The Reluctant Wife

4. Bvlgari

Amira didn’t know why she had accepted to go out on a dinner date with Xavier Ruiz. He was bad to her. He brought out feelings that were not supposed to bloom in her chest and lower abdomen. Even as she tried to reason with herself, she felt giddy at the thought of having his undivided attention.

How long had it been since she had last been on a date? Oh yeah, it had been nearly a year since the fiasco.

“Let’s not remember the past,” she told herself resolutely while looking at the mirror in order to apply some blush right where she needed it on her rather fair skin.

Just as she was done with her make-up, her phone rang.

“Hola,” Xavier greeted her smoothly right as she picked up.

“Hey,” she greeted him softly.

“I hope you’re ready,” he said and she could picture the smirk he must be sporting, “because I’m waiting outside your room’s door.”

She giggled. Almost like a school girl. And she felt immediately silly. She was far from being a school girl. It had been nearly ten years since she had graduated from high school, and five since she had graduated from college.

“I am,” she said, before picking up her purse and heading to the door. She opened it, and was not surprised to see him dressed in tailored suit.

“And here I was looking forward to seeing you wearing casual clothes,” she teased, the ghost of smirk playing on her lips.

“And I to seeing you in that divine dress again,” he teased right back, not missing a beat.

She wasn’t wearing the dress from yesterday, rather the one she had bought for the movie premiere and which Jeremy hadn’t approved of. It was a modest green dress with a high slit that was nothing if not daring. Its most striking feature was that its color was the exact same as her eyes.

She saw him assess her leisurely, and blushed under his intense gaze. She then had to remind herself he was a man that was not suited for her. He belonged to a completely different world, one she wanted to explore cautiously but didn’t wish to delve in head first… and certainly not with a man as dangerous as he was to her heart and her virtue.

Yes, Amira might be twenty-eight all right, but she was a virgin – and proud to be one. In a world that was full of depravity, she prided herself on being one of the last virgins standing.

“Shall we?” He offered her his arm, smiling down at her.

His smile did wonders on her insides. She inwardly groaned.

“Let’s go,” she told him, hooking her arm with his, feeling at ease with this man who was for all intents and purposes a stranger.

Good god, he both looked and smelled delicious! His perfume was intoxicating, and she found herself asking, “Bvlgari, is it not?”

“Huh?”           

“Your perfume,” she said shyly.

“Yes, it is indeed,” he told her, looking a little bit taken-aback. “You have a good nose.”

“I am passionate about perfumes,” she said, shrugging as if that should explain it all.

“Tell me about yourself,” came his softly spoken command as he ushered her outside.

“Where are we going?” She asked instead. She had thought they’d be having a dinner at the hotel.

A beautiful sports car was waiting for them. He opened a door for her, and she found herself sliding in without questioning him some more, not wanting to cause a scene.

“My ex-wife has been a resident of this hotel for some time now,” he deadpanned.

Before he could continue, Amira jumped to her own conclusions. He didn’t wish to be seen with her. It was so obvious. “So she’s got eyes and ears around the hotel,” she said half brokenly half bitterly.

“That is not the issue,” he told her as he got in the car. “I just do not wish for her to see us together…”

“Isn’t that one and the same?” She cut in, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

“It’s just that she can be a handful. And I do not wish for you to be scared off,” he said as he turned to look at her seriously.

“I don’t get scared easily,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes, as she settled back into her side, relaxing.   

“I can attest to that,” he said in a light tone. “You completely ignored me yesterday and took Jeremy’s call as if I didn’t even matter. As if you weren’t scared.”

“I wasn’t,” she told him simply. “I wasn’t guilty. What should I be afraid of?”  

“True,” he conceded as he drove through the rather busy streets of Madrid.

“Besides, you’re not that intimidating,” she teased, eyes focused on him and shining with mirth.  

“I beg to differ,” he exclaimed in mock outrage, eyes widening.

She laughed, and he was quick to join her with a throaty chuckle.    

As the car stopped next to the entrance to what could only be a very exclusive restaurant, Amira wished the night would go on being as pleasant as the last bit of the ride to the restaurant had been.