A Forbidden Love (The Forbidden Series) (15 page)

“Very,
now let’s eat! I haven’t had King’s Chicken in forever.”

He
took a step back through the door, and grabbed our drinks and another bag from
the hallway. He pulled out a mini chocolate cake, with white frosting and
chocolate chips.

“I
knew you’d appreciate this, no girl can resist chocolate.”

“How
thoughtful!
Thanks, babe.”

After
dinner I decided to go and take a nice hot shower.

“Where
are you going, Ice?”

“To
wash my ass, is that okay?”

“For,
what?”

“I’m
sure you’d like to taste something sweet, too, right?

“Damn
right.”

I
took a brief shower and ran back to his room to find him missing.

“Al?
Where’d you go?”

I
had no idea where he went, but I ransacked his closet and pulled another white
oversized t-shirt off the hanger and lay back in his bed. The shirt had a
saying on the front in bold blue letters, ‘If we get caught, it’s
all your
fault’.

“Miss,
me?” he said while peering around the open door.

“Where
the hell did you go that fast and why do you still have clothes on?”

“I
got you something, close your eyes and open your hands.” He placed a heavy
glass object in between my palms.

“Now
open
em
’.”

“They’re
beautiful!”

He
had snuck off and brought me back a pretty purple vase full of white orchids.

“Since
I never gave you a proper goodbye, I felt you deserved these.”

My
heart pounded so heavily in my chest after hearing those sweet words that I
swore it was going to explode. He stood there anticipating my response, but I
was too choked up to give him one.

Placing
the orchids on the floor, I ran and jumped into his arms, giving him the most
passionate kiss we’ve ever shared. I pulled back his hood and ran my fingers
through his chocolate brown hair.

“Come
lay down with me.”

It
began to rain outside and I watched as it left tiny droplets on the window
screen. Embracing his warm body against mine, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
Something must have happened while I was sleeping because once I woke up the
next morning Al was staring at me funny.

“Hey
Ice, who’s Lance?”

“Why?”
I said wiping the sleep out of my eyes.

“He
kept calling your phone last night, but you were sleeping so peacefully that I
didn’t bother to wake you.”

“He’s
the guy from the club I told you about.”

“Well,
now that I’m back, he needs to stop calling you.”

“I
haven’t heard from him in weeks, so I have no clue what he wanted.”

“The
same thing I want--you.”

“I’m
gonna, go Al. I don’t want to get stranded out here.” I didn’t really have to
go, but Lance called for a reason and I needed to know why.

“Why?
Stay maybe I can show you how to fix some shit.”

“That
sounds great but, I don’t have anything else to wear. I’ll come back later, I
promise.”

As
soon as I closed the door to my Malibu, I returned Lance’s call.

“Hey
Alecia, you must have been sleeping last night, I’m sorry for calling you so
much.”

“Well,
what do you want Lance?”

“Just
to say I’m sorry, my distance had absolutely nothing to do with you. I lost the
case I had that day, and that was the first time I’ve ever lost one in my whole
professional career. It was a sexual assault case and the plaintiff didn’t even
show up, I guess she was afraid to testify. I didn’t want to take my
frustrations out on you, so I figured once I cooled off we could pick up where
we left off.”

“Lance,
I can’t.”

“Why,
things were going so good before this.”

“I
know but-.”

“Is
there someone else?”

“There
was always someone else Lance, he just wasn’t around at the time.”

“I
see, well I know there was definitely something magical happening between us
and I still want to see how things turn out.”

“Lance,
I-”

“Just
give me one more chance Alecia, please. Let me take you on one last date and if
you feel absolutely nothing for me, I’ll leave you alone for good.”

“I
guess we can go out.
When?”

“Tonight,
I’ll pick you up after work around 5:30.”

“Tonight?
That’s so, soon.”

“I
know, but I only have one shot at this and things have to be perfect!”

“Okay,
I’ll be home.”

Chapter 12
:
Last Chance

The
weather was still terrible; the skyline became darker and darker as it became
later in the day. By the time Lance was supposed to pick me up, the torrential
downpours kicked in.

I
french
braided one side of my hair and brushed the
rest of my locks into a neat bun above the nape of my neck. The rain is not
kind to my hair when it’s out. Natural curls come with natural frizz.

My
phone rang and there was that sleeping pic of Al and me on my screen.

“Hey,
babe.”

“Ice,
I’ve been thinking, why don’t you stay the whole weekend with me, instead of
just the night?

“Al,
you know I can’t do that, I have a final on Monday, and I have to work. You’re
a lot further away from both than when
I’m
at home.”

“Alright,
it was just a thought. I’ll see you later then, bye”

“Bye.”

Lance
pulled into the parking lot while I was on the phone with Allan and Lacey let
him into the apartment.

“Sorry,
I was on the phone.”

“It’s
alright, it’s pouring out and I wanted to bring my umbrella in, so I could try
and keep you dry.”

“That’s
very sweet of you, but I have tons of umbrellas in the closet.”

“I’m
sure, but now you won’t have to worry about lugging it around with you.”

He
opened his black over-sized umbrella and escorted me to the passenger side
door. I slipped inside the yellow wonder and to my amazement not a drop of rain
touched my skin.

“Where
are we going?”

“To
The Cheesecake Factory, have you ever been?”

“No,
but I do love chocolate cheesecake.”

“They
have the best cheesecake you’ll ever eat in your entire life.”

“Well,
hurry up and get me there!”

There
was a parking garage located right next to the restaurant, and we found a great
spot on the first floor. Placing his arm around me, we walked through the
double doors. The place was packed; and there was a line of people waiting to
be seated.

He
approached the hostess and said, “Doherty, party of two.”

“Right
this way Mr. Doherty, your table is ready.” The tall brunette said, after
scanning the seating chart in front of her.

“Wow,
right this way ‘Mr. Doherty’ must be nice. What are you like a VIP here?”

“No,
I made a reservation over a week ago in hopes, you’d be accompanying me.”

“I
guess it’s a good thing I showed up, or you would be eating alone.”

“No,
I would have just brought my kid instead.”

“Wait,
you have a kid?”

“Yes,
a son named Junior.”

“Well
if he grows up to be anything like you, he’ll make a woman very happy.”

“Thanks.
So, enough about me, we need to catch up.”

The
waitress interrupted our conversation to take our order.

“What
can I get for you two today?”

“Fried
Buffalo Rolls and a bottle of Chardonnay,” he said.

We
talked for hours upon hours. Everything he ordered tasted delicious and I
couldn’t wait to try the infamous cheesecake he was raving about. I ordered the
triple chocolate cheesecake and I swear every crumb of it melted in my mouth.

“That
was the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten!”

“I
told you so.”

The
waitress came over with his change and he handed her the parking garage ticket
to be stamped.

“What’s
that for?”

“For
discounted parking, since we had dinner here they offer a flat rate when you
park next door.”

“Well
that’s awesome.”

Lance
paid the teller fifteen dollars to let us drive underneath that annoying yellow
and black mechanical arm.

“Did
you enjoy yourself?”

“Of
course, I can really let my hair down with you.”

He
laughed, “Gee that sounds awfully familiar.”

“Does
it? I heard it once from this awesome lawyer, but I’m not quite sure what
happened to him.”

“I
see well maybe he’ll make it up to you, by taking you out on part two of your
date tonight.”

“What’s
part two?”

“You’ll
see.”

I
was pretty anxious and excited all at the same time. Lance always had a way of
surprising me and I loved his sense of adventure.

“We’re
here.”

“Really
Lance, a hotel?
Well this is very romantic.”

“It’s
not just a hotel, and that’s not where I’m taking you, yet.” He grabbed my hand
and led me onto a long wooden pier, with thin railings on each side of it. The
rain had ceased just before we arrived, but the smell still lingered in the air
and it was very refreshing.

The
cool breeze blew through my hair as we walked along the pier. He led me down a
shorter ramp towards a collection of docked sailboats. There was one in
particular that I couldn’t quit staring at. It had two huge sails with strings
of white luminescent lights tracing the outside.

“It’s
so beautiful; I’ve never seen one of these up close before.”

“Well,
you’re about to see it a lot closer.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
rented it for a few hours. We can’t physically drive the boat, but I hired
someone to take us out on the harbor.”

“Lance,
you didn’t have to do this! This must have cost a fortune.”

“When
I’m with you Alecia, money is the least of my concerns. I enjoy seeing the
sparkle in your eyes, and the permanent smile you wear every time I’m around
you.”

I
could see the tears start to form in his eyes, he never shed any, but the
glossiness remained. Lance had fallen in love with me.
 

“Kiss
me, Alecia,” he said, while grabbing the back of my head and slipping his
tongue into my mouth. I’ve never seen him be aggressive before, but I kind of
liked it. 

An
old gray haired man escorted us onto the boat.
“Y’all sure are a lovely
lookin
’ bunch, follow me.”

We
walked across a small platform that connected us from the pier to the inside of
the boat.

“Close
your eyes, and take my hand.”

“Why?”

“Just
trust me.” He guided me for a short walk along the boats deck.

“Watch
your step. Now, uncover your eyes.”

We
were on the lower deck of the boat. The wooden floors looked so smooth and
glossy that I was afraid I’d slip on them. There were two metal rod’s bolted to
the middle of the floor supporting the deck above, a large round booth with
plush seat cushions built right in, and a wooden table that was also bolted to
the floor. On the table sat two small candles and a huge round basket.

“What’s
in the basket?”

“Open
it and find out.”

Inside
was
a long black velvet box, a small tray of dark
chocolate covered strawberries, and a bottle of champagne.

He
grabbed the velvet box out of my hand.