Chapter 184: Chapter 185: The Hotspring
The waitress rattled off several options, but Aria stopped listening after the first one. "The chocolate soufflé. Definitely the chocolate soufflé."
Damien smiled. "Make it two."
The waitress disappeared, and they were alone again. The restaurant was so quiet...no other diners, no background noise, just the two of them in this bubble of candlelight and expensive wine and the weight of things unsaid.
"Damien," Aria said softly, suddenly feeling the need to address the elephant in the room. "Thank you for this. For tonight. For..." She gestured around the empty restaurant. "All of this. It’s excessive and ridiculous and completely unnecessary, but it’s also incredibly sweet."
"You’re worth it," he said simply. "Worth all of it and more. I want to give you everything, Aria. Experiences like this. Moments where it’s just us and nothing else matters. A life where you never have to worry about anything except being happy."
Her throat tightened with emotion. "I am happy. With you. Even when you’re being completely over-the-top and renting out entire restaurants."
"Good. Because I plan to be over-the-top for the rest of our lives. You should probably get used to it."
The rest of our lives. The casual way he said it, like their future together was a foregone conclusion, made her heart race.
The dessert arrived....two perfect chocolate soufflés, risen high and dusted with powdered sugar, accompanied by vanilla bean ice cream and raspberry coulis. They ate slowly, savoring each bite, the rich chocolate melting on their tongues.
And through it all, Damien watched her. Studied her. Read her in that way he had that sometimes felt like he could see straight into her soul.
Did he know? Did he suspect that she was hiding something significant? That the scandal currently destroying Harold Ashford wasn’t just karma or bad luck, but deliberate, calculated revenge executed by the woman sitting across from him?
If he knew, he gave no sign. is he angry? because he had told her never to lie to him again. but this time around she isn’t lying, she is just choosing not to tell him now.
When they finally finished dessert, Aria sat back in her chair, genuinely satisfied for the first time in days. "I don’t think I can move. You’ve fed me so much I might need to be rolled out of here."
Damien’s eyes gleamed with amusement. "I can carry you if necessary."
"Of course you can. Because you’re Damien Blackwood and you have to be extra about everything."
"You say that like it’s a bad thing."
"It’s not a bad thing. It’s just very... you."
He stood and came around the table, offering his hand. "Come on. Let’s get out of here."
She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Her body felt heavy with good food and wine, relaxed in a way she hadn’t been in days. It was nice and comfortable.
Damien settled the bill....which she didn’t even want to think about because she was certain it cost more than some people’s cars...and led her out of the restaurant with his hand on her lower back in a possessive way.
The night air was cool and crisp, a perfect contrast to the warmth of the restaurant. Aria breathed in deeply, letting the fresh air clear some of the wine-induced haze from her head.
Marcus was waiting by the car, professional as always. He opened the door for them, and Aria slid into the back seat, Damien following immediately after.
The car pulled away from Alinea, heading in a direction that felt familiar but wasn’t quite clicking in her memory. Aria watched the city lights pass by outside the window, feeling relaxed and content and just slightly anxious about whatever Damien had planned.
Because he’d definitely planned something. She could see it in the set of his shoulders, in the small smile playing at his lips, in the way his hand rested on her thigh.....possessive and claiming and full of intent.
They drove for about twenty minutes, leaving the city center behind and heading into the more exclusive residential areas on the outskirts. The houses got bigger, the lots more expansive, the wealth more obvious.
And then the car turned onto a private road that Aria definitely recognized, even in the dark.
Her breath caught. "Damien, is this...?"
"Yes." His voice was soft, intimate. "We’re going to the hotspring."
The hotspring. The place where they’d had their first real date, back when she was still pretending to be Sarah. The place where he’d first shown her a side of himself that wasn’t the cold, ruthless CEO. The place where she’d started to fall for him, even though she’d known it was dangerous, even though she’d known she should keep her distance.
The place that held so many complicated memories....beautiful and painful and everything in between.
"Why?" she asked quietly.
The car pulled to a stop at the backdoor of the Blackwood estate, and Damien turned to face her fully, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. His thumb brushed across her skin in that tender gesture that always made her melt.
"Because I want to reclaim it," he said simply. "Want to replace the complicated memories with new ones. Better ones. Want to start building something real there, in one of the places where everything between us began."
His eyes held hers, intense and sincere and full of an emotion that made her chest tight.
"I want to start over, Aria," he continued, his voice low and rough. "Not by forgetting everything that came before, but by building something better on top of it. And I want to start here. At the beginning. One of the places where it all started."
Aria felt tears prick at her eyes. Because this man....this complicated, possessive, sometimes overwhelming man....understood exactly what she needed. Understood that healing wasn’t about forgetting the pain, but about creating new memories that were strong enough to coexist with the old ones.
"Okay," she whispered. "Let’s start over. Let’s reclaim everything."
Damien smiled....that rare, genuine smile that transformed his entire face....and leaned in to kiss her softly.
When he pulled back, his eyes were dark with promise. "Come on. Let’s go make some new memories."
He helped her out of the car, and they walked hand in hand toward the entrance of the hotspring, leaving Marcus behind with the vehicle. The night was quiet except for the sound of their footsteps and the distant chirping of crickets.
