Shine Bright Like A Diamond: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (19 page)

She finished her little tune just as she turned the corner, and she saw that Jacob was already waiting for her there, sitting next to the wicker basket he had promised her with a white and red checked picnic blanket, just like a dream of a beautiful day. She waved, and he waved back and stood up as he saw her walking towards him. She walked faster, running now, and they crossed the last few feet between them and crashed into each other quickly, laughing happily and holding hands and smiling and kissing.

Jacob’s shirt was unbuttoned a little bit, and Almasi could see just the faintest hint of the marks her teeth had left a few days ago.

Jacob noticed where she was looking, and he blushed lightly. “I figured, now that Mr. Arko Kumi is gone, I no longer have to conceal the fact that I enjoy being bitten hard by a woman once in a while,” he said. “Somehow, I have a feeling that he wouldn’t approve of signing a business partnership with a man who gets off on being dominated.”

Almasi laughed, stroking his chest gently and outlining his collarbones with her fingertips. “I suppose not,” she said. “But luckily for us, he’s halfway to Ghana now, and we’re still here.” She leaned in to kiss him, making sure to reward him with a little bite on his lower lip. “Now, scandalously submissive husband mine, shall we have our picnic?”

Jacob laughed. “I thought you said this morning that you didn’t want to eat more than once before lunch,” he remarked.

Almasi swatted at him. “I’m pregnant, so I have permission from Mother Nature to be as irrational and inconsistent as I please,” she said, slapping him lightly on the rear. From the little gasping sound he made, Jacob seemed to enjoy it, and Almasi made a mental note to remember to do that again sometime. She let him take her by the hand, and together they walked to the picnic blanket and sat down.

Jacob opened the basket and brought out an assortment of the kind of snacks that the cook had made for that first luncheon when the Kumi brothers had arrived. He had noticed how much Almasi had enjoyed the spread, so when he had planned this picnic, he asked to have some of them specially made. It seemed to have the right effect, as Almasi’s eyes widened when she saw all of the delicious food packed inside the basket.

Reaching inside, she took out a sandwich and began to nibble on in. Jacob took out a container of deviled eggs and removed the lid, and then he arranged the cheese and crackers nicely on a plate. The two of them ate plenty, and then when they were full, they sat and talked, telling funny anecdotes and laughing and basking in each other’s company.

There was a tension that had dissolved since the previous evening when they had both confessed their feelings for each other. Even though they had obviously been very intimate before, now they could discard any pretense between them of trying to keep their relationship professional. Jacob found that he could make himself more vulnerable, and Almasi was allowing herself to have a bit more attitude, although the latter may have also been pregnancy hormones. Either way, they discovered they there were both enjoying one another’s company more now that the last of the formality was gone.

They sat for hours, giggling at each other’s jokes, touching hands, and kissing tenderly. Almasi had always loved being in the garden on her own, and she found that having Jacob there with her only enhanced the experience. They completed each other, she thought, and they had been through enough together in the past month that she knew they could make things work out in the long term if they put their minds to it.

Eventually, after lots of laughing and talking and kissing, Jacob remembered the box in his pocket. He let Almasi finish the story she was telling, and when she was done, he took her hand and asked her if she wanted to walk around in the garden a bit. She smiled and said that she would love to. So they set off hand in hand, and walked down the looping paths, by the pond, and past the orchard.

As they walked, Almasi pointed out the various flowers that she recognized, and talked about her job at the florist’s shop and farmer’s market all those summers ago. Jacob, for his part, shared stories of his childhood playing in this garden, showing her the spot where he had slipped and fallen and chipped a tooth on a garden gnome, and the specific tree where he had first learned to climb with some of the servants’ children. The stories were funny, and Jacob told them so well that Almasi could almost picture them happening as if she had been there.

She smiled when she thought of how her child would be growing up in this house, too, and how he or she would someday have memories to share with his or her own partner. Jacob, seeing her pensive expression, asked Almasi what she was thinking.

“Nothing much,” she said, smiling a little to herself. “I was just thinking about our baby, and how I will get to raise my child—our child—in such a beautiful, happy place.” She looked a little sad for a moment. “You know,” she added, “I loved my childhood. I was happy. I sang, and I danced, and I played with the other kids out in the alley behind our apartment, but life was scary, you know?

It was really hard, and it makes me sad that there are people who have to raise their children in conditions like that.” She looked up at Jacob and smiled. “So I guess… I’m just really, really grateful that our son or daughter won’t have to worry about that.

Because this baby will be perfect, I know it, and I’m so looking forward to teaching our child to walk in this soft grass, and having picnics as a family, and everything like that.” She wrapped her arms around Jacob and hugged him. “So, I guess what I want to say is… thank you. Thank you for choosing me.”

Jacob smiled, shaking his head. “No, thank
you
,” he said, “for teaching me what love is.” He paused.
Here goes
, he thought. “I’ve been waiting for a time to do this, and now looks like the perfect moment,” he said. Almasi let go of him, looking a little confused and curious. As she stood there, Jacob took the box out of his pocked and got down on one knee.

“Almasi Quinn,” he said. “You stuck with me through one of the strangest and hardest months of my life. You endured what no one should have to endure, and even though you had no obligation to, you went beyond and above everything you signed up for and were faithful to me in every way imaginable.

You have been under enormous heat and pressure in the past month and throughout your life, and like a diamond, you have never once caved, but instead become the most beautiful, shining gem there is. I didn’t plan to fall in love with you, nor you with me, and neither of us planned to have a baby together, but here we are, and I am a happier man than I have ever been, and it is all thanks to you.”

He paused, looking at the tears of joy glistening in his wife’s beautiful, dark eyes. “I know that we’re already married, but the first time around, everything was in a rush. We barely knew each other, and, in spite of the fact that everyone from the household service staff to Mr. Kumi have taken to calling you ‘Mrs. Adamson,’ you didn’t take my last time as your own. I would like to change that. Almasi,” he said, opening the box at last and showing her the ring inside of it. “Will you marry me again?”

Almasi looked at her husband’s earnest face, and then at the ring. It was a solid diamond set in gold. She felt tears welling in her eyes. It was beautiful and perfect. She smiled. “I will,” she said.

Jacob beamed, and taking her left hand, slipped the ring on next to the other one. “We can have the old ring made into something else, or you could wear both, or…”

“Jacob?” said Almasi. Her lips were turned up in amusement.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Just shut up and kiss me, please.”

And he did.

EPILOGUE

The second wedding ceremony was beautiful, and this time they invited all of their friends and family. They held it at a big cathedral in the city, and the entire place was decorated with Almasi’s favorite flowers. Jacob’s parents flew in from France for the occasion, and Almasi’s parents were picked up in a limo and bought new outfits to wear.

There had been a lot of explaining to do about the entire arrangement, but in spite of its unconventional nature, Almasi’s parents had appreciated and understood their daughter’s decision. They were also surprised and delighted to find out that they would become grandparents, and when Almasi suggested to her mother that they could come live at the mansion to be with the grandchild, her mother’s eyes lit up and she beamed.

“Oh!” Mrs. Quinn exclaimed. “That would be absolutely lovely. If, of course, it’s not an inconvenience to you two.” She looked at Jacob, who insisted that they had plenty of space to spare, and suggested that Mrs. Quinn might even enjoy retirement with a view of their beautiful garden.

Mrs. Quinn smiled in agreement, and then turned back to her daughter, taking her hand. “Almasi, my dear girl, I would love nothing more than to be with you as you raise your baby. It was always a great regret of mine that we didn’t have the means to give you the childhood you deserved, but we can make that better for your baby,” she said. “And—my goodness—I will get to be a grandma!” There were tears of joy in her eyes, and in Mr. Quinn’s, too, and they all hugged together.

The ceremony itself went splendidly, and Almasi’s wedding dress was beautiful. Yifeng had altered the previous one to fit Almasi’s pregnant self while concealing her growing belly, and since there was more time to spare this time around, she added some floral appliqués that Almasi found breathtaking.

Mrs. Quinn had loved them, too, and she and Yifeng spent almost the entire receptions talking about sewing and swapping secrets. Almasi smiled when she saw them. She knew that, between everybody in her life, she and her baby would be in good hands.

***

And, eight months later, her baby literally was in her hands. The tiny child had turned out to be a girl, and Jacob and Almasi decided to call her Lily, after the flowers in the garden where Jacob had proposed. Lily Akia Quinn Adamson. Her nursery was set up in the room where Almasi had first stayed, the bed replaced with a crib, and a changing table in place of the vanity table. The pretty pink wallpaper had been left as it was, and Almasi delighted in playing with her beautiful child in the perfect little room. Jacob made an excellent father, always knowing how to make the baby laugh, and Almasi and her mother sang songs to the child so that she would always have them in her heart. Almasi began writing in a diary again, this time to take note of all the funny little things that her darling daughter did so that she wouldn’t forget any stories. The family was happy, and Jacob and Almasi had finally made a home together.

They would go on to have more children in time, but for now, they were content to focus all of their attention on Lily, and with her sweet smile and chubby little baby face,
Lily shone bright like a diamond in her parents’ eyes.

     
THE END

Authors Personal Message:

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