She stares at me for a long moment, and I think she may cry at one point. Her eyes get all watery but then she pulls herself together and smiles at me.
“Somehow, you always make me feel good about myself.”
“You should always feel good about yourself. Have you looked in the mirror?”
Her cheeks go a little pink.
“I don’t mean my looks. That… I’m okay with.”
“You should be more than okay with them. You’re gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” she says shyly.
I lean forward on the table, catching her attention. “Now please tell me you’ll let me have your pussy for dessert.”
The shade of red her cheeks go, I didn’t think it was humanly possible. Funny how she can tease me all day, wearing shortskirts and high heels, but now that the time is here and I’m vocal about what I want, she gets all nervous.
“That isn’t a good idea.”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
“What about… you know.”
“My fool of a son?”
She frowns, but nods. I sit back, reaching for my wine to take a sip.
“Seraphine, do you plan on getting back together with him?”
“No,” she says adamantly.
“Then why are you so worried about what he thinks?”
“Why aren’t you?”
“Stop deflecting and answer the question.”
The waiter drops off our food, asking if we need anything else. We don’t, so he excuses himself. Seraphine picks up her fork but doesn’t go for her food.
“Even though I don’t want to be with Harrison, I don’t think I’m over what happened.”
“Isn’t that more reason to not care about what he thinks?”
She puts her fork down, glances up to meet my gaze.
“I can’t explain it, Elliot. It’s something internal. Something I feel when he’s around. He makes me nervous.”
“You’re afraid of him?”
“No,” she says quickly. “No, not like that.”
I’d have killed him if that were the case. No son of mine will make any women fear him. That is not something I will ever stand for or turn a blind eye to.
“I guess I’m afraid of how he makes me feel. He reminds me of who I was. Now that I’m free from that life, I feel like a new person. Like I have a chance. I don’t want to move backwards. I just want to go forward, and I’m not sure I know how to tell him that or not fall back into old habits when it’s all I know.”
I reach across the table, taking her hand and running my thumb along her knuckles.
“We’ll work on that.”
