Old Flame: Dante’s Story by Sam Mariano
33
Colette
After a gorgeous dayspent sailing the clear blue sea on a chartered yacht, the sun is down and we have made our way back to the hotel to rest up before the big day tomorrow. We already had a delicious dinner prepared for us by the chef on the staffed yacht, but when Dante comes out to join me on our private balcony overlooking the water, he brings a plate of fresh fruit.
“Mm, my hero,” I tell him, snuggling back against him and taking the plate.
“If my bride is hungry, it’s my job to make sure she has a snack,” he tells me, wrapping his arms around me snugly.
Biting into a juicy strawberry, I sigh with contentment and rest my head back against his shoulder. “This is nice. I’m glad we came a few days early. I haven’t been on a vacation in forever.”
“Your lawyer didn’t take you anywhere?” he asks, but without any heat.
I shake my head and take another bite of my strawberry. “Wouldn’t have been the same without you. You’re my favorite travel buddy.”
Squeezing my side and wordlessly threatening to tickle me, he says, “Buddy. That’s worse than boyfriend.”
“My favorite travel person,” I offer, tipping my head back to look up at his beautiful face. “How’s that?”
He bends to kiss my forehead. “Better.”
“Greece is as beautiful as I remember it,” I tell him, looking back out at the ocean of blue under the dark evening sky.
His arms tighten around me. “Yes, it is.”
Inside our room, a beautiful white dress hangs on the outside of the closet door. Tomorrow, I’ll wear it on the beach at sunset, at my wedding. It won’t be quite the way I always imagined it—none of our loved ones will be there, not even my future husband’s family. It will be us, an officiant, and a photographer—no one else. It still feels more like my perfect wedding than the one I planned with Declan, because this one has the right groom. The night before my wedding to Declan, I couldn’t stop looking at my bridal gown and obsessing over the details, but tonight, everything else is an afterthought. The details don’t matter, only the end result. After the longest of roads, tomorrow I will finally marry the man my heart belongs to.
“I have a wedding gift for you,” I tell him, grabbing another delicious strawberry. “Do you want it tonight, or would you rather wait until after we’re actually married?”
“You didn’t have to get me a gift,” he states, rather surly for a man about to receive a present. “Spending the rest of your life with me is your gift. It’s good for birthdays,” he says, kissing the ball of my shoulder, “Christmases,” he adds, kissing his way in toward my neck. “All the gift-giving holidays.”
“That doesn’t seem fair. You get me gifts all the time,” I tell him.
“You like getting gifts. I don’t.”
Sighing, I shoot him a grumpy look back over my shoulder. “Well, you’ll like this one, you big ingrate. Now, do you want it tonight or tomorrow?”
“Up to you.”
I shake my head. “You’re such a pain in the ass.”
“So are you,” he informs me.
“I’m your favorite pain in the ass,” I tell him, leaning back to shoot him a cheeky grin.
“My very favorite,” he agrees.
I smile and pucker up my lips for a kiss. He leans down and gives me one, so I murmur against his lips, “Don’t worry, you’re my favorite, too.”
“I wasn’t worried,” he states.
“Ugh.” I grab a pillow from the couch we’re lounging on and hit him with it. “Forget it, no gift for you, you arrogant man.”
“Oh, come on,” he says, taking the pillow from me and tossing it to the other end of the cushion. “I’m looking forward to it now.”
“You are not,” I say, sullenly.
“I am. I’ve never been so excited in my life,” he insists.
“Don’t you lie to me, Dante Morelli.”
“I would never,” he promises.
“Well, it’s too late now,” I tell him, cheekily. “No present for you.”
He lets me finish my strawberry, but as soon as I deposit the top on the plate, he snatches it out of my hand.
“Hey,” I object, as he sits up and forces me forward. “You’re my comfy cushion, what are you doing?”
“Taking my present.” He puts the fruit plate down and lifts me into his arms. I wrap my arm around his neck and he carries me inside, past the couch and Daisy’s kitten bed where she’s curled up, soundly sleeping. He carries me all the way to the bedroom, but before he can toss me down like he usually does, I lock my arms around his neck.
“Gently, please.”
He cocks an eyebrow at my unnatural request, but puts me down softly anyway.
As soon as he climbs on top of me, my hands slide under the crisp white fabric of his T-shirt. “I’ll never get used to you in casual wear,” I tell him.
Smirking and nodding at the bikini top I’m wearing, he says, “Funny, your casual wear is my favorite part of vacations.”
Inexpertly, I yank his shirt off and fling it off the bed. Biting down on my lip, I look over his sun-bronzed skin, running my fingers over the chiseled muscles along his abdomen. “God, you’re hot.”
That startles a little laugh out of him. “Oh yeah?” he asks, leadingly, lowering himself to eliminate the distance between our bodies.
“That’s my opinion, anyway,” I tease, snaking my hands down between us and unbuttoning his charcoal grey shorts.
“Your opinion’s the only one that counts,” he assures me.
Sighing with contentment, I bring my arms up and wrap them around his neck, looking into his dark eyes. “I love you.”
His lips curve up only a little, but I can see his happiness in his eyes. My heart fills up because I know I’m the one who put it there.
His gaze leaves mine and rakes over my body beneath him, then he unfastens my sarong and spreads it open. Next, he slides his hands down the front of my bathing suit bottoms. I gasp and hold onto him tighter, but all of a sudden, I can’t keep in my surprise any longer.
“Wait,” I tell him, closing my legs on his hand. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to wait. I want to give you your wedding present now.”
Clearly unimpressed with my timing, he asks, “Right now?”
“Right this very moment.”
“You want me to let you off the bed, right now?”
I shake my head, barely biting back a grin. “I don’t have to get off the bed, I have it right here with me.”
His eyes narrow with suspicion. “Must be a tiny gift.”
I nod my agreement. “Very tiny.”
“Where is this tiny, mysterious present?”
Silently thanking him for the perfect set-up, I grab his big hand and flatten it over my tummy.
His gaze sharpens, his playfulness dissipating. “You’re pregnant?”
Nodding my head, I tell him, “You’re gonna be a daddy.”
“I’m gonna be a daddy,” he repeats, in mild disbelief.
Biting down on my bottom lip, I nod more vigorously. “Are you… excited?”
For a moment that drags on long enough for me to get nervous, he doesn’t respond. I can’t quite read his face, so I’m not sure what he’s feeling. A couple more seconds pass and I start to panic, wondering if his messed up childhood has shaped him differently, given him a skewed view of what it means to become a father. I know he wanted to get me pregnant, but the panic clouds my thinking and I can’t be sure if it was because he felt ready to start a family, or just because he wanted to mark me.
Before I have time to work myself up into a full-blown panic, Dante envelops me in the tightest hug he’s ever given me. “We’re gonna have a baby.”
Relief sets in and reignites my excitement. Squeezing him back, I tell him, “We sure are.”
“I can’t believe it.” Pulling back, he asks, “How long have you known?”
“Not long,” I assure him. “I held onto it instead of telling you right away because I wanted it to be special. I figured holed up in a honeymoon cave in Greece, the night before we get married? Probably the right time.”
“Christ. You’ve outdone me; this is a better gift than a kitten.”
Grinning up at him, I lightly shove him in his well-muscled chest. “Hey, Daisy is delightful.”
Grabbing the back of my neck, he kisses me and murmurs against my lips, “You’re delightful.”
I can’t resist teasing him just one more time, so I break away from the kiss and ask innocently, “Best girlfriend ever?”
Dante rolls his eyes at me. “Best wife ever.”
