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“The nerve of you to think for one second that I would take it there with yo—”
Cassius’ deep chuckle silenced her. “I don’t think anything, Aella. And you don’t have to pretend to be a pretty, perfect princess who’s afraid to admit what she wants. You’re attracted to me; it’s cool. I’m attracted to you, too. I also respect you. That’s why I’m not giving you what you want.”
Aella refused to allow him to see that he’d gotten to her. “And what is it you think I want?”
Releasing the top two buttons of his dress shirt, Cassius sat back in his seat, eyeing her sensually. “You like the idea of being in control, but underneath the tough girl act is someone who wants to relinquish power to someone who not only deserves but earns it. You want me to make you comfortable enough to step out of that dress if I tell you to and bring your pretty ass over to this side of the table, replacing the meal on this plate. And once I’m finished ensuring your body is primed and ready for me, I’d claim you. You want me to show you that every inch of you belongs to me and obeys my every command, mark you, and erase the memory of anyone before me and anyone stupid enough to think they’d matter to you after me.”
“You arrogant asshole—”
“Before you start throwing insults to try to deflect, your bottom lip has been tucked between your teeth since I started talking. I can see your heart damn near beating through your chest, and you’re gripping the tablecloth like you’re afraid it’s going to go somewhere. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were about to c—”
“If you finish that sentence, I’ll kill you.”
Sitting up, Cassius burst into laughter. “Stop being so stubborn, Princess. If I can touch you with just words, imagine what it’ll be like when you give me permission to actually get my hands on you.”
Aella rolled her eyes, trying desperately to turn the conversation in a different direction. “We’re getting off subject. Again.”
“I’m sure this is ten times more important than whatever you originally wanted to discuss.”
“Cassius,” she growled.
“A’ight, a’ight. Zelina was and is cool. She just wasn’t what I wanted for a relationship. We’ve known each other since we were twelve, have been friends, then more than friends, then friends again, who fucked from time to time. But when I think of the type of woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, it isn’t someone who solely wants to please me. You can’t grow with someone who doesn’t challenge you. Z didn’t. She was always willing to give me what I wanted to get what she wanted.”
“I’m sure if she stuck around that long, she won’t be happy with the idea of you getting married.”
“Definitely not. But I did give Z the courtesy of telling her face-to-face what was happening. I’ll be honest, she was upset, but at the end of it all, I did what I needed to do.”
“So, she’s going to be a problem?”
“What are you really worried about, Elle?”
Slowly licking her lips, she shrugged. “I never want to end up like my mom and in love with a man who entertains other women or creates an outside child. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, and if I could fix my relationship with her in a heartbeat, I would.”
“So you’re already anticipating falling in love with me?”
“Cassius.”
“Elle, I already told you you have nothing to worry about. Whether it’s Zelina or any other woman. Stop looking for something to be mad about or ways to ruin shit to combat the fact that you actually like me.”
“Like is a stretch,” she tittered. “You a’ight.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Princess,” he winked. “All jokes aside, though. You know we have things to discuss. We can’t keep dancing around and talking about the idea of us getting married. We have to put some action into it for people to believe us.”
Stabbing her fork into her salmon, Aella sighed. “I know.”
“This means our next date will probably be public. Are you sure you’re ready for the world to see us together?”
“I don’t think it matters much when it comes to convincing people we’re on our way to holy matrimony if I don’t have a ring,” Aella raised her left hand, wiggling her fingers.
Cassius shot her another panty-melting grin. “I’m working on that.”
“I bet you are,” she snorted.
“We can start talking about things like a timeline for you moving in, what we’d like our marriage to look like, and all that the next time we spend time together.”
“Yeah, my mom was asking me about a date for—” Aella paused after reaching for her purse. “Shit, I left my phone in the car. I’ll be right back. I had some stuff written in my notes that I wanted to talk to you about before she started making concrete plans. Because believe me, once she gets started, my mom does not stop.”
“I know the feeling,” Cassius chuckled. “I can grab it for you if you want.”
