Long Time Coming

Denver

Today is the first of their free day, they are going to spend the day exploring Denver on their own. He planned the museum. Jarrod went down to the desk and picked up the rental keys since he was up at six am. Since she was still sleeping, he slid back in the bed with her and cuddled back up to her and back to sleep too. He woke to kisses on his face. Wifey was up and ready to go, he smiled into her kiss and opened his eyes. "Good morning baby"

"Good morning hotstuff. I've been waiting on you to shower. Will you shower with me?" She asked nuzzling his neck.

"You know you don't have to ask beautiful. I love washing your back, and your hair. Let me me not forget just holding you. Let's go honey." They went to shower.

Dressed and ready to go. They both loved bathing together, but decided today would not be a day they missed due to too long in the shower

"So tell me hot stuff, what is on the agenda for today?" She asked over breakfast.

"Today starts the first day of our choice. The only thing to do today is to go to the museum and the time doesn't matter. The rest of this trip is about us. We have one planned activity on Monday but beyond that, it's up to you beautiful."

"Goodie, I can swim all day tomorrow."

"Yes baby you can. Whatever you want to do. Denver is your oyster. We have a late check out on Tuesday. So we are just going to have fun and spend quality time together."

"Can we go to the museum later this afternoon? I want to swim in the pool with my soon to be hubby, and maybe take a nap. I really want to spend time with you uninterrupted, just us. Tomorrow can we just lay around in bed or around the hotel, maybe a short drive. Just us, not interrupted by the world. Is that bad?" She asked.

"No baby, that's what I want too. Why do you think we have three free days? Why I jammed packed all of the  to-do list in two days? I wanted three leisure days just to gaze upon your face and enjoy life through your eyes. That is all that I want." He said.

"Where do you want to live after we get married? " She asked. 

" I don't know. Where do you think we need to live?" He asked.

" I have been thinking about what you said about your mom taking over the flower shop. How about if i turn it over to her and then we can do whatever you want to do. That way we are free to live wherever you want to live."

"Baby, look at me. I chose to be a consultant because I wanted you to have your dream. I have had my dream career, now I'm chasing my dream love, You. I can live anywhere and be a consultant. It's about what you want. I know you enjoy your life and I don't want to change that. I just thought that my mom would like to play in your flowers and make new friends volunteering in your shop. I'm not asking you to change your life. I'm just asking you to let me in it." He said stroking her hair.

"Baby cakes you are in my life. I'm not sure what I really want to do about the flower shop, but I'm positive that I want you in my life.I'm also positive that I want to be with you, wherever that is. Do you know how many times I dreamed about being with you. It's the only constant for the last twenty years. Wherever you want to live is where we will live. I am considering giving the shop to your mom so I can travel." She said putting her head on his chest so that he couldn't see her feelings in her eyes.

"Baby, I was just saying to let my mom volunteer in your shop on her terms. I don't want you to give up your shop. I want you to have the career you want. My life's goal is now to be the man you need. I have had the career. All I want is you, wherever you are, doing whatever makes you happy. I don't want to change or uproot your life. I just want to join your life. I just need to know how to do that." He said hugging her, he could tell she was getting emotional, though he wasn't sure why. "Talk to me beautiful, what is getting to you about this conversation?" He asked.

"It's just that I'm not sure what I really want. I'm not sure if I want to leave my flower shop or not."She said.

"Baby, you don't have to give it up. I can make my life right there in St. Joe. I have lived in Illinois for 30 years, I just want to be where you are happy. We don't have to decide it right now, but I'm glad you brought up the question. We are here to relax and have fun. So let's just table the living quarters discussion and let's go see about the pool situation, or do you want to go to the museum and catch lunch or something? What's your preference?" He asked to change the subject.

"Pool, I want you to see my new bathing suit and I can't wait to see your trunks." She said getting up to go model her bathing suit.

Three hours in the pool area, swimming, snuggling, playing, browsing, people watching and meeting new people. They had a great time. Sharon decided she was ready to go into Denver. She realized that it was already FOUR, If they were going to get the museum today they needed to move. She hustled him up to the room and they showered and got dressed. She was beautifully dressed in a long sleeve sweater dress with leggings and walking shoes. She beamed at him in his crew shirt, jeans and Timberland boots. Nothing was sexier to her then a man in a shirt, creased jeans and nice boots. She just fell in love with him again.

"Let's get out of here before I do something we both want." She said, pulling him towards the door. 

"Ok, let me get my wallet and keys." He said, laughing at her, realizing that she was getting turned on for him. He would love to get into her wetness but he was holding out on her until they made it to the alter and hopefully he can sneak into her and they get repeat his last wedding surprise. 

He led her to the car, watching her face scrunch up with confusion as he led her into the parking lot. He unlocked and opened the door for her.

"Umm babe! When did you have time to get a rental car?" She asked puzzled.

"I booked it when I booked the vacation and had them deliver it to the hotel and when I got up at 7:30 this morning, I picked up the keys from the front desk and then got back in bed with you. I didn't want to wake you. You were sleeping so peacefully. So I ran down to the desk and when you weren't up, I got back in bed. Though I'm very glad I did, because I would have missed the way you woke me up!" He said grinning at her. 

She just smiled at him and slid on her shades.

"So sweetness, what do you want to do after the museum?" He asked, turning on the GPS.

"How about some hole in the wall restaurant, get a good taste of Denver? Then to the hotel to the pool again." She requested.

"I had no idea, i was in love with a little fish! I guess I can just call you Ariel from now on. Do you swim a lot at home, since you are minutes from the ocean?"

"No I usually don't because at home to tend to my flowers so much. I have a green house where I grow all my flowers. My shop is just filled with whatever has bloomed. When I'm not in the flower shop, I'm usually in the greenhouse preparing and caring for my flowers." 

"Really. Is that why mom says she don't see you a lot?" He asked.

"Yes, most people only see me in the shop or catching lunch. The occasional outing when I don't lose time in the greenhouse." She said.

"Do you ever wish you had more time to do what you want to do and not be bogged down with responsibilities of the shop. I mean more time for yourself, to do the things you want to do besides flowers?"

"Honestly, I wish I had dated more, but I'm so familiar with the people, I would have to date online or travel the Panama City or Tallahassee to date, and dating is not worth that hassle."

"Love is worth all the effort you put into it." He said.

"Yes, but the road to getting to  love is the hard part. I'm going to say this, I'm glad I waited on love to find me. Otherwise I would have missed you and missed this entire relationship. We didn't start off the best, but this is worth the wait." She said kissing his hand.

His heart melted on the spot, and his love and devotion to her renewed itself  one hundred times over with that statement. She made him feel ten feet tall. 

"You are worth all the sad, lonely, aggravating, intense and boring moments I've went through to be here. I should tell you that, had you not left that day, I wouldn't have gotten married, well not to her. I would have took you to the alter that day. I would have been so happy to come home to you every day. To know that you were there to hold me as I worked in a job that I loved on assignments that I hated. Babygirl I would't trade one moment of it since it ended up with us here. So many times I wanted to come here and kidnap you and take you away and start a new life in another country. I'm glad I went through everything with Carolyn and now I really know how to treat you. You get the refined me. She had me in the raw, and some things were not pretty. Some of our arguments were  really nasty where it was just toxic for both of us, yet she wouldn't let go because I was financing her life. When I finally understood what she was doing to me I held out until I had concrete proof and walked away."

"I'm so sorry. I was so embarrassed that I was so wonton and suggestive that I thought you would hate me for ruining a happy day for you, I didn't want to see you disappointed, angry or hurt about your big day with your love that I ran, as far and as fast as I could. My heart hurt so bad for years. I was so ashamed of myself for seducing you. I just wanted to know, what your hands on my body felt like." She said, looking ashamed still.

He pulled over and turned to her. Lifting her chin with his finger to make her look him in the eye.

"Please understand, that I seduced you, you were just being nice to me and I had had this huge crush on you for some time. I had no idea that it wasn't just an infatuation with you. The thought of not seeing you anymore was tearing me up and I thought, if I kiss her, it will get you out of my system, but shame on me because the moment my lips touched yours, my heart beat out of my chest and I had to have more. When I entered your body, my heart stopped and soared. It was the first time I felt at home and at peace. Laying in your arms for that little bit, I would have moved the solar system to keep you with me and I'd always keep you happy no matter what i had to sacrifice. Since then you have been the only bright thing in my life. I'm glad we had that special time, it kept me sane through some very trying times, but I've been waiting for now, when I can wholly make you mine. Where you wouldn't regret it and I was at a place in life where I can uproot everything for us to be together." He said making her understand his sincerity with his eyes.

He saw the tears slip down her cheeks as she pulled him into a hug and he felt her sadness and angst fall away from her. She lost a lot of weight with that confession. He gave her the strength and comfort she needed in that moment and let her know he would shoulder her problems from now on. She was no longer alone in the world. 

They went to the museum where they awed at the exhibits and enjoyed walking through the museum holding hands and discussing the different artifacts and mediums the museum housed. He wasn't interested in anything there, but he got everything he wanted starring at her seeing everything. Two hours after arriving at the museum they headed to Carlos Cafe', They enjoyed the local fish and grits dish and a bison burger. 

"So what do you want to do now?" He asked her.

" Let's see if we can find out about the night life and see if we can find some music for dancing tonight and maybe a nightcap. I'd like to try a night out on the town. Dancing, dinner, talk until the sun come up, falling asleep." She said.

"Sounds good to me. What do you want to do right now?" He asked again.

"I want to go lay around again, take a nap then hit the night life." she said.

"Alright, let's load up and head to the room gorgeous." He said, ushering her out to the car.

They drive the fifteen minutes back to the hotel, she went to the room to lay down and rest for a while and he headed to the front desk to get intel on the night life. He gathered his information and headed to the room to cuddle his sleeping woman until time to head out. He found her fast asleep when he arrived. He crawled into bed with her and after setting his alarm.

"Wake up sleeping beauty." He said stroking her face. He loved how she always buried her face in his chest when she didn't want to get  up. It never failed to make him laugh. 

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"You are. When you don't want to get up, you  bury  your head in my chest." He told her.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Because I notice everything about you. From you head to your toes and from facial expressions to body language, I'm always watching. Come on the Jazz show start at 10 and its a twenty minute drive away." He said sitting up, taking her with him so she can wake up.

They got up and he moved her to the bathroom so he could get her moving to get ready. He had tickets to see Corinne Bailey Rae, Jill Scott, Queen Naija and Brandy. They were going to the concert then snacks at one of the after parties that is happening. "Come on babe,  don't put on makeup. We need to leave her in exactly five minutes." He said to her coming from the closet getting coats. When she stepped out of the bathroom his mouth dropped open, and his system was shocked. She looked delicious, he wanted to throw her on the bed and make it a night in. The smile that graced her lips let him know she had this outfit just for this moment. 

Seeing the drop of his mouth was definitely making this outfit worth the purchase. She initially thought she spent too much on this particular outfit, but she really wanted to wear it with him so she brought it. OMG, he had his bedroom eyes on!! That she wasn't expecting. She must be hot for him to drop his mouth open and he has shifted to bedroom eyes. She couldn't lie, he was a nice drink of water himself, she was going to sit back and let all the women swoon over him as long as they don't touch. Look like they going to turn heads while in Denver. Wonder where we are going?

"Babe, where are we going?" She asked.

"Denver Opera House." He said.

"Who are we seeing?"

"Some artist. Let's go so that we can be on time and find our seats." He said, hustling her out the door before he stripped her clothes and took advantage of her.

They made the twenty minute drive discussing what they saw along the way. She noted that there was not a lot of people here or a lot of people carpooled. She stepped out with is assistance as he escorted her in. She was surprised then they showed them to a booth just off the stage.

"I hope you didn't spend a fortune on these tickets. Please tell me you  didn't?" She said catching a few women starring at her man, and giving them smiles of thanks. 

She was floored when Queen Naija can out first, then Corinne Bailey Rae, she lost it when Brandy came out and finally just frozen in shock to  Jill Scott live. She looked at him with her mouth on the table. Grinned at him, leaned over and whispered in his ear. "It just might be your lucky night big boy." 

"Ohh baby, every night is my lucky night, so you are going to have to say what you mean." He said smirking at her.

"If you don't know what I mean then I don't know if I want to give it to you." She said with a Cheshire grin that told him exactly what she meant. 

He growled in her ear. "It's not a rush to get in between those thighs. I love the thought that I made you so happy that you are considering giving it to me ahead of schedule." He laughed.

She just kissed him as Jill finished A long Walk. He pulled her to him so she couldn't get up. She just looked at him while silently asking what was going on. Now there were only a few people left in the arena and Markus guided her to the front row, as everyone came to the stage it was only one section and on four rows were occupied. Then all four ladies came out on stage sitting on stools and did a private concert just for this group, taking request, answering questions and even sharing new songs with the group. Then they took pictures with everyone as a group(which they will be e-mailed to them later) and individual pictures with each artist with him and her only. The group photo would be e-mailed to them but the personal photos they are leaving with just then. After spending another hour and a half with the artist, they headed out to Chicago Style to eat and they happen to be having Jazz night and they had Damien Escobar. She was in heaven, she wanted to hear him live, just her luck they came here for a night cap. They enjoyed about two hours of Jazz with Damien before she was tired and ready for bed.

In total, she had five famous peoples autographs with photos, saw two AMAZING shows, saw the Museum and swim and napped to her hearts content. This man, that she whole heart loved had given her more than what she asked for and she could never thank him enough. There was no words or gestures that could make her love him more. They chatted about the day on the ride to the hotel. The tiredness from the over excitement of the night was starting to wear her down, just as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. 

She laid her head on his chest in the elevator, signaling to him how tired she has gotten, good thing they massage was mid day and not morning. She needed her rest. She would rest. "Do you want to  take a quick shower when you get in?" He asked. " I don't know how much longer I can stand I may just wash my face and go to sleep, I can shower in the morning." She offered in response. They entered the room, she slipped on her gown and took off her make up then crawled into bed and before Markus could get in bed she was sleep. He kissed her forehead, fit his body around hers and just listened to her steady breathing and soon followed her into sleep.