Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was until this moment.
The rest of our meal was nothing short of decadent. The food was some of the best I’ve ever eaten, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was perfectly romantic. The lighting was dimmed, but not too dark to see and the music that the string quartet played filled the room with unobtrusive and gentle melodies.
I couldn’t have planned a more perfect evening if I’d had a hundred years to do it.
Of course, the thing that made it so perfect was Tallon.
He focused solely on me while we chatted about the lovely food and what we were going to do for the rest of our vacation. His eyes never left mine for long and he listened intently as I talked, even when I felt like I was rambling in my excitement.
I reveled in the feeling of having his full attention on me and nothing else.
Tallon was a busy and important man, so it was understandable that these moments were rare for us. That just made me savor it all the more.
He reached out to hold my hand and looked at my hand for a long time. I didn’t realize at first that he was looking at my ring.
He lifted my hand and gently kissed my knuckles.
“I’m so lucky,” he said softly. “A woman like you is more than I ever deserved. When you accepted my proposal, it was the proudest moment of my life.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
Tallon had accomplished so much that it was hard to believe he really thought that, but the look in his eyes was so honest that I had to believe him.
“I love you,” I said softly. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Tallon leaned forward and captured my lips in a short, heated kiss.
“I love you too.”
I caught myself leaning in for a more intense kiss when I remembered that we weren’t actually alone. Tallon must have realized what happened because he chuckled softly and leaned close to me.
“We have plenty of time for that,” he whispered.
I felt my face grow warm at the implication and his teasing tone. As much as I wanted to agree with him, I had a feeling that we were both going to be too tired by the time we got back to the Villa.
But, as Tallon had pointed out, we had plenty of time to enjoy our vacation to the fullest.
*Natalia*
Waking up in Rome was better than I had imagined it would be. That was due mostly to the delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafting through our villa. I felt Tallon’s warmth by my side and smiled as I snuggled in close to him.
I barely remembered coming to bed last night. We had stayed at the restaurant for a long time drinking and talking, then went for a long walk to take in some of the scenery. By the time we got back, we were both so exhausted that we had fallen into bed.
I was so happy to wake up with him next to me that for a moment I felt my eyes getting watery.
“Good morning,” he said groggily.
“Morning,” I muttered in response. “I’ve really missed waking up like this.”
He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my temple. “So have I.”
I smiled and let myself drift back towards sleep. I don’t know how much time passed before Tallon spoke again.
“We have a lot to do today,” he said. “We need to get up.”
I frowned. There was a lot that I wanted to do while we were here. He was right. The longer we lazed here, the less I would get to experience.
I forced myself to sit up, but groaned as I did so. Tallon laughed softly and I ignored him as I got up and stumbled to the dresser to get ready for the day.
“I’ve hired a tour guide to show us around,” he said.
I frowned at that. It seemed so touristy to hire a guide, but we were tourists, and I probably wouldn’t know where to start without the guide.
“That sounds helpful,” I admitted.
“I’m glad you think so. We’re going to meet him after breakfast.”
My stomach growled at the word and the smell of bread returned to the forefront of my mind. I was suddenly starving.
Once we were dressed, we went downstairs and enjoyed a light breakfast of bread and some of the most delicious preserves I had ever eaten. As we ate, I asked Tallon that we were going to see first, but he refused to answer. I wanted to be annoyed at his insistence that it be a surprise, but his surprises had worked out for me so far.
Tallon looked excited as we drove into the city, and it only made me more curious about where exactly we were going.
When we reached the city, the car pulled over and we got out to walk. There were areas of the city where cars just weren’t an option, and this was one of them. I held Tallon’s hand as he led me through the crowded streets towards a large courtyard. When I recognized the building ahead of us my heart nearly stopped.
I wasn’t especially religious, but I stopped and crossed myself at the sight of the Vatican Basilica.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a swirl of exquisite sights and sounds. Our tour guide was fantastic as he led us on an extensive tour through the Vatican, Colosseum, and Sistine Chapel. The sights were burned into my mind, and I knew that these memories were going to stay with me forever.
When I thought back on this trip, Tallon’s face was going to be the first thing that came to mind. Every time I glanced at him, he was looking at me. He was either looking at me with unmistakable heat or with an expression of such love that it made my heart flutter. Maybe it was our short time apart, but I felt like I was falling even more in love with him than I thought was possible.
We made our way back to the villa after our tour ended. It was already getting pretty late, and I was getting hungry again. “Do you want to go out to dinner?” I asked.
“I have dinner taken care of,” he said with a smile. “I’ve hired a private chef to make us dinner here tonight.”
I smiled and shook my head at him. “You’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“I had a lot of time to think about it,” he replied.
“This has been a dream come true,” I said.
“It’s not over yet,” he said. “I’ll meet you on the terrace in an hour,” he said. He stopped to kiss me, then we parted ways.
I went upstairs to get cleaned up and change my clothes.
By the time I made it to the terrace, Tallon was already there. I paused and looked at him and committed the sight to memory.
There was a bottle of red wine on ice and the table was set with candles burning in the center and a fragrant basket of bread was waiting for us. The view of the garden behind him and the city skyline beyond that was breathtaking, but it was nothing compared to how he looked. He had taken some time to tame his hair, and the shirt he was wearing showed off just enough skin to be distracting.
I took my seat across from him and he smiled sweetly at me. “The food will be here soon,” he assured me.
“You look incredible,” I blurted. He chuckled and reached for my hands. “Sorry,” I said. “This whole day has just been so much. I can’t think of anything more romantic.”
“I can,” he said. “Our wedding.”
