Page 36 of Guarding Our Love
“Oh my God, Calil. This is…”
Sloan’s voice trailed off as we stepped onto the boat. There was a table set with fancy dishes and candles. We could see where the chef prepared the food from the table.
“I’m glad you like it.” I winked as I helped her to the seats in front of the table.
“Is it just us? Well, besides the staff.”
“Of course. They won’t be here long either. Once they serve us dinner, they’ll leave. The only person besides us will be the person driving the boat. I could have driven it myself, but I wanted to focus all my attention on you. Don’t worry. We will have plenty of privacy.”
Nobody would bother us, and I made sure of that by making them sign non-disclosure agreements. I didn’t need any pictures of Sloan and me in the blogs, especially not while she was in the middle of a divorce. The blogs would try to find out all of her business, and people would start harassing her. I didn’t want that for her.
Sloan looked around at the boat and the water that surrounded us.
“Are these flowers for me?” she asked when she noticed the bouquet on the corner of the table.
“They are. I didn’t get to send you any at work, so I made sure you had some this evening.”
“They are beautiful. I noticed you’ve been sending me rare flowers. Where do you get them from?”
“I know a guy who owns a flower shop out in Pinewood Mountains, and I get them from there.”
She jerked her head back. “Wait. A guy?”
“Yeah, Kamari. His mother left him her flower shop when she died. And no, he’s not gay. He has a wife who’s a wedding planner.”
Sloan’s thoughts were my own when I first met Kamari. I had never met a dude who ran a flower shop and was not gay.
“Wow. Well, he has some nice flowers.” She picked up the flowers and smelled them before returning them to the corner.
Sloan looked good as hell, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Her wavy hair framed her face. She wore a little makeup, and I loved how it enhanced her beauty. The dress she wore hugged her curves, and I had to shake my head at how her husband fumbled. That was fine because I was here to pick up all the pieces.
“You look beautiful,” I complimented when she focused her attention on me.
I smiled when her cheeks flushed. “Thank you. And you look handsome.”
There was wine in a bucket of ice on the table, so I poured us a glass.
“Thank you. Let’s make a toast.” I picked up my glass, and Sloan did the same. “To a beautiful night and reconnecting with a beautiful person. Also, to a relaxing night where we forget about everything and be in the moment.”
“Yes, to all of that.” Sloan clinked her glass against mine then drank some of her wine.
A few seconds later, the chef brought over our plates. I had it set up so that we wouldn’t have to wait long to eat. Once we had our food and everything else we needed, the chef and his staff left the boat. He let me know that our dessert was in the fridge.
“This looks fancy,” Sloan commented as she looked down at her plate.
“It’s Coq au Vin,” I informed her.
“Um, you act like I know what that is.” She giggled.
“It’s a French stew where chicken is slowly braised in red wine. It’s garnished with mushrooms and pearl onions. There’s also some potatoes and carrots. It’s served on a bed of mashed potatoes.”
The night was special, so we needed to have a special meal to go along with it. I wasn’t sure if Sloan had eaten anything like that before. I wanted her to experience some of the things I experienced during my travels with basketball.
“Well, it looks good.”
“It is. Eat up.”
I prayed over our food, and we dug in. The whole time we ate, Sloan moaned and shimmied in her seat with each bite.
