AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jeremy
“You’re the best, thank you.” Maritza ended the call and squealed.
“Good news?” I asked, though it was obvious it was.
“Yes. That was Marilyn. She was able to get the prosecution to drop the request for a gag order. I want everyone to know Rem’s story before the trial starts in six months. Now, they will be able to.”
Marilyn was like a real-life Olivia Pope. When Maritza started getting heat from the prosecution about the interviews she and Rem had been doing, she called Marilyn and her firm for assistance.
“And you’re sure a bench trial is the way to go? I’d think you’d want to sway her peers.”
“I heavily considered that, but it’ll be too risky convincing them she believed ending his life was the only way to save hers. If I argue crime of passion to a jury, even if they believe that was the case, they would still find her guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter and give her the least amount of time possible. With a judge, I can argue the very definition of both against crimes of passion for a non-guilty verdict.”
I was impressed… thoroughly… but I shouldn’t have been surprised. “That’s smart, Lovie. Damn, I’m impressed.”
She gave me a soft giggle that made my heart squeeze. It did that a lot with her. I looked over at her, temporarily being blinded by her beauty. Maritza had this jar filled with things for us to do to continue to build our bond that went beyond the traditional dinner and a movie. Tonight, we were supposed to go blind shopping for snacks and clothes to wear for our evening together. I was a little concerned about the clothes we’d end up picking for each other, but I was down for it.
“Are you sure we gotta get the clothes from here?” I asked as we pulled up to Ross in Collierville.
Maritza laughed as she nodded. “You have something against Ross?”
“Nah, it’s not that. I’m just concerned about how this shit is about to look.”
Her cackle as she unbuckled her seatbelt made me chuckle, though I was serious. “It’s not going to be your usual suit and tie, but that’s the point. It’s gonna be fun!”
I didn’t want to give her a hard time about it, so I got out of the SUV and headed to her side. We crossed the street hand in hand. For her to not want us to be affectionate, she’d been initiating it a lot lately. I never said anything about it because if it was instinctual and not intentional, her being mindful of it would cause her to stop doing it. It showed me that, even if she didn’t want to admit it, she liked being with me and was comfortable with me.
When we made it into the store, she immediately got so high off happiness, I was sure she’d float to the ceiling. It was nice seeing her like this. We recorded each other picking the outfits. As we walked the aisle, we had to touch the items, and when we said stop, whatever the other person’s hand was on was what we had to wear.
She ended up getting red leggings, a green and tan plaid shirt, silver rain boots, and a hot pink bubble coat.
I was stuck with a purple and black sweater, orange cargo pants, camouflage boots, and a navy-blue raincoat.
As much as I was unsure about this, it was fun and hilarious. We died laughing at our outfits since we changed into them in the dressing rooms. After taking several pictures, we headed out of the store. I was cool with us grabbing dinner and going skating afterward. I figured our attire would put smiles on other people’s faces. Plus, it was nice not having to be so put together for a change.
Over dinner, we got a few laughs and stares, but that was cool. We talked about typical date topics—goals, fears, dreams, motivations. It was nice getting to know her on a more intimate level mentally. The more I knew her, the more I liked her. The more I wanted her. I was okay sharing my desire for her with her, but I had no expectations of Maritza. She had made it clear she wasn’t interested in being half-loved. Though I believed I could love her wholly, sweetly, just as soft and deep as she needed me to, I also understood and accepted I couldn’t compete with how things were with her husband and her memory of him.
All I could do was try my best, give her my all, and hope that would be enough. If it wasn’t, we’d part ways after being married for a year, and I’d be able to say I tried. That was too far in the future for me to worry about. For now, I was thoroughly enjoying her company, and by the shining in her eyes and the huge smile on her face, it was clear just how much she was enjoying mine too.
Sixteen
Maritza
Our date night turned into a date day. We went to my place and Jeremy spent the night after we sipped whiskey and gazed at the stars. He woke up before me and went home to freshen up before coming back so we could have breakfast together. Breakfast turned into happy hour and dinner with unlimited cocktails. Now, we were grinding against each other on the makeshift dancefloor in the middle of the restaurant without a care in the fucking world.
I kept telling my heart it was dangerous to continue to spend so much time with this man, but it didn’t care. It liked the way it felt with him.
He looked down at me with telltale signs of his slight inebriation—glossy eyes, goofy smile—I’d never seen him so happy, relaxed, and beautiful.
I loved the way he looked at me. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, how he felt when he looked at me in that way. A way that showed something it was too soon for him to say. To feel. Something I was too scared to hear.
My eyes drifted to his lips. Those juicy, thick, brown lips.
“Kiss me,” I commanded, tightening my grip around his neck.
His brows wrinkled in confusion before he smirked.
“You told me if I kissed you again, you’d rip my lips off and feed them to your neighbor’s dog.”
