Page 34 of Dark Secret

“Perfect,” he breathed as he inhaled my perfume. “God, I do love that scent, what is it?”

“Just something my mother found for me when I was a teenager. Are you ready to go?” I looked at him. He was in a fresh suit, charcoal gray with very faint black pinstripes. Beneath it he wore a black silk shirt and a tie that matched his suit. “You look very nice.”

“So do you, babe. I’m ready if you are.” He took me hand, kissed my knuckles softly, and led me from the apartment.

He drove us out of North Myrtle Beach and into Myrtle Beach, the commercialized side of the Grand Strand, where the boardwalk stretched along the beach for miles, ice cream parlors and novelty shops lined the streets on both sides, and families crowded the streets as they rushed from one attraction to the next, enjoying their vacation. Before long he pulled into a very nice looking restaurant and took me inside. The place was elegant with a lot of black and white, the main colors for the décor. It wasn’t too busy, but each table was arranged to give some privacy to the clients. We were in a corner that was very private, and a candle lit the area around our table.

“Oh, this looks nice.” I sat and took the menu the waiter gave me.

“I hope so. It comes highly recommended.” Dylan looked off to the left where the glass panes looked out on a very high resort and smiled. There was something secretly pleased about that smile, and it made me wonder. He didn’t say anything, so I let it go.

The waiter soon took our orders and brought us both a glass of white wine. We’d finished the meal before I knew it, and Dylan asked if I wanted dessert, or if I wanted the rest of our night to continue.

“This wasn’t it?” I asked, surprised.

“No, not at all.” He gave me a conspiratorial wink that was just a bit cheeky, and I couldn’t help but smile with him.

“Go on then, tell me. What’s the rest?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” Another wink, and we were soon out of the restaurant and on our way somewhere else.

The next stop was a rather upmarket club. Only this one served cocktails that cost more than some people earned from their weekly paycheck, and the dancing was formal, ballroom style. Not the pounding, grinding music and dance of the place we’d met then. I smiled, excited at what he’d sprung on me.

I’d done ballroom dancing, I’d had it drilled into my brain, but it was usually reserved for charity balls and fundraisers at my father’s golf club. This was new.

We had a drink, and talked about our day before we headed out to the dance floor. Dylan, yet again, impressed me with his dance skills. He led me through the moves expertly, and it was a night that would imprint itself on my brain forever.

Not even the fact that we got a flat tire on the way home could dim my happiness that night. I’d expected he’d call someone to come and help us, but he pulled off the side of the road, got out, and started pulling things out of the trunk like he knew what he was doing. We laughed together on the interstate as he showed me how to change a tire, then we got back on the road. It was cold, and I could have stayed in the car, but I didn’t want him on the side of that road without me keeping an eye out for him.

It was late when we got home, and we laughed as we got into bed together. We were still laughing as he began to make love to me, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day than we had. It was our last under our agreement, and I could only hope this was a sign of things to come. If he gave me such a perfect last day together, that could only mean even better things were on the horizon. Right?

Dylan

I woke up the next morning and started the coffee and put some Danishes in the oven to heat up for breakfast. It wasn’t the healthiest breakfast, but I needed to get out early this morning. I’d worn my little princess out the night before, so I went in to wake her up once everything was finished.

I’d have left her to sleep, but this was a special day. The day when we started something new. She woke up slowly and wrapped her arms around my neck once she realized I hovered over her. She clung to me tightly, and I knew she was perfectly aware of what today was. I ran my hands down her back and pulled her tightly to my chest.

“It’s alright, Stephanie. It will all be over soon. Come with me. Let’s have breakfast, and then I have to get to work.” I kissed the side of her head and got up. I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face when I looked down at her.

She was still naked, and her body was ready for me, it always was. Not this morning, though. I had things to do, preparations to make. I’d finally got around that bastard Trent Thompson and ownership of one very beautiful resort was within my grasp. If I could get Stephanie to sign the contract today, life would be perfect.

She slid on a pink fleece robe and followed along behind me. Her hair was all over the place, and she had no makeup on, but I thought that might be one of the reasons I found her so incredibly sexy in the mornings. She was unguarded, and there was no protective layer. It was just her and nothing else.

I put the plate of sweet treats on the table and filled her coffee cup, added a little bit of cream, and set it in front of her. I walked around and ate my own as I got ready to leave for the day. Once I finished, I washed my hands, dried them, and went to the other counter, where I’d left the contract.

“I have to go, but I want you to have a look at this.” She looked up at me with stricken eyes, eyes that didn’t want to face this so early in the morning. “It’s not as bad as you think. I want you to read it carefully, sign it, and bring it back to me tonight, okay?”

She just continued to stare at me, and I felt a little niggle of worry. “If you don’t come back, I’ll know you didn’t want to sign the contract, and that we’re done. I don’t want that, but if you can’t face what I put in there, then… well, it’s better if we end it now, before either one of us gets too hurt.”

“Dylan…,” she started, but I held a hand up to stop her.

“No. Just …, just read it, babe. I’ll be back this evening, and if you’re here, then we can talk, alright?” I leaned down, kissed her now sweet lips, and left her there.

I thought she’d sign it, if she bothered to actually read it. It was a masterpiece, in my mind. All she had to do was give it a chance and read it.

I went through the rest of my day without any major problems coming up. All I could think about was going home to Stephanie, however. Even when I took one final step to making my dreams of owning a resort on this coast, I couldn’t stop thinking of her. She was always on my mind, though, and when I saw a jewelry store as I passed my lawyer’s office, I stopped in.

“Can I help you, sir?” A small, punctilious looking man came from behind a closed door. The smell of microwaved spaghetti sauce told me I’d interrupted the man’s lunch. I’d best make it worth his while then.