A Lifetime With You (Falling For A Rose Book 5)

by Stephanie Nicole Norris

“And really, I’m first,” Samiyah added. “So here it is.” The ladies fell quiet, and Octavia half braced and half bit down on her lip. Samiyah placed her hands on her hips and moved closer to Octavia, lowering her voice: “What’s going on with you and Jonathon?”

  Octavia opened her mouth. “Ah—”

  “No bull,” Samiyah said.

  Octavia exhaled a deep breath. “You were supposed to ask me a specific question. I expected that question from Selena.”

  Selena chuckled. “Gotcha,” she said.

  Octavia crossed her eyes and threw her hands up. “Okay, we are…” the girls leaned in, all making sure they heard everything that needed to be heard. “We’re dating… I think,” Octavia finished.

  The ladies scrunched their faces up and glanced at each other collectively. “What do you mean, you think?” Samiyah asked.

  “Well,” Octavia continued, “there wasn’t a time where we actually talked about the status of our relationship.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Selena cut in, “you’ve been gone three days with this man and don’t know where you all stand?”

  Octavia pushed her lips up and scrunched her nose. “Is that your question?” Octavia said before answering.

  All three of the girls crossed their arms and peered at Octavia.

  “Okay, okay,” she said. “We just went with the flow. I had no idea we were going anywhere. We ended up in Hawaii and—”

  “Hawaii!” Selena gasped.

  Samiyah and Claudia nodded, smooth grins on their lips. “Yeaaah baby, that’s how the Rose men do it,” Samiyah said while Claudia continued to agree with a nod of her head.

  “Okay and what else?” Samiyah said.

  “We went shark diving, I did a hula dance for him, we ate breakfast on the beach.”

  “Hold up,” Selena said, “you’re not going to skip right over that hula dance.” A smile like that of a Cheshire cat spread across Selena’s face. “You move them hips for him, girl?”

  Octavia blushed. “Sure did. Went a little something like this,” Octavia said, holding her arms up and moving her hips in a wave.

  “Yaaaass,” Selena sang. “That’s my girl! I knew you had it in you.”

  Octavia laughed then glanced at her watch.

  “Let me get my question in before we disperse,” Selena said.

  “Since your dying to ask, go right ahead,” Claudia said, passing the baton to Selena.

  “Thanks,” Selena said, gladly taking Claudia’s turn. She turned back to Octavia and leaned in with a shoulder. “Did y’all have sex?”

  Once again, they all leaned in to hear Octavia’s response. Octavia glanced from one to the other. “All… night… long…” she sang.

  “Oooouuu!” Selena hooped and Octavia braced a hand over her mouth. Claudia and Samiyah laughed as Selena continued to do a little dance with her mouth restrained. Octavia shook her head.

  “This girl.” She laughed.

  “Okay, nicely done,” Claudia said with a nod. “I’ll be in to see you on lunch for my question.”

  “What?” Octavia said, removing her hand from Selena’s mouth. “No hot lunch date with the hubs?”

  Claudia shook her head, dismayed. “Meetings all day. These are the ones I loathe.”

  “Ha, I bet you do,” Octavia pointed out.

  “So, none of us have lunch dates. We should go out together and catch up,” Samiyah said, glancing around.

  “I’m down,” Octavia said.

  “Me too,” Selena quipped.

  “Count me in,” Claudia said.

  “It’s settled then, and no matter how many clients we have in here, at twelve we’re out of here.”

  They all nodded.

  “Come on,” Octavia said, “let’s get this day over with.”

  One by one, they dispersed, all grabbing a client to be led to their offices.

  Octavia was still glowing from waking up in Jonathon’s arms. The moment she opened her eyes, Octavia knew precisely where she was. There was no moment of confusion as she took in his strong arms that cuddled her and a carved jawline that sat on top of her nose as she watched him sleep.

  They would’ve scheduled a lunch date, but Jonathon had someone in training at Rose Security Group, and although the trainer standing in for Jonathon was completely capable of being efficient, still, Jonathon wanted to be in attendance. When holding a career at Rose Security Group, it was imperative to be up on your game. People’s lives were at risk, and there could be no mishaps, ever. Octavia respected Jonathon for that. He was a man of integrity, and it was one of the many things she loved about him.

  Octavia spoke with client after client all the while daydreaming about Jonathon. The house he’d so-called purchased on a whim was gorgeous. For the time she and Jonathon had been acquainted, Octavia had never known him to spend lavishly. So, for Jonathon to put down the millions she knew he did on the place was more than astounding. Besides that, Octavia fell in love with the place immediately. High ceilings, modern furnishing, and the closet was the most massive space Octavia had witnessed. You could fit a full bedroom inside the cherry oak walls of the room.

  Octavia had gotten a full tour of the home, and they never made it back to the main floor before pouncing on each other. Something about the atmosphere charged their batteries and where they both had work to do the next day, Octavia ended up against the wall of an empty room while Jonathon’s thrusts tore into her canal. They went on a ride that neither ever wanted to get off and the more they came together, the deeper they fell.

  In a perfect world, their love for each other would be all that matter, and they could go on loving each other for all time. Octavia was optimistic, but she also knew getting her hopes up could be premature, mainly if she couldn’t deal with the severity of the nightmares. Nightmares, she hadn’t had since being with Jonathon. Another smile rushed to Octavia’s face, and her client smiled in return, thinking the expression was meant for him. Octavia rose to her feet and rounded her desk to shake the man’s hand.

  “Thank you for your business, Mr. Montgomery,” Octavia said.

  “The thanks are all mine as long as you keep saving me money, I’ll keep coming back.”

  They both agreed with bright smiles and a nod to the head.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Octavia said, holding the door open for him.

  They strolled down the hallway, past the waiting room to the front door.

  “Have a good weekend,” Mr. Montgomery said.

  “You do the same,” Octavia retorted. As Mr. Montgomery disappeared around the corner, Octavia turned and grabbed her next client who was a tall red-haired Caucasian woman with spiked hair.

  “Mrs. Brown, if you’ll follow me,” Octavia said. Mrs. Brown stood and reached to shake Octavia’s hand.

  “Are you excited the work week is ending?” Mrs. Brown asked.

  Octavia’s smile had more to do with getting to see Jonathon again than it had to do with it being the weekend. But to the woman, she simply said, “Of course.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Deciding to stay close to S & M Financial Advisory, Octavia, Selena, Claudia, and Samiyah took a quick trip across the street to the deli. They sat in a booth next to the window dressed down in their professional attire. Scarves were wrapped around Samiyah’s and Selena’s shoulders while Octavia and Claudia went for thick wool coats instead.

  “I swear it seems to drop ten degrees every day,” Claudia said.

  The ladies nodded in agreement. Octavia blew lightly over her super-hot and sour shrimp soup.

  “I don’t know how you slip the pregnancy glow past me,” Claudia said to Samiyah. “It’s literally written all over your face.”

  Samiyah sipped her hot cocoa. “Probably because you’ve been too busy riding Jaden’s—”

  “All right, I get your point,” Claudia said, holding up a hand and cutting Samiyah off.

  The girls snickered.

  “Who can blame you, girl, I don
’t,” Selena said. “That man is fi-one!” she said, throwing an extra syllable in the word. The ladies snickered again.

  “I’ve gotta tell you, Selena, you’ve commented on Jaden’s fineness more than once. Should I keep an eye on you?” Claudia asked.

  Selena pushed her lips out and pretended to be in deep thought.

  “Really, you need to think about it?” Claudia added.

  “Girl, I’m just messing with you. Honestly, in my humble opinion, I think Jordan is the sexiest.”

  “Oh pa-lease,” they all crooned.

  “What?” Selena shrugged. “He is.”

  “No, he’s not,” Samiyah interjected. “Jonas is by far the most handsome.”

  Claudia cut her eyes at Samiyah and placed a hand on her hip. “Girl, gone,” Claudia said. “Like Ms. Thang over here has mentioned numerous times, Jaden is definitely the hottest.”

  “I didn’t say he was the hottest, just fi-one!” Selena countered.

  The ladies bickered back and forth, teasing each other on which brother was the best looking and most accomplished. Staring off into her soup with a faraway look in her eyes, Octavia spoke, “If you want to be technical about it, ladies, I’d say they are all beyond sexy, have accomplished things most people won’t in a lifetime during their thirty-something years, and will probably stay in the headlines because of it.”

  The ladies nodded in agreement. “However,” Octavia went on to say, “none of them could taste as rich as chocolate, and be as caring, charming, and savage enough in bed to make you never want to breathe without him. They couldn’t possibly possess the type of mind-numbing, heart-bending orgasms that have you reeling like an animal in the wild. They couldn’t make your heart melt into theirs and wonder beyond wonder why you’d waited so long to be with him. They couldn’t possibly have a passion for others so selfless that they’d take time out of their busy schedules to go in search of a missing teenager who they have no affiliation with. Such a guy is usually unattainable, but Jonathon…” Octavia’s words trailed off. “He is the haut monde… the apple of the eye… the crème de la crème.” Octavia finally brought her gaze from the steamy soup to the surprised eyes and pursed lips of the women around her. “But if you’d like to pretend they are, by all means.” Octavia shrugged.

  “Dayum!” Selena screeched. She held a hand in the air, and Octavia met her with a high-five. “That’s what I’m talking about, you better put on for your man, girl! Whew!” Selena fanned herself.

  “Ooooh,” Samiyah said, “this girl is in love.”

  The table quieted as they all agreed with Samiyah with a nod.

  “You sound just like me when Jonas and I were dating,” Samiyah went on.

  “Jonathon’s a great guy,” Octavia said.

  “See, I told you!” Selena shouted. “But I won’t fill our lunch hour with how right I was, I’m just glad you didn’t waste that trip to Hawaii. Now, all you need to do is have the conversation.”

  “What conversation would that be?” Octavia asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

  “Where do you go from here?” Selena responded.

  “Straight to the altar,” Claudia said.

  Samiyah and Selena slapped hands across the table, and Claudia laughed. But Octavia was shaking her head.

  “I have experienced first-hand what you’re feeling,” Claudia said, “and we’ve all been in denial, but at the end of the day, that man is going to make you his wife. Just watch.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Octavia said.

  “Because he’s a Rose, baby. And they play for keeps.”

  They were all nodding as heat saturated Octavia’s skin. Her mind traveled to her and Jonathon standing at the altar, an ivory veil covering her face as she stared off into the eyes of the only man she’d ever loved.

  “Can you see it?” Claudia said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Who says I want to be a wife?”

  The girls stared at her as if she’d turned into a snake.

  “Don’t you?”

  One thing was certain. Octavia wanted to be Jonathon’s wife, but she wasn’t sure if she could live up to the status quo. Besides that, who’d want a wife waking up screaming at ungodly hours because of seasonal nightmares? Jonathon could say he’d always be there for her, but the reality was if that happened more often than not, he would surely grow tired of it. The thought reminded her of the call she needed to make. It was the dark cloud that hovered over her head. Going back to see Dr. Celia Cooper would definitely awaken the nightmares, but it would possibly help her get over them for good. As much as Octavia would have liked to forget about it and keep on self-soothing the way she’d been doing, Octavia had promised Jonathon she would make the call. And so, she would. Needing to switch gears, Octavia turned her attention to Samiyah.

  “Let’s talk about this baby shower.”

  Samiyah beamed. “I like what you did there,” she said, “but I guess we’ve been in your business long enough.”

  “Oh, you guess, huh?” Octavia retorted.

  “Mmhmm,” Samiyah said. “I’m only six months.”

  “Six months!” Claudia screeched. “Girl, you’re damn near due. When were you going to tell somebody?”

  “Jonas and I were going to tell you guys collectively at Thanksgiving dinner. We don’t know the sex of the baby, we want to have a gender reveal party. Which is why you guys have to keep it on the hush.” Samiyah looked at Claudia. “It means you can’t tell Jaden.” Samiyah glanced to Octavia. “You can’t tell Jonathon.” Finally, she looked at Selena. “And you can’t tell whomever it is you’re having pillow talk with these days.”

  Affronted, Selena tossed a hand over her heart. “That was just stank, and you know it.”

  The girls fell out laughing.

  “Well tell me you’re dating Jordan, and I’ll tell you not to tell him.”

  “Soon,” Selena said with a wink.

  The ladies laughed.

  “Do you all have your gowns for the Jan’s Roses fundraiser next month?” Claudia asked.

  Samiyah nodded. “I’ve got mine.”

  “I do, too,” Claudia said.

  “Unfortunately, I haven’t been invited,” Selena said sourly.

  “Well consider this your official invite,” Samiyah said.

  Selena perked up. “I guess I’ll need to find a gown then.”

  “I don’t have mine yet, Selena,” Octavia said, “so if you want, we can go gown shopping together.”

  Selena swallowed the milk coffee on her tongue. “Cool, we should go this weekend.”

  “Well, I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to do it this weekend.”

  “Why?”

  “Ayana Bradwell’s case hasn’t been solved, and currently they’re still searching for her. I’m reopening my house as a station again.”

  “I’ve seen this on the news,” Samiyah interrupted. “What do you mean you’re opening your house as a station?”

  “So, you still haven’t told them?” Selena asked.

  Octavia shrugged. “I’ve been a little busy.”

  “Mmhmm, busy getting your groove back,” Selena retorted. “Okay, I ain’t mad at cha.”

  The ladies chuckled.

  “Ayana Bradwell is a teenager from my neighborhood. Her grandmother has custody of her, but she’s been missing for a week now.”

  “Oh nooo,” Samiyah said.

  “As long as the search is ongoing, I’ll have my house open for volunteers to stop and use the restroom, eat and rest if need be.”

  “There’s a hotline, too,” Selena said, “It rings nonstop.”

  “I take it you’ve been helping Octavia out,” Claudia said.

  Selena nodded.

  “And she’ll be back to help me this weekend because that’s what friends are for, right?” Octavia chimed.

  “Oh, for sure, but we do need more people.”

  “I’ll stop by and help,” Claudia inserted. “I can’t say for how long, but
I’ll be there nonetheless.”

  “Yeah and I’ll—” Samiyah said before getting disapproving frowns. “What?”

  “You will go home and take care of that baby,” Octavia stated matter of fact.

  “I’m six months, what are you guys going to be doing, lifting furniture?”

  “No, but it is still a room full of lively activity. I won’t have you under stress,” Octavia reaffirmed.

  “I’m with Octavia on this one, Samiyah,” Claudia said.

  “All right fine, have it your way,” Samiyah said, giving up.

  A waiter approached their table and refilled their coffee and cocoa. Claudia flipped her wrist and glanced at her watch.

  “Looks like our time is almost up, ladies.”

  “This is what I call a power lunch,” Selena said, and they all agreed. “I should probably drink coffee throughout the day since we’ll be busy tonight.” Selena glanced over to Octavia.

  “I’ll see if we can get an extra volunteer,” Octavia said.

  The waitress brought the check, and Octavia wondered about Jonathon’s day. The exuberant warmth that coiled inside her was ongoing, and thoughts of being Mrs. Jonathon Alexander Rose danced in her head.

  Chapter Nineteen

  At the end of her workday, Octavia left the office and climbed into her Mazda CX-5 and buckled her seat belt. Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed a number she could never forget and turned the car on, making sure to maximize the heat.

  “Living Balanced LLC, this is Jennifer. How may I help you?”

  Octavia bit her lip.

  “Hello, are you there?” Jennifer prodded.

  “Good evening, Jennifer, this is…” Octavia hesitated before pushing forward, “Octavia Davenport. I need to make an appointment with Dr. Cooper if she has any availability.”

  Octavia fumbled with the keys that hung from the ignition.

  “Are you a new patient or an existing one?”

  Octavia bristled. She hated being referred to as a patient. It made her feel like she should be in an insane asylum. Octavia ended the call and sat the phone in her lap. Turning her head to look out the window, Octavia gazed to the street where traffic was beginning to pick up. When she turned back around, Claudia was turning the corner. Claudia strolled to her car, unlocked her door, and then turned to see if Octavia was in her car. When Claudia spotted her, she waved, and Octavia powered down her window.