Hey There, Delilah... (30 page)

Nick asked me to move in with him. I told him I’d think about it. Of course I’m going to, but he needs a little bit more punishment after kissing that slutbag Veronica. So, he’s going to have to wait for my answer. He also told me that he loves me. I couldn’t believe it, but damn, am I happy. After everything that has happened in my life, it’s the last thing that I expected to happen. Nick Santino is in love with me, Delilah “Frump Girl” Sampson. Well, I guess I’m not exactly “Frump Girl” anymore, am I? I’m hot and sexy Delilah now. Nick, though, loves me for being me. I could still be “Frump Girl” and he’d be in love with me. How lucky can one girl get?

I string Nick along for a few more days with the whole moving in thing. He keeps asking if I’ve made a decision and I keep telling him that I’m still thinking. I can see that he’s getting anxious and irritated, and I am loving every minute of it.

I decide to put Nick out of his misery by Thursday. I went out the night before and put together a gift basket for
him. It was full of feminine things that are going to go into our bathroom.
Ours! Sigh.
Stuff like lotions, soap, girly pink razors, tampons, facial masks, zit cream, nail polish and remover, a candle, and last but not least - something I will never use, but is funny as hell – a douche.

I set it on his desk with a note saying “Be
prepared” for when he walks into his office this morning. He walks in right on time, stopping next to me. He gives me a soft kiss on the lips as I hand him his coffee. We may be together now, but at the office, we try to keep our usual routine, with the bonus of a morning kiss.  If it ain’t broke…

“Hey there, Delilah,” he murmurs against my lips.

“Morning, Boss,” I smile.

He gives me one more kiss before heading into his office. He le
aves the door open so I can hear the moment when he sees the basket. He mutters a “What the…” then starts cracking up. I smile and go stand in the doorway to his office. Nick turns around, his eyes shimmering with amusement.

“This means you
’re moving in with me, right?” he asks in confirmation.

I give him a soft smile and nod. Nick whoops and closes the distance between us. He scoops me up in his arms and swings me around before covering my mouth with his and kissing me s
oundly. We exchange “I love yous,” and kiss again. Nick puts me down then goes to the basket to look at it more closely.

“So
, this is all the stuff that’s going to invade my bathroom?”

“Mostly,
but some of it is just for shits and giggles.” I smirk.

Nick chuckles.

“So, I was thinking…since we’re in love and all that, maybe we should meet each other’s dads?  Maybe have them over for dinner one night soon to
our
place?” I ask.

Nick smiles fondly down at me. “Of course, Doll.
And, yes, it is
our
place. I think that sounds like a great idea. My dad is going to love you.”

♫♩♫♩♫♩
♫

A week later, I say goodbye to my apartment and move into Nick’s luxurious three-bedroom condo. We invite our fathers over for dinner a week after I move in. They should both be here any minute and my stomach is fluttering with nerves. This will be the first time meeting Nick’s dad, and I’m a bit afraid that he won’t like me. Nick is positive that he will love me, but I can’t help the doubt that lingers in my mind.

I decide on an Italian menu, mainly because I
am really good at cooking Italian food.  It has nothing to do with my Italian Stallion. Purely coincidental. Of course, for starters, we have to have a salad with homemade dressing. Nick is working on that at the moment. Then for the main course, I am making my famous three-meat, three-cheese lasagna with a side of garlic bread using Italian bread, naturally. The smell in the condo is out of this world. The combination of the lasagna and the garlic bread has me salivating.  I asked my dad to pick up some cannolis on his way over for dessert.  My mom always told him never to enter another person’s home empty handed.

I’m checking on the lasagna when there is a knock
at the door. I jump, making Nick - who is standing behind me putting the salad together - chuckle. He turns, gives my shoulders a squeeze then heads for the door. I straighten up, smooth my hands over my dress, make sure that my boobs are appropriately covered, flip my hair over my shoulders, and take a deep breath. As I start for the door, I hear Nick laugh heartily.  When they come into view, I see him, and who I’m guessing is his father, hugging and slapping each other on the back. My breath catches when they break apart because I now know what Nick is going to look like when he is in his sixties -  just as, if not even more gorgeous. I obviously didn’t know him twenty years ago, but man did he age well! Nick smiles brightly at me and motions me forward. I smile tentatively and move toward the two men.

“
Delilah, this is my dad, Anthony,” Nick introduces.

“Mr. Santino,” I say and hold out my hand.

“Please, hun, call me Tony,” he smiles warmly as he shakes my hand.

I nod and return his smile. “Okay.”

Nick slings an arm over his father’s shoulder as he leads him into the condo and shuts the door. Not a minute later, there is another knock. This time, I answer it. My dad greets me with a warm smile and a big hug.

“Hi, sweeti
e,” my father says.

“Hi, Daddy,” I reply.

We turn toward Nick and his dad. “Dad, this is Nick and his father, Tony. Nick, Tony, this is my father, Rick Sampson.” I introduce them to each other.

After everyone shakes hands and says hello
, we move into the eat-in kitchen where Nick pours everyone a glass of wine. As the conversation starts to flow, and everyone is laughing and joking, I am slowly able to relax. Everything is going to be okay.

♫♩♫♩♫♩
♫

The evening is going great. My dad and Rick are getting along fabulously, as are Rick and I. He’s a decent looking older man with glasses. His hair is pure white, he’s getting a bit rounded in the mid-section, and he’s only a few inches taller than Delilah. Delilah must look more like her mother because the only trait she got from her father is her eyes. They have the same exact eyes. Other than that, they look nothing alike.

Delilah excuses herself to us
e the bathroom, so I’m sitting here with my father and Rick. A thought strikes me out of nowhere and I realize that I need to take advantage of the situation in front of me. I glance down the hall to make sure that the bathroom door is still closed before turning to Rick.

“Rick, I need to make this quick before Delilah comes back…” I say in a hushed voice. Rick smirks and raises a curious eyebrow at me as he waits for me to continue. “…I love your daughter with my whole heart and soul
, and I want to be with her for the rest of my life. With your blessing, I’d like to ask for her hand in marriage.”

My dad laughs heartily and claps me on the
back. “Good man. Glad to see that I raised you right.”

Rick chuckles, his hazel eyes warm. “If you believe that you are the man to make my daughter happy for the rest of her life, then you definitely have my blessing,” he says sincerely.

“I will absolutely make her happy for the rest of her life,” I say with confidence.

I hear the bathroom door open and the click of Delilah’s heels on the hardwood floors. I smile as she walks up behind me where I’m sitting at the table and slides her hand across my shoulder to rest on the back of my neck. I look up at her and she smiles sweetly down at me.

“What’d I miss?” she asks.

“Nothing special,”
my dad says with a shrug.

Both Rick and I fight to keep from laughing and Delilah narrows her eyes at us. She lets it go
, though, and sits down next to me. Her hand moves from my neck to my thigh and she starts talking about something - I don’t know what, I’m not really listening – but my eyes are locked on her beautiful face. That’s the face of an angel.  The face of my future wife. My heart feels like it is ready to burst and I fight the urge to ask her to marry me right then and there. I am going to make it special, something that she will never forget.

After our fathers leave,
we clean up the kitchen together before going to the bedroom to get into some more comfortable clothes. I pull on a pair of sweatpants while Delilah slips into one of my old t-shirts. She sighs contently and shoots me a happy smile.

“That went much better than I expected,” she says.

“Eh, I knew it would be great,” I say with a shrug, and I did; I knew it would be an awesome night.

Delilah rolls her eyes and shakes her head. I go to her
and wrap her up in a tight hug. I just love the way she feels in my arms. She hums her approval and strokes the back of my head.

“I have to go to Harry Winston
tomorrow morning to return the jewelry that I borrowed for you.  Do you want to come with me?”

Delilah pulls back and gives me a look. “Uh,
yeah! That’s a stupid question.  What girl wouldn’t want to go to Harry Winston?”

“A stupid one?” I reply, even though I know it was a rhetorical question.

Delilah snorts. “Damn right, a stupid one.”

“And you are far from that, my love,” I murmur as I lean down to kiss her softly on the lips.

Delilah sighs and melts against me. I slide my hand down her back to cup her ass and pull her more firmly against my ever-growing erection. I can’t help but get a boner every time her body presses against mine. I move down to kiss her neck and Delilah lets out a breathy moan.

“You are such a
horn ball,” she mutters halfheartedly.

“Yeah, but you love it,” I breath
e against her neck.

Delilah’s response is a moan as she snakes her hand in between us to cup me through my sweatpants. Now it’s my turn to moan. I back her up until her legs meet the end of the bed. We fall onto the bed in a tangle of limbs
as our mouths find each other. I make sure to show her just how big of a horn ball I really am.

♫♩♫♩♫♩
♫

The next morning, we head over to Harry Winston so I can return the jewelry that I borrowed for Delilah to wear to the charity ball. It should have been returned last week; in fact, they called me to find out where it was. I told them that I have been super busy and promised to return it this weekend. So here we are.

I tell Delilah to take a look around while I meet with one of the managers to take care of the return. I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she wanders around. Naturally, she gravitates toward the engagement rings. I think that’s the one thing that every woma
n on this Earth has in common.  Enter a jewelry store,  go straight to the sparkling diamonds.

As soon as I’m finished, I head over to Delilah to see what she’s looking at. I come up behind her, wrap my arms around her tiny waist and drop my chin to her shoulder. Delilah turns her head and kisses me on the cheek.

“Anything good?” I ask.

Delilah sighs. “They are all so beautiful.”

“Yes, they are, but they are not as beautiful as you,” I whisper in her ear.

Delilah giggles. “Thank you, even though that was so cheesy.”

I laugh.

A sales woman comes over a moment later. “Would you like to try something on?”

Delilah starts to say no, but I interrupt her. “Absolutely, can we see a few of these?” I say, pointing to the engagement rings behind the glass.

Delilah gapes up at me. “What?”

“Come on, you know you want to,” I say with a shit-eatin’ grin as I move to her side.

The sales woman
also grins and nods in agreement.

“Okay.
” Delilah breathes, her eyes wide and glittering with excitement.

I watch Delilah’s face as the sales woman pulls out a few rings for
her to try on. She looks like the fat kid in
Willy Wonka
when he first sees the chocolate river, or like Ralphie when he gets his Red Rider BB gun, and I am loving every minute of it. I keep a close eye on her reaction to each one as she tries them on, hoping to gauge which one is her favorite. I end up not needing to hope because she ends up telling me unwittingly. The first one she tries on is the winner.

“Oh. My. God. Nick. H
ow stunning is this ring? I think I can die happy, just from trying this ring on,” Delilah gushes.

I drag my eyes away from her dancing eyes and
look down at her finger. It’s a cushion-cut three-carat diamond with probably another carat in smaller diamonds surrounding the center stone and around the platinum band. It has perfect color and clarity, and it just so happens to fit her perfectly.

“It is absolutely stunning, Doll,” I murmur while making eye contact with the sales woman.

She raises an eyebrow in question at me and I give her a subtle nod, letting her know that I want the ring. She gives me a smile in return and lets Delilah try on a couple more. None of the other rings elicit the same kind of reaction from her, so I know the first one is “the one.”

After the sales woman puts all
of the rings away, I tell Delilah that I need to use the bathroom before leaving. I head down the hallway, knowing that the sales woman won’t be too far behind. I stop and turn outside of the men’s room, in case I have to quickly duck and hide, if Delilah decides she needs to go, too. The sales woman turns the corner a minute later and walks calmly in my direction.

“
Shall I put the ring aside for you, Mr. Santino?” She asks.

“Yes, I’ll come pick it up as soon as I can get away without it being suspicious,” I say quietly.

“Shall I put it on the credit card we have on file for you?”

“Yes, please. Thank you,” I say with a smile.

“You are most welcome, Mr. Santino, and congratulations,” she chirps before heading back out toward the front of the store. That was probably the easiest commission she has ever made.

I wait another minute before returning to Delilah’s side. We debate on a place to grab lunch before finally settling on a quaint little deli that we both enjoy. As we’re sitting in my car at a red light,
it hits me what I just did. Holy shit! I just bought an engagement ring for Delilah! Wow. I never thought this day would come.  And I certainly never expected it would be with Delilah. But love is funny like that - you just never know when it’s going to come up and bite you on the ass. A car honks its horn from behind me making me realize that I have spaced out. Apparently, so did Delilah because she jumps in her seat at the sudden noise. We glance at each other and smile. God, I cannot wait to make this woman my wife.