I want You Deeper

Renee’s heart felt like it might pound right out of her chest.

She practiced her deep, slow stomach breathing-a technique she’d learned in broadcasting. Funny how she could go on camera in front of countless strangers, but just sitting in the back of a limo with Derek Hughes made her a nervous wreck.

“Where are we going?” she asked, staring out the window at passing restaurants and shops. They were heading toward a popular shopping area, but she hadn’t exactly grown up in the big city. The suburbs were as good as it would get unless they wanted to take a long drive. There were no extremely fancy restaurants within a two-hundred-mile radius that she knew of. Not billionaire-level fancy, anyway.

They pulled up in front of a warehouse she didn’t even know existed. It was in an old, run-down business park, set far back from the main road. She assumed some sort of manufacturing operations happened out of here, but there was no signage, so she figured it had been abandoned.

Now she was intrigued.

“Trust me,” Derek said, taking her hand once the chauffeur had helped them out and closed the car door behind them.

Renee nodded. She trusted him fully. The question was, did he trust her?

As they started toward the only entrance she could see, she realized how much her own legs were trembling. She was surprised those legs would even hold her up, let alone carry her forward. He’d said he was taking her to dinner. In fact, “just dinner” had been his exact words. Problem was, with this level of nervousness, she wasn’t sure she could choke down a single bite.

As they entered the building, it wasn’t at all what she expected. Inside a massive warehouse, she’d assume she’d find a big, open space with nothing but concrete and fluorescent lights blaring down on it all. Maybe some poles running from the floor to the ceiling and shelving that held inventory.

The floors were concrete, to be sure, but there was no fluorescent lighting. Not any that was on, anyway. The only light was from the far end of the warehouse, and it flickered, letting her know it was candlelight.

She looked over at Derek, eyes wide. He smiled and gestured ahead of them. She assumed that to mean start walking, and that was exactly what she did. She moved toward the light, with him following just behind her. As she drew closer, she saw it was a table, covered in a cloth and holding a big vase of flowers in the center. There were two silver domes, one on either side, and they looked like the type of silver covers you’d see when you ordered room service in a hotel.

There was also a chair on each side of the table. This, she realized as she continued walking, was the dinner he’d promised.

“Where are we?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“My business associate’s buddy bought the building. He’s going to turn it into a distribution center. He said we could borrow it for the evening.”

Who thought to do this? Most men would just make reservations at some fancy restaurant, even if it meant a long drive. Or maybe have the dinner at his hotel or even her own house. Derek had arranged all this.

It said everything about his feelings for her.

“I know it’s not nearly as good as anything you’d make, but my colleague also helped me track down the best cooking in the area. This meal was created by a chef at one of the nicest hotels in town. If you were going to open a restaurant, this would be the location for it.”

He held out her chair and she took a seat, then allowed him to push it forward. “I’m not really interested in running a restaurant,” she said. “I think I want to cook for smaller groups.”

“Like on a ship?” He gave her a teasing smile as he sat down, but the question hit close to home.

She took a deep breath and gave an answer. “I want to travel, but not for work,” she blurted. “I need a home base.”

“I do, too. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love being on the sea. But I realized over the two weeks I was out there that it’s better when it’s something you do short-term.”

Renee laughed. “Like being on vacation. It’s great for a week or two, but after that, you just want to go home?”

“There’s a reason it feels good returning home after vacation,” he agreed. “I just need to work on making my house feel more like home. Ready?” He placed his hand on the little handle on top of the silver cover. She looked down and put her hand on her own handle. Time to reveal what was beneath the cover. “I thought of all the meals you served on the boat and realized there was one thing we never had.” He looked at her, his eyes seeming to glimmer in the candlelight. “Pasta.”

It was a delicious chicken pasta dish in a creamy sauce. It had small tomatoes mixed in and parmesan cheese on top.

“Caprese chicken pasta,” he explained. “We never had pasta on the boat because I forgot to buy noodles. I figured it was the one meal I could impress you with.”

Renee glowed inside, and it wasn’t from the food itself. It was from the way he kept using terms that indicated he was trying to impress her.

“I’m duly impressed.” She reached for her fork and napkin, opening the napkin onto her lap. “How did you get all this food here? Are we alone?”

“It was dropped off about ten minutes ago, so I hope it’s still warm. The chef assured me it would be.”

Digging her fork in, Renee scooped up a generous forkful and slid it into her mouth. It was the perfect temperature-not so hot that it burned her mouth but not so lukewarm that it wasn’t enjoyable. But she had a feeling even if it had been cold, it would have been one of the most delicious things she’d ever tasted.

She closed her eyes and savored the flavors. Italian seasoning, garlic powder, some balsamic vinegar. She could definitely recreate a version of this at home, but it would never be this delicious.

“This is the type of chef I’d love to learn to be someday,” she said. “This is amazing.”

“Is that what you plan to do? Or are you thinking about going back to journalism?”

“Maybe a little bit of both.” She went in for another bite, quickly speaking so she could enjoy another taste. “I’ve been doing some freelance writing. I thought I could write about my journey into the culinary arts. Hopefully, someday I can travel and write about that, too. I just want to do it on my terms, not some TV station’s or publication’s.”

He nodded. “There’s nothing like being your own boss. I’ve never worked for a boss, though. I guess my customers are my bosses, but even that isn’t easy sometimes. That part of escaping was nice.”

She watched him as he took a big bite and chewed. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she was afraid to hear the answer. She had to ask eventually, so she decided to plunge in.

“Where do you stand with that? Do you plan to go back out on the water?”

He shook his head. “Maybe on vacations, but not permanently. I’m back to running my business. I can do that from anywhere, including here. I’ll be working out of my hotel room tomorrow, in fact.” “But Silicon Valley’s easier,” she said.

She’d thought about that quite a bit over the past few days. Her time in San Francisco had been okay, but she’d never planned to settle there. Silicon Valley was not San Francisco, though. She’d spent enough time in the town to know she liked it, but she wasn’t sure about spending the rest of her life there.

Not that he’d asked.

“Not at all. My next move depends.”

His words pulled Renee from his thoughts. His next move depended?

“On what?” she dared to ask.

“On you.”

Suddenly, her appetite for this delicious meal completely vanished. Her heart picked up its pace again, and she trembled all over. His next move depended on her. She could sit here and dissect it for hours, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to process it.

“I don’t want to make any assumptions.” He stared at her. “But I want to be with you. Wherever that requires. If you want to be with me, I’ll make it happen.”

Her entire body froze. As much as she willed herself to speak, words wouldn’t come out. She didn’t want him to mistake her hesitation for a rejection, though, so she forced out the first word that came to mind.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“I’ll move.”

He blinked in surprise, and for a terrifying second, she worried she’d been the one who’d made assumptions. He said he’d make it happen, right? Was moving to be with him too forward?

“It’s not like I’m moving to a completely different area,” she rushed to add. “I lived in Northern California until just a few weeks ago. I can live anywhere.”

“We can live anywhere.”

She breathed a little easier once he’d spoken those words. He did want to be with her. She hadn’t made assumptions.

“I just need to experience life.” She set her fork down, feeling overfull even after a few bites. She chalked it up to nerves. “I need subject matter to write about. Sitting in my parents’ house made me realize that I can’t live somewhere like this and thrive as a writer. And chef.”

“I do know some really good chefs in the Bay Area.” He set his own fork down, but he’d polished off the entire meal somehow in the time they’d been talking. “You could even take classes if you’d like.”

She’d been looking up culinary school, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to make that much of a commitment. She’d have to move somewhere since there was no culinary school near this town. She’d been stalled on the idea, but the thought of moving to California, where there was no doubt plenty of options, suddenly seemed all too appealing.

“I’ve fallen in love with you,” Derek blurted. “It happened halfway through the trip. That’s why I was so hurt when I found out you’d lied. But

life without you is miserable. I just miss you all the time.”

Renee nodded. “I’ve felt the same. Like something was missing.”

“Yes!” He smiled, sitting back in his seat. “Are you ready for what’s next?”

Frowning, Renee looked around. She wasn’t sure if he meant overall in their relationship or on this particular evening. She decided to go for a neutral answer and see where he took it.

“Let’s do it.”

She winced. Was that too casual? This was a serious moment. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin this perfect moment.

He pulled his phone from his suit jacket pocket and tapped around on the screen. What was he doing? It felt like he was arranging something.

Suddenly, the sweet strains of a movie song came out of the speaker of his phone. It sounded better than she would have expected. She thought about making a teasing comment about the fact that he’d planned all this, but he didn’t arrange to have Bluetooth speakers stationed around the room. She decided to keep that to herself.

He stood and held out his hand. That was when she realized what he’d meant by what was next. This was next. They were going to slow dance to this music.

How long had it been since she’d slow danced? She was pretty sure it was at a wedding at some point. But the last time she’d slow danced with a man she cared about had probably been senior prom. Her legs felt a little wobbly again-or maybe they’d never stopped shaking.

As soon as he put his arms around her and pulled her toward him, the shaking stopped. She felt safe, protected. There was no reason to be scared here. She had him on her side.

“I love you, too,” she whispered as she looked up at him. “I feel like my life began when you walked into that restaurant.”

“When you thought I was just another pain in the rear guest, and I turned out to be a missing billionaire?”

Renee winced. “You got me on that. If I hadn’t met you, I would have continued on my path without ever questioning where I was going. Now I realize the possibilities are endless.”

He pulled her closer so that her head was pressed against his chest, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “You know what I realize? I realize that it doesn’t matter what I do, as long as you’re by my side.” He leaned back to look at her and smiled. “Too cheesy?”

Yes, it was, but somehow with him, cheesy was a good thing. “You make cheesy cool.”

“I think maybe I’m talking a little too much.”

He demonstrated what he wanted to do instead, lowering his mouth to capture hers in a long, heartfelt kiss. Once again, her legs felt wobbly, but his arms around her let her know she was going to be just fine.