by Mia Ford
She was starting to run out of room at our place so I thought, what better way to show my support than to get her the space she needed to create the way she wanted to. I could already see that she was ecstatic. Everybody with an idea as big as hers needed their own space, a place to spread out and really put some power behind their ideas. Josie had my kitchen table, and I could tell she wasn’t happy about working from home. So, once I knew everything was totally safe, I bought Josie her own office that was big enough for her to expand in and to bring in employees when she reached that point.
I watched her and smiled as she walked around the room, running her hand over the desks and separators that kept each person in their own little cubicle. She was so excited, and she made me laugh loudly as she jumped up and down and squealed. She came running back over to me, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tightly.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, laughing.
“It still needs a bit of work, and new carpet and such, but when we are done with it, you will be the hottest office in all of non-profit,” I said, smiling. “Besides, you have been stuck, and I was really impressed with how much dedication you have been putting into getting this whole thing together. You are really putting your heart and soul into it, and I want you to have the space to explore. I could tell the other day that you were struggling to get out of work mode when you were working from home. Now, you have a place to come to.
“Thank you so much,” she said, leaning up and giving me a big kiss. “You are the world to me. You treat me so good, it’s nuts.”
We wandered around the main area of the office a bit more, exploring the closets and the bathrooms before I nudged her and pulled her over to the corner office. The place was beautiful, already decorated for her with some of the art that she always drooled over in our place. I had the artist do some specialty pieces just for her. The windows in the building were floor to ceiling, and she gasped as she walked over and looked at the view. There were no high-rise buildings in the background, no brick walls, or parking garages. Instead, she could see way out into the ocean. The back of the building faced a private beach, and if you tilted the windows open, you could hear the sound of the waves.
“This is so amazing,” she said, shaking her head and looking out over the water. “I never thought I would have an office, let alone one that looked out over a beach.”
“On top of all that,” I said, leading her away from the window. “This is the desk you will be creating your empire from.”
“Wow,” she said, looking down at the oak desk in front of her.
She walked along, rubbing her hand across the desk and plopping down in the chair behind it. She looked at me and smiled. She looked sexy sitting there like that, and I thought about messing around in the office to break the place in. However, knowing I had somewhere I was trying to take this whole office visit, I controlled my urges and stepped back.
“Now,” I said, standing back. “Turn your chair to the right and open the drawer.”
She looked at me curiously before doing as I asked. She turned her chair slowly, looking at the drawer and then back up at me. I laughed at how timid she was, as if something inside was going to get her. She was so beautiful, and the backdrop of the ocean just made everything ten times better. She slowly pulled the drawer out and stared down at a small box inside. I could see her curiosity swirling around as she reached down and pulled the box out. She turned back and set it in front of her on the desk, moving it around but not opening it. I shook my head and crossed my arms, looking at her with humor on my face. She smiled big and popped open the lid, revealing a very large, round, sparkling diamond ring. Immediately, her hands flew up to her mouth, and she shook her head in shock.
I walked over to her and bent down in front of her, taking her hands in mine. She turned toward me and smiled, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. This was it, the big moment that would determine all of my future happiness in this world. I loved this girl so much, and I knew without a doubt that this was the right move.
“Josie,” I said, looking up at her. “From the first moment that I met you, you stoked a fire in my soul. It was a fire that made me the happiest man on the planet. You pushed me to do things, like take my career seriously, follow my dreams, and do what was best for me. Now, I am helping others who, like you, were falsely accused of crimes that landed them in jail, their lives put on hold because no one would listen to them. I have found my niche in life where I can be the lawyer my parents always wanted and actually make a difference in this world. I owe every part of that to you. I have been down the road where I almost lost you. I have watched you slipping from my hands, and it was more devastating than anything I had ever been through before. You are the love of my life. I cannot imagine going a day without seeing that beautiful smile, watching that stubborn tick when you don’t get your way, and feeling my arms around you as we sleep at night. I want every part of you. I want to love and cherish you for the rest of our very long lives. You are the one for me.”
I cleared my throat and pulled the ring from the box, holding it up in front of her. The sun glistened off the diamond, casting moving shadows throughout the entire room. She looked around and laughed, with the wonder of a child glistening in her beautiful eyes. I rubbed a tear from her cheek and took a deep breath, ready to make everything finally come together.
“I am satisfied with my career, I am satisfied with my person, and I am satisfied with the direction in which our lives are going,” I said. “Now, it’s time for me to be satisfied at home, too. Josie, will you please make me the luckiest man in the world and marry me?”
My hands were shaking as I held the ring in front of her. It was like time had stopped, and my heart was beating out of my chest. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to live the rest of my life with this woman in my arms. Anderson asked if I thought it was too soon, but I knew it wasn’t soon enough. We may have only been together for a little over four months, but we shared a soul that had been together for centuries. There wasn’t a moment in my life that I didn’t think about her and our future. Everything I did on a daily basis was for this woman, and everything she did was for me. We were an amazing team, the best of friends, and incredible lovers.
“Yes,” she said finally, shaking her head up and down and laughing through her tears. “Of course, I will marry you. You are my world.”
I smiled and slid the ring onto her finger. She held her hand out in front of her and shook her head, watching the sun catch the curves and dips in the stone. She put her hand down and stood up, pulling me to my feet. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her waist, picking her up in the air and hugging her tightly. She leaned her face back and pressed her lips against mine, giving me a long, passionate kiss. I set her back down on the floor, and we turned toward the window, watching the waves crash jubilantly against the shore. She shook her head, leaned it against my shoulder, and sighed.
“What is it, baby?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I’m just so incredibly happy, and for the first time in a very long time, there is absolutely nothing wrong. My life is perfect.”
“You are perfect,” I replied.
“Far from it,” she said, laughing.
“You are to me,” I said, turning toward her and looking her in the eyes. “We are perfect for each other.”
“We always have been,” she replied. “For centuries.”
“I love you,” I said, leaning down and kissing her lips.
She looked up at me and smiled, folding her arms over my shoulders.
“And I love you, Blaine,” she replied. “And I will continue to do so for the rest of our lives.”
Obsessed
Blurb
I wanna bend her over my desk, and show her all that she has missed these years.
She’s back from college.
And looks more than just the tiny Mexican orphan she was.
Her voluptuous body, perfect a$$,
those long legs that could go on forever…
One look at her firm bre*sts and I am hard.
I wanna feel her soft body, hold her close to me.
And never let her go.
But mom said she was like our sister (my brother and I)
We practically grew up together.
Does that really matter?
Wait! why is my brother trying to be a jacka$$ in this relationship!
Chapter One
Nathan
I pored over another real estate contract, making sure the legal team downstairs hadn’t missed anything crucial. Neatly stacked piles of documents lined my desk in my office overlooking the city. The gorgeous view was a waste for me since I was forced to focus on paperwork.
Work never seemed to end, but in the real estate business, you had to keep your wits about you and always be on top of things. Otherwise, someone else would come along and steal a client right out from under you or snap up a lucrative deal. It was a cutthroat business, but I managed to keep our company the most profitable in the city of San Diego.
My father had passed his company to me when he retreated from the world. Taking the reins was an amazing opportunity, and I enjoyed every second of it, until my brother Nick decided it was time to get his shit together and make his worth known to our father. I couldn’t fight Nick on it since technically, the business had been handed down to both of us, but I couldn’t stand the way Nick walked around all high and mighty, trying to take over everything.
I had literally dedicated my entire life after college to this company, and then Nick traipsed in and uprooted everything. But that seemed to be how it was for us our entire life, Nick wanting what I had, and using the older brother card to take it. I knew Nick had no real interest in being a real estate mogul, but we both wanted to make our father proud. So I dealt with his presence, trying to put out fires he made before they became full on blazes.
I took in a deep breath and looked down at my laptop. The email symbol was flashing and rotating around in a circle. When I clicked on it, I saw Nick’s name as the sender, and I sighed. I was really hoping it was one of our bigger clients who were trying to finalize a multimillion-dollar real estate deal. As I opened the email, a picture appeared.
My brother smiled at the camera mischievously with his arm around Ronni. They were standing in the kitchen of our father’s estate. I hadn’t realized that Ronni was back in town already. I slammed the lid of my laptop, irritated by my brother’s brash reactions to things. He always tried to rub it in my face and be the first at everything. I gathered my things and headed down to the garage to grab the car and head over to my father’s. Luckily, it was midday so traffic wouldn’t be too bad in Coronado where Dad lived.
I was glad I chose to drive the convertible Audi today, as the San Diego sun was shining bright and warm overhead. I pulled out of the building and took to the street, heading for the bridge. I crossed over and looked down at the large Naval ships sitting at port and the city disappearing behind me, and I thought about the first time I ever met Ronni. I was sixteen years old and obsessed with cars, chicks, and anything and everything that was the complete opposite of my father’s business and learning it. I was a rebellious teen that knew just how far to take it because I also knew where the money came from.
Mother had decided that we needed some live-in help to keep better care of our estate, so she hired a really nice couple from Mexico. The couple had a six-year-old daughter.
At first, I really didn’t pay any attention to Ronni. I was ten years older than her, and she was just a little kid, running around and getting in my way. The thing I remembered most when she was that age, was the fact that she had big, striking, dark eyes. With Ronni’s parents working here in Coronado and living on the premises in the servants’ quarters, it gave her a chance to get a better education than she had in Tijuana.
I always noticed her sitting at the kitchen counter while her mother cooked, studying her English diligently. Sometimes, I would try to help by speaking in my broken Spanish, but it just got confusing. Ronni was incredibly intelligent on many levels, and though I wanted to help, she started following Nick around and mooning over him. He was the older brother, and even I had to admit he was cooler than me back then. I just put it out of my mind, not really thinking about it, other than the times that I would run into her sitting in the kitchen studying.
Then that day came. The day that changed her life forever and the lives of my own family as well. I could remember the day like it was yesterday. We were gathered in the living room, speaking to the police who had brought news of the car crash. Ronni was still at school when the police first arrived, but I remembered standing in the living room and seeing her enter through the front door. It was the last few moments of her childhood. If I had realized it then, I would have run to her, pushed her out of the house, and prolonged those last cherished minutes of innocence.
She walked in and looked at the tears on my mother’s face and the police staring at her with sadness, and she knew. No one had to say it. I reached out, as if life were in slow motion, and caught Ronni by the arm as she dropped to her knees. My mother ran over, scooping her delicate little body into her arms and covering her, trying to keep the pain out. I think we all grew a little bit that day.
Ronni didn’t have any family left in the states now that her parents were gone. My mother knew sending her back to Mexico would mean a very hard life for her. So, doing as my kind-hearted mother always did, she brought Ronni into our home permanently. She made up the room right next to hers and treated exactly as if she were her own daughter.
My father kept a distance, but since he loved my mother so much, he did what he could to make Ronni feel as if she were part of the family. That was really important to my mother, for her to feel like she was part of the family. We always made sure to listen to our mother, knowing how kind she was and knowing how she was the glue that held this family together. So, there she was, our new little sister, too scared to speak up, but kind enough to treat us how she always had.
Now that she was back home, I couldn’t wait to see her. I weaved in and out of traffic, hurrying toward my destination. The closer I got to my father’s house, the faster I pushed the car and the more my thoughts of the past overwhelmed me.
After Ronni became part of the family all those years ago, I lost track of everything. I was in my own little world, being accepted into the Ivy League, having my outrageous college experiences, and almost looking down on the “servant’s daughter.” Looking back now, she probably could have used my friendship, but at that time, I didn’t even know how to introduce her to my friends, much less find anything in common between us.
A few years after Ronni’s parents died, more dark times hit our family. We lost my mother, too, when her kind, loving heart gave out on her. When I got the news, I was stunned, broken, and completely unable to come to terms with it. Everything changed that day, and my father fell into a deep, inescapable bitterness. Ronni was no longer protected by my mother, so father sent her off to boarding school, trying to get rid of any reminder of my mother’s unrelenting kindness.
For me, it was easier to stay where I was, finishing school, building my career, and just trying to get past the fact that my dear sweet mother had died so suddenly. I knew that this meant that my parents’ real estate empire would end up falling on me and Nick, but I knew Nick was not someone I could rely on. He never had been. I’d grown out of my wild lifestyle after high school, but Nick stuck with the parties, the girls, and the freedom of being a rich boy with no responsibilities. However, knowing I had security and that my father trusted me with his business, was worth it all.
When I finally came home for the holidays, my father was even worse than before, and Ronni was sixteen. I hadn’t seen her since my mother’s funeral, and she tried not to come home for holidays. This year, though, she didn’t have any other option. When I walked in, I didn’t even recognize her. The chubby little Mexican girl with a
toothy grin had slimmed, trimmed, and transformed into an absolutely beautiful woman. I could barely take my eyes off of her, and when Nick arrived, I had to pull him aside and remind him that she was like our little sister.
My father didn’t seem to notice Ronni at all, and she went around fixing the table and helping the servants prepare for the holiday dinner. Her spirits were high, and I found instant comfort in her positive outlook on life. She was, indeed, a light in the darkness of our family. Her charming smile, long dark hair, and same striking eyes glimmered in the candlelight of the house.
My father hadn’t even thought of decorating for the holidays, but he reluctantly agreed to allow Ronni to do so, knowing it was her and my mother’s favorite thing to do every year. Nick and I chipped in to help, hanging lights, putting up wreaths, and finding the perfect tree for the living room. We laughed and joked with each other as if nothing had ever happened in our lives, but on the inside, Nick and I both were struggling to remember to see Ronni as our sister and not the sexy young woman in front of us.
For the next few years after that, I found myself at my father’s house more often, usually when I knew Ronni would be coming home from school. Every time I saw her, she seemed as if she had grown more and more beautiful. He body filled out, her lips were strong but pouty, and her eyes cut right through me. She had worked really hard in school and ended up getting a full scholarship to a private college, and when she left, I did everything I could to get her out of my mind.