The Protection Program

TPP : Chapter XXV

The power was still out, so all they had was candles to light up the room. But that was fine with Aubrey, he enjoyed candle lit dinners, especially if the dinner was with the girl he had feelings for deeply. She wasn't eating though, which wasn't a surprise, he got her to eat at lunch so he knew she wouldn't eat at dinner. He didn't really eat much either which was a shock to Nina, as much as he loved food, for him to not eat surprised her a lot. He decided to sit across from her instead of beside her, simply due to the fact that he wanted to take in her beauty, she looked natural today as always and it was his favorite look. All of the strippers and numbers he hooked up with all tried to hard to look good, they tried so hard that a lot of the time it wasn't attractive at all. Pounds of make up caked to there face, it wasn't a natural look and he didn't see how men liked that. Then again, he was one to pick them up and have sex with them so it was ironic for him to feel that way

"I'm gonna miss you tonight. When we part ways and its time for us to go to separate rooms."

He paused as Nina watch him intently, looking in his eyes. She liked looking him in the eyes, it gave her a relaxed feel, it brought her comfort that she didn't know was possible to have when she thought it would be the other way around if she did. His eyes were down turned and soft, the dark, rich brown color made the butterflies in her stomach only grow to a larger amount. He licked his full pink lips making her insides turn, all she could think about was how good it felt for hers to be against his, not just his body but his lips. It felt good to be held but it felt even better to be kissed, sparks went flying everywhere but she didn't want to admit it, she wasn't supposed to admit it because she couldn't remember a time where she had that feeling. Even with Rashad.

She tried to convince herself that she did have that feeling with Rashad and that she just couldn't remember because it was so long ago, but as much as she tried she just couldn't think straight. That kiss left her feeling like she was on cloud nine, her lips tingled and her heart throbbed. She didn't know it but Aubrey felt the same way, he was in a daze and sat downstairs for a good 10 minutes after she left. He sat down there with his eyes closed not being able to think about anything but the kiss, his thoughts were everywhere at the time but they all revolved around Nina.

"Last night.... When i held you in my arms, i slept like a baby. I haven't slept like that ever and it just felt so good."

He picked up his long stemmed wine glass and took in a sip of the white wine, Nina didn't drink so she stuck to water. Externally she stayed calm and collected, while internally she was raging with fire. She wanted to jump across the table and kiss him and curl up in his lap while her head lie on his chest, but she couldn't do that. She had to keep her composure and try her hardest to think of reasons not to do that, so far there wasn't any.

"I'm gonna miss you snuggling up to me, im gonna miss the feel of your skin against mine. Hell, im even gonna miss your snoring."

She smiled as she rolled her eyes upward, he was joking with her and she knew it, usually she wasnt one for jokes but she liked them now. She liked his playful, loving side. His serious, business side wasnt to exciting, not that she had anything to be excited about. As much as she liked peace and quiet, sitting in silence with a man that you were slowly developing feelings for was no fun. Her voice was faint, small, mostly because she hadn't said much all day

"im gonna miss that too."

He looked up from his plate of food with widened eyes, he didn't expect her to say it. He didn't expect her to say anything but for her to say that she was feeling the same way made his whole world rock. The corner of her mouth turned upward into a small smile as her brows furrowed a little, she was adorable and he couldn't help but feel like he needed to jump across the table and kiss her. They both felt the same way about everything and they didn't even know it.

"May i be excused?"

"yes you may."

He smiled at her kindly as she stood up and pushed in her chair, he always told her that he would deal with the food and glass wear but when the stripper numbers were around he would make them deal with it. Instead of walking up to her room right away she shuffled slowly over to him and reached for his hand, she didn't know if he wanted to be touched or not so she went with it. She grabbed his hand and held it in hers gently as he look up at her with loving eyes, the eyes she was growing to like more and more and more

"I know that you want to know everything about me, i understand that me holding back so much from you hurts you because you want to be that person i confide in. I want you to be that person as well but im not ready for that, just give me time and i'll get there. I'm trying."

He smiled up at her happy that she understood. It hurt him a lot in fact that she didn't open up to him the way he expected her too. Steve told him that it would be like a therapy session everyday, he said the parolee would want to get everything off of there chest because talking made everything better. Boy, was Steve wrong. Nina barely spoke at all, let alone told her life story. It made him happy to know she understood how he felt about it and that she was slowly working on it, it made him even more happy that she wanted him to be that person. She wanted him to be her person that she could trust with everything and that made him overjoyed type of happy. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek making him 600x more happier, he turned his head and kissed her nose softly before she pulled away and let go of his hand. he felt his heart break a little as she pulled away and began to walk to her room, he hated her room, he wished she could just sleep with him. He wished she could just snuggle with him in his extra large bed and not even have her own room, his room could turn into there room but one step at a time is what he always had to tell himself. He repeated the words in his head over and over as she disappeared behind the wall causing him to break a little more

One step at a time because shes trying.