CHAPTER9
“Eat three more bites,” Pedro instructed as they sat at the table together.
“I really don’t like spinach,” she admitted, poking at the leafy salad he’d made to go along with the omelet he’d whipped up for their dinner.
“Then pick the carrots and celery out and crunch on those,” he suggested.
“I can do that,” she agreed happily. “Do you want my spinach?”
Pedro snaked an arm across the table to stab a few leaves. “Sure. Just call me Popeye,” he joked with a wink.
“I don’t think you need anything to make you stronger,” she commented, eying his muscular arms revealed by the tank shirt he wore.
“Everyone needs nutrients to be strong.” He stabbed a few more before asking, “Have you been tested lately?”
“Tested?” she echoed, not following his train of thought.
“For anything we could transmit to each other,” he explained gently. “My plan is to clean the kitchen before cleaning us up. I don’t think I can keep my hands off you in the shower, Little girl. Do I need to bring condoms?”
“Oh! That kind of testing.”
Belinda felt her face heat with embarrassment. She was absolutely poised and confident in a work situation. In an intimate setting, Belinda felt like a fish out of water. Last night, she’d blurted an invitation for him to make love to her in a surge of desire-fueled bravery. How did she tell him that she’d had boyfriends before but hadn’t ever chosen to have sex with any of them? He was going to think that her choices were wacky.
“I’ve had all the standard communicable disease screenings that apply for me,” she answered cagily.
“There are some that aren’t suitable for you?” he asked with a look of confusion.
“I’m a virgin,” she blurted before she could stop herself. “I know that’s completely weird, and you may wish to run the other way.”
Pedro set his fork down with a clink and stood. Rounding the table, he picked her up and sat down in her chair with Belinda on his lap. “I’m not running anywhere for any reason. Especially not because you’ve chosen to wait for someone you think is special before taking this step.”
“I’m most likely the only virgin on the entire Edgewater campus and you got stuck with her.”
“I am not stuck with you. I chose you. Am I surprised? Yes. Am I repelled? Hell, no.”
Belinda had already observed that Pedro wasn’t against swearing when the situation merited it outside of a workplace situation, but he seemed to only curse to underline something important. “Really?”
“To know that my Little girl feels having sex as something so private, it’s not a part of her she wants to share with others is definitely okay. Had you chosen to be with a hundred men, that could have been okay too, as long as the relationships with other men happened before ours. I’m not okay with cheating.”
“Oh! Me, neither. How could you do that? If you don’t love someone with all your heart, it’s better to not be intimate with them.” Her mouth snapped shut as she realized what she’d revealed.
“You’ve never been in love, Belinda?” he probed.
“No. I thought I was, but I must not have been because it was never enough. I’d decided recently that I was being ridiculous and needed to just go for it. That’s why I asked you to make love to me before. Why keep waiting?”
“Because it’s the right thing for you?” he suggested.
“Maybe? Or maybe, I just need to give up on childhood dreams of what relationships are supposed to be.”
“Never give up on your dreams, Little girl. Thank you for telling me. We’ll wait until you’re ready and I’ll know to protect you from pregnancy when we take that step.”
“I think I’m ready with you,” she blurted quickly.
“When you’re ready, you’ll know. You won’t have to think.” Pedro kissed her softly. “You are the treasure of my life. While I want to sink deep inside you until we don’t know where you stop and I begin, I don’t mind waiting. You are totally worth it.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be sorry for telling me how you truly feel. I’m grateful you trust me.”