I put my hand over my heart. “That makes me feel special.”
“If I told Anika she wouldn’t have taken me to Mexico, maybe the Jalisco Grill for half-priced drinks. She probably would’ve even splurged for guacamole made at the table.”
“I love when they prepare it fresh in front of you. It’s like dinner and a show.”
Danessa looked off toward the pool and I took a moment to admire her. I loved how relaxed she was in this space and with me. She had demanding clients and a ton of responsibility, so being able to get away even for twenty-four hours was important.
“What should we do now?’ she asked.
“I think we need music.”
Back inside, Danessa acting as DJ selected a song by a popular female rapper from the south. She gyrated and rolled her hips while singing word for word about being a bad bitch, with pussy wetter than Niagara Falls, and how she was prepared to ride dick like a BMX bike. I would’ve joined in, but her hips had me in a trance. However, when Alicia Keys’s “If I Ain’t Got You” came on we both sang horribly off-key in homage. If we were left in an empty room, she and I would find a way to have fun.We didn’t take ourselves too seriously, and Danessa would never make a snide remark about me acting my age.
“You need to stay hydrated.” I handed her a bottle of water.
Opening it, she downed the water in one long chug. “Have I told you I’m happy you’re here?”
“You may have mentioned it.”
Danessa paused the music. “No seriously, I’m happy you’re in Vegas. At first, I wasn’t, but now I am.”
“You weren’t happy to see me?” I half joked.
“Were you? There’s just so much stuff between us. You know.”
“Yeah.”
“And I was worried that being confronted with the past would ruin my memories of you. Cause I really value the time we spent together. So I feared seeing you again would somehow corrupt how I remembered us. Does that make sense?”
“Yes. There’s what happened and then there’s how you process what happened. And maybe my presence would reshape how you felt about the relationship.”
“Yeah, exactly that.” Other than the end, our relationship was amazing. Don’t get me wrong, we had fights, but we preferred to talk things through. Danessa was too important to me to allow hurt feelings to fester. So, when I did something that upset her, she’d tell me and vice versa. She continued, “I think we’re placed in the spaces we need to be. We could be anywhere tonight with anyone but we’re here together, and I think that’s kind of special.”
“Agreed. I know I feel lucky to have your attention.”
“You make it hard to ignore you.”
I stepped back instinctually, just enough to feel the pull between us stretch tight like a wire. Her eyes locked onto mine, soft and unreadable, then dropped to my mouth with such focus it made my breath hitch. The space between us sizzled, thick with the weight of every unsaid thing. We just stood there, close enough I could feel the heat radiate from her skin, close enough the scent of her perfume vanilla, coconut and something spicy wrapped around me like a dare.
Danessa tilted her head up, lips parted slightly, and my pulse hammered in my throat. My hand was near her waist, fingerstwitching as I resisted the urge to pull her in and end any doubt that it was her, then, now, and always. Instead, I leaned in slowly, deliberately, until our noses brushed and she could sense my lips ready to devour hers. “Danessa?—”
“We should go for a swim.”
It felt like I’d just been kicked in the face by a horse. “What?”
“A night swim it’ll be nice.”
I know I said I wasn’t interested in sex, but a kiss … I was kind of hopeful. “Okay, I’ll go change.”
Danessa reached for my hand stopping me. “Can you unzip me?”
“Of course.” Grabbing her waist, I spun her around. With a tap on her hip, I let her know I was done.
Danessa backed up toward the sliding doors and shrugged out of her dress. “I think we should swim au naturale.”
“Get the fuck out of here.” The silhouette of her curves caused my blood to race downward.
“Okay.” She pulled off the pasties covering her nipples and stepped out of her panties before jumping into the pool with a cannonball. “Come on in the water’s fine!” she yelled.
