Chapter 5 – Drake
It took some sweet words and a bit more of my soul than I had wanted to show, but I had gotten Erin back. I needed her in my arms, and once I convinced her of that and showed her, Erin seemed to finally forgive me. I also kept my side of the bargain and let her keep her job and the museum open. It was a great place for the city and it kept her happy. I found out that I would do anything to keep her happy that was in my power to do. She was a simple woman and didn’t want much from me, so I found myself wanting to give her more and surprise her just because I knew that she wasn’t expecting it.
I also had to get rid of Mary, which wasn’t that much of a loss. She was a good assistant, but she meddled too much and I knew how Erin felt about her. While she would never ask me to fire someone, I saw how happy she was when I told her that I had. It was little looks like that that made me a slave to her. I would have done anything to see her smile.
To say the feeling was foreign would have been an understatement. I knew that I had never felt this way before. It had really come to a head in my mind when I turned down a beautiful woman who wanted nothing but some innocent pleasure. It was no strings attached and I would have gotten away with it. When I wasn’t even tempted, I knew then that I really loved Erin. I had told her I did, but it took a scenario like that for me to really get it.
Now I was going to the next level, and I knew that a lot of it had to do with the fact that I couldn’t think about being without her. I didn’t want to go another day without her, so marriage seemed like the next step. It was a mess to think about all of it, though, and as soon as I mentioned it to my family, there was a question of her background and money. They thought that she was some kind of gold-digger, which I found preposterous. I knew that Erin wasn’t worried about money. She never seemed to be, and the simple life she lived was because it suited her.
But they pressed and threatened my inheritance if I didn’t get a prenuptial agreement out of her. It was the last thing that I wanted to do, but walking away from that kind of money didn’t make sense either, especially if it went to my younger brother, who was an idiot when it came to finances. I didn’t want to see the family legacy go down the drain in Duane’s hands, but I wouldn’t lose Erin over it either. It put me in a strange situation that I didn’t know how to handle, but as I went to pick up Erin for our date that night, I had the papers drawn up and in the center console.
The museum was quiet, as it had been closed for a couple of hours. Erin was just as bad as me when it came to work, and she had told me that she was going to work late. I knew it was because I had Rose take her out for a long lunch so I could make a closed exhibit ready. But to her it meant that she was behind when she got back. While I hadn’t anticipated her still being there at this time, I should have known that was how she was going to be. Erin was nothing but predictable, and the fact that she was already locked in just proved it. I knew her too well, and it gave me the advantage when I wanted to sneak up on her.
It had been several months since I kissed her on the counter, and it still held something in my heart when I saw it. My eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting and I stopped to see if I could hear her working. She had a tendency to sing and hum under her breath when she was there alone. It was something that she wouldn’t do if she knew I was there, but I followed the sweet harmony to the back of the museum by the mineral collections.
Erin was dusting some of the large gemstones, and my heart lurched in my chest when I saw her. She had her glasses perched on the top of her head and her blonde hair was escaping a bun that she had twisted it up into that morning. I loved watching her get ready because she was so different than anyone else who I’d seen more than once. While other girls would peer closely at the mirror and take what seemed like hours, Erin was done in minutes, in the same unassuming way that she did everything.
I had noticed that she was wearing tighter clothing now, and I liked to think that was because of me. I wasn’t sure, but I know that it kept me in suffocating need for her all of the time. This moment was no different. I don’t know how long I stood there watching her ass wiggling as she dusted.
“Drake! You scared me!”
Her small hand went to her chest, and I couldn’t help the laugh that came out of my mouth. She was adorable when she was scared or angry. I liked everything about her and I don’t know why, but the way she was looking at me then and breathing a little faster was hot. Every time I came into the museum I was turned on almost immediately. When I moved to help her down off of the platform, I pulled her in and rubbed her down my body the last couple of feet of her descent.
Erin’s smile was arousing to my senses and I leaned into kiss her before I really knew what I was doing. I knew that I wanted her, and I was starting to think that I wasn’t going to make it until after dinner, that I wouldn’t even make it to the car.
“What has gotten into you, Drake?”
She was giggling and trying to pull my hands down off of her waist. They were rising to grab the swell of her breasts, and I heard the moan that cemented my purpose there. I was sick of waiting. I needed to feel her right then. When we got around to the front and I saw the information counter, something inside of me pushed her forward and pinned her like before. I knew that I was supposed to ask something, do something else, but all I could think about was being inside of her.
Checking her, I found that she was dripping wet, so I knew I didn’t have to go slow. She didn’t like it slow anyway, and it seemed like her body was always ready for me. It was hard to ignore that, and before I really knew what I was doing, I had her bent over and my hands were yanking her panties down so that I could have her right then. If any passersby had looked in just a little bit, they would have seen me rutting her from behind, hard. We were both clothed from the waist up, but our bottom halves were bare and writhing in pleasure. Only once did I look up and realize that we were being taped. I didn’t like the idea of others seeing us from the control room, but I knew that I would be there in the morning to get the copy of it.
I finally had my fill and left her a little weak-kneed. It was not at all what was supposed to happen, but I couldn’t help myself. I helped her pull her hair out of the falling knot on top of her head and a moment of need filled me when I saw it cascading down her back. I moved to kiss her, but Erin pushed me away before I got too heated.
“I am starving, Drake. You are supposed to take me to dinner, remember?”
I did. There were a lot of things that I was supposed to do tonight. It was going to be a big night, but my mind was already back in bed with Erin. I was going to have to get myself together or I wasn’t going to make it through. I knew that now, but it was hard to pull my fingers out of her hair and give her a little space so that I didn’t end up taking her again.
“I know. I’m sorry, Erin. You just look so beautiful.”
She looked down at her plain dress a little skeptically. “I was going to change first.”
I told her not to. She didn’t need to wear things that were short and black to get my attention. While I liked the way she looked dolled up a bit, it was moments like this that I loved her more than anything else. She was beautiful, sexy, and I had to have her forever.
“You are perfect the way you are.”
She kind of smiled at me, her way of saying that she was pleased. Erin had never been good with compliments. I had this big idea to ask her when we were out, but this seemed to be the perfect time and place. I knew that she didn’t want to be the center of attention, even though she was, most of the time. I wanted it to be special. Something got ahold of me and I went to my knees in front of her.
Erin got nervous and tried to pull me up. I think she thought I was going to try to take her another way, and I thought about it, but in the end I wasn’t there for that. Instead I was there to give her something and ask her a question that I never thought I would ask. Before her I would have never even considered getting married, but with her, there was nothing else that made sense.
“You know I love you, Erin, right?”
Her blue eyes were watering and her face was getting a little pink. She knew what was happening, and for a moment I wondered if she was going to give me the answer that I wanted. It had never occurred to me that she would say no until that very moment.
She kind of nodded to the question that didn’t need an answer and waited for the one that did.
“I don’t want to go on another day without you with me.”
“I am with you now, Drake. We don’t have to do this.”
I pushed through and pulled the ring out of my pocket. When she saw it the waterworks really started to come, and I knew that she was going to say yes. “Marry me, Erin, and make me the happiest man in New York.”
There was no pause, just a nod of her head and a smile. I couldn’t believe it, but she had said yes!