"Wait, let me put some more on," I said to Lydia as I squeezed out some medicine for her poison oak. It was slowly getting better, but I still felt terrible. I had poison oak once when I was a kid and I remember it was no picnic. 

Lydia made a disgusted sigh. "Fine. Hurry up, he'll be here any minute." 

The 'he' she was referring to was my lawyer. Our appointment was in about fifteen minutes and she was a little jumpy about it. She had every right to be. I knew she was anxious and nervous. She's never dealt with anything like this before. I was just glad that she included me in this and didn't try to tackle it by herself. We've been making progress with that. Compromising. 

"We have plenty of time. Is it feeling better?" 

She shrugged her right shoulder. "It's okay. I try not to think about it. The more I think about it--"

"The more it itches." 

She nodded. "Exactly. I'm just ready for this to be healed and this meeting to be over." 

Once I finished putting some medicine on it, I washed my hands before walking back over to her. "Hey," I said as I turned her towards me, "this is going to go well. He's already been able to find out some helpful information. You got this." 

She closed her eyes tight. "I'm glad you're here. I wouldn't be able to do this by myself." 

"I disagree," I replied immediately. "You've gotten so much stronger over the past few weeks. You can handle anything. Even this. You don't need me for it. I'm here solely as a supporter of the woman I love." 

She smiled as she wrapped her arms around my neck. God, I loved when she did that. I always caught the lavender scent of her hair and the jasmine perfume she wore. There was nothing else like it. "Well then, I'm grateful to have the man I love in my corner." 

I gave her a kiss that was meant to be short and sweet. I was very surprised when she pulled my body flush against hers. She deepened the kiss, and I groaned as she gently tugged on my bottom lip with her teeth. My body was rock hard for her. "We definitely don't have time for that." 

She stuck her bottom lip out. "Are you sure?" She slid her hand down my body and stroked my hard length through my pants. "I can make it worth your while." 

Every instinct I had was screaming at me to scoop her up in my arms and take her upstairs to my bedroom. But, I couldn't do that. We couldn't do that. Not right now. "Sorry, beautiful. We'll have to pick this up after the meeting." 

A knock sounded at the door and she gave my body a hot once-over. "Pity," she whispered before she went to answer it. "Good morning, I'm Lydia Preston."

I kept my distance as Lydia introduced herself. Jim had been my lawyer for almost ten years and he was the best at what he did.  if there was anyone who could help her with this, it was him.

"Hello, Ms. Preston, I'm Jim McDaniels." Jim walked inside and came over to shake my hand. "Mr. Williams, how are you?" 

"It's good to see you Jim." I gestured over to the table in my dining room. "Shall we?" 

"Yes, let's begin," he stated as we all took a seat around the table. He opened his briefcase and pulled out multiple documents and files. "Now, Ms. Preston, it is my understanding that in April of last year your landlord evicted you. Is that correct?" 

"Yes," Lydia answered immediately. 

Jim nodded as he scanned the documents. "Can you tell me exactly how he did that?" 

"Well," she glanced at me before continuing, "I was having trouble holding down a job and I got behind on rent. I was in kind of a bad place and dealing with some things mentally.  I remember him coming to my apartment a few times to bitch at me about the rent. Then the next thing I knew, he said I had five days to move out or he was calling the police." Lydia looked to me before returning her gaze to Jim. "So, I packed up my things and left." 

"That's what I was afraid of," Jim said quietly.

I noticed Lydia's concerned expression and I placed my hand on her thigh. "No, this is a good thing, babe." I looked to Jim. "Please explain to Lydia how this works in her favor."

Jim looked to Lydia as he held out a document. "I did a little digging and I was able to find out that, not only did your old landlord not go through the proper channels in the process of getting your eviction, but you should have had at least thirty days to leave the premises. Not five." He handed her another document. "I was also able to verify that he had done this to at least five other residents who lived in his apartment complex."

Lydia read over the documents multiple times. I knew she was trying to process everything he was saying. She wasn't used to this kind of thing, but she was handling it magnificently. I meant what I said to her about this being her case. I was here to support her, but not in the way I know would piss her off. I promised her that I wouldn't go behind her back and pay this guy off, or that I wouldn't make any decisions for her regarding this. She and I would talk about it and handle it has a couple.

She finally met Jim's stare. "So, what now? How to we proceed?"

Jim pulled out another piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to Lydia. "I will start by getting all of the necessary documents and proof in order for the court. I can proceed with filing a claim against him regarding the unlawful eviction. After that, we can move on to the next step, which is suing him."

"Suing him?" She asked with a surprised expression. "You think that's a good idea?"

Jim nodded to her. "Yes, ma'am. Considering your landlord has done this multiple times, it's best we strike now while we can. It's better that he pays for his mistakes, hopefully learns from them, and doesn't do this again."

"How much are we suing him for?" Lydia asked.

Even though I hadn't talked to Jim or Anne regarding the details on the case, I had assumed this is what was going to happen. I agreed that it was probably best to try to sue this guy and make him pay for what he's been doing, especially to Lydia. To him, he probably saw Lydia as an easy mark. Little does he know, she was anything but.

Jim collected his things and rose from the table. "I will inform you as soon as I have all the details ironed out. As for right now, don't worry, Ms. Preston. We will get all of this sorted out and situated. You're in good hands."

"Thank you so much," Lydia said as she shook his hand. I could tell she seemed relieved after the meeting.

I waved to him as he left. "Jim, thanks again."

"Of course, Mr. Williams."

I waited until Jim left before I walked up to Lydia. Even though she seemed more relaxed, I could tell her mind was going a mile a minute. "You okay?"

She let out a long breath before she ran her hands through her hair. "Yeah, I think so. I've never had to go through anything like this. But, I do like Jim. I'm glad that he thinks I actually have a case."

"That's good, baby."

She started pacing a little in the living room. "How long do you think until we get an update on this?"

I shrugged my left shoulder. "Depends. Could be a week or two. These things are usually a long process."

When she continued her pacing, I walked up to her and slid my hands around her waist. I wanted to get her mind off of this and I knew just the way you do it.

"You know what Friday is right?" I had to watch in amusement as she scrunched up her face with confusion. I already knew she had no idea, which only made it better.

"No, what is it?"

I felt the corners of my cheeks lift in a confident smile. "It's Valentine's Day."

"Valentine's Day," she repeatedly slowly. "Sean..."

"Lydia," I quickly interjected before she dismissed me, "this is our first Valentine's today together. I've never even had a real one before. I want to share this with you."

She worried her bottom lip. "No presents?"

"No presents," I agreed. "Just dinner." I was fine with not getting her any presents. Besides, the present that I've been thinking about didn't cost me a penny.

I could tell she started getting excited as she asked, "Do I get to pick the restaurant?"

Got her. "Yep. Anything you want."

She wrapped her arms around my neck as she leaned forward to whisper in my ear, "It's a date." She nipped at my earlobe and a shiver shot down my spine.

Just like I was planning, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to my bedroom. She giggled with excitement as I laid her down on my bed beneath me. Nothing felt more right than this. Her in my bed and in my home.

I helped her get my clothes off and she threw them on the side of the bed. I had her naked in a matter of seconds; wanting her so badly I couldn't stand it. She rolled me over to my back before she straddled my waist and took my hard length inside of her.

My hands squeezed her thighs as my back arched off the bed from the passion her body caused. This was my favorite position with her. She felt like she was in control and I loved seeing her this confident.

As she quickened her pace, I couldn't stop the question that I was planning to ask her on Valentine's Day from repeating itself in my mind. There have been a few times where we talked about the subject, and she said it was something she wanted. What better day to ask her then Valentine's Day?

I just hope she said yes.