“Thank you.” I would have hugged her, but she might have bitten my head off. Instead, I stretched a hand out. Chase only stared at my proffered hand, and scoffed at me before walking out of the kitchen after grabbing her coffee.
I followed her out and watched Veronica walk a man out of her office. She had to tilt her chin up while talking to him. He looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place him. Veronica had a bright smile on her face, and so did he. My hands fisted at my sides when he leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek, lingering too long for my liking, and worse, causing her cheeks to redden.
What the hell? Who was this man who could make her blush? Every bit of me wanted to plow through the small office and pummel the man to the ground. I resisted, of course.
I looked away when Chase snickered behind me.
I ignored her as Veronica approached. “Sorry. It took longer than necessary.”
“Not a big deal,” I managed to say through gritted teeth.
We walked into the kitchen, where I had her lunch waiting. Sitting in front of her at the table, I bit the inside of my cheek. A part of me was saying I should let it go, and the other part niggled at me to ask. The latter won. “New client?”
Veronica hummed, digging into her salad with her fork.
“Who is he? I’ve seen him before.” My voice was steady. Firm.
Too firm. If Veronica didn’t think I was jealous before, she did now.
As she poked a piece of tomato with her fork, she replied with, “Can’t talk about it. Did you bring me some bread?”
And with that, the topic was closed for discussion. I waited for her to glance up at me, to give some kind of explanation, but she didn’t offer any. When she did look up, she seemed nervous. I patted my pocket again.
Témoin de Mariage
“First off, I don’t like to keep secrets from Nica.” Chase’s steady finger met me before I stepped out of my car. “I’m only doing this because she loves surprises. And she happens to love you. I don’t know why.” She looked me up and down with a sneer. “But she does. If you mess this up...”
“Could you at least retract your claws until after we talk about what we came here for?”
“I’m warning you, Laurent. I will castrate you,’“ Chase carefully enunciated the last two words.
“I’m very much aware.” If I grinned even a smidgen, she might take a tire iron to my kneecaps. “Shall we?” I waved a hand toward the bar by the pier.
The pungent mixture of briny sea air and stale beer hung in the air as we walked inside the dodgy bar, Davidson’s. It was easy to figure out why Chase had asked to meet here. She wanted the upper hand. It was a bikers’ hang out. With her black leather clothes with metal rivets and studs, and her even darker demeanor, she looked like she belonged. While I, in my checkered Oxfords, navy suit, and caramel brogues, was conspicuous.
I followed her to the banged-up, scratched wood-and-steel bar. She occupied one of the empty stools in front of a hulk of a man with a salt-and-pepper beard that matched the mop on top of his head.
Chase postured beside me, placing her helmet on top of the bar. “Three Floyds stout.”
The giant, bearded man grunted at my grinning companion, and focused on me. I couldn’t ignore Chase’s outright enjoyment of what she certainly suspected was my discomfort as I sat next to her. I pushed my hair off my forehead and extended my hand.
“Bonjour, Benoit. Comment ca va?” I greeted the burly man. I repeated my last question in English, “How are things?”
He returned my greeting with a more convivial one, taking my hand in a complicated handshake. “Olivier, pas mal! Quoi de neuf?”
It was regular exchange between two people. I wasn’t saying anything that would matter to Chase, but it irritated her, and I couldn’t help but egg her on. “Pas grand-chose. Nous parlerons plus tard.” She was practically vibrating in her seat in anger. “Macallan, neat.”
Benoit saluted me and knocked once on the bench before turning around and grabbing our drinks. Chase huffed as she grabbed her tall glass of foamy beer and her helmet and stalked away from the bar toward the farthest empty booth. I swallowed a chuckle. Benoit would have a ton of questions for me later. How could I explain Chase? I didn’t even know her last name. I’d asked Veronica a while ago about it, and she had shrugged. “Think Madonna. And Cher,” was her explanation.
“You’re a jerk. Why didn’t you tell me you know this place?” If Chase knew how to pout, she would have. She glared at me, a furrow in her forehead, most likely imagining ways of kicking my ass.
I was the bar’s silent investor. Bikers like spending money on beer, and they made loyal clientele. With the margins the place made, it had proven to be a great investment.
I slid in the booth across from her, taking a sip of my scotch before shrugging. “You’d be surprised who I know in this city.”
Chase scoffed. “We’re never gonna get anywhere. Tell me what you’re planning to do.” Before I could answer, she continued, “Nica loves surprises. The bigger, the better. Don’t cheap out on anything, because she deserves only the best. She’s probably the best person in this entire state. She’s my best friend, my family. If it wasn’t for her, I honestly don’t know where I would be. I want her to be happy.” She paused as though she was entertaining a thought, or she felt she had exposed herself a bit much to me, of all people. “Her ring size is five, and you have to get her mother’s blessing, whether you believe in that or not.”
I had had the idea in my head, but I hadn’t been too sure. Perhaps this was why I’d bitten back my pride and asked to meet with Chase. “I’m on my way to see Lily after this. I’m driving out to meet her at work.” And the other reason why I’d insisted that I meet Chase earlier in the day. It had taken her a while to agree with me, but she had relented.
“Oh. Well, that’s good.” I didn’t think it was possible, but for once, she was speechless, and I could almost believe that she might even be impressed.
“Is there anything else you could tell me that you think only you would know?”
This was a long shot. She could tell me what I needed to know or deliberately mislead me. In a way, I could even perceive that I was sabotaging myself. Would I be asking this question if I truly knew who Veronica was? And wasn’t that one of the prerequisites of asking a woman to marry me?
But Veronica wasn’t just any woman. She was the one for me. I believed it.
I needed to make this proposal perfect.
Chase lifted her glass and drank half of the beer. She regarded me with her arms folded over her chest. I leaned against the padded booth, waiting for her answer.
“Nope. Nothing that I want to share.”
I shook my head. What else could I have expected? Chase finished off the beer in one pull and slammed the empty glass on the table. I signaled Benoit to bring her another. I had a feeling it would take a lot more than one to make her talk.
“Tell me, Laurent, what’s your plan?”
“My plan?” She lifted a brow and pursed her lips. “Right, my plan.” I leaned my arms over the table, bravely facing my surly companion with a deep breath before I began sharing.
* * *
The cool air hit my face as I slid out of the top-down convertible. The fog had been fairly thick throughout the drive and it had taken a lot longer for me to arrive at my destination. When I walked into the store, I didn’t expect a slew of shoppers, considering it was just past noon.
“Levi?” Mrs. Stewart’s surprised voice piped up from my left. She looked at me over her glasses. “It is you! What are you doing here?”
She was a hugger. And so I bent down to let her wrap her arms around me and pat my face.
“Hello, Mrs. Stewart.” I straightened as soon as I was sure she had patted my cheeks enough.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lily? Mrs. Stewart makes me sound old.” She shook a finger at me, and smiled. I wondered briefly how she’d get on with my mother. No
t that it would ever happen. Mother was offensive even at her best behavior, but Lily wasn’t a person anyone should mess with. Having raised two daughters on her own, she’d admitted that she’d had to be stronger than most.
“Of course. I beg your pardon. How are you, Lily?”
“I’m good. Just getting this place together.”
“I was hoping I could steal you for a minute to discuss something?” Lily squinted. “It’s nothing bad. It’ll be quick, I hope.”
“Alright, dear. Follow me, we’ll have a chat in my office.” I walked beside her to a door marked “OF ICE”, while she greeted customers and employees, each one smiling at her and giving me a curious once-over.
She offered a chair that looked like it was there even before the store was, and she pulled a similar, less beat-up one to sit on. “Is it about my daughter? Is she acting up?”
“Not at all. Veronica and I are doing well.”
“Well, go on, tell me.” Lily waved her hand, rolling her wrist to encourage me to continue.
Why did I suddenly feel nervous? I pulled my handkerchief from an inside coat pocket and rubbed my palms on it. I took a couple of soothing breaths before talking.
“I’d like to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage. I’d like your blessing.” My eyes trained on Lily.
She didn’t answer. I thought I’d repeat myself, in case she hadn’t heard me, but as I opened my mouth, she lifted a finger.
“I don’t understand,” she told me.
“I intend to ask your daughter, Veronica, to marry me. Soon, I hope.”
“But why are you asking for my permission?”
Now I was confused. “I thought it was the right thing to do?” I hadn’t meant it to come out as a question.
“It might be for other girls, but not my Nica.”
“How do you mean?”
Lily took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. Waiting for her reply, I watched her clean the lenses with the bottom of her cotton shirt before she put them back on. “Levi, my Nica is a modern woman. If she finds out that you’d come here to ask for her hand in marriage, she might go and break it off.”
“But…”
“Oh, please tell me Chase did not put you up to this! Just make sure Nica doesn’t find out.” She reached over to pat my hand. “Veronica believes that no man would ever own her. She is her own person. She may seem weak or timid at times, but she is neither. She’s a strong, independent woman.” She pressed her lips together. I kept quiet. There was more to come. “When she was little, girls her age played with Barbies. My Nica read books and feminist magazines that my neighbor across the street shared with her.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“I know. I used to joke that she was two people in one little body. But you go ask her to marry you. I bet she would say yes. She would be stupid not to. But make sure that she doesn’t get wind of this.” She whirled a finger in the air.
Lily stood slowly, and I did the same. How had I been wrong? I had been sure Veronica would have wanted this. Lily and I shuffled outside the office, and she practically threw me out of the store, saying that she had work to do. How could I have gotten this wrong? I wondered again. How could Chase have? Or could it be that her mother was wrong about Veronica? They seemed at odds with each other at times.
I was halfway back to San Francisco when I realized that Lily hadn’t even hugged me before I left. It was unusual. I reached for the panel on the dash and searched through my contacts for Chase’s number, but as I was about to connect, Veronica’s number popped up. I pressed the button to answer.
“Sweetheart, hi.”
Her voice exploded in my car. “Babe! Oh my god, I’m so excited. I’m working on something big, and I think I’m going to get it.”
Her excitement was infectious, and I found myself grinning. “Glad to hear it. What are you working on?”
Her voice turned into a more delicate tone. “I can’t tell you that, but it’s huge. And there’s something else I have to tell you.”
“Go on.”
“I have to do some traveling in the next two weeks. All expenses paid.”
“Two weeks?”
“Yes, and I...kinda have to leave the day after tomorrow.”
“In two days?” I gripped my steering wheel harder. “But we’re going to the Benjamin’s’ for dinner on Thursday.” Even to me, I sounded whiney.
Veronica sighed heavily through the speakerphone. “Yeah. I can’t go to that anymore. I already told Sandrine. I told them you’d still be there.”
“Two weeks. You’ll be gone that long? I’m going to miss you. Can we talk about this later? Dinner at my place?”
“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll see you later. I have some prep to do since I’ll be gone quite a while.”
“I understand. I’ll make something great tonight. Who are you going with?”
Even without seeing her, I sensed her hesitation. “A client.” A pregnant pause. “He’s taking me to see some spots for an event.”
“He?”
“Yes?”
I couldn’t resist. I didn’t know what pushed me. “The same person you had a meeting with yesterday afternoon?”
Her silence was my answer. My knuckles whitened as I squeezed the steering wheel. “I can’t say much about it, but yes.” Her voice had lowered even more.
“Is Chase going?”
“No. Chase doesn’t fly anywhere. And he’s my client.” Her voice turned edgier, more defensive. “My project. Look, we can talk more later. I have to go. I love you.”
I exhaled. I knew she would hear nothing but tension in my voice. “I love you too.”
I didn’t like the idea of Veronica spending weeks alone with this man.
* * *
“I’ll be back before you know it,” I heard Veronica say, but all I could focus on was the amount of clothes she had piled into her suitcase. I’d counted at least seven bathing suits, and five were two-piece affairs. I watched her fold several pairs of lace underwear and stuff them along the side.
“What do you need those for?” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to ease the tension.
Veronica peered at me through her lashes, a confused smile on her face. “My panties?” She threw back her head and laughed. “Would you prefer I go commando the entire two weeks?”
No, I preferred she not go at all. But there was no stopping her.
She rounded the bed and stepped between my legs. Her nose touched mine as she cupped my chin with her hands. “Why are you so worked up over this? It’s just work.”
“Why can’t you tell me who he is?”
“Levi, I’ve told you why. It’s part of the deal. He asked for confidentiality. And I can’t believe you’re still trying to ask. You have nothing to worry about.” Her soothing voice reverberated down my chest as she covered my lips with hers. Her tongue danced with mine, and I inhaled every bit of her. I let my hands rub and rove up her naked legs, under the hem of her blue dress. My fingers skimmed the silk and lace covering the roundness of her behind.
“I have to go.” She said the words, but her fingers pushed through my hair and tugged as my lips found the hollow of her neck.
She could have been trying to distract me, but I was willing to make the sacrifice. Too many things had come between us in the past that could’ve prevented us from being together, including our stubborn selves.
“Babe, Jewel is coming to get me soon.” I had already removed the barrier between me and what I wanted, slipping silk and lace material down her legs.
“I won’t take long,” I promised, laying her on the floral quilt beside the opened suitcase. Her dress was halfway up her hips. “You’ll be gone a while, I want to make sure you’ll think of me…and only me….”
I hurried to remove my clothes, depositing them on the floor, and helped her take her dress off. The only thing left to do was to unsnap the lace bra that matched the panties I had disposed of earlier.
�
�Hurry.” Veronica reached for me, and I let her guide me where she desired me most.
That was when the knock came. I looked past the open bedroom door and gave an angry huff into Veronica’s hair.
“That’s Jewel. I told you she’d be here soon.” She made no move to push me off.
“I’ll fly you to the Maldives myself.” I buried my face in the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent.
Another knock echoed into the apartment, followed by the buzzing of her phone on the nightstand. There wasn’t any fear of anyone walking in on us. Since an embarrassing, yet unforgettable, incident with her mother and sister on Christmas, Veronica had asked people to call her first before zipping into her apartment.
“Levi, babe, look at me.” Veronica ran her fingers on my neck, urging me to lift my head up and stare her in the eyes. She trapped my head between her hands. “I love you.” The spark in her eyes reaffirmed her words. “I will miss you, but it’s only two weeks. I will call you, Skype, FaceTime, whatever you want, every single free time I get. Jewel will be with me. I won’t be alone with my client the entire time. Then, I will come back home to you, where I belong.”
She rubbed a thumb over one of my cheeks and down my chin. Her thumb traced the outline of my lips, as though she was committing it to memory. I captured her thumb between my teeth and when I gently sucked, she moaned. It was like I was struck by lightning.
I’d been with different women for many reasons, treating each relationship like a business. I had only known real love with Veronica.
My heart swelled at her words, at her promises. She lifted her head to plant another heat-searing kiss on my lips. I met it with all the fervor and passion I could manage. Then, slowly, I turned to my side, freeing her, and helped her up to let her redress.
She was mine, and I was hers.
I stayed quiet the entire time, kicking myself for not bringing the ring. Although the time wasn’t perfect, I would’ve wanted her wearing the ring before she went to an island with another man…to let him know that she was with me.
The Bachelor's Perfect Proposal (Bliss Series Book 2) Page 5