Chapter 127: Dinner For Two
Moana
Selina helped me put on the dress. It fit like a glove, and even showed off my growing belly a bit. As I stood in the mirror while Selina fixed up my hair, I couldn’t help but smile a bit while I looked at my belly in the dress.
Even though I didn’t particularly like the concept of not being in a real relationship and only being in a fake one, I was relieved to finally not have to hide my pregnancy. Now that everything was out in the open, I could finally enjoy the early stages of pregnancy when my belly was beginning to show the little life that was growing inside of me. Before, I had been nervous about what would happen when my belly was too big to hide anymore, but now I couldn’t wait. The thought of walking down the street with Ella’s hand in mine and my other hand on my big pregnant belly — once the paparazzi calmed down and it was safer to go out, of course — made me smile.
When Selina was finished with my hair, I headed downstairs to meet Edrick.
He was sitting at a small table by the window in the dining room when I arrived. The room was dark, aside from the light emanating from little candles that were scattered around, and he stood up as soon as he saw me.
For a few moments, Edrick just stood there and stared at me. Even in the darkness, I could see his eyes wandering my body, admiring the dress. It made me blush, but I didn’t mind. Having him look at me like that made me happy; I felt like the lady of the house, even though I wasn’t really.
Finally, Edrick tore his eyes away from my dress and cleared his throat. “Do you like the dress?” he asked.
I nodded, feeling my hands tremble a bit with nerves as I approached the table. “It’s perfect,” I said sheepishly as he pulled the chair out for me so I could sit. “Thank you.”
“Good,” he said as he sat across from me. “I was worried you wouldn’t like it.”
There were two covered silver platters in front of us, and crystal glasses filled with what looked like wine. I was a bit confused at first as to why Edrick would give me wine knowing that I was pregnant, but he quickly explained when he saw the look on my face.
“Sparkling grape juice for you,” he said. “Non-alcoholic. And wine for me.”
I nodded and blushed a bit. Of course Edrick wouldn’t try to give me alcohol when I was pregnant, and I felt a bit silly for thinking that. He then lifted the covers off of our plates to reveal two decadent meals of what looked like lamb, fresh vegetables, and garnished with little sprigs of rosemary. My eyes widened at the beautiful meals, and finally I couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer.
“What’s all of this for?” I asked. “This is so nice of you.”
“What, a man can’t simply want to take care of the mother of his child?” Edrick asked with a bit of a smile.
My face went red. I was taken aback by his caring nature, but something told me that it wasn’t just him simply wanting to take care of me. All of this felt too romantic for that… The candles, the dress, the beautiful meal. It was different from all of the other times that he doted on me.
Edrick’s smile faded then as he looked at me. He seemed to be struggling to say something, but it finally came out.
“I hope you won’t want to leave,” he said quietly. “Maybe… I don’t want you to leave.”
My eyes widened at Edrick’s words. Was this true? Did he really want me to stay?
But then, as I opened my mouth to respond, he suddenly changed the subject.
We ate dinner together peacefully with light conversation after that. The rich, juicy flavor of the lamb combined with the taste of the vegetables, which almost tasted as though they had been pulled out of the ground on that very day, made me completely forget my nausea from before. And in fact, the longer we sat and ate together, the more comfortable I became. If I tried hard enough, I could almost convince myself that we really were husband and wife having a romantic dinner together. And even though it might not have been the healthiest thing to tell myself, I decided that it was okay to feel that way for just one night.
After dinner, Edrick stood and opened the set of French doors by the table, letting in the cool mountain air.
“Let’s sit on the porch,” he said, taking his glass of wine and the wine bottle in one hand, then my glass and the bottle of sparkling juice in the other.
I followed, still awed by our wonderful dinner together. Edrick led me around the huge wraparound porch to a small sitting area. There were two chairs and a little side table there, which he set our drinks on and refilled our glasses. While he did that, I couldn’t help but lean on the railing and let the light rain mist my face for a few moments.
Everything outside the porch was pitch black by now, but I didn’t mind. The darkness and the sound of nothing but the crickets was a welcome reprieve from the noise and the lights of the city, and I hoped that we could spend more time here in the future. No matter how much I loved the city, I still felt tired of all of the noise sometimes, but I had never really had a chance to get away from it all. There was only one time in college where I managed to scrape together enough money from babysitting and waitressing to take a little weekend trip out of town, but it wasn’t nearly as nice as this. Now, I felt like I was living in the lap of luxury in this gorgeous Tudor mansion.
When I finally turned back around, Edrick was already sitting in one of the chairs with his glass of wine in his hand. I thought I caught him looking at me again, but he quickly darted his eyes away and busied himself with drinking his wine while I sat down next to him.
Neither of us spoke much as we sat outside, aside from the occasional comment or question. But it was a comfortable quietness, and it felt natural, as though we had been doing this for years.
Eventually, Edrick finished his bottle of wine. When I looked over at him, his cheeks were a bit rosy from the alcohol and there was a slight smile twitching at the corners of his lips. He seemed a little drunk.
“It’s getting late,” he said then, standing. “We should go to bed.”
I nodded and went to stand — but before I could, Edrick held out his hand for me to take.
I took his hand quietly, unsure as to what was happening. But when he led me up the stairs, past my room and over to his room instead, I couldn’t help myself from blushing an even deeper shade of red when I realized that he wanted me to stay with him again that night.
“D-Do you want to sign another contract?” I whispered, our bodies close in the dark hallway.
Edrick merely smiled and shook his head.
