Page 44 of Taking A Chance
“Hey, baby girl, did you enjoy that?” she greets me with a gigantic smile that makes my heart soar. As always. “I think we better go home and get you cleaned up.”
I wipe the worst of the mess up with baby wipes I have tucked in the pushchair's hood. Then stand to address Cade.
“Will you meet me for dinner tonight? We still have a lot to talk about,” he asks before I even have a chance to speak.
“Mhm!” I reply with a nod. Suddenly, the thought of us going on what I can only describe as a date has me feeling heady and giddy all at once.
“I’ll come and pick you up about seven?”
“Can we make it a little later so I can bath Viktoria and put her to bed? It’s important to me. It’s the one thing I miss the most when I’m not here.”
“Of course.”
“Why don’t I meet you outside your hotel at eight? There’s a really nice Italian restaurant a short walk away. If I remember rightly, you do like Italian.”
“Perfect,” he replies with a smile. “Why don’t you walk back to the hotel with me now and I can get the concierge to call you a cab?”
“It’s fine, it’s not that far, we can walk.”
“Petra, please let me call you a cab. I know it must exhaust you with the travelling back and forth. Besides, then I’ll know you’ve both got home safely.”
“Okay, I guess I am a little tired.” My heightened emotions over the past few hours haven’t helped with my fatigue.
We walk in silence but it’s a comfortable one, both of us casting the occasional glance at each other, always accompanied with a smile. It’s surreal. We both are acting like two high school kids, silently flirting with each other. It’s kind of cute and does nothing to dampen my giddiness.
Cade disappears into the hotel to speak to the concierge, so I check on Viktoria while I wait for his return. She’s fast asleep, which is a surprise after the sugary treat that I feared might send her into hyper mode. Then again, most of it did go down her clothing and not actually in her mouth.
“It should be here in two or three minutes,” Cade announces when he comes to stand beside me. “Damn, she’s so beautiful,” he sighs as he watches his daughter sleeping. He turns to look at me. “Just like her mamma.”
Holy Jesus, I’m sure my heart skips a beat before doing a triple somersault landing firmly on its knees. If a heart had knees, that is. I want to say something but other than, fuck me gorgeous, loud and proud, in the middle of a relatively busy street, I’m lost for words. So, I change the subject.
“I better get Viktoria out of the pushchair before the cab arrives.”
“May I?” he asks, gesturing to our sleeping child.
“Yes, of course.” I bend and unbuckle the safety straps that hold Viktoria in, then step back, giving Cade access. With his enormous hands and strength, he lifts her effortlessly and with such gentleness that she barely stirs. Watching as he cradles her in his powerful arms, her head resting on his shoulder as she sleeps, brings a lump to my throat. Cade’s need and want to protect her is screamingly obvious. His feelings for her are crystal clear, with how his eyes shine whenever his gaze falls upon her. It’s astounding how quickly he has fallen in love with her, making me wonder why I ever doubted him.
Just as I’m collapsing the pushchair, a car pulls up. The driver jumps out and quickly walks to us, takes the pushchair from me and loads it into the boot.
“You get in and I’ll hand her to you.”
When Viktoria is firmly snuggled in my arms, Cade leans in and places a soft kiss on to her forehead and her lips curl into a gentle smile. Coincidence or an unexplainable bond, I’m not sure, but it leaves me wondering if she’s actually feigning sleep.
“I’ll see you at eight.” He places a firm, hard kiss on my lips before stepping back and closing the door. Slightly stupefied, my fingertips go to where his lips had been, the essence of him still lingering.
I mumble the address to the driver as he pulls away from the curb.
Wow! That was the type of kiss that holds a promise of more to come. I bloody hope so.
It’s six minutes past eight, and I’m thinking that she’s not going to turn up. Was the progress that we seem to have made earlier, just my wishful thinking? Has Petra re-enforced her wall of protection in the few hours since I saw her? The sinking sensation in my gut lifts when a cab pulls up to the curb side and I catch sight of her sat in the back. I step forward to open the door at the same time as she hands over a few euros to the driver in the front.
When I hold out my hand, she takes it. The softness of her skin is a total contrast to the powerful electric sensation that comes from her touch. The energy races to every single part of my body. Every nerve, every muscle, every goddamn sensor, sending them into high alert. No woman has ever had this effect, caused this kind of reaction, had this control over me. It scares the hell out of me, but it also makes me realise she is unequivocally the one.
“Hi,” is all I say as she steps out of the cab. I allow myself time to take in the full sight of her, and I can only describe it as unsurpassable. Nothing, no one, not even the most spectacular sunset on a Florida beach, could compare to the utter vision that stands before me.
The little black dress she has on is much, much more than a little black dress. The fabric skims her body like a second skin. Although she has undoubtedly lost some weight, she still has that tantalising curve that goes in from under her breast, coming out at the hip. The perfect hourglass. The criss-cross of thin straps that run over the shoulders, neckline and across the crest of her breasts, gives it a peek-a-boo effect. Now you see skin, now you don’t. Classy, demure, discreet sexiness at its best, which my dick agrees with whole-heartedly as it jumps about in my dress pants.
“Stunning, you look truly stunning.” I bring her further to me until we’re nearly touching. Leaning forward, I kiss both her cheeks, hovering after the second and whispering softly into her ear, “You take my breath away.”