Hidden Paradise

by A. M. Guilliams

  She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle from the water. After testing it on her wrist, she started to walk back toward the baby’s bedroom. I grabbed her by the arm to prevent her from walking any further. She looked up at me, questioning my intentions.

  “Let’s sit on the couch together,” I suggested as I walked toward the comfortable piece of furniture. I sat down on the plush material and took off my shoes so I could sit comfortably.

  She sat down next to me as she began to feed Hali. I pulled her closer to me and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. It was moments like this that I wished I could capture and keep forever. That thought sparked an idea, and I moved my hip so I could retrieve my phone from my pocket. Lily sat there feeding our daughter without a care in the world. It was the perfect moment to capture the three of us together.

  I pulled up the camera app on my phone and positioned the device so that I could get all three of us in the photo. I pressed the button several times to make sure I got at least one good shot before I pushed the button on the side of the phone to shut it down.

  “What did you do that for?” Lily asked.

  I thought she couldn’t see what I was doing or I would’ve been more discreet.

  “I wanted to capture this moment. Just the three of us,” I replied as I pulled her closer into me with one arm and rubbed the top of Hali’s head.

  She smiled and laid her head down on my shoulder while we continued to watch our daughter eat.

  I never pictured myself being domesticated, but right now there’s no other way I’d rather be.

  Chapter 15

  Thorn

  The work week had gone by surprisingly fast, and I had plans to surprise Lily tonight. Phase one and two of the plan were already in motion, and phase three would be arriving at her apartment momentarily.

  Today I had flowers delivered to her office addressed from her secret admirer. I didn’t want anyone to get suspicious about them coming from me. Based on the ooohs and aaaahhhs coming from that end of the office, I’d say they were a hit. After lunch, I had a box delivered that contained the contents of a beautiful black dress that I’d picked out myself during my lunch hour this week. All the note said inside was Wear me tonight. I caught a glimpse of the smile that appeared on her face once she opened the present and read the note inside.

  I knew that I had to do our first date right. It was hard to believe that we’d already had a child, but we’d never gone on our first official date. I guess you could consider the boat ride and snorkeling a date, but we weren’t serious about each other then. We never thought we’d see each other after those seven days.

  I’d even gotten in touch with Owen and his girlfriend at the beginning of the week to see if they’d keep Hali while I took Lily out tonight. They were phase three of operation date night. I had plans to take her to dinner and out dancing afterward. I couldn’t wait to see her in the dress I’d picked out. The pictures that had been entering my mind teased me throughout the day, and I was growing impatient with the need to see the real-life version standing in front of me.

  At five on the dot, she left the office. I’d purposefully stayed behind so that she could be surprised when she got to her apartment to find Owen and Audrey already there.

  When my phone read half past five, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer and left the building. The ride to her place took longer than usual due to the heavy traffic, but it worked out in my favor. She’d have longer to get ready.

  The box in my coat pocket had been burning a hole there all day. The moment I saw this in the window of the jewelry store, I knew it would look perfect on her. I hoped she loved the sentiment of what was inside.

  The driver pulled up in front of her building and stopped the car. I reached into my wallet and paid him the fair and told him to have a good evening.

  With a little pep in my step, I hurriedly walked into the building and toward the elevator doors.

  The bell finally sounded that the cart had arrived. Myself along with a few others stepped onto the cart. If I’d had it my way, I’d find a place closer to her so I didn’t have to commute back to my hotel in the city. That was something else I’d have to add to my lengthy to-do list. Finding a place to call home. For years, I’d lived in hotel room after hotel room. Always on the go and looking for the next venture. Now I wanted nothing more than to come home to a house filled with toys and Lily waiting for me.

  Finally, after stopping several times, the elevator arrived on her floor. I adjusted my tie to make sure it was in place and walked to her apartment door.

  Instead of just entering, I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Like I said before, I was doing this right.

  She opened the door with a laugh when she saw me standing on the other side.

  “What are you doing knocking on the door? Aren’t we past all of those formalities?” she said as she fully opened the door so I could enter.

  “I’m here to take you out for the evening. I wanted to do the gentlemanly thing and pick you up the old-fashioned way,” I said as I walked up to her and kissed her on the check.

  Her face flushed a bright shade of pink as she looked down at the floor.

  “Let him have this moment,” Audrey said from the couch with Hali in her arms.

  The baby cooed from where she sat when she heard my voice. I walked over and took the baby from Audrey’s arms and kissed her neck, making her giggle.

  “Daddy didn’t forget about you. I’m taking mommy out for the night so you need to be good for Uncle Owen and Aunt Audrey, okay,” I said to her before giving her more kisses.

  She blew bubbles in response, and I handed her back to Audrey so we could get ready to leave.

  Finally, I took a moment to take in the beauty standing before me. I tried to hide my reaction since Owen and Audrey were sitting a few feet away, but I couldn’t hold back any longer.

  The black dress fit her perfectly. Just the way I knew it would. The V-neck showed off just enough cleavage to keep me guessing what was underneath, but not enough to where everything was hanging out. The dress was form fitted at the top and flowed at the bottom, reaching the top of her knee. Her calves were toned and made me want to wrap them around my waist at just the mere sight of them. She wore red heels and held a red clutch purse in her hands. Her hair had been curled and pinned back off her face, flowing down the middle of her back. She was utter perfection. I took in the sight of her neck, happy that it was left bare.

  “You look beautiful,” I said, trying to hide how much the sight of her affected me in my tone.

  “Thank you.”

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  She turned back to Owen and Audrey, telling them that her phone would be on in case of an emergency. She couldn’t tell them where we were going because she still didn’t have a clue.

  We left her apartment with my hand on the small of her back. I wanted to pull her into me, but refrained. If I did that, I didn’t know how much longer I could refrain from turning around and telling Owen and Audrey to leave.

  Thankfully, the elevator was empty. Once we were inside and had pressed the button to go to the bottom floor, I pressed the stop button and turned to face her.

  “What are you doing?” she said, shocked that I’d stopped the elevator.

  “I wanted to give you this before we left, but I wanted to be alone with you when you opened it,” I told her as I pulled the black box from my inside coat pocket and handed it to her.

  With shaky hands, she opened the box. A gasp escaped her throat as she looked from the box and back up at me.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered as she used her finger to gently trace over the item inside.

  The second I saw the antique locket, I knew that it was meant for her and had to have it. The cost was irrelevant.

  “May I?” I asked, reaching for the box.

  She nodded and turned around, moving her hair out of the way so
I could place the silver antique locket around her neck.

  I took the delicate chain out of the box and undid the clasp. Reaching around her neck, I made sure the locket sat just right before I buckled the clasp. Unable to resist, I placed a light kiss on the side of her neck. The spot I knew affected her the most. Every ounce of my being wanted to push her against the wall and show her just how much I wanted her, but I stepped back instead so she could turn around.

  She looked down at the locket after she had turned back to face me and picked up the heart-shape pendent and held it within her hand.

  “Thank you,” she said with tears in her eyes. I didn’t understand the emotion, but I hadn’t wanted to make her cry. If this was the reaction she’d give to just receiving the necklace, I almost didn’t want to show her what was inside.

  “You’re very welcome. A beautiful necklace for a beautiful woman,” I replied as I pushed the button to make the elevator move.

  We arrived at the quaint Italian restaurant a little while later. I found this gem while on a run one day. She loved pasta just as much as I did, and I wanted her to know that I had paid enough attention in the past couple of months that I knew some of what she liked.

  We were seated almost immediately upon arriving, and I ordered a bottle of her favorite white wine for us to share. I was more of a whiskey guy, but I liked wine well enough.

  The lighting in the space was low and romantic. There were flowers on each table along with candles. I thought she was beautiful regardless, but Lily in the candlelight was even more magnificent than I’d ever seen her.

  “Thank you for joining me tonight,” I said as I leaned over and grabbed her hand, lacing our fingers together.

  “I didn’t have much of a choice,” she said with a laugh.

  “Of course, you did, but you chose right.”

  “You didn’t have to do this. I would’ve been happy to spend time with you at my place.”

  “Yes, I did. I wanted to show you what you’ve come to mean to me. I wanted to show you that you matter. Every couple needs time to themselves, and I wanted to do this right.”

  She smiled at my words, but they were just that—words. I had to show her and not just tell her.

  The waitress brought our wine back and poured some in each of our glasses before sitting it in the bucket of ice to stay chilled.

  “Are you ready to order or did you need more time?” she asked with the pen and pad in her hand.

  “I’m ready. How about you?” I asked.

  “I’ll have the spaghetti.”

  “Make that two.” The woman knew the way to my heart. The waitress walked away after she took our menus.

  “Couple?” she questioned as she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip.

  She’d picked up on what I had said. Good.

  I waited to respond. Giving her a little more time to stew on the meaning behind my words. I picked up my wine glass and took a drink, enjoying the fruity flavoring of its liquid contents.

  Sitting the glass back on the table, I explained what I’d meant.

  “I’m glad you picked up on that. I wondered if you would. You might not see us as a couple, but in my eyes, we are. That’s where I see this going. We’ve been building our relationship over these past few weeks. I love seeing you throughout the day at work, catching glimpses of you lost in thought. I love going back to your place each night and spending time with our daughter. That’s the highlight of my day. Who knew screaming fits and dirty diapers would be something I looked forward to every day? Not me, but I enjoy it all and want more with you than co-parenting our child. I want that family. I want more kids one day. And that leads me to my first question of the night. What’s holding you back?”

  She’d probably go running for the hills at my confession. I led too strong, but I couldn’t hold back any longer. I meant every word and needed to get them out before I combusted. I wasn’t this type of man. Patient. I usually took what I wanted when I wanted, but not this time. I had to use finesse. But almost two months was a long time for a man like me to wait for something he wanted.

  “All of that just took me by surprise. This game of questions of yours has been fun. Getting to know each other this way is kind of exhilarating, because neither of us knows when or what the other is going to ask. As for what’s holding me back. The real reason I can’t just up and say let’s give this a go is Hali. I’m scared for her. My biggest fear is saying yes and then we don’t work out. We end things on a bad note and Hali suffers. I never want that to happen. My every move now is with her in mind.”

  “I understand that. But if every person thought that way, they’d never have kids after they were married for fear they wouldn’t work out. No more children would be born. That’s no way to live. I can’t tell you the future. I don’t know what will happen to us, but I do know that I want this more than anything. I want us more than I ever thought possible. That’s never been who I am. Until now. I never wanted a family because I never had one growing up. I didn’t know how to love or be loved. But I’m willing to try if you are. You’ve given me the greatest gift I never knew I wanted. Watching Hali grow and learn makes me want a family even more. I can’t explain it all. I’m probably doing a shitty job explaining it now. All I want is for you to give me a chance. Try. For me. For Hali. For us. Can you do that?”

  I looked down at the table and took one hand and raked it through my hair, hoping like hell I didn’t just blow everything we’d been working toward to smithereens.

  The waitress took that moment to come back with our food. Each plate was filled with noodles and meat sauce and smelled delicious.

  “Do you need anything else?”

  I shook my head and so did Lily.

  Once she had walked away, I looked back up at the beautiful woman sitting across from me and waited for her answer.

  She took a bite of her food and moaned. She wasn’t doing me any favors by sitting on the other side of this table looking good enough to eat and making those noises.

  “This is the best spaghetti I’ve ever had. You should try it.”

  “I will. Once you give me an answer.”

  The aroma of food sitting before me made my stomach growl in protest and the teasing smell. But I wanted an answer more than I wanted to eat.

  “I want to explore the possibility of what you’re offering. More than you can comprehend. But I’m scared.”

  I didn’t know how to alleviate her fears, but I had to try.

  “I know you’re scared. I am too. I’ve never done this before. Do you know how sad it is to admit that I’m thirty-two years old and have never had a girlfriend before? But you make me want to have more than I’ve had in the past. All we can do is try, Lily.”

  Admitting what I just had made me feel like scum for a moment. All the women I’d used in the past made me realize just how much of a coward I was.

  “That is pretty sad,” she replied with a laugh. The sound of her laughter was contagious, causing me to let out a laugh of my own.

  “You seem adamant on wanting to give this a go. And you did win my parents over last week. So if you can handle me being scared the idea of us, then yes. I’ll try,” she admitted. Instantly, I felt relief. And with that, I took my first bite of food. She was right. The spaghetti was amazing.

  “You won’t regret this decision. I promise you that. We’re going to be good together, Lily. You’ll see.” I meant every word I just uttered.

  “You’re off to a great start. For someone who’s never done this before, you sure know how to woo a woman.”

  Maybe now was a good time to show her what was inside the locket. Seal the deal, so to speak.

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself tonight. I just did what I thought you deserved. In the elevator, you got emotional and I didn’t think it was the best time to show you the other part of your gift.”

  “You didn’t have to get me anything. I couldn’t possibly accept another gift as well.”


  “You’re already wearing the other part. Open the locket.”

  I couldn’t wait to see her reaction of what was inside.

  She opened the clasp and took in what I’d put in there first thing this morning.

  Her hand went to her heart as her other held the heart-shaped locket.

  “It’s perfect,” she said as tears flowed down each side of her cheeks.

  “I wanted you to always have a piece of her over your heart.” One side of the locket was left empty, while the other held a recent photo that I’d taken of Hali earlier this week. I hoped to fill the other side with a photo of another child if we got lucky enough to be blessed with a second.

  “You’re amazing. Thank you. I love it.”

  After we finished eating our food, I took her dancing. Lily having fun was a sight to see. She moved effortlessly across the dance floor. Holding her in my arms put my mind at ease. Feeling her move against me stirred emotions in my chest that were unfamiliar to me, but I welcomed them. I knew I was falling for this amazing woman. More than I’d ever fallen for anything in my life. I could easily see myself loving her and settling down with her. She just fit me. That was the only way I could explain it.

  She hobbled up to the elevator as our night neared an end. I didn’t want it to be over. I didn’t want our bubble to burst.

  We arrived at her door moments later. I put my hand out to stop her from turning the handle.

  She turned around to face me. A questioning look appeared in her eyes at my reasoning.

  “I want to do this right. That includes kissing you goodnight. At your door,” I said as I walked closer to her, caging her in between my body and her door.

  She looked up at me. Desire filled her eyes.

  Leaning into her, I looked into her eyes one more time before I pulled her into me. My lips landed on hers. The feel of her kissing me back urged me on, and I deepened the kiss. I should pull back, but my body had a mind of its own. Instead, our kiss grew more passionately and my mind reverted to our time in Bora Bora. The way she moved beneath me played vividly in my thoughts. I knew if I didn’t stop now, our night would lead to more than just a kiss at her door.