Her eyes closed as pain overtook her at the thought of Erin. It was a sensitive topic but truth that needed to be highlighted to prove my point.
“You would be parenting that girl if you had no opposition to it, wouldn’t you?” With her head still collapsed she nodded. I knew she would. Though I'm not sure that she would be sharing a place with me had Erin been with her and that thought didn’t sit well with me. I am a selfish man when it comes to Rayna. Having Erin in Rayna’s life would take much adjustment on my part. I’d cross that bridge once we get to it.
I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her. I hated seeing her in pain. I didn't intend on this being a somber luncheon but I guess this is one dynamic of a relationship.
“I'm going to prove to you that you are capable of being any and everything that I need you to be and, more importantly, you want to be. If you stick this out with me, I’ll prove it. Deal?” Buried in my arms, she nodded her head profusely. I felt her pulling at my shirt that was balled in her hands.
We stayed that way for a while until she pulled her head up and reached up for mine to engage me in an impassioned kiss that knocked me off kilter. She traced my mouth with her tongue, it was deliciously invading. I tasted the ingredients of her salad and I'm sure she sampled my lunch as well, but none of that mattered. Rayna was exposing her raw, bare, and unadulterated soul and I tried sucking it all in. In that moment I didn't focus on the fact that we were in a restaurant and not in a private room, showing affection that I was not typically so inclined to do in public. My focus was more on the connection that we’d just made, one step in a lifetime journey that I wanted to take with her.
The waiter appeared, observably embarrassed. “Sir, I recalled the timing in which your assistant said you had available for lunch. In keeping with that, would you like this wrapped?”
We looked down at our barely touched food and Rayna sheepishly chuckled.
“Wrap the beauty’s. I won't have time to finish mine.”
Checking her phone, Rayna yelped, “One eleven! I need to be headed back to the office!”
“Okay, we’ll get you back there as soon as your food is wrapped.”
“This is my treat,” Rayna's words were strategically brisk.
“Forget it, Brimm. You know I don't roll like that,” I said sharply.
“Oh, no. Not even your CEO persona rearing its controlling head can keep me from paying. I realize we’re in Beverly Hills and can afford it considering the absurd amount of money you’ve had deposited into my account a few weeks ago. It took a while for me to catch it. I haven't had the need to visit my accounts over the past few weeks because you’ve been taking care of everything, but I needed cash for church offering the other day and when I read the balance on the receipt from the ATM, I nearly passed out! I called the bank to inform them of their astronomical error only for them to tell me the deposit was legit. That is an insane amount of money, Azmir. Enough to pay my monthly expenses for nearly a year,” she scolded.
Shit. Rayna didn't like when I attempted to take care of her.
“I just wanted to make sure you were covered while I was out of the country.”
“Covered? Azmir, I don’t have to worry about food because your personal chef cooks my breakfast and dinner and you have lunch delivered to my staff several times a week. I no longer have a cleaner’s bill courtesy of your very capable housekeeper. I have no need to shop for clothes because you buy everything from my jacket to my underwear. I don’t pay a car note because you donated a brand new S550 that’s fully paid for...and your chauffeur seems to know every time the car goes below a half a tank of gas and refills it without fail. Now that I think about it, the only thing that I do pay for is my hair.” Rayna was out of breath.
“...and your manicures and pedicures,” I attempted humor.