Page 28 of Her Paramedic (Men in Uniforms #3)

S late stepped inside the building, holding a large crystal vase with three dozen red roses and two pastry boxes. He thanked the person leaving for holding the door for him and stopped at the front desk. The receptionist looked up at him with a raised brow before smiling.

“You’re going to make the rest of us jealous eventually,” Monique stated.

Slate chuckled. “Believe me, that isn’t my intention, but it is my intention that she always feels as special as she is.”

“I’m going to need you to let us clone you.” She paused, looking over to Talia’s station. “She went to her office a few minutes ago. I’ll take you back there.”

Slate followed her through the salon, nodding at a few stylists who smiled at him as he did. He knew their names from stories Talia told him about what happened when he sent her things, but he didn’t know their faces. He only put a face to Monique because she worked at the front desk.

She knocked on the door, and when Talia called them in, Monique stated, “Delivery.” And opened the door.

Talia looked up as he stepped inside the office, and Monique closed the door behind him, leaving them alone.

“Hey, baby. What are you doing here?” she asked, standing from behind the desk.

“I wasn’t missing your birthday, gorgeous,” he replied, handing her the vase and kissing her.

“We celebrated over the weekend.”

“No, we celebrated Valentine’s Day.”

Talia smelled the flowers before placing them on her desk. “You have to work tonight, though, don’t you?”

“I did, but I asked one of the PRNs to take the shift. I don’t go in until tomorrow night. I’m yours tonight.”

She smiled at him. “I like how that sounds. What’s in the box?”

“This one,” he told her, taking the smaller box on top. “Is for you, and these are for your employees,” he responded, lifting the other box.

Talia opened the box he handed her and smiled at the large cupcake, doing a little shimmy. “Oooh, red velvet. My favorite. It was also sweet of you to bring something for them.”

“I’d like to take you out tonight to celebrate.”

She gave him that beautiful smile. “I would like that, baby. My last appointment is in half an hour and should only take a little over an hour and a half.” She put the cupcake down, pulled her keys from her purse, took her house key off, and handed it to him. “You can go to my house.”

He took the key and passed her the cupcake box. If she finished in the next couple of hours, it would work perfectly for what he had planned, and now he’d be able to do a little extra.

“You know, they have a field day every time you send me something. I’m sure they won’t know how to act with you bringing them something,” Talia stated, and Slate chuckled.

“Monique did ask if I’d let them clone me.”

“Absolutely not. I forbid it.”

He laughed. “Trust me, they’d be disappointed if they did, because every version of me wants you.”

“Such a smooth talker.”

“One that speaks the truth,” he responded.

She smiled at him, teasingly shaking her head. “Come on. Let’s give the ladies their cupcakes so they can gush over you even more,” she responded with a playful eye roll.

Slate opened the office door, and as she passed by him, he refrained from smacking her on the ass. He had all night to do that. She took the box to the front desk before turning to the salon.

“Slate brought cupcakes for my birthday. They’re here if anyone wants one.”

“Aww,” a stylist stated. “Your hubby brought his side chicks cupcakes.”

The women laughed, and Talia raised a brow. “I need all of you to get a man.”

“Seriously, thank you for the cupcakes,” a different stylist stated.

“No problem,” Slate responded. He turned to Talia. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

He kissed her, and the women in the salon began to whistle and hoot. He chuckled while Talia stated, “They’re amused about the smallest things.” Before giving him another kiss.

“Ladies, have a great day,” Slate said before leaving. He slid into his car and headed to Talia’s house.

S late heard the front door close a few minutes after five and turned on the faucet.

He knew it would only be a few seconds before she followed the rose petals and candles into her en suite.

He added some essential oils and bubble bath to the bathtub and was proven correct when she appeared in the doorway.

“Baby, what’s all this?”

“This is me helping you get ready for tonight. Come here. Let me undress you.”

He undressed her, and when she stood naked before him, he couldn’t help but take her in.

Recall everything he’d done to her the previous weekend, things he was tempted to do then, but he knew they wouldn’t make it out of the house on time if he started.

He helped her into the bathtub and told her to relax.

Slate grabbed his toiletry bag and went to the hall bathroom to shower. He’d made a reservation for dinner, and they would need to leave by six-thirty to be on time. He planned a relaxed evening since she had to go to work the following morning.

After his shower, he dried off, wrapped a towel around his waist, and returned to the bedroom where he moisturized and slipped into a pair of boxers before exiting the bedroom to blow out all the candles he’d lit along the hallway, and put them away.

He’d bought them but had no need for them at his house, so he figured she’d like them.

He cleaned up the rose petal trail in the hall, so it was out of the way when they returned later that night.

Slate cleaned up the petals in Talia’s room and gave her more time to relax before he went and got her.

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T alia hadn’t been expecting to see Slate on her birthday.

To say she was surprised and excited was an understatement.

She hadn’t planned anything since she’d thought she’d celebrated with him the previous weekend, and their friend group was celebrating the following weekend.

It was sweet of him to bring her flowers and cupcakes to the salon.

She was even more surprised when she arrived home and saw the trail of rose petals and candles that started at the front door and led her into her en suite.

Talia shouldn’t have been surprised by his thoughtful actions.

She honestly had the best of both worlds because he treated her like a queen daily, regardless of where they were, and slutted her out in private.

It was the best relationship she’d been in.

She couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Talia enjoyed her soak. Her day hadn’t been stressful, but it was a nice way to end it and start the evening with her boyfriend. The bath was soothing, but after a while, she bathed. She didn’t know what he had planned and didn’t want to hold them up.

She had pulled the plug when Slate entered in a pair of boxers and grabbed a towel off the shelf.

He helped her out of the tub and dried her off before wrapping it around her.

He had her sit on the bed, chose one of the body creams she’d discovered was his favorite and rubbed it into her body.

Talia couldn’t remember the last time, or if there had been a time when someone she was dating had done this for her.

“Where are we going tonight, baby? What should I wear?” she asked because she wanted to be sure she dressed appropriately.

She watched him walk over to a garment bag on the back of the closet door. He pulled out a jade colored dress with thin straps. Talia knew her black faux fur half coat would go well with it. It was a gorgeous dress that would stop under her knees.

“That’s pretty, baby.”

“I thought you’d like it. I might have snooped the last time I was here to ensure the size was correct,” Slate informed her.

Talia smiled at him. “I’m going to retouch my hair and makeup, and then I’ll get dressed.”

She grabbed a pair of black panties and a matching strapless bra and put them on before returning to the bathroom. She sprayed her natural curls and styled them to frame her face, then did minimal makeup touch-ups.

When she returned to the bedroom, Slate was standing in a pair of black slacks and shoes. She unzipped the back of the dress and stepped into it as he pulled a matching button-up from the garment bag.

“Will you zip me up, babe?”

He zipped the dress for her, kissing her shoulder when he had.

She went to her closet to take out the heels and the faux fur coat she wanted to wear.

Then she transferred some items from her purse into a clutch for the night.

When they were both dressed, Talia pulled him over to the floor-length mirror against her wall to take a couple of pictures with her.

A Line call from Courtney cut their photoshoot short, and Talia smiled at the screen before answering.

“Hey, Courtney.”

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” they replied.

“Thank you,” she responded. She’d gotten their and her dad’s messages when she’d woken up that morning. Because of the time difference and each of them working, she hadn’t expected a call from them until the weekend, but Courtney always seemed to surprise them.

“Do you have plans for the evening?” Courtney asked.

“Slate is taking me out.”

“Oh, he is, is he? I thought you celebrated your birthday and Valentine’s Day at the same time with him.”

“I thought I did too, but he came into town today and surprised me,” Talia informed, looking at her boyfriend through the mirror.

“Look at three out of my five girls finding good men. Now, Nelda and I need to work on the youngest two, and we’ll be set.”

Talia laughed because she knew they were serious and would absolutely get with Journee and the twins’ grandmother to play matchmaker for them.

“Anyway, I won’t keep you. I have a class starting in a few minutes, but I wanted to call you. Your dad will probably do the same after his morning sessions. Tell Slate I said hi. I love you.”