Always, Love (girlxgirl)

Chapter 21

"Mia, open your eyes."

"No, Jamie I can't. You don't understand" I rushed out, squeezing my eyes shut tightly.

"Lighten up, love. It's just field mouse", she teased.

My arms were tightly wrapped around Jamie's shoulders. We had began walking back to the car when I spotted the rat. I may be a tough Texan in the shooting range, but don't put no rats in front of me. I immediately jumped into Jamie's arm, frantically. She was incredibly confused, but she still caught me. We were now stood just a few feet away from the stream with me lying bridal style in Jamie's arms. She was trying her best not to laugh.

"So, you're a natural deadeye, but are petrified of a teensy field mouse?"

"Yes that sounds about right. I ain't afraid to admit it" I said matter-of-factly, my breathing erratic.

Jamie stifled a laugh as she continued walking. It wasn't long before we reached the car. I could feel that Jamie was going to put me back down, so I gripped onto her tighter with my eyes still closed.

"There aren't any rats, right? I don't wanna step on one", I asked with concern.

Jamie chuckled and said "no, princess" before lowering me back down to my feet. Butterflies were swarming around in my stomach at the pet name she used. A blush started to show in my cheeks, so I quickly turned away from her and made my way over to the car door. Jamie could sense what was going on, so she decided to mess with me. Right as I was about to open the door, she slammed the little space I created back shut and leaned against the door, hovering over me. I gasped and turned around to face her. Her face was just a mere three inches from mine. She was leaned down, staring directly into my eyes. I tried biting the inside of my cheeks to dull the stinging in my cheeks, but it didn't work. She chuckled at this and grabbed my chin, raising it to bring my gaze to hers.

"Don't ever try to hide that pretty face from me, babe" she said in a low tone, moving closer. "What's wrong, love?", she inquired with a sly smirk on her face and a slight head tilt.

My eyes widened and I felt almost unable to move. "I- uh", I tried to start before she interjected.

"You what...hm? Do I make you feel things?" She brushed her finger gently across my now heated cheek. Her face moved closer to mine and those intense blue eyes became even more powerful. My breath hitched in my throat.

"Y-yes" I answered with false confidence. She grinned before grabbing my hips with both hands and yanking me closer to her body, bringing me away from the car. She moved one of her hands to the door handle and pulled it open.

"After you, darling" she said gallantly. My body unfroze and allowed me to enter the car after a brief moment.

We drove for what felt like hours before we arrived at the restaurant "Poisson Du Mer". It looked really upscale. The sun was starting to set as we pulled up from the restaurant. The driver dropped us off at the entrance before smoothly pulling away. The outside of the building was completely constructed from black bricks and stones. There were several golden lights stationed on the surface of exterior walls, illuminating the extravagant building in all of its glory.

"Wow" I muttered, absolutely amazed.

Jamie chuckled. "Yeah, it's quite gorgeous, is it not?"

"Uh...YEAH. This place is fucking beautiful. I'd marry whoever designed this place. Goddamn." My voice was full of astonishment as I continued to take in the sight.

"When shall I take you ring shopping?", she teased. I turned and raised an eyebrow at her. I was confused. Very fucking confused. To my relief she decided to clarify.

"I own this establishment, love. Shall we?", she said as she offered me her bent arm. I wrapped my arm around hers, and we continued walking. Thoughts were racing through my head.

"So you're an entrepreneur?" I asked, trying to seem subtle. She laughed.

"I guess you could say that." She quickly glanced over at me before we walked through the giant front doors being held open by restaurant staff. "Are you intimidated?"

My face reddened immediately. I hate how easy it is for her to glance into my soul. "What makes you say that?" I mentally face palm as soon as the words leave my mouth. I am so fucking obvious, it's embarrassing.

"Your eyes are larger than Bambi's, and your face is the same color as a ripe tomato. So, answer my question. I want to hear you say it. Are you intimidated by me?"

I suck in a deep breath as we continue walking. She does. She absolutely intimidates me, in every fucking way. "Yes, you do", I muttered softly. "Is that bad?"

She glanced down at me and grinned. "No, darling. I actually enjoy it very much." The smirk fails to leave her lips as she leads me to a secluded room in the building. As soon as we walk through the doors and close them, all of the background noises fade away and our footsteps against the black and white marble floors is all that can be heard. Jamie glanced down at her watch. "We're fifteen minutes early" she stated flatly. She dropped her arm and reached for my hand instead. There was a medium sized round table in the center of the room. Jamie led us over to the table to take our seats. I began looking around and taking in my surroundings. There was a full bar in the room, taking up the majority of one of the walls. There were also two doors. One was labeled with a bathroom sign and the other was unmarked. Other than that, the room was pretty bare. The walls were all black with the only color in the room coming from the white in the black and white swirled marble floors. Jamie observed my face as I looked around. I turned to my left to face her.

"Why are we in a separate room?", I inquired lightly.

"Some business is meant to be kept private."

Almost directly after she answered, four male servers walked swiftly into the room through the same entrance they we came in through. Jamie didn't even flinch. She made a gesture to one of the servers and he sped over to the bar and began mixing a drink. She turned to face me. "What would you like to drink. Do you fancy any beverage in particular?"

I shook my head no and and she turned to the waiter who was over at the bar. "The young lady will have a virgin piña colada and a water" she instructed.

"Yes, Ms. Morelli" the waiter replied.

My mouth fell open. "How did you kno-"

"Your file" she stated, before I could even finish my question.

"Oh"

I played with my fingers under the table as we waited for our drinks. I could feel Jamie's eyes burning into the side of my face. She grabbed my fingers that I was nervously fidgeting with and interlaced our fingers together. Not even two minutes later, the server brings over the drinks.

"Here is a virgin piña colada and water for Miss James", he cheerfully spoke as he set the two drinks down in front of me. "And a bourbon for you, Ms. Morelli", he added as he set the dark drink down in front of her.

"Thank you", we both responded in unison.

"My pleasure" he retorted before he made his way back to the other waiters standing with their hands behind their backs, lining the walls.

There were a couple more minutes of silence before my dad burst through the door with a guard following close behind. He motioned for the guard to stand at the far end of the room as he sat down at the round table with a giant smile spread across his face.

"Hello, my beautiful daughter" he beamed, facing my direction.

"Hi dad" I replied with a smile to match his.

"And hello, Jamie. Did you complete the list?", he asked, now facing Jamie.

"Yes sir, we did" she declared.

"Good, now let's begin." My dad's voice settled into a serious tone.

"Let's", Jamie imparted.