The touch of her soft porcelain skin, those wide doe eyes that I get lost in every time I look at her, the way she bites her lip every time she looks at me and how she can walk around the house in jeans and a baggy sweater, with no makeup and her hair piled messily on top of her head and still drive me crazy.
She's got this inner strength that somehow calms all the chaos around me and is the first woman who has made me feel like this in a long time. But as much as I need to be with her, I'm not ready to move on, and she needs someone who can love her the way she deserves.
For now, I’ll settle for keeping her out of the arms of her douche bag ex-boyfriend and make sure she finally realises how a man should treat her.
I take a deep breath, taking in the scent of the pink rose and lily bouquet in my hand and ring the doorbell.
There’s a small commotion inside as Mia realises that I’m not in the house and then slowly, the door opens and she’s standing in the entrance.
“You look incredible.” I gasp as a vision in pink appears in the doorway. I knew that dress would look great on her when I picked it out but all I can think about right now is carrying her to my room, ripping it off her and devouring every single inch of her body. As she stands in front of me, looking me up and down, she swallows hard and accepts the flowers I present to her. Sniffing them before passing them back to Lexi.
“Are you ready to go?” I hold out a hand for her, letting her intertwine her fingers with mine. Leading her to the limousine, I open the door and place my hand on the small of her back as she steps in and adjusts her dress once she’s sitting. I take a seat beside her on the wrap-around leather sofa, gently closing the door behind her, and motioning for the driver to go before raising the tinted privacy screen.
I take the bottle of champagne from the bucket of ice beside her and pour two glasses. One for me, the other I pass to her.
“You didn’t have to do all this, you know?” She’s shaking with nerves as she takes hold of the glass.
“If I took you on a date and didn’t treat you the way you deserve, you’d never let me live it down.” I joke, trying to break the tension between us as I spy a small grin light up her face.
As we leave the quiet, and the smell of the countryside behind us, the rush of traffic outside gets louder and the bright lights of the city streets flood through the tinted windows illuminating her with a halo of light as she looks out of the window in silence.
“Thank you for coming with me tonight.” She twists in her seat so she’s facing me, her eyes glistening.
“That’s what friends are for, right?” Friends, maybe we’re kidding ourselves by believing that we can be friends. All I know is, I’d rather be spending time with her than sitting in my study watching fight tapes.
“Yeah, friends.” She speaks slowly, stretching out her words. “I’m sorry about the other morning. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
A sharp intake of air fills my lungs, “Don’t worry about it.” Wide eyes stare at me, making me exhale slowly. “You could never upset me.”
“But you slammed the door. You were angry with me?”
“No, I was angry with myself for letting it go that far.” I squeeze the hand resting on the satin covering her thigh. “You deserve the world and I wish I could be the one to give it to you but… I’m sorry.”
“You have no reason to be sorry. We both just got swept up in the moment, that’s all.” The limo jerks as we round the corner, sliding her closer to me. “I should warn you. My mum is going to be here tonight, and she is not going to be happy that we came here together.”
“Don’t worry about it, women love me.” Cheekily, I wink at her. “Want to do something stupid?”
Confusion is etched across her face, I press the button beside me, opening the automatic sunroof with a whirring sound that makes my ears ring. I raise myself to my feet, poking my head out to feel the cold rush of air against my face as I pull Mia reluctantly to her feet so she can join me.
I watch as she glances around, taking in the city sights. She’s laughing like a teenager on her way to prom and I’ve never seen her so happy. We stand, waving at the people passing as we drive by until Mia gets cold and dips back down into back of the car.
As I close the roof and we settle back into our seats, she lays her head on my shoulder, listening to the radio for the rest of the journey.
A short time later, the driver’s partition lowers, and he informs us that we’re almost there. I look out of the window to see the Grand Hotel up ahead and the queue of expensive cars and limousines waiting to park in front.
“Looks like it might take a while.” I smile as I pour us both another drink.
Three cars are ahead of us in the queue as we finally reach one of the city's finest listed buildings, the iconic art-deco styled hotel and former bank. Standing proudly at the top of the hill, it rises out of the concrete jungle like a formidable castle made of steel and stone.
As the car pulls up outside the large glass doors emblazoned with the angular gold
