A Friendly Engagement

by Christine Warner

  “True.”

  “I’m going to throw this out there, but I’d think if you ever really got engaged you’d have your brother do the honors.”

  “Trust me, if I ever make that mistake I’ll have Roth design something. But don’t hold your breath because the likelihood is nil to nil.” He shrugged.

  Not that she’d formally met either of Omar’s younger brothers, but last she knew they hadn’t spoken since their dad’s funeral. After the services, she’d been one face in many offering condolences, and she hadn’t wanted to burden them with an introduction. But she had picked up on the tension between the three brothers. Even a chainsaw would’ve struggled to cut through it. “You and Roth still aren’t speaking?”

  Omar shook his head. “Not quite.”

  “Hmm.” Figures. Must be Omar isn’t the only brother who combats stubbornness.

  “I can hear the judgmental tone in your hmm.”

  “I won’t lecture you yet again about the lack of family in your family and how you have the ability to change it.”

  “Good. A lecture would just bring down my mood.”

  “But I will say this: if I had siblings, you couldn’t keep me away.” Devi had never understood why the Esterly brothers didn’t accept each other for who they were. Roth and Jared judged Omar because their father gave him all the attention, and Omar felt the other two didn’t live up to their potential. At least that’s what Gianna, their mother, had told Devi on one of her rare visits to the office.

  Part of Devi wondered if Omar was also jealous over the fact that growing up their mother had doted on his younger brothers, taking them on her travels, but had left Omar behind with his father. Devi didn’t know the entire story but had heard bits and pieces from Gianna as well as some coworkers. Enough to fill in some blanks. Omar wasn’t close with his mother or his brothers, but ever since Leland died, Gianna had made several attempts to get to know her oldest son.

  “For what it’s worth, Roth does amazing work. I’ve seen a lot of his pieces adorning the necks and fingers of several movie stars walking the red carpet. I don’t understand why your dad wasn’t more supportive of his work.”

  Omar’s jaw tightened, but he remained quiet. She’d made him mad, not her intention, but she really didn’t understand why Roth’s work wasn’t respected. Over the years he’d become a huge success. And Jared, he’d started a high-tech security firm with a friend. From what Gianna said, they were doing well. All the brothers were successful. Any parent should be proud.

  Omar’s jaw ticked, and the air between them thickened.

  Time to change the subject.

  “I’m a little uneasy having my digits weighed down with this rock. What if I lose it?” She held her hand out again and twisted her wrist from side to side. Gawd, the ring is gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous. Even if she wouldn’t choose it as her forever ring.

  “Don’t worry, it’s insured.”

  “Of course it is.”

  “So if you lose it, we’ll have another delivered. Not a big deal.”

  “Says you.” Devi frowned as she took a bumpy bus back to reality. Disappointment settled around her, and she couldn’t shake it off. It wasn’t like they were really engaged. What had she expected? An engagement party? Romance?

  Exactly. How about a little fake romance to go along with their fake engagement. Her sense of fun pushed to the forefront.

  She wiped the smile off her face, slid the ring from her finger, and slipped it back into the box, holding it out to Omar.

  He jerked back as if bitten and showed her his palms. “No way. You agreed to this, and the ring is part of the deal. Put it on.”

  “I will, but I want all the bells and whistles that come with getting engaged.” She stared him down, enjoying her fun and his discomfort.

  He stood, raised one eyebrow, and threw his hands on his hips. He always looked so imposing when he did that.

  “And what do you have in mind, Miss Boss?”

  She put her elbows on her desk and then placed her chin in her palms, smiling dreamily as she blinked skyward. “Every girl dreams of the perfect proposal.”

  His gaze narrowed and he groaned. “And yours is?”

  “I know this will surprise you, but I want a traditional on your knees, hold my hand, and confessions of undying love. So, if you—”

  “Just put on the ring.”

  She smiled as she imagined beads of sweat forming at the nape of his neck. His heart pounding. Him wishing his cell would ting so he could get out of this by taking a call.

  “What if someone asks me to tell the story of how you proposed? Do you really want me to tell them you threw me the box and told me to put a ring on it?” She wiggled her bare fingers in the air.

  “I don’t care what you tell them.”

  “You should. What if they ask you?”

  He blew out an exasperated breath. “Whatever. You want a proposal? I’ll give you a proposal, but my way. And then we’re done.”

  She smiled. “For now.”

  He snatched the box from her desk. The vein alongside his neck pounded.

  “Don’t get all worked up. It’s not like I’ll hold you to any of this.” Her heart raced. Oh, the fun she could have making Omar’s engaged life uncomfortable. Sometimes he was such an easy target, and other times he deserved every hit he received.

  “If I were worried I’d have a contract drawn up.” Omar gave his best poker face.

  But she didn’t fall for it for a minute. He betrayed himself with the twitch of his mouth. He so wanted to laugh, and she loved it. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop from grinning.

  “And for your information, I don’t think anyone is going to want to hear how we became engaged. I think you’re doing this because you enjoy giving me a hard time.” He opened the box and took out the ring.

  Devi shrugged. “Giving you a hard time has become my new focus in life.”

  “That’s what I thought. You’re all about the payback, huh?”

  She cocked her head to the side. “I’m sure you can hold your own when it comes to dishing out payback. And as for engagement stories, you’d be surprised how much people like to hear them. Especially when it involves a diamond the size of Texas.”

  “I’ll never understand women.”

  “You’re not meant to. Now get on your knees and make me all giddy.” She held out her hand, and he pulled her to her feet.

  “You might want to prepare yourself for my version of payback.” Omar’s jaw hardened as he knelt in front of her.

  “Promises, promises.” Devi lifted her brow in challenge. He couldn’t intimidate her with his weak threat. Anything he knew about teasing or paybacks, he’d learned from her.

  Omar took her hand and squeezed her fingers with a little bit more pressure than needed.

  “Ah, ah, ah. Play nice, O.”

  He loosened his grip, then leaned forward and kissed the inside of her wrist. “Nice enough?”

  Tiny shivers raced along Devi’s arm, and her heart jumped into her throat, then spun wildly down through her body to settle somewhere between her knees and her feet. She blinked, trying to regain her composure.

  “It’ll do.” She forced the words out of her mouth, hoping he couldn’t see how his kiss affected her.

  Keep it light. Fun. She couldn’t let her earlier thoughts about Omar take root.

  For a moment she contemplated what a real proposal would be like. Would her heart really pound out this loud, unsteady rhythm? Would her palms grow sweaty and her body get all tingly and faint?

  Devi tossed those crazy thoughts aside. She’d promised herself long ago any romantic relationship in her life would be short-term. Who needs the headache? She didn’t want to end up like her mom, who gave up everything—ultimately her life—because she’d fallen in love with the wrong man. For all she knew, choosing the wrong man ran in her gene pool.

  She snapped back to the present when Omar cleared his throat and gave her a stiff smil
e.

  “Devi Boss, will you please accept this ring as a token of our ruse so that Esterly Financial can get the Bartow contract and make everyone wealthier, we can move into the next tax bracket, and I can give you that well-deserved raise?” His words coupled with the flush rising up his neck took the prize.

  Devi laughed, then plastered on a fake frown. “Hmm, that wasn’t very romantic. But what did I expect?” And what did she want? Not that.

  “This is a business engagement, not a romantic one.” Omar frowned.

  “I thought this was a friendly engagement?” She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow.

  “I’m being nothing but friendly.” He slipped the ring on her finger, stood, and pulled her into his arms.

  “Oh.” She caught her breath as he dipped her so low her hair pooled onto the floor. His mouth stopped millimeters from hers. The warmth of his breath flitted across her cheeks, and she stiffened, held captive by his eyes and fighting for breath. She parted her lips, her pulse spinning out of control.

  “When you share our proposal story make sure you mention I swept you off your feet, and I kissed you into submission,” he whispered.

  All her focus settled on the way his strong jaw moved as he talked. His mouth, perfect for kissing. She opened her mouth and then forced it shut. Unable to speak, she nodded. Was he going to kiss her senseless? A ball of heat curled through her, and she wet her lips.

  “I’ll take that nod as your acceptance to my proposal.” He brought her upright, snapped the ring case shut, and pocketed it. “Now how about that lunch I owe you?”

  Something resembling disappointment zipped through her body. Although she’d fantasized about a lip-lock all weekend, she didn’t really want him to kiss her. Did she? How awkward would things become then?

  Might be fun to find out.

  Devi straightened the row of snaps aligning the front of her micro-suede coatdress, and then ran her fingers through the length of her hair, her bracelets clinking together. She had to pull herself together and breathe. If she spoke now—all breathless and wispy—he’d know his effect on her. She wasn’t ready for that.

  If she didn’t watch herself, she’d go all girly-giggly every time he paid her a glance. So not happening.

  Her live-for-the-moment self urged her to go for it. The voice in the back of her head, the one that sounded eerily like her grandma, told her not to ruin a good thing. Like her job, and their friendship.

  “Grab your purse. Oh, and before we close up today, we’re going to have a champagne toast with the entire office to celebrate our engagement.”

  “You’ve thought of everything.”

  “I usually do.” His smug attitude wrapped around her throat.

  Devi refused to argue. She pulled her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and slid the strap over her shoulder. She tugged the length of her hair out from underneath and flung it down her back. Hard to believe Omar had planned ahead. Usually she handled those types of pesky details. He may think he handled everything, and he did a good job with the big picture, but tiny details weren’t his forte. And wasn’t this engagement a tiny detail inside the big picture of getting that contract?

  He steered her toward the door with his hand on her elbow. His touch brought back the heat from their near kiss.

  This near kissing had started to become habit.

  Devi didn’t like the table turned on her plan. She was supposed to be the one to make Omar uncomfortable, out of his element. Instead of her keeping him on his toes—having a little fun at his expense—she’d become the uncomfortable one.

  He might be getting his payback without even realizing it. How like Omar to get what he wanted without trying.

  They made their way down the corridor toward the elevators. He ushered her inside. “Ladies first.”

  “Thank you.” She gripped the strap of her purse and eyeballed the new ring around her finger. “Before we head out, I have one other question.”

  “Shoot.” The elevator door slid closed and Omar pushed the button that would take them to the parking garage.

  “What’s the plan in regards to the ring after this is all said and done?”

  “You can keep it.”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t want it. It’s gorgeous with a capital G, but not my style. You know my tastes are a little more…different.”

  “Like you.”

  She nodded. Sometimes he knew her too well. “I have a suggestion.”

  Omar stopped the elevator and gave her his full attention. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “I didn’t think you feared anything?”

  “Not normally, but I’ll share a secret with you.”

  “Share away.”

  “Sometimes you scare me,” he teased.

  Ditto. But I’m sure for different reasons. “Don’t worry, you can handle this one.”

  “Are you going to tell me you want to auction it off and use the funds to take the office to Disneyland, adopt a lion from Zimbabwe, or maybe start a website focused on a support group for overworked assistants employed by ambitious bosses?” He pulled his keys from his pocket and twirled them around his fingers. His smug smile over his own humor touched Devi to her bones. Five years ago she’d never have imagined him making a joke.

  “Hardy-har-har. You’ve become quite the carefree comedian now that you’ve gotten your way.”

  He shrugged, a mischievous smile curving his lips. “What can I say? I’m taking your incessant nagging about loosening up to heart.”

  “You can get away with your sarcastic ’tude when we’re alone because it’s all fun and games—”

  “Fun and games?” Omar smirked.

  She ignored his comment. A sure-fire attempt at distraction if there ever was one. “But the real test will be next week when you meet Bartow. Will you be Mr. Funny Man then, or go all straight-faced Mr. Businessman?” She crossed her arms.

  “I guess you’ll have to wait and see. Now what’s your suggestion?” His smile disappeared as he returned his attention to the ring.

  She chewed on her bottom lip while she stalled for courage. Omar had quick spurts of humor, but so far he hadn’t mastered the art of making it last longer than a few minutes. She’d have to work on changing that. “I’m rethinking my idea. I kind of like your website suggestion. I could buy a domain name, something like awesomeassistants.com. Groups of overworked assistants could gather and commiserate, sharing stories of woe…”

  “You don’t know the meaning of woe.”

  She laughed. “As if you do.”

  He shrugged. “You might be surprised.”

  “Surprise me, Bossman.” She nudged him in the arm with her shoulder.

  “Another time. I vote for adopt a lion.”

  Her face grew warm. “Um, I already adopted a lion. Last year.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “I should’ve known.”

  She loved the sound of his laugh. The sound when he really laughed. The deep, rough sound that curled her toes. She didn’t hear it often enough.

  “Anyway, I want to spread the love and the money, so how about we donate the ring to another good cause?” She eyed him from beneath her lashes, holding her breath as she waited for his reaction.

  His eyebrows furrowed, then released. “Details?”

  “We donate the ‘exceeding expectations’ ring to the Atlantic Women’s Shelter downtown? Of course, in the name of Esterly Financial.”

  He turned fully in her direction and fidgeted with his keychain. “That’s a sensible request and one that would get Esterly some great kudos in the press. But why that particular shelter?”

  “Years ago they helped my mom.”

  The key ring spun around Omar’s pointer finger one last time before he caught it in his palm. “I don’t know much about your mom. All I know is she died when you were young and your grandmother raised you.”

  “Good memory.” She’d probably only mentioned that in passing.
Years ago.

  “Somewhere along the line your mom lived out here on the east coast?”

  The elevator suddenly became claustrophobic. If she wanted Omar to agree to her suggestion, it would only make sense he’d want to know all the whys, whens, and wheres.

  Too bad Devi’s emotions ran close to the surface whenever she thought or talked about the mother she’d never known. Omar had never seen her cry, or even come close. She hated to ruin a good run now. “Do you really want to hear the sordid details?”

  “Only if you want to share.” His voice had softened, along with his eyes.

  She was a goner.

  Chapter Five

  Damn it. Just that little change in Omar’s tone activated the waterworks behind Devi’s eyes. She bit the side of her tongue in an effort to stop her teetering emotions.

  He’d given her the choice to back out, but if she wanted to help the shelter, she needed to tell him the story. She gripped her purse strap until her knuckles turned white and the ring dug into her skin.

  “My mom came out here to North Carolina to attend college when she was eighteen. I’m sure part of her reasoning, besides the scholarship, was the fact she could get out from beneath Grandma’s thumb by putting several states between them.” Devi took a shaky breath and forced a smile, hoping to lighten her mood.

  “Your grandmother is a sweetheart.”

  “Sure, when you meet her for a couple of hours she’s adorable as hell. But as a parent she’s a bit overbearing. Trust me.”

  She loved Grandma more than anything, but living across country had its advantages.

  So much for keeping conversations and relationships light. Omar would get to peel back a layer of Devi’s past that she didn’t generally share. They locked gazes. Determined not to betray her outer calm by a quiver in her voice, she took a deep breath and then blinked several times to quash the tears trapped beneath the surface.

  “Anyway, according to Grandma, my mom was out here for a couple of years. I guess they parted on such bad terms that they hardly spoke. Somewhere along the way my mom met a guy named Billy.”