I adjusted my tie as I made my way down the hall to Maria’s door; bouquet of glittered pink roses in hand. I’d learned those were her favorites after hacking into her Pinterest account.
I glanced at my Rolex: four-thirty. I’d never been early for anything in my life before. The first and second time I knocked, no one answered. After the third, the door flew open, revealing a pissed-off Maria.
She had a white fluffy robe wrapped around her and a towel in her hair. Her makeup was done; slightly more intense than usual but heavenly nonetheless.
Her brows furrowed as she continued to death-stare me. “You’re early.”
“You gon’ let me in,hermosa?”
We looked at each other for a few moments. If she said ‘no’, I was going to pick her up and force my way in. She sighed and moved to the side. I walked into the living room and looked around, like I hadn’t already seen her floor plans.
Maria rushed past me. “Wait here!” She disappeared into her bedroom. “And don’t touch anything!”
I followed behind her and leaned against the doorframe. She sat down at her vanity, applying something on her cheeks. Knowing I was going to make her blush throughout the night, I wasn’t sure why she was putting pink powder on her face.
Her eyes met mine in the mirror.
“I thought I asked you to wait in the living room?”
I stepped in and sat on the edge of her bed, resting my forearms on my knees. Her eyes followed me but she didn’t tell me to leave. Imorethan liked tearing down her walls one at a time.
She ignored me as I continued to watch her do her hair and put on jewelry. Imorethan liked that she was getting ready for me. And I couldn’t wait to see what she was going to wear. I knew it would be baggy because that was her style, but it still threatened to give me a hard-on.
“Are you seriously going to make me change in the bathroom?” Maria asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. My eyes unintentionally ran over her body and I couldn’t help but wonder what she was hiding under that robe. Was she naked or wearing lingerie?
“I’ll be on the couch,” I said, getting up.
“That’s so nice of you.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm.
When she walked past me, I couldn’t help myself; I pulled her into me. She didn’t react, trying to look unbothered. But when I pulled her robe down one shoulder and dipped my head in the crook of her neck, she gasped. I inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of her perfume and shampoo, as my lips grazed her smooth skin. A tortured, restrained groan left my chest.
“You smell so fucking good…” My voice came out raspy; darker than usual.
The softest sigh left her. So soft, I almost missed it.
When I pulled back, Maria didn’t remove her hands from where they’d been resting on my chest. I glanced down to see her long sharp nails a medium nude instead of the crimson she had on earlier.
I grabbed her hands, running my thumbs over her manicured fingers. “Did you go to the salon today?”
“Yeah.”
“All of this for me?” I smirked, raising a brow at her.
She scoffed. “Arrogant much?”
She’d been to the salon just last week; she didn’t need to go again. She’d done it forme.
She bit her bottom lip when I brought her hands up to my face and placed a kiss on her knuckles.
“Tell me the next time you go. I take care of it from now on.”
I’d never had a girlfriend, so I never cared about this shit before. But if Maria was going to bemygirl, and she thought she would pay for herself, she was crazy. Her money was her money, and my money was her money.
She gave me a doubtful look, as if she thought I was kidding.
I stepped closer and cupped her chin. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t need to. We looked at each other, battling with our eyes. Hers usually made me give in, but it wasn’t going to happen this time. I was firm on it.
When she saw I wouldn’t budge on the subject, she sighed but still didn’t look away. “Let’s see how tonight goes first.”