I feel her gaze on me as I spread out the food I had prepared for her. The first time I took her on a date we barely had anything to eat, and I remember thinking then that I’d someday redo this date the way I’d wanted to.
“Strawberries and champagne?” she asks.
I smirk. “You did pay a shit ton of money, after all.”
“Technically, you did.”
“It was a gift. So does that mean I gifted you me?”
“I suppose… does that make you mine for the rest of the day?”
I smile at her, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. “Considering the amount of money involved, I’m willing to extend that deal for the rest of our lives.”
Alanna giggles and tilts her head up toward the sun. She looks so sweet lying back on her elbows. It’s almost as though the years we spent apart never happened. “So if I want to make you my boy toy, I can?”
My cock starts to harden at the mere thought of it. “Are you threatening me with a good time?”
Alanna laughs, and I raise my glass to hers. “Here’s to the rest of our lives.”
She looks into my eyes as her glass clinks against mine. “To the rest our lives,” she repeats.
She takes a sip of champagne as I lay out the assortment of pastries, fruits and salads. “You have good taste,” she mutters. “These are all my favorite things.”
I smile as innocently as I can. “Are they? I suppose we’re more alike than I realized.”
I hold up an apple beignet, and she takes it from me with a smile. “The only thing that’s missing—”
“Is coffee?” I finish her sentence for her as I hold up a canister of the sickly sweet coffee she loves.
Her lips fall open, and she shakes her head. “There’s nothing you haven’t thought of, huh?”
I smile as I fill up a mug for her. I’ve also got freshly pressed orange juice and countless other things that she might want, but this will do for now.
Alanna looks at me, her gaze lingering. “I’m surprised you didn’t take me to a fancy restaurant.”
“Is that what you want?”
She hesitates. “Isn’t that what you would’ve done if any of those other women had won?”
I look away, wondering how to answer her. “I suppose so, but that’s mostly because I don’t care whether that date is special to them or not. I’d just be fulfilling an obligation. It’s different with you. I wanted to spend some quality time with you and I wanted to do something memorable. Since you’re my mentee, you’ll be accompanying me to countless formal business dinners, and I didn’t want our first date to be another one of those.”
“First date?”
I nod. It’s our second first date, and though I often hate the fact that she lost her memory, it’s also a chance for me to do things the way I’ve always wanted to with her. The memories she and I shared were filled with poverty and despair. Now, I can give her anything she wants. Money doesn’t just buy things. It also buys experiences, and those in turn become treasured memories.
“What would you have done if Raven had won the auction?” she asks.
There’s jealousy in her eyes, and I can’t help but smile. She clearly misinterprets my smirk, because she grits her teeth and looks away. “Never mind,” she snaps. “I don’t need to know.”
I lie down beside her and look up at her. “I’d have taken her for dinner.”
“Dinner,” she scoffs, as though she doesn’t believe me. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”
“You’re jealous.”
She looks outraged at my words and crosses her arms, not realizing that she’s betraying herself. “Jealous? Why would I be jealous?”
I’m tempted to tease her, but I know we’re not quite there yet. I’m scared to do anything that’ll push her away. Or worse… into Ryan’s arms.
I stare up at the clouds, watching the world move slowly. She has no idea how long I’ve waited for her, how long I’ve been searching for her. If she hadn’t lost her memories, would we have reunited sooner?
“You told me that you lost your memories when you were younger,” I say cautiously. “What were the last few years like for you if you didn’t have your memories?”
Alanna sighs as she lies down next to me, our heads close together. “It was strange. I woke up in the hospital with no idea who I was or where I came from. If not for the driver’s license in my pocket, I wouldn’t even have known my name.”