One Look At You (27 page)

He stands up, as well, and takes my hand. “Please wait for me,” he says. He walks to the bedside drawer and takes out something from a small box.

He kneels in front of my stunned figure and says, “Please be my wife, Olivia. There is nothing I want more than to spend my life with you.” He’s holding a classic Tiffany-style half-round engagement ring. I can’t even begin to guess how many carats the huge diamond is.

His proposal, the ring, the traditional ‘on-bent knee’ way of asking – these all show he’s old-fashioned and is quite serious about his intentions. But, even his somber demeanor and the flawless expensive ring don’t make up for the fact that he hasn’t told me how he feels about me. “Tony, your words are beautiful and perfect. Any woman would say yes, but I want more.”

“I don’t understand you, Livie.” He stands up slowly, looking so distraught that I feel so bad about hurting him this way.

“I’ll tell you what’s in my heart and you will understand.”
This is it, Livie. After you tell him, he may not want you anymore.

“I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for the longest time. You want me because you feel comfortable with me.” He begins to protest, but I touch him so he’ll let me finish. “I don’t want a marriage of convenience. You don’t love me. You’ve never said it. Desire dies, but love …” I say no more as I look away.

He puts my face in between his hands and sighs with relief. “You’re crazy, Liv. Eu te amo. I love you, too. I didn’t know if you were ready to hear the words. I didn’t want to scare you off! Believe me when I say I will never make a commitment to someone I don’t have strong feelings for. From the beginning, marriage was my only option. I never wanted an affair. You talked about it, but that was never my plan. So when the divorce dragged out, I was afraid that I would lose you, so I was just happy to hold onto you in any way I could while I waited for Izabel to sign the papers.”

I begin to cry from happiness.

“Meu amor, don’t cry.”
He really loves me.

“I’m just overjoyed. I thought I would never hear you say that to me.”

“How could you even think that this was all about sex?”

My smile feels radiant. “I misread all the signals. You kept talking about making a commitment as if I was forcing your hand. When, all along, I just wanted to hear you say you love me.”

“You will tire of hearing me say it, my love.”

“Never. Just so you know, you don’t have to marry me. I would willingly live with you.”

“No, it’s marriage or nothing,” he says quietly.

“It’s just that I don’t need a piece of paper for me to know we’re together, through thick and thin.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to get married?” He seems upset again and I rush to pacify him.

“No, I’m just thinking of you. You just got out of a messy divorce. You deserve some time to sort things through. I won’t be going anywhere. I’ll be by your side,” I assure him.

“Let me tell you something. I’ve been living in torment these past two months. I changed assistants twice. All the managers would literally make an about-face when they saw me coming their way. I couldn’t blame them. I was a maniac to work for. You know what kept me going?” He pauses. “You. The thought of you kept me going. I moved heaven and earth to get those papers signed because I wanted so badly to be with you.”

“Did you really?” I ask with slight disbelief.

“I bought the ring right after you left. It was the only way I could make sense of what happened. It was like saying we’d get over it. One day, you’d walk through the door again and I’d make things right for us.”

“And if you hadn’t seen me tonight?”

“Everything is about timing, Livie. If we hadn’t met tonight, I would have come knocking on your door, or maybe even visited you at work.”

“Do you even know where I work now?” I ask curiously.

“Gallo’s has the best investigators on retainer.”

“Did you have me followed all this time?” I ask warily.

“No, of course not. But, they did find out where you work and what you do. I was actually thinking of doing a hostile take-over.” He grins when he sees my horrified expression. “Relax, I’m just joking. Besides, I know nothing about entertainment games for kids.”

“I’m not so sure I’ll be comfortable living with a stalker,” I joke.

“You put me through hell, you know.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, but I didn’t know then what I know now.”

“You couldn’t feel how I felt about you?”

“As I said, you kept on telling me things that I didn’t need to hear, but never the words that I dreamed you would say. Tonight, my friends were furious with you. But they understood when I told them I needed to come here. They knew they couldn’t deny me my soul’s desire.” I put my arms around him and lean my head on his broad chest.

He tenderly strokes my hair. “When we were together, I would lose myself in you. Didn’t you feel the incredible connection we had? It was more emotional than physical. It was pure bliss to have you in my arms, to smell your perfumed skin, and touch and taste you in a way that left me unhinged for hours. I want you like I’ve never wanted anything in my life.”

“When I left, it was as if a piece of me was missing. I slept, woke up, worked – unable to fill that void. One day, I said to myself, it is impossible to fill that void, so I should just stop trying. But, tonight, I saw you and in that one second when you were standing close to me, that missing piece was back in place. It seems I am whole only when I’m with you,”

“I feel the same way.”

“I’m afraid our marriage will keep the gossips talking for a very long time.”

“You mean because my divorce was just finalized?”

“No, this is L.A. Nobody cares about that.”

“Please enlighten me then.”

“Because I was your assistant. Because I was part of your staff and now I’m marrying the big boss. Because you’re rich and I’m not. Because you divorced a gorgeous supermodel for me. Do you want me to keep going?”

“C’mon, Livie. This is the twenty-first century. Things like that shouldn’t matter anymore. And I take exception to the last item on your list. You are the gorgeous one. Inside and outside.”

“Remind me to reward you later,” I say teasingly.

“You know, our story may actually be old news to everyone.”

“Why?”

“Because everyone knows that, since you left the company, I’ve been unbearable to work with. It doesn’t take much for people to jump to the conclusion that I’ve barely survived without you.”

“You know, for the most part, people at Gallo’s have kept their distance from me – even those I was especially close to. I don’t know if it’s out of respect for my privacy or that they were just waiting for a decent period of time. Anyway, it’s really my friends who should be rewarded for their patience with me. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”

“Good friends are hard to find. You’re lucky. I think, though, that the first thing we should do is fly to Brazil and meet my mother.”

“Is she awfully intimidating?” I bite my lip, nervous at the idea of meeting the legendary Ava Oliveira.

“Don’t worry about it. She’ll love you. Then we’ll go to England and meet my father.”

“I’m getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. When exactly do you plan on leaving? A couple of weeks from now?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

“Two days from now.”

“Are you serious? That’s too soon.”

“Nonsense. We’re both adults, Livie. We don’t need anyone’s permission. But I’m pretty sure they’ll both be thrilled to have you as their daughter-in-law.”

“And what about my mom?”

“I plan on calling on her tomorrow morning. We both will. I’ve never met your mother, but I know how she single-handedly raised you. Most likely, the reason you’re perfect is because of her.” His words bring tears to my eyes. He knows how important it is to me to have him include my mother in his plans.

“Tony, I don’t want a big, fancy wedding. Just us in front of the judge.”

“No. Not just us. We’ll have our families and friends.”

“At city hall?”

“Carmel, as the sun rises.”

I let out a little shriek and then hug him tight. “I love you.”

“I thought you’d like the idea,” he smiles at my excited face.

“Are you still keen on finding a place of your own?”

“Now more than ever. A hotel room is not a place to raise children,” he says casually.

“Children?”

“Don’t you want to have kids?”

“I do. I just thought that you wouldn’t want any.”

“Why would you think that?” He seems offended by what I’ve just said.

“Because you and Izabel didn’t have any, and I thought that perhaps that’s the lifestyle you’d rather have.”

“That was by her choice. She didn’t want children. It would have put a stop to her career. Truthfully, I didn’t mind not having kids with her. She wouldn’t have been a caring mother and our marriage was doomed from the start, so why bring children into the world when you know the odds are against you?”

“I want twins – two cute little Tonys running around the garden.”

“I want two cute little girls with dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, having a tea party with their teddy bears,” he counters.

“It seems you have put much thought into this,” I say, chuckling.

“Yes. And, given that we have different ideas of what our family will be like, I suggest a compromise – two boys and two girls.”

“How is that a compromise?” I laugh uproariously.

“I think we’ll be needing a big garden and at least two dogs, don’t you agree?”

“Can’t we just start small – move into an apartment, and find a bigger place when we have our first child? It will be much more fun that way.”

“You don’t ask for much, do you, Liv?” His eyes glow with a hint of pride.

“I was in high school when I got my job at Gallo’s. Even with the scholarship, I was working all throughout college. I don’t have much, but I worked hard to get where I am. Unlike those entitled trust fund kids.” As I say this, I give him a sideways look.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree, darling. Sure, my parents sent me through school and I lived a life of luxury, but everything I have now is through hard work, as well. I don’t get handouts from either my mother or father.”

“Poor little rich boy,” I rag on him some more.

“Fine, we’ll move into an apartment or townhouse.”

“You’re not one of those conservative men who won’t let their wives work, are you?”

“Izabel was free to do whatever she wanted. But I think your talents are wasted at the website company. I can set you up in any business of your choice. Somewhere you can use your organizational skills.”

“No thanks, but I’ll continue to work because I’ll die of boredom if I don’t. Here’s a thought. Maybe Chris can introduce me to some of his contacts,” I say this with a naughty smile and he grabs me by the waist and throws me over his lap to playfully spank me.

I protest loudly. “I just met the man. Do you really think I’d ask him for a favor?”

“No, but from the way he was looking at you, he was smitten enough to do whatever you ask.”

“Jealous much?”

This time he spanks me harder and I yell in surprise. “That hurt.”

“Say his name one more time and you’ll wish you hadn’t.” I can’t tell if he’s serious or not, but something drives me to find out.

“Chris Bachman,” I enunciate clearly.

“Livie. You’re in big trouble now.”

“What are you gonna do? Spank me again?”

“I think I’ll save that for later. Right now, this is all I want to do.” He pulls me so I can sit on his lap. A long, drugging kiss follows. I feel lightheaded and slightly breathless. The sweet invasion of his tongue causes me to moan. As our hands explore one another, a slow dull pulse combines with that familiar delicious ache inside of me.

I grab him by the tie and say, “I think I like being in trouble.”

“That makes two of us,” he says in a throaty whisper.

Dear Reader,

Every storyteller needs a reader and I’m grateful you spent a few hours in the company of my beloved characters. If this story has put a smile on your lips or made you experience the little thrill we all do when a man and a woman surrender to their blissful fate, please take the time to write a brief review and spread the word to other romance lovers out there.

Sincerely,

Sofie Hartwell