Chapter 3

3

D ejvi (Dave-E)

Her spirit weighed me down from the moment I laid eyes on her. While I had no idea what she was suffering from, I felt led to help in any way I could. What started as a simple gesture of eating together turned into us sitting in silence after we finished our food. She'd cried, and I couldn't just… walk away. Not until after she did.

"So…" she cleared her throat, "you're a photographer?"

I smiled at her attempt to finally strike up a conversation. Looking over at her, I nodded. My eyes scanned her face briefly because I didn't want to make it obvious just how attracted to her I was, but I couldn't help it. She had pretty cocoa brown skin that it was getting increasingly more difficult to keep my hands off of. Her brows were straight and thick, hovering over slanted red eyes that had gotten slightly puffy because of her tears. My favorite part of her face was her lips—they were juicy and the same color of her skin.

"Yes, but not professionally. I'm a fireman."

"Oh. So you just randomly take pictures of objects?"

"Kind of. I always wanted to be a photographer but didn't want to chance a career that wouldn't provide the financial security I want and need. When my grandmother died, I decided to start up with my photography part time. That was something she made me promise her I'd do."

Her expression softened and dainty hand covered mine. "Sorry to hear about your grandmother. Has she been gone a while?"

With a sigh, I squeezed the back of my neck. "Since COVID started. That was probably the hardest part of the virus for me. She died of pneumonia, worsened by an infection because of her dementia, but I was unable to go to Chicago for her funeral and had to watch on Zoom."

I saw the moment something shifted inside of her. I wasn't sure if it was because she'd lost people to COVID, too, or dementia, but I wouldn't press her if she didn't want to share.

"I started with objects," I continued, trying to pull her out of her head. "Moved on to people about a year ago. I still prefer objects, though."

"Can I see some of your work? Do you have an online portfolio anywhere?"

Her interest softened me. Normally, women weren't interested in hobbies unless they produced income. I never charged people for my photography services and lived off my salary and a few investments my brother Aspen and I made together. He had a tattoo shop, and I was a silent partner, plus we owned an office suites building and parking lot that brought in crazy money because it was downtown.

As I showed her my online portfolio, she gasped, smiled, and complimented me. I showed her the pictures I'd taken tonight, which led to us agreeing to ride the Ferris Wheel. She didn't have any tickets or a wristband, so I got her one. Since things were slowing down in preparation of the carnival closing for the night, we didn't have to wait in line too long.

We settled into our seats on the ride, and the moment the bar clamped down on our laps, her head jerked down.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Mhm." Her head nodded rapidly as she gripped the bar. Looking away, she nibbled her bottom lip and released a long sigh. "Everything's fine. Just fine."

Relaxing further in my seat, I tossed my arm behind her. She relaxed against me slightly. Her eyes met mine briefly, and she gave me a soft smile.

"What's your name?" I asked, making her chuckle.

"Enjell." She definitely looked like an angel. "You?"

"Dejvi, but my friends call me V."

"Hmm… then I'll call you Dejvi."

That made me smile. "You know they say women like to call their men by their real name because it makes them feel special. Is that what's going on here?"

Enjell chuckled and shook her head. "Seeing as you're not my man… I don't think so."

I wasn't her man— yet .

When we began to lift into the air, she groaned and gripped my hand. "Dejvi." Her voice trembled and eyes squeezed shut. "I-I shouldn't… Is it too late to get off?"

"Wh—are you okay?"

Her head shook rapidly. "N-no. I'm s-scared of h-heights."

Concern had my heart racing as I rubbed her back and leaned forward slightly. I looked her face over intently, though her eyes remained tightly shut.

"Enjell… why in the hell did you agree to ride this if you are afraid of heights?"

"Because I come every y-year and n-never have the courage to do it. I-I wanted this year to be d-different," she whined before releasing a panicked hiccup and breaking into a loud sob that made me fight my laughter. She was really in distress and could have avoided it completely.

"Shh… it's going to be all right, love," I assured her, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close. "Focus on my voice and take deep breaths for me." Enjell did as I said. "Fear is just a feeling. It doesn't control you. You're here on this ride, and nothing bad is going to happen to you. Keep breathing for me, Enjell. When you're ready, I want you to look at me."

"I-I can't, Dejvi."

"Yes, you can." I tilted her face in my direction slowly. "Do you trust me?"

She released a sound I wasn't quite sure how to describe and nibbled her bottom lip. "I think so."

"Okay, then trust I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Open those beautiful eyes and look at me." Enjell's eyes slowly fluttered open. A tear escaped one of them as she stared at me. Swallowing hard, she blinked before shutting her eyes again. "Open those eyes, love." With a huff, she allowed them to flutter open again. "I'm glad you decided to face this fear with me."

Enjell sniffled as I wiped her cheek. "I'm not sure why I did, but it's not so bad, I guess."

"Can you look straight ahead? You don't have to look down, but can you look out into the sky?"

I took her hand into mine and kissed it. She considered my challenge for a while then nodded.

"I can try," she almost whispered.

For some reason, the softer and more tender I had to handle her, the more masculine it made me feel. I felt responsible for her in a way, and it made something inside of me feel whole.

"You're my good girl, so I know you can do it."

Her brows wrinkled as she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. Our eyes remained locked for a few seconds before she slowly looked straight ahead. The grip she had on my hand began to loosen.

"It's not so bad," she said quietly before releasing an innocent giggle.

The light in her eyes as she looked at me made me want to do whatever I could to make this happen for her again and again. Not the fear, but the removal of it, and the chance to experience a first with her.

"You're beautiful, Enjell."

Her hand went to my cheek. As her thumb caressed it, she said, "You are too."

I didn't believe in instant love, but I believed God could plant confirmation in you when you'd found the one. I may not have been able to put my finger on what it was, but there was something about this woman that told me she was my mine.

My one.

My rib.

"You were right," I blurted to avoid kissing her. Slowly, I pulled her hand from my face. "I was taking a picture of you. I'd set up to take a picture of the Ferris Wheel and planned to wait until you walked by, but you were so beautiful I couldn't resist taking a picture to remember you by. I'm sorry for not admitting that and possibly gaslighting you. That wasn't fair of me at all."

Enjell looked toward the sky. "You promise to never lie to me again?"

"I promise, and you can watch me delete it."

"Doesn't matter anyway I suppose. It's not like anything is going to come from this night." Her eyes returned to mine. "The better question is, do you promise not to make love to yourself with my picture?"

Now that got a hearty laugh out of me. "I promise."

"Okay, you can keep it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She gave me a kiss on the corner of my mouth and looked away again. Cupping her chin, I turned her face back in my direction. I leaned toward her slowly, wanting to give her time to lean back. But she didn't. In fact, she leaned forward and closed the distance between us. The quiet whimper that she released against my lips made my dick harden. Enjell's hand returned to my cheek as she tilted her head and allowed me to slide my tongue into her mouth.

A low hum went from my mouth to hers before I sucked her tongue and pecked her lips.

"Dejvi," she whispered.

"Hmm?" Sucking her bottom lip, I wrapped my arm around her waist, trying to get her as close as I possibly could.

The ride came to a stop, jerking us forward slightly. Enjell pulled away, mouth parted slightly as she stared at me. As the bar lifted, she stood and quickly made her way over to the table we'd occupied. I thought it was because she was about to regret the kiss, so I was surprised by her words when I made it over to her.

"Do you have anything else planned for the night?"

"Not really. What you tryna get into?"

Enjell pulled her hair behind her ear before twiddling her thumbs. "I'm not promising sex or anything like that. I just… don't want to be alone. Me and my boyfriend broke up today, and I don't want to hear I told you so from my sister or parents. I don't even want to hear my own thoughts."

That would explain why she'd been so emotional.

"I got you, love. We don't have to have sex, but I can help you take your mind off things. Or, if you wanted to actually talk about it, so you could process what happened, we can do that too."

She nodded her agreement, which led to us heading to the parking lot. I walked her to her white Audi A4 and told her I'd swoop around in my car to lead her out. Weren't too many things going to be open as the night progressed, but we could never go wrong with a bar.