“Can you leave work now?”
She laughed. “I think the reports will have to wait; I don’t think I can concentrate right now.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
In the parking lot, he led her towards a sleek silver Porsche. The remote in his hand unlocked the door and he held the passenger door open for her. Charlie hesitated a moment before sinking into the supple leather interior. He walked around and swung his long legs in and sat down. The car started with a purr. She watched him as he drove out of the parking lot. He handled the car with an expert ease that spoke of experience and familiarity.
“Let me guess,” She murmured. “This car goes with the secret life you’re going to be telling me about soon?”
He winced at her sarcastic comment. “This is my car. Well, one of my cars.”
Ryle took a deep breath and began. “Let’s start off with who I am.”
“Who you are? You’re not Ryle Sullivan?”
“I’m Ryle Sullivan. Rogan Sullivan was my father.”
“Rogan Sullivan? That name sounds familiar.”
“You might’ve heard of him in connection to the SkyLink buildings in New York.”
“The architect. I remembered reading an article about that.”
“He was a brilliant architect.” Ryle told her. “And I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”
“You are an architect?”
“Have you heard of Risberg & Sullivan?”
“Of course, they were the architectural firm that designed Hangar 3.” Her eyes widened as she realized. “You’ve been at the plant before. That’s why you had the high level security clearance. Is that why you were here? Are you working on another project for Prescott Aerodynamics?”
“Not quite. Coming to PAL was at the request of my grandfather.”
“Your grandfather? What does he have to do with this?”
“Maybe I should start by telling you who my grandfather is.” Ryle said. “He’s been asking to meet you for a long time.”
“You told him about me?”
“He knew I was in deep when I couldn’t stop talking about you whenever I saw him.”
She smiled, she felt so happy she could burst. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“Hey, if we do this, I’m going to forget what we’re talking about.”
“We can talk later.”
“Charlie, I need to tell you this.” He said huskily.
She sighed, releasing him reluctantly. “Okay. Tell me about your grandfather.”
“His name is Marcus Prescott.”
It took but a second for her to register. “Marcus Prescott? The president and CEO of Prescott Aerodynamics?” She asked, drawing back to look at him in surprise.
“The same. He’s retired, as you know; my uncles run the company now.”
“You’re a Prescott.” She said it almost accusingly.
“My mother was a Prescott.” He told her. “When she passed away, I inherited her shares. I didn’t want the shares because I had my own career and I wasn’t interested in Prescott Aerodynamics. But my grandfather insisted I give the company a chance. I knew I wasn’t about to change my mind about the company, but I didn’t count on falling in love.”
It was hard for her to stay angry at him when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. That he was in love with her was something she was still trying to get used to.
“I knew I was in trouble as soon as I met you.” Ryle said, his eyes warm as they rested on her face.
Charlie smiled. “You didn’t exactly make it easy for me to ignore you.”
“That was the idea.”
Joe’s Café was not very busy on a Saturday night, but there was a lot of laughing and squealing at the table where Charlie and her best friends sat.
“Let me see that ring again.” Becky said, grasping Charlie’s hand.
Charlie couldn’t stop smiling. She flexed her fingers to show off her ring. In the muted lighting of the café, the ring still sparkled brilliantly whenever it caught a shaft of light.
“It’s so gorgeous.” Mandy sighed wistfully. “You know I nearly died when Ryle walked into my shop yesterday and bought a single stem of tulip. It’s so romantic.”
“Yeah, considering he could come in and buy everything in the shop.” Becky grinned. “I told you he was powerful.”
“Umm, no, you said he had powerful friends at PAL.” Mandy reminded her.
“Well, he owns PAL, that’s even better.” Becky said and they both squealed.
“He owns part of it.” Charlie corrected lightly.
“Same difference.” Becky pulled a face. “A billionaire is a billionaire.”
“So when is the wedding?” Mandy asked.
“Ryle wants it soon. We’re both thinking of a winter wedding.”
“We’re in October already, that’s really soon.” Mandy said.
“Better get planning.” Becky grinned.
ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER
A loud wail suddenly filled the bedroom. It seemed to bounce off the French doors and reverberated through the spacious room.
“Is she okay?” Charlie asked anxiously.
“She couldn’t be more perfect.” Ryle said, coming to her bedside holding the wailing baby who was now washed and securely bundled. He gently placed the baby into her arms.
Charlie looked down at their daughter and felt a wave of love so strong it was overwhelming. A perfect little face with a head of light blond curls and large azure blue eyes stared up at her.
“She is perfect.” Charlie murmured.
“She is.” Ryle sat down on the edge of the bed, admiring his daughter. “What do you think? What does she look like?” They had discussed baby names, but since they choose to keep the sex of the baby unknown, they had decided to do the final naming after the birth.
“Annika Marie.” Charlie said with certainty, in honor of his grandmother and his mother.
“Thank you,” He said huskily, cupping her face and looking at her with gratitude.
She smiled at her husband. “My pleasure.”
“If she’s anything like her namesakes, we’ll have a handful.” He added with a grin.
Charlie and Ryle were spending the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy at Wateridge when the baby decided to arrive early. When her water first broke, she didn’t panic. They had everything planned. She called her doctor and patiently waited for Ryle and his grandfather to come back from their golf game. Ryle wasn’t so calm about it when he arrived back and found out she was already in labor. But everything turned out fine. And both she and the baby were doing well.
When they married a year and a half ago, they divided their time between Chicago and Linwood. They bought a house in Linwood, a secluded lot near the north side of the town, just fifteen minutes from her parents’ house, and ten minutes to PAL where Charlie still worked. Ryle continued his work mostly via telecommunication with Logan and their firm. They were also thinking of introducing an office in Chicago.
On the weekends, Charlie and Ryle stayed at Wateridge with his grandfather, who loved the company. Marcus loved the idea of having the sounds of children running around on the huge estate. For the next year, they were living in Wateridge. After the baby's birth, Charlie planned to take a year off to bond with the baby. And her parents were coming up to visit for several weeks.
“You know, the old man was right. I did fall in love in Linwood. He was determined I should keep the shares. And he got his way.”
Everything had turned out the way Marcus wanted. Ryle kept the shares. And on their wedding day, he added Charlie’s names to the shares to give her voting rights. She knew and loved the company and would help bring it to new heights.
She cupped his face, gazing at him lovingly. “I’m glad he was so stubborn.”
“Yeah, me too.” Ryle said, and bent his head to kiss his wife tenderly.
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