Intrigue (33 page)

He led me to the picnic area and sat me down in front of all my favorite goodies—hummus, fattoush, grape leaves, falafel, and chicken shawarma. Even though I adored this lovely spread, the view, and most importantly the company had my stomach in knots. Rafe teasingly commented as he took my hand, “I have never seen you speechless before. You find out I am a Greek god, and you have a snappy retort. But a romantic dinner throws you for a loop.”

I flirted back, “Call me my mother’s daughter, but a guy sweeping me up and carrying me five floors to a breath-taking romantic dinner is really the pinnacle of her trashy romance novels. And even though you have literally swept me off my feet, the evening won’t be ending like her novels.”

Rafe’s eyes sparkled with his amusement as he commented, “So I’m
not
gonna end up your eternal boy toy that gallantly serves and protects you for the rest of your life?”

I laughed and agreed, “Wow. I like the books you’ve been reading! That is exactly what happens after tonight. I am glad we are clear on that.”

Rafe had dipped a celery stick from our feast into the hummus as I was agreeing with him and started to actually feed it to me. “So are you trying to stop me from talking or have you heard of my remarkable ability to always get food on me when I attempt to eat without assistance?”

“I’m just practicing my servant duty, Siren. I just want to make sure you are satisfied,” he gave me a wink and used his thumb to get off the hummus from the corner of my mouth.

If he was trying to turn me into a puddle at his feet, he was doing a fantabulous job! But, I needed to summon the courage to give him my “Two Person Push-ups” spiel. A shadow must have crossed my besotted face because Rafe asked, “What’s wrong, Calli?”

I looked up at him in a hesitant manner and said, “Rafe, you need to know before you decide whether you want to be my personal servant that I am not planning on doing any two person push-ups for a while. I don’t want it to be an issue like it was with Thrace. I am ready when I am ready.”

He put his hand on my neck and pulled my head forward until we were a mere inch apart. Then, he ground out in a somewhat annoyed voice, “Please, don’t ever mistake me for Thrace again. I respect your right to call the shots on this, and I am perfectly willing to wait until our third date before I become your personal sex slave.”

I laughed and punched him lightly in the stomach. As I pulled away, I grabbed a grape leaf and started to nibble on it before I replied, “Thrace wasn’t like that either. It took him months before he started losing patience with me. I just don’t want to be right back in the same place, Rafe.”

He tenderly brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it then replied, “I have waited decades for someone to come along that I cared about as much as Cora. Time has a very different meaning to me. Years are mere moments in my world. Despite my appearance, I am not a hormone driven youth. When you are ready, I will be waiting.”

I blew out a breath and snarked, “Well, I am glad you’re finally done begging me for my sexual favors. Can we eat now?”

He rolled his eyes and agreed, “Your wish is my command, so dine til your heart is content.”

I filled my plate with a little of all the goodies Rafe had provided before I confessed, “I am breaking the trifecta of girl rules. First, never date a guy that is prettier than you. Second, never eat more than your date. Third, never let them see you perspire.”

Rafe became thoughtful for a second then he cryptically clinked his soda to my diet soda as he toasted, “To being the dynamic duo of rule breakers.”

As dinner ended, I had a tough time taking my eyes off of Rafe. I literally thought I was going to go down in flames if I didn’t get some air. So with all my willpower, I slowly got to my feet and walked to the window.

Rafe rose to his feet and moved to stand behind me. He entwined his fingers over mine and wrapped them around my waist. I leaned back into him and he rested his chin on my shoulder as we looked out at the city. “I believe this Tower of Babel will fall, Siren.”

I turned my head towards him at the biblical reference to the great Tower of Babel that was created to glorify man rather than god. “Please tell me that you don’t mean Detroit.”

He kissed my cheek and replied, “I mean the Detroit that Ares runs where humans are in constant danger.”

“I would rather ignore the danger and politics for just one night and enjoy ourselves,” I answered as my voice turned hoarse with emotion as the reality of tomorrow came crashin back in.

“Sounds like a plan! Are you ready for dessert, my sweet? I need to prep the room again before we start the next part of the evening.”

I gave him a quizzical look at his reference to the next part of the evening.

Rafe zipped around to gather up the dinner plates and leftovers and put them back into the bag. “I promised you dinner and a movie.”

Once the papasan cushion was cleared off he dodged the candles and headed into another room within the space I hadn’t noticed before. He came out with a black computer bag, the papasan frame, and a huge comfy blanket, which was good because I was starting to get chilly. He set up the double papasan chair in a flash then started to get out a laptop and projector. The laptop must have already been on and loaded because with a few clicks by Rafe, the screen popped on one of the blank walls. He asked me if I was ready for the movie portion of the evening. I was flabbergasted so I just nodded my head, grabbed the blanket, and sat down on the chair as I asked, “What exactly are we watching?”

Rafe tenderly smiled back at me as he confessed, “I asked Key and Jazz what your favorite movie was. They said some old, weird British movie called
Room with a View.
So I came up with a theme for the night, we are watching
Room with a View
in our Ruin with a View.”

He clicked on play, then reached into our picnic bag and pulled out a little lunch bag cooler with one pint of Graeter’s Raspberry Chip ice cream--my favorite decadence of all time. I can only get it in pints because I would consume the whole half-gallon if I had access. We took turns feeding each other the ice cream and being disgustingly infatuated until it was gone-- as was 15 minutes of the movie.

He situated himself on the chair with his arm around me as I snuggled up against him with my head on his shoulder. In mere minutes, we were transported back in time to Edwardian turn-of-the century England where a young man ignites a spark of passion in an uptight English girl.

We lasted until the part where the couple kisses for the first time. I was gazing up at Rafe and his lips were softly brushing mine in the best first date kiss ever. I don’t know if it could even be classified as a kiss. It was more like a conversation without words. You know when you have that first great conversation with the guy that you always wanted to be with--the conversation when you are no longer nervous or stuttering--the conversation when you just get to learn about him and tell him stuff about you—that conversation was this kiss. It was soft and gentle and tender and exciting, and I think I learned about who he really was on the inside. I wanted to savor every wonderful moment with him, which meant that I pretty much missed a chunk of the movie. I finally laid my head back on his chest as we finished watching the movie.

The candles were making strange and interesting shadows on the walls and ceilings. I looked up at Rafe to memorize every feature--his tousled hair, his glittering hazel eyes, his delicious soft lips, and that wicked smile. He didn’t speak. He just held me while I studied him with intense concentration. I finally ended my exploration by placing light, soft kisses all over his face. His scruff tickled my lips, and I smiled in delight at the feeling. I closed my eyes and snuggled back into him to avoid looking at my greatest temptation. He held me for a long time until I was almost ready to fall asleep in his arms. I knew our time was coming to an end. Even though I agreed with Rear Admiral of the Navy, Grace Murray Hopper that it’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission, I didn’t want to take a chance of ruining any of our plans for tomorrow.

I laughed as he heaved us up off the chair and held me to him. When he let me go, he asked in a teasing tone, “Wanna bet who can blow out the most candles?”

We both started at the door on the path that led to the circle of candles. However, I started to cheat as I licked my fingers to blow out and pinch out my candles simultaneously. As usual, he started to slow down so the genetically challenged human could catch up to him at the last candle. He picked it up and said, “Let’s blow it out together,” which of course I was more than happy to do. As we blew out the last candle, our lips just happened to meet again one last time. The darkness sparked a much more desperate kiss that literally made my knees weak. I kissed him like this could have been the last time I kissed anyone. I was very aware that this date could be my first and last with Rafe. We took one last look at our glorious city before he sweep me up in his arms and tentatively asked, “You ready to go?”

“No. But I think I have to anyway,” I replied with regret.

We went to the window, and he looked into my eyes and asked, “You want to take a leap of faith with me Calliope?”

I looked down at ground far below us and reached within a part of myself that had been locked away from all the other people in my life and declared, “Leaps of faith are my specialty tonight.”

He kissed me as he stepped out the window, and we hurtled to the ground. It was terrifying and exhilarating, and Rafe never took his eyes off mine until we landed. I threw my head back and laughed as I said, “Can we go again?”

Rafe just shook his head with regret and replied, “Not if I want to retain your father’s permission to date you.”

Unfortunately, the Explorer was exactly where we left it. He set me down and opened the door for me. I got in and a minute later we were speeding through Detroit.

I finally complimented him for the incredible evening, “You know you have some mad first date skills. I honestly don’t think any date could possibly top this one. I am happy to see you putting your god-like skills to good use.”

“Well, I did promise you bungee jumping, and when you come with a lot of costs, you have to compensate with a lot rewards.”

He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. Unfortunately, we were almost to my house and my perfect evening was about to end. “Mark this date down because I am going to say something you will not hear very often come from my lips. You were right. Date Night definitely took my mind off the other issues going on in our lives. Thank you.”

Rafe’s tender gaze opened something in me that had never been breached before. He got to me. A little part of my soul was now his, and I would have to deal with the consequences tomorrow.

He walked me to my door and kissed me gently before saying his good night, “Sweet dreams, Siren.”

I think I practically floated in the door, then up to my room. Reality came crashing back as I spotted my cell phone lying on my bed. As I picked it up, I saw that I had one message. I called Dr. A back, and the conversation sucked. Yes, everything was still a go. Yes, I still knew word-for-word the plan. Yes, I hated both him and myself at this moment. Yes, I was going to betray Rafe. I prayed that he would forgive me for choosing Thrace over him. I think he could forgive that. What he would have a much harder time forgiving is that I chose Thrace over me.

Chapter 27: Darkness Visible

My Saturday started much earlier than usual since I had to stop at both of my churches for prayers, confessions, and lighting some candles. By the time my soul was taken care of, I had to head to karate class. Of course, Jazz and Key wanted all my date details and would barely let me out of the locker room. They were practically swooning with the minor details. I was actually glad Rafe wasn’t here because I would have blushed pretty much the whole practice. I had two stations in my head. The Perfect First Date. Team Calli Plan B.

To keep with the stealth theme, I met Dr. A at the gas station on the way home. We got gas at the adjacent pumps as he briefed me one more time. I also made him promise me that the drugs for Thrace, Justin, Spart, and Rafe wouldn’t hurt them. He just nodded and said his part was covered. He then gave me my earbud that we would use to communicate. He left with, “I am literally risking all our lives on the plan that you came up with, Calliope. So no pressure.”

I smiled and said, “I always wondered about your sanity, Dr. A. But today, I am not Calliope, I’m Wonder Woman. For once, I am going to be the instigator in my own life!”

I put the gas pump away, and then sped off back home with a feeling of both fear and anticipation. I spent the rest of the day with my parents. I just wanted to give them a good last memory if the worst happened. It was a typical Edonides bonding afternoon. Dad and I watched sports, and mom read her novel. Thrace came over, and I think the normalcy of this moment actually calmed him down. He then asked me to go to dinner with him, Justin, and Spart as planned. I agreed, and we separated for me to go change and him to pick up his car.

So what is the best fight and flee wear for girls these days?

1.My most comfortable black yoga pants (
doesn’t show dirt).

2.Violent Femmes t-shirt (
get me in the right frame of mind)