Love Never Fails (15 page)

Everything was perfect right down to the four course meal that was served.  Even the band was wonderful. I’ve had several dances already from men in different departments at Stone.  It gave me a little satisfaction seeing Damien’s reaction to me dancing with them.  He didn’t like it, I could tell.  His eyes were a stormy grey and the laughter left his face.  I wasn’t going to let an argument and a “Charlie” affect my time to have some fun.  So I danced with every man that asked me too.  I was getting a bit exhausted and thought maybe this little act of defiance was starting to wear me down. About the time I finished my dance with my assistant Mike, I knew I could relax. All I wanted to do was take off my shoes but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
As I was escorted back to our table, I kissed Mike on the cheek to thank him for the dance. I noticed Winston Clooney over at our table having a great time with my Daddy.  It was wonderful they could reconnect their friendship and share good times again. 
“Ah Doctor, there you are.  I was wondering if you would do me the honor of this next dance.”
“It would be my pleasure.”  Winston extended his arm to me which I gladly took.  Smiling up at him, I wondered if this dance had a motive to it and he didn’t disappoint me.
“So Doctor, are you having a good time?” 
“Yes Mr. Clooney, I am. Thank you.”
“I have a funny feeling that you would be having a better time if you sitting with Damien at his table.”
I felt my feet do a little stumble at his words.
“I don’t exactly know what you mean Sir.”
“Oh, I think you do.  I’ve known Damien a long time Selina, since he was a young man to be exact, to know that he is quite smitten with you.  Even now, he is shooting daggers at me with his eyes from across the room.  In fact, I’ve seen you dancing most of the night away and he has been simmering at his table. You are both providing me with quite the entertainment this evening.”
“I’m happy to oblige Mr. Clooney.” I couldn’t keep the smile out of my voice.
“He thinks that the both of you can keep things secret but actually, I love the thought that Damien settles down.  I am hoping that you are the woman to do that for him.”
“I really don’t know what to say Mr. Clooney. I think that it’s up to Damien to decide.”
“What?  Don’t you have a say here?”
“If I may speak frankly, there is a matter of the Board and fraternizing with the staff.”
“Oh don’t worry about those old guys, including Damien’s Dad.  We are all romantics at heart.  Granted we don’t want this happening in the workplace but how can one control a wayward heart?  Now my dear, you just keep doing the good work you are doing at Stone and let nature take its course.  Right now, I see Damien heading straight for us.  I have a feeling that he is going to claim you for the rest of this dance.  Young men nowadays.  They need to learn from us seasoned professionals.”
“Excuse me Mr. Clooney, may I have this dance with the good Doctor?”
“Sure my boy.  What took you so long?”  Bowing to me, Mr. Clooney kissed the back of my hand. “Remember what I told you. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Damien didn’t waste any time with pulling me close to his body. 
“I have been waiting all night to dance with you Selina.  It’s driving me crazy seeing you out here with everyone but me.”
“You haven’t been sitting by yourself either Damien, not that I’m counting.  Your “dance card” has been quite full too.”
“You are the only one I want on that damned so called “dance card.”  You have been avoiding me.”
“I didn’t want to cause any gossip or problems for you but I think that it doesn’t matter any longer.”
“What did Clooney talk to you about?  You both looked really friendly.”
“He asked about us and our relationship. Told me not to worry about the old men on the board either.”
“Hmm interesting.”  Damien rested his head close to mine.  “You know, you are driving me crazy in this dress and how you look.  You look stunning.  I want nothing more than to take you home with me and get started on more interesting things with you.” I sensed that he wanted to say something else to me but the lights flickered a few times as the band ended their song.  I saw Damien’s Dad up on the stage to start the program.
“I have to get up there Princess. Let me take you back to your seat but at my table.” 
Damien escorted me right to the seat next to Charlie. Kissing me on the forehead, he headed up to the stage to stand next to his Dad.
As Charlie acknowledged me, I saw her holding the hand of another beautiful woman seated next to her.
“Dr. Harrison, while you asked me to watch over Damien for you, he wasn’t the one that I wanted to keep an eye on.  Let me introduce you to my girlfriend Stephania.  Had you given him a chance to explain things to you, Damien would have alleviated quite a bit of heartache I could see you were going thru this evening.”
I was speechless; I really didn’t know what to say as Charlie thoroughly put me in my place.  I didn’t trust Damien and imagined all kinds of crazy things about him and Charlie.  To say that I was a bit embarrassed was putting it mildly.
“I’m so sorry Ms. Mackenzie that I misjudged you being Damien’s “date” tonight.”
“Listen, no apology needed.  We are both going thru the same fight with our jobs to hide our relationships.  Well, tonight, that ends for us.  I want people to know that I love this wonderful woman by my side and that it doesn’t affect how I perform my job.  If they have a problem with that, well, they can go fuck themselves.”
“Such language Charlie,” scolded Stephania. 
“That’s just the right attitude to take.  I wonder if Damien can get to that decision.”
“Oh I believe he has Doctor.  Let’s enjoy the program, shall we?”
I didn’t know what this program was going to be about other than knowing that Stone Industries paid a hefty amount as the sponsor of this event so they were the company that would be highlighted in tonight’s program.  Mr. Stone started talking about the history of Stone Industries with a power point presentation full of images flashing on the screen behind him; all photos from when they started the company until today.  It was quite interesting to see all of the old photographs of Damien’s Grandfather breaking ground for the new Headquarters and starting this empire that Damien now runs with an iron fist. 
“And now, without further adieu, I would love to turn this presentation over to my son, the CEO of Stone Industries, Damien Stone.”
I couldn’t help but feel proud of Damien at this moment as the applause from the audience was quite boisterous; he commanded a presence, a strength that has taken Stone Industries to another level.  Besides looking so handsome up there, I’m sure I wasn’t the only woman in the room that was enamored of him.  All I wanted to do was to apologize for my insecure behavior tonight.  I wouldn’t feel better until I had that chance.
“Good evening everyone and welcome to the Gala.  Stone Industries is proud to be this year’s sponsor of this event and hope that everyone is having a wonderful time.”  Looking over at me, he gave me a smile that warmed my heart towards him.  I felt the disappointment melt away.  I couldn’t fight him or what we had together.  I love him.  That was it, plain and simple.  Somewhere along the way, I fell head over heels in love with this dynamic man. From that fateful flight to now, I am his.  I belong to him; he owns my heart.  Now, I just have to make things right between us again.  No matter what happens, I have to be a part of his life.  I’ll take whatever he can give me given his CEO position.  It’s better than nothing at all. 
“Stone Industries has taken a lot of positive moves in the future of oil drilling in this country.  We have made great strides in securing a better future for our planet as well as pushing for energy independence from the Middle East.  It’s time that we become more concerned over what faulty drilling can do to our environment and for our future generations.  As you can see, we have made drastic changes in our policies and our approach to drilling in the Gulf that other oil companies, such as Mackenzie Oil, have also joined the ranks of clean oil drilling.  Now in order for Stone Industries to have made such changes, we hired a brilliant Geologist, Dr. Selina Harrison.  Dr. Harrison brought to our attention the problems that were at hand for Stone Industries and with her expertise and advice, those changes not only proved to be profitable but also fell into the category of what Stone Industries wanted to represent to the world.  If I may, I would love to invite Dr. Harrison to please come up to the stage.”
Hearing the applause, I looked at my Daddy. With tears in his eyes, he nodded his head and came around to escort me to the stage.  I didn’t understand why Damien would want to bring me up there. I could have just waved from my seat which would be been more than sufficient.  I didn’t need to be in the spotlight.
“I’m so proud of you Selina. You have finished what you wanted to accomplish and that was to make a difference.  You have done well my daughter.”  Kissing me on the forehead, he saw that Damien was standing on the steps waiting for me.  Then my Daddy did something a little unusual; He shook Damien’s hand and then placed my hand in his.  As I watched him walk away, Damien softly called my name to walk with him to the center of the stage.  Something wasn’t right here.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would love to introduce to you, Dr. Selina Harrison and if she will have me, I would love to introduce her as my future wife.”
I just looked at Damien as the place erupted with cheers and clapping.  I stood there frozen and in shock.  I couldn’t believe Damien just asked me to marry him in front of 300 people, including the Board of Directors. Oh My God! I looked to my parent’s table and they were all standing up cheering too.  Sean Jr. gave me a thumbs up as my Mama and Julia were crying.  Looking back at Damien, he was down on one knee holding an open ring box with the most beautiful diamond ring.  The look on this man’s face was full of love and passion and to me was everything I had ever wanted in a man, lover and friend.  From the plane ride right to now, Damien knew who he wanted and that was me.
“Princess, will you be my friend, my lover and my wife, forever.  I loved you from the moment I saw you.  I knew that I had to have you as mine.  I want to build a life with you, have children with you, and grow old with you.  My life is incomplete without you Selina.  Will you marry me Princess?”
“Yes, Oh my God, yes Damien!  I love you and want to be your wife.”
Standing next to me, he placed the ring on my finger which was a perfect fit. The tears were streaming down my face as I couldn’t believe this was happening.
Damien said into the microphone, “She said yes!”
Hearing the cheers go up again, Damien held my face between his hands and just kissed me in front of all of those people.  Neither of us cared at that point, it was just us, together.  After all that we had endured in these short months, we knew that we were meant to be together.  Turning towards the crowd, we saw Damien’s parents with my parents.  Our mom’s were still crying tears of happiness and our Father’s were shaking each other’s hands.  The Board members were all standing and applauding.  Winston blew me a kiss with a wink that was so endearing that I blew a kiss right back to him. It seemed as though this Gala was turning out to be a huge engagement party now.  Damien told the band to start playing as we exited off the stage to our families.  I couldn’t believe this had happened.  The women wanted to see the ring while the men just slapped Damien on his back.
I heard Sean Jr. mention the Bachelor Party and that they should go to Vegas as he has good connections there. I just threw my napkin at him as Julia told him to knock it off.
“Can Sel at least wait until the ring is on her finger for at least 24 hours?” Julia scolded Sean Jr. as she came over to stand next to me. 
“So my dear friend, this is your happy ending.  I knew it wasn’t over.  What you don’t know is that Damien had called your parents and SJ, explained everything that he could and left out the personal things.  He asked them for your hand in marriage so we all knew this was going to happen tonight. We just didn’t know how he was going to do it.  Damien is the one for you Sel.  No doubt about it and I couldn’t be happier for you and for him.  Just remember, he has a great woman in you too.  He’s a lucky man.”
“Yes, I am Jules.  I’ll remember that every day of my life,” said Damien as he wrapped his arms around my waist as he stood behind me.  Kissing my neck, I turned around and just smiled up at him.  I knew at that moment, I would be protected, adored and just loved by this special man. 
“I’m so sorry I doubted you and our argument and thinking you wanted to be with Charlie.”
Putting his finger over my lips, he stopped me mid-sentence.
“I’m sorry for not doing this sooner.”
“Thank you Damien for choosing me.”
“No, thank you Princess for saying yes.”
At that moment, I looked forward to our future and our happy ending. 

Thank you’s…..

“If Somebody Believes in You, and You Believe in Your Dreams, It Can Happen”

I hope you have enjoyed the love story of Damien and Selina as much as I have enjoyed writing this for you.  There are a few people that I would love to thank as I go thru my journey with sharing these stories: (If I have forgotten anyone, please forgive me and let me know)
My husband Bobby: who is patient with me as I escape into this World of Romance, Love and Intrigue.  He understands my creative side as I take time away from him to write these stories.  He knows I’m in the house and never far from him.
My family: Mama, Dad and Sandy for their support and love.  I’m sorry if I’m embarrassing my brothers with these storie
s
  They should know me by now.
Elizabeth, Ethan and Ryan, you two can read the stories when you are 25
.
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Chrissie and Becky, my beautiful Step-Daughters, and the boys.
Aunt Gidget in Ohio:  You are my biggest fan out there besides my Mama.  Thank you for telling your friends about my books. I’ll ask Grant and Kate to sign copies for you and your friends!
Jimmy Kimmel: people have asked me why I #Jimmy Kimmel:  well he needs to put me on his show after my 5
th
release in Jan. 2017
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Ahren Sanders and Julie Johnson: my writer “friends” who have given me guidelines and advice as I venture into this whole romance writing gig.  I know I will meet them at some point. 
My friends and FB friends for posting and reposting when I have a release coming out.  It’s all about Social Media now and I appreciate you spreading the word for me. (Melinda, Sonia, JD, Jamie, Earnest (Do you want to eat my Taters? Tater tots folks. It just came out all wrong over a client breakfast one morning.  I have a way with words at times) Linda P, Danny P(the World Famous Potter and my publicity agent during our vacation at Emerald Isle, that is if you count yelling out my name up and down grocery aisles whenever he saw me pushing our cart. Gee, how glamorous am I.  It was hysterical.) Elaine G, Nadine P, Topher, JD (it’s her fault that I’m doing my writing now. I might owe her a vacation in the future LOL) To my furbabies: Rocky and Sammy, always near me while I work on the book unless Bobby is eating something in the den; that’s when they will leave me.  They are the sweetest pups on the planet to me.
For my beautiful and wonderful cover Models
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