mirror. I am getting married. I am getting married to Brian!
I pulled a white sheath dress from my box that hadn’t been unpacked and laid it out on the bed. That is what I would marry Brian in. I threw clothes into a bag and laughed as I looked to see Brian doing the same. He ran out of his room with his bag barely closed and grabbed me in his arms again. “Chloe, are we really doing this?” he asked and I could hear the anticipation in his voice.
“Yes,” I shrieked as he picked me up and carried me down the hallway.
Our new neighbors were watching us while he carried me all the way to the car. He and I both waved nervously at them and he smiled at me as he sat me in the passenger seat. He sped to the airport and danced to every song that came on the radio and I watched his face, knowing that he was truly happy.
He held my hand sweetly while we waited to board the plane and I looked down thinking of how silly I used to think it was for couples to hold each other’s hands. Now that a man was holding mine out of pure love, I didn’t find it silly at all, I found it endearing.
Someone slammed into the back of me so hard it knocked the wind out of me. Brian spun around, holding his arm in front of me like a shield. “Oh my God, how are you, Professor Marks?” I asked, looking in the eyes of my favorite college mentor. His face hadn’t changed apart from the barely noticeable gray whiskers. He was only in his third year teaching when I had him in Behavioral Theories. He was passionate, involved, and motivated. Not like the older professors who had spent years standing in front of students that they knew only half of which would graduate. Professor Marks was inspiring and I always appreciated that about him.
His face lit with recognition and he let out a small chuckle. “Chloe! Wow, it has been, what seven years?”
“Yes, I guess it has.”
He reached out, patting my jacket smooth from where he had ran into me. “I am so sorry for almost knocking you over. I am running late and wasn’t paying attention at all. But you look fantastic!”
“I am Brian,” Brain said, positioning his arm as a barrier between me and Professor Marks. Some women would have been upset by his reaction, but I thought it was adorable.
“My apologies. Hello, Brian. I had the pleasure of having Chloe in class some time back.”
“Are you still at the university?” I asked.
“Oh yes. Much more settled now than before. What about you?”
“It has been a rough year, but Brian and I are actually on our way to get married,” I said beaming up at Brian.
“Yes, I heard about your husband. I cannot imagine how hard that must be. But it was great seeing you, I really do need to get going before I miss my flight,” he said. He grabbed his satchel from the floor and hurried off before I could say anything else.
“He was my favorite Professor. He actually asked me to appear at one of his seminars a few years ago,” I told Brian while I watched him shoving through a crowd of people in a hurry.
“What kind of seminar?” he asked. I felt those same butterflies again. He asked. He actually asked me like he was interested.
“He wanted me to read a paper I had written on different personalities and emotional behaviors.”
“And did you?”
“No.”
“Why?” he asked, looking seriously at me.
“I just didn’t really feel like it. I know that sounds childish. But I couldn’t get up there and read work that I had wanted to pursue and never did. I was ashamed that I hadn’t become anything.”
“Well, Chloe, I think you can still become whatever you want,” he said, kissing me sweetly.
I could go back and finish my PhD to start a practice. But with Harper on the way, it seems insignificant now. Like I have a greater purpose. Maybe when she starts school I could finish. Knowing that I have someone there to support me is an incredible feeling, and it is something I have never had.
The plane ride was full of nervous excitement for me and I watched out the window at the strip lights coming into focus. I anxiously looked over to Brian as the plane landed and he offered an encouraging smile, the same smile that had brought me comfort for the last several months and it comforted me now just the same.
There were some working girls by the luggage carousal and they smiled at Brian while he grabbed our bags. He gave me a small wink and I laughed when he wrapped his arm around me to walk us out. “You sure you want to lock yourself down to only me?” I teased.
“There is nothing in this world I want more than to lock myself down to only you, Chloe.”
There were lines of taxis and three shuttle buses waiting outside the airport. The escorts were climbing in a shuttle and by the length of their dresses, I didn’t want to share those seats so we walked to a cab. Even though it probably wasn’t any more sanitary, it made me feel a little better. Brian told the cab driver to take us to the Bellagio and pulled me over to sit next to him on the drive.
I had never been to Las Vegas, but everything about it was absolutely spectacular. The lights were colorful and bright, glowing in the darkness making it seem so alive. And it was. There were people from all walks of life filling the strip. And all of their faces were lit with the colors of Las Vegas, reflecting its beauty that much more.
Brian was paying the driver and I stood, staring at the water fountain in front of us. The water danced impressively high with lights illuminating it to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. “What do you think?” Brian asked, sitting our bags down and taking me into his arms.
This was a moment for us, one of those memories that would become part of our very own love story. “I think this place is perfect. I love it,” I said.
“It is impressive, isn’t it? Let’s get a room.”
Our room was on the twenty-seventh floor and it was just as spectacular as the strip. The window was open to an incredible view of the fountain and a blue chaise was positioned in front of it for lounging. I fell onto it and smiled back at Brian while he shoved our bags in the closet. He gave a strip tease on his way over to me and his shirt playfully landed in my lap. He picked me up from the lounger and spun me around to the bed. And in one touch of his lips, I had completely forgotten about the crazy nightlife below us. He was all I seen, he was all I wanted.
I woke up
with Brian smiling down at me. “Marry now, and celebrate after?” he asked.
I looked around and smiled back at him. My stomach was in knots as the craziness settled on me. But why wouldn’t we get married? We just bought a home together. We were going to be raising a daughter together. I loved him. It made sense. “Yeah.”
He stopped the driver at the first chapel we came to and the man turned and wished us good luck. How many people has he driven to this same chapel? How many of them made it? What if this very moment becomes a huge regret to both of us in a short time?
An overweight elderly man was leaning against a desk when we walked in and the sound of the bell from the door caught his attention. He smiled back at us like we were the first two people to ever walk in the building, exceptional customer service considering we all knew that wasn’t the case.
“Do you have a party?” he asked looking passed us and out through the door.
“Uh, no, it is just us,” Brian told him shakily.
The man smiled sympathetically and I felt embarrassed then that we had no other friends. But Brian’s shaking voice played in my mind as we signed the paperwork.
“Do you need rings?”
I laughed quietly when Brian looked at me and shook his head. “Just one band for me.”
Since we didn’t have a witness, they provided us one which incidentally was a woman who was impressively even heavier than the chubby man who registered us. I assumed that they must get a lot of left over wedding cake. They walked us right back to the chapel itself and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw a man dressed as a priest instead of Elvis.
All those worries I had about rushing into this marriage faded away as Brian recited his vows to me. There was love and commitment in his eyes that comforted me and I slowly spoke my vows to him. ‘Til death do us part’ struck a nerve with me and I thought back on how I had made these same vows to Carson just years before and now we were separated by death; separated by murder.
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