AFTER MY CONVERSATION WITH ROSSLYN, the rest of the day seemed to move in slow motion. I had a million things to do, but all I could think about was seeing her beautiful, smiling face and wondering what her reaction would be to my surprise.
I was out of my office and done with my rounds for the club prep in record time. I made it upstairs to our condo an hour earlier than usual, leaving my employees to run the place for a few hours. It didn’t take me long to shower, get dressed, and get out the door to set up for the night.
After I had arrived at my destination, Mac called to see if I needed him to do anything. He was hovering since I’d gotten another letter. As long as he didn’t overstep his boundaries, I couldn’t be angry that he was looking out for me, even though I was positive there was nothing to worry about.
It took me less than an hour to set up my surprise for Rosslyn, and when all was finished, I stood in the large room feeling a sense of pride. I couldn’t wait for her to see the new place. It was a big deal to be opening another business. It reminded me of how far I’d come in the world. From a poor boy on the streets—a thief who had to fight to survive—to the successful businessman I’d become. If only the parents who threw me away like trash could see me now.
Once again, I was on the verge of growing yet another successful place of business. It wasn’t much now—just a run-down building in the nice part of the city, but soon, it would be the hottest new restaurant in New York. I could hardly wait to build the culinary empire I envisioned it to be, and I’d be doing that with Rosslyn by my side.
It was going to be ours.
No.
When I was done, it would be hers.
I bought it for her.
I listened when Rosslyn talked.
I knew her desires.
Her dreams.
Her wants.
Her needs.
And it was my job to make sure she never wanted for anything. It was my job to make sure she was fulfilled in every aspect of her life.
Memories of our nights talking in bed moved over me. The nights I’d held her while she spoke of her mother and her love of cooking. Spending time with her mother in the kitchen were some of her favorite memories. I could almost see the little girl she used to be—sticky from sugar dusted on her cheeks—and the radiant smile she kept as she grew.
I’d somehow made her memories my own. Using her parents and her love for them as a replacement for my own absent family. I never knew that kind of love and I always longed for it.
Rosslyn secretly wanted to open a restaurant in her mother’s honor, and since I was the reason she needed to be remembered in the first place, I was going to make that happen. I wanted to make all of Rosslyn’s dreams come true.
And so, I’d turn this new venture into something amazing for her, as well. It was a bigger commitment than marriage in my eyes. It was my way of showing her how committed I was to our future together. I wanted her confident enough to let go with me completely.
Without doubt.
Without worry.
I needed her to know that I’d always catch her—always hold her in the safety of my embrace—whether it was emotionally, physically, or financially.
Looking around the empty room, I had placed a few candles to provide a romantic glow in the sparse space. I sat with the delicious smell of our dinner taunting me, as I waited for my fiancée to show up.
The word fiancée was foreign to me. Still, a week later, the word felt strange on my tongue. But no matter how many times the old Sebastian tried to scare me off my path of happiness, I knew I was making the right decision.
Our car pulled up at twenty after six. I saw her climb out of the backseat from the floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the building. She had paused on the sidewalk outside, taking in the splendor of the brick exterior, before she moved toward the entrance. The large industrial door groaned when she opened it and the sounds of the cars on the street just outside filled the room before the door slammed heavily into place.
My heart tightened with anxiety. It was the strangest thing, but I felt more nervous now than I had when I proposed. In the space of the two minutes it took her to get out of the car and enter the building, my mind filled with an endless list of doubts.
What if she freaked out?
What if she thought I was moving too fast too soon?
What if she decided she didn’t love me anymore and didn’t want to spend the rest of her life with me?
What if, worst of all, she left me?
Everyone left at some point, right?
Was there even such a thing as forever anymore?
And if not, could I handle the heartache of her walking away one day?
The urge to take it all back, proposal included, and protect myself was almost too strong to ignore. My feet shifted and I locked my knees to keep myself in place. I wasn’t a runner. I never had been. Not even the most dangerous motherfuckers on the mean streets of New York could scare me. Surely, I wasn’t going to run away from love.
“Sebastian?”
Her voice drifted through the gutted building in her search for me. Escape was no longer an option, and all I could do was stand there and hold my breath.
“Sebastian?” she called again, louder this time.
Her voice echoed throughout the empty space, bouncing off the exposed brick walls and landing straight into the pit of my stomach.
Lifting the sheet of plastic that separated her from me, the candlelight illuminated the darkness around her and she finally appeared in front of me. The look of confusion on her face reminded me to breathe, and when she smiled, I felt all my worries fade away.
“There you are.”
She stole my breath away.
From her sexy black dress, which draped her body in just the right way, to her long red hair hanging freely down her back, she shocked me with her beauty every time I saw her. It wasn’t often that she left her hair down. She’d kept it up a lot over the last few weeks, working on homework or dealing with her internship at the Department of Social Services, but she knew how much I loved to see it down. It satisfied me beyond belief.
The urge to pull her to me and run my fingers through her wavy lengths was strong, but I held myself in check.
How could I have even for a minute doubted myself when it came to Rosslyn?
“You look …” I tried to find the right words to describe the way she made me feel at that moment.
Her skin flushed and her shy smile glowed beneath the candlelight. “Thank you. So do I get a kiss, Mr. Black?”
I took my time as I walked up to her even though my body demanded that I run. Her eyes dilated and her breathing became uneven. Years later and her responses to me were still thrilling. She made me feel even more powerful than I was, and her awestruck expressions were a major boost to my enlarged ego.
Stopping in front of her, I found the back of her neck, and the warmth of her flushed skin heated the palm of my hand. I pulled her closer with my other hand low on her back until we were touching all over. Her body was a perfect fit to mine even though she was much shorter. She was made for me.
Her mossy green eyes were cautious as she took in the moment and her surroundings. It felt like ages since I’d had the pleasure of getting lost in their emerald depths. Her lips parted as she waited for me to follow through. I dipped my head, and the instant our lips touched, I was gone.
It had been far too long since I’d kissed Rosslyn the right way—without sex as an option. Just a kiss. I was making up for that as I tasted her essence and breathed her in. My tongue slipped between the smoothness of her lips and my senses exploded with her flavor and the lingering hint of mint. She became a part of me for the next few minutes as I devoured her as if she were my final meal.
When I pulled away, her fingers tangled in my jacket to hold me. She didn’t want to let me go, but we had much to discuss. Taking her by the hand, I led her to the candlelit dinner that awaited us.
Dinner was laid out as planned, and I pulled out her chair for her to sit. Her eyes moved around the room, and I knew she was dying to know where we were. The place was a mess—the early stages of construction—with plastic where walls should be and the scent of the sawdust from the floor swirling in the air around us.
Once I took my seat in front of her, I filled her glass with wine and waited for the questions to start. Rosslyn didn’t disappoint. My sweet beauty was much too curious to sit for too long with so many questions churning in her gorgeous mind.
“Sebastian?”
I smiled as I readied myself to explain. “Yes?”
“What is this place?”
“It’s a building under construction.” I stated the obvious.
She shook her head and laughed over her glass.
“Yes, I can see that, but why are we having dinner here?”
“Because it’s yours. I bought it for you.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth popped open. “You bought me a building?”
“No, I bought you a business. What you see now will soon be one of New York’s hottest restaurants.”
She blinked in shock and panic flittered across her expression. “But I don’t know anything about running a business. That’s your thing. If you leave this to me, I’ll end up running it straight into the ground.”
In spite of myself, I laughed.
“Of course, you won’t be running it all by yourself. You only have to deal with it as much as you want, but just know that it’s all yours. Or ours.”
I stood from my seat and went around to her side of the table. Leaning over, I looked her in the eye.
“I want to build a future with you, Rosslyn. I want something that’s ours—something we can build together. I know it doesn’t make any sense to you, but it does to me. Business has always been the thing I’m great at. I can only hope that I’ll be just as great at being your husband. If we combine the two—my being a businessman and your husband—you’re getting everything from me. You’re getting all that I am. I’m yours completely.”
Her eyes watered, and I worried that I’d gone too far—that I’d pushed too hard—but once one of the tears escaped and rushed down her cheek, a radiant smile pulled at her lips.
“So does this mean you’re not going to get cold feet and leave me standing at the altar on our wedding day?”
Relief rushed through me and I laughed. Her delight shouldn’t have surprised me, but Rosslyn had a way of taking away all my worry and leaving happiness in its place.
Her lips were soft and I tasted a few of her happy tears when I kissed her.
“Never. I’d never give up the chance to spend the rest of my life with you.”