Made For This
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. I’m just borrowing them for a little while and will return them when I am finished.
Author’s Notes- This is the newest installment in “The Path Least Expected”. This is set after “Make You a Habit” and at this point, Eleanor has been in London for 3 weeks. I’ve had this one in mind for a while because one of the things that I realized about Eleanor and Dante is how much easier her life with him is.
Pairing- Dante/Eleanor
Rating- PG
Summary- Dante and Eleanor make their first public appearance as a couple.
Words- 1461
“I have to go to a function this week,” Dante mentioned casually, his arms wrapped around Eleanor, his lips brushing her skin.
“Hmmm?” Eleanor asked, paying more attention to his actions than his words. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get of being with him, of feeling his lips and hands on her body.
“It’s a charity function, my friend James, his wife is on the board and badgered me to buy tickets,” Dante continued, “I want you to come with me.”
Eleanor stiffened involuntarily. “Come with you?” She repeated weakly. They hadn’t made any public appearance as a couple yet. They’d gone out to eat a few times, but just the two of them, and Eleanor had yet to meet any of his friends or associates.
“Well, I don’t want to go alone,” Dante told her, pulling back and then twisting slightly so he could look at her, “and I don’t want to take anyone else.”
Eleanor made a face at that thought. This thing with her and Dante was still new. It had only been three weeks since she’d left Cordonia with him and a week since they’d become lovers, yet it already felt so wonderful and serious. Serious enough that neither of them would be accompanying anyone else anywhere. They had both been in agreement on that, on where this thing between them was heading.
“Social functions go with the territory,” Dante reminded her gently.
Eleanor knew he was right. She knew that Dante’s life would include work dinners and charity functions he had to attend and as the woman in his life, she’d be expected to go with him. They had been living in a bubble these last few weeks, Dante purposely rearranging his schedule to focus on her, but that it couldn’t last forever.
“It’s also a good chance for you to meet my friends,” Dante added, “I just know they are going to love you.”
Eleanor nodded, but a knot of terror formed in her stomach. Would they? Or would be it be more of what she experienced in Cordonia? People dismissing her instantly for not being good enough? For being an unknown American? Could she handle more of that? Of having to be perfect, just to fit in?
The very idea filled with her dread and for the first time, she wondered if she made the right decision in choosing to go with Dante. However, she didn’t voice those thoughts, instead, she forced a smile. “Of course, I’ll go with you.”
Dante grinned and then shifted so that he could kiss her. Eleanor melted into his kiss, trying not to focus on her nagging insecurities. She could do this. She could be what Dante needed her to be, right? She wasn’t facing another situation where she wanted the man but she couldn’t handle his life, because fate couldn’t be that cruel.
—
“How do I look?” Eleanor asked Dante a few nights later when they prepared to leave for the banquet.
It had actually been a little nerve-wracking having to dress herself for a function after months of having other people pick out her gowns for her. She’d ended up face-timing with Hana in Shanghai and had even sent Olivia a picture for approval. Hana had been encouraging and Oliva had been almost-complimentary, so Eleanor took that as a win.
She’d picked a light blue and black dress and chosen to leave her hair down after advice from both Olivia and Hana. The slow smile that Dante gave her and the way his eyes traveled over her body made her feel pretty confident with the result.
“You look stunning,” he told her, taking her in his arms, “so much so that I don’t know if I want to leave the apartment.”
“Well, I wouldn’t object to that,” Eleanor commented, wrapping her arms around his neck, “but I did go through for all this effort for a reason and I’d hate to see it go to waste.”
“True,” Dante told her, “and I have to admit, I’m looking forward to showing you off.”
Eleanor smiled, warmed by his words. “Are you?” She paused, something occurring to her. “How are you planning on introducing me?”
Dante shrugged, “as my partner.” He paused and looked at her. “Do you have an issue with that?”
“No,” Eleanor assured him, “That sounds perfect.”
Partner seemed an appropriate term for what they were, given how fast their relationship had progressed to serious.
“We live together, Eleanor, and I don’t intend to hide that,” Dante continued, “but the details of our relationship are ours, we don’t owe anyone details or explanations.”
That was a bit of a relief since Eleanor didn’t relish having to explain how they got together, if possible she would prefer to avoid talking about Cordonia. She didn’t know if it was possible, how far the news and gossip about her social season had spread, but if she could just be Eleanor Sloane, an American expat, she’d prefer that.
“I’ll be by your side the whole night,” Dante promised as he stepped back and offered her his hand instead.
Eleanor took it. “I know,” she said, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. She could do this. She could fit into Dante’s world better than she had in Liam’s. She had too.
—
“Where are you from, Eleanor?” Julia, the wife of one of Dante’s friends, asked curiously over dinner.
“Greenwich,” Eleanor answered since that still felt like the truth. She’d never felt like a New Yorker, “the one in Connecticut,” she added with a laugh. “Not the one here.”
“The accent was a bit of a giveaway,” Julia teased, “I suppose you met Dante on one of his many business trips?”
“Yes, actually,” Eleanor answered, it was the truth, though not the whole truth.
“We’d been wondering why Dante had been so hard to get in touch with lately,” James, Julia’s husband, said with a grin, “should have known the answer was someone as beautiful as you. Honestly, it’s about time, we were wondering if he’d ever settle down.”
“I was just waiting for the right person,” Dante answered easily, covering Eleanor’s hand with his own.
She smiled gratefully at him, surprised by how well the function was going and how easy it felt. She genuinely liked Dante’s friends and never once had she felt out-of-place or like she wasn’t good enough.
“Eleanor, we must do lunch next week,” Emma, another one of the women at the table, told her. “If you are free, of course.”
“I’d like that,” Eleanor said honestly, “I’m still very new to London.” “
Well, don’t worry,” Julia assured her, “we’ll take you under our wing and show you the ropes,” she grinned, “and we might even be persuaded to break out a few stories about Dante.”
“I don’t know if I like this plan,” Dante joked.
Eleanor grinned up at him, “too bad because I do.”
—
“Did you have a good time?” Dante asked Eleanor when they got home that night.
“I did,” she admitted. She took a deep breath. “It was easy, I didn’t expect it to be.”
“I’m glad,” Dante told her, wrapping his arms around her waist, “and it should be easy, Eleanor. Not all the time, but being with someone, fitting into their life shouldn’t feel like work.”
She knew he was right and it made her feel a little sad and wonder if she and Liam had ever really had a chance or if they had been doomed from the start. Not that she regretted going to Cordonia or giving it a try because maybe everything happened for a reason? Maybe she needed that experience to really appreciate this one.
Eleanor turned in Dante’s arms and raised her mouth to his, savoring the feel and taste of him. “Is this where I tell you I have a business dinner later this week?” Dante asked when they pulled apart, “and Julia and James are having a dinner party.”
“Julia did mention the dinner party,” Eleanor told him, “and I guess the dinner parties go with the territory huh?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Dante told her, “and I have to admit selfishly, I’m looking forward to having you come with me, might make them a little less dull.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Eleanor promised with a laugh.
She suddenly thought of her parents, of the social functions they used to attend and of helping her mother prepare meals to wow her father’s associates. It occurred to her, how similar Dante’s life was to the one she had grown up with.
The idea of being queen overwhelmed her, but being the partner of a wealthy and successful man? In many ways, that was the life she had been born for.
- End
