He made a show of thinking. “I know what it is. Wait, wait.”
“Five seconds.” She started humming the Jeopardy! theme.
He snapped his fingers. “I got it.” He slid off the sofa onto one knee at the same time as he opened the small black velvet box. “What is will you marry me?”
Her eyes went wide and she brought her hands to her mouth.
“Serita, I fell in love with you from the moment we met and I promise to keep loving and protecting you. My arms will lift you so you can soar and shelter you when you need a safe haven. You won’t ever have to fear being alone because I will always be here.”
“Oh, my goodness, yes!” She jumped into his arms with such force it knocked him backward on the floor. She scrambled up. “Wait, wait. You have to put the ring on,” Serita said.
She held out a trembling hand and he slid on the blue diamond solitaire surrounded by brilliant white ones. He’d told her she was a rare jewel and he had wanted to choose something that matched her uniqueness.
“This is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. And this diamond is blue.”
“It’s rare and precious, just like you.”
“I am so happy I could scream. I love you, Jeremy.” She waved her hand around. “Ooh, I have to take a picture to send to Gabby.” She dug her phone out of her purse and joined Jeremy on the floor. “I gotta get the angle just right.”
Jeremy pulled her onto his lap and smiled at her attempt to do a selfie.
Serita held her hand up, counted to three and hit the button. She checked the photo. “Yes! It’s perfect.”
“Yes, it is. I do belive you’ve reached pro status.”
A grin covered her face.
“I do have one more thing to show you.” He reached for the large envelope he’d placed on the end table and handed it to her.
She opened the flap and withdrew the papers. “What is this?”
“You said you wanted to own a company sometime down the road and I want to make your dream a reality. I’m having the company name changed to HJS Robotics.”
She stared up at him, then back down to the papers. “You mean, you’re making me co-owner?”
“Yes.”
“Jeremy, I don’t know what to say. You are... I think I’m going to need to lay down.”
Jeremy chuckled. “We have the entire weekend for you to recover.”
She leaned up and kissed him. “I’m so glad I accepted that first dinner offer.” She went back to the papers, shaking her head as if in disbelief.
“I am, too. So when do you want to get married?”
Serita whipped her head around. “I have no idea. Um...do we have to have something big?”
He chuckled. “No, baby. You can have whatever you want.” He knew she didn’t like a lot of hoopla, as she’d put it, so something small would work for him, too. Though he didn’t know how small it would be once all his family showed up. “What’s your favorite holiday?”
“Christmas, why?”
“I have an idea. How about we get married on Christmas Eve? You’re the only present I want under my tree this year.”
Serita blinked. “As in this Christmas Eve...a month from now?”
“You said you don’t like a lot of excitement. The sooner we do it, the less time our mothers have to try to turn this into a colossal event.”
She gasped. “You’re right. But it’s too late to try to find a place.”
Jeremy wrapped his arm around her. “I have the perfect place. Remember when you said my parents’ house was big enough to fit fifty or sixty people? We can get married there. It can just be our families and close friends, and if need be, we can hide out in my old room for a few minutes.”
“They do have a lovely house. But will they be okay with it?”
“You met my mother. She’s going to be bragging to all my aunts for the next decade. So, is that a yes?”
“It’s a yes.”
“You know we have to celebrate.” He picked her up and carried her over to the bed.
“We absolutely have to celebrate,” she said, removing her clothes. “By the way, I won, so we get to play my game now.”
He quickly shed his pants and briefs and rolled on a condom. He slid into her warmth and groaned. “Baby, we can play that game all night.”
Epilogue
Jeremy stood in the kitchen with Cedric, Lorenzo, Alisha, their five Gray cousins from LA and all their spouses. In ten minutes, he would be a married man and he couldn’t wait. Just as he’d thought, his mother had been beside herself with excitement when he had asked about having the wedding there. She had decorated the house in a winter wonderland theme worthy of any amusement park.
Cedric said, “You were the last to fall and the fastest.”
Everybody laughed.
“I told y’all, but you didn’t want to believe me. I should’ve made a bet so I could get my two hundred dollars back.”
“Too late now, unless you want to bet how fast you’ll be parents.”
Siobhan, the oldest of the Grays and their generation of cousins, held up a hand. “We are not placing bets on babies. Jeremy, don’t you need to be getting over to the stairway to wait for your bride-to-be? She is such a sweetheart, by the way.”
“Yes, she is and, yes, I do.”
“Before we go, we need to make a toast,” Cedric said. They all picked up their flutes filled with champagne. “To love.”
“To love,” they chorused.
Minutes later, Jeremy took his place at the base of the staircase with Cedric by his side. Gabriella stood opposite them in a navy blue slim-fitting off-the-shoulder dress. Instead of the traditional wedding song, they had chosen “Setembro” by Quincy Jones. He remembered his parents playing the song when he was growing up, and when his mother suggested it, both he and Serita agreed that it would be perfect. Even more perfect was the woman who would become his wife as she descended the stairs on the arm of her father. The strapless white gown hugged her every curve and had sparkling jewels embroidered all over it. Her hair was up in an elaborate twist with rhinestones woven throughout. His breath stacked up in his throat and his heart raced with excitement. When she reached him, it was all he could do to stand there and not kiss her. “You’re so beautiful.” Serita smiled up at him, then they turned their attention to the minister. Less than fifteen minutes later, he heard the words he had been waiting for since they’d met.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jeremy, you may kiss your bride.”
Jeremy leaned down close to Serita’s ear. “Get ready for some hoopla, sweetheart.” He kissed her with all the love in his heart and would have kept right on kissing her if Cedric hadn’t elbowed him.
Tears shining in her eyes, she said, “Thank you for loving me.”
“This was destiny, our destiny.” He finally had his Mrs. Right and she was designed specifically for him...by love.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Christmas with the Billionaire by Niobia Bryant.
We hope you enjoyed this story.
You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealth, status, incredible good looks...everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!
Enjoy six new stories from Harlequin Desire every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
Christmas with the Billionaire
by Niobia Bryant
Chapter 1
“It is end of day, Samira.”
Life is all about balance.
Samira Ansah believed in that mantra and was determined to achieve it. So, when her virtual assistant gave her its daily reminder, she allowed herself just a few more moments at her desk looking over a report from one of the brand associates that she supervised as the growth strategist for the Ansah-Dalmount Group. Ambitious, she loved her work for the billion-dollar conglomerate, particularly since her late father, Kwame Ansah, had been one of its founders. She was determined to be equally successful in work, play and love. Balance.
She exited the document and then logged out of the ADG network before she rose from her desk to walk to her slender lone window in the corner. New York’s autumn skies were darkening, the lights across the metropolitan area illuminating the windows of towering buildings, the streetlights and headlights of the many cars moving at a slow pace in the congested traffic below. She found it exhilarating. Of all the places she’d lived and all the places she’d seen as she’d traveled around the world, New York was one of her faves, because the vibe was hard to match.
Samira turned from the window of her modest office, tucking her jet-black, nearly waist-length hair behind her ear before she pulled on her lined trench coat. After retrieving her black leather Fendi purse and a Dolce & Gabbana garment bag from the hook on the back of the door, she left her office without a look back.
The large office the three members on her team shared was already empty. She was always the first to arrive and last to leave by design. The heels of her designer shoes clicked against the marble floors as she took long strides, made easy by her tall height. She reached the wood-paneled elevator before the reception desk, turning to look around.
The corporation operated around the globe, including in Milan and London, but New York was its headquarters. ADG owned the twenty-five-story building but leased out all but the top four floors, with the co-CEOs occupying the extravagant two offices on the top floor with their own private elevators. The majority of the small glass-enclosed offices were empty as the time neared seven. It was on this twenty-second floor where the lion’s share of ADG employees were housed. The worker bees. Those driven by pure hunger to succeed. Many who wanted not just a paycheck but to climb the ranks of the company and lay claim to one of the executive offices on the upper floors that came with larger space, better views and priceless executive assistants.
Samira wanted that as well.
Although she was an heir to the Ansah fortune, which made her wealthy, Samira’s ambition was to help run the billion-dollar conglomerate. Business was in her blood. Her grandfather, Ebo Ansah, began a financial services firm in Ghana in the 1950s that grew significantly in the mid-1960s, providing a very respectable living for his wife, Kessie, and their four children. His eldest son—her father, Kwame—grew up under the tutelage of his father and was anxious for his opportunity to enter the family business. They expanded the financial services offered to their loyal clients and grew their business. Life was good, and with the Ansah men working together doggedly, it became even better. Upon Ebo’s passing in the early 1980s, Kwame took over the running of the business, aggressively acquiring smaller banks and insurance and investment firms to catapult himself to wealth and prominence. When the opportunity arose in 1987 to join forces with Frances Dalmount, a business competitor from England, he accepted with the intent to use their combined resources to take on other business ventures. The Ansah-Dalmount Group was formed, eventually becoming one of the most successful conglomerates in the world with its business umbrella covering financial services, oil, hotel/resorts/casinos, telecommunications and, most recently, shipping.
Samira was just a teenager when her beloved father was killed in a plane crash. She was a daddy’s girl and took his death hard. The years had passed, but her pain and regret lingered. As she entered college and majored in finance, she was determined to help cement her father’s legacy by working alongside her two older brothers, Alek and Naim. Alek was the heir to the proverbial throne, and her brother Naim, who was just as qualified to lead, had worked his way up the ladder from the marketing department to become president of the telecommunications arm.
She was determined to have similar success.
Already, she’d overcome the usual gender hurdles. She’d slain Alek’s outdated misgivings about women in business—whether they could measure up or stick to the job in the same way men did—and she’d been inspired by the tenacity and work ethic of his wife, Alessandra. And it had been her sister-in-law who gave her the shot her brother had not.
“I want to work for the firm my grandfather created from nothing and my father helped shape into a billion-dollar corporation. I want in at ADG.”
Samira remembered the moment when she’d stiffened her spine, notched her chin and presented her résumé to Alessandra with more confidence than she actually felt. She was thankful for the brilliant businesswoman who had become her sister-in-law. Like Alessandra, she wanted to be one of the rare women of color to become a top executive and to create opportunities for others like her, wanting the corporate glass ceiling shattered once and for all. Lately, she had been pondering starting a blog to help other women who aspired to enter corporate America by highlighting women in business and offering career and education advice.
Ding.
She turned as the wood-paneled door to the elevator opened and stepped inside the lift, pressing the button for the penthouse. The ride was smooth and quick. Within minutes she was striding off the elevator and past the empty reception area to the wide marbled hall leading to Alessandra’s suite of offices. The automated glass door leading into the outer office opened upon her approach.
“Good evening, Ms. Ansah. Go right in,” Alessandra’s executive assistant, Unger Rawlings, said.
Samira gave the tall and slender man a soft smile as she continued past his desk to enter the spacious office taking up almost half of the entire floor of the building. The nearly 360-degree view of Manhattan through the floor-to-ceiling windows was spectacular. The open floor plan was breathtakingly beautiful and sleek at over three thousand square feet, with twenty-foot ceilings with skylights, a private spa bath, a small kitchen, an exercise room, a lounge area with a grand fireplace, a library and an outdoor terrace.
Over the years since she claimed her spot as co-CEO of ADG, Alessandra had made the space that once belonged to Samira’s father her own.
“Hello, Ms. CEO.”
Alessandra paused in sliding folders inside her red leather briefcase and offered her a warm smile. “Hello. Date night?” she asked.
“Yes,” she said, coming to a stop before her desk. “Thanks for letting me use your bathroom. I’m meeting someone for dinner and would rather not make a trip home to change.”
“Someone?” Alessandra asked, tucking her sleek bob-cut hair behind her ear, the diamond of her extravagant wedding ring sparkling brilliantly with the gesture.
“Norman. Stockbroker. Tall. Gorgeous. Funny,” she supplied, her eyes sparkling as she held up crossed fingers.
To date, Samira had been unlucky in love, and she wanted to change that. She was single and happily dating after her college boyfriend ended things because he no longer wanted to be in a relationship. Samira was of the school of thought that what was not meant to be shouldn’t be forced, and she took the breakup in stride, determined not to give up on love. For her, happily-ever-after meant falling in love, starting a family and thriving in business. She wanted it all.
The last of the shelves of books lining the wall swung open, and her brother Alek walked in from the long, windowless concrete hallway that ran along the back wall of the boardroom and connected his office to that of his wife. He smiled at them both, looking very GQ in his tailored suit and polished handmade shoes. He moved to Alessandra’s side, setting his own briefcase on the desk before sliding his arm around her body and pressing a kiss to her temple.
<
br /> Samira stroked the garment bag tucked over her arm as she eyed two successful business magnates running a billion-dollar business and their family together with both brilliance and love.
Alek’s eyes dipped down to the garment bag and tote she carried. “What are you up to tonight?” he asked, his British accent acquired from their London upbringing still as present as her own.
“Minding the business that pays me, big brother,” she quipped, giving him a playful wink.
“Funny. I thought I paid you,” he returned as his wife looked on at their spirited sibling jibing.
Samira chuckled. “For my work. Not my business.”
“Touché,” Alek said, inclining his head.
“I’m having dinner at Daniel,” she supplied as she turned on her heels to move toward Alessandra’s private en suite bathroom.
“On East Sixty-Fifth?”
Samira nodded.
“Order the foie gras–stuffed quail. It’s really good.”
“Will do,” she said as the frosted automated door to the spa-like bathroom opened as she neared.
“We’re headed out. Be safe,” Alessandra called out behind her.
“I will, and tell Aliyah that Aunt Mira will see her this weekend,” she said, rushing into the bathroom for fear of being late.
Not the best impression on a first date.
Quickly she undressed and twisted her hair up under a shower cap, oblivious to the elegant surroundings as she started the water and stepped beneath the rain showerhead.
“That feels good,” she said to herself, wishing she had more time to enjoy the spray of the water against her skin.
Twenty minutes later, with her makeup freshened up and her body smelling of her favorite Hermès 24 Fauborg perfume of ylang-ylang, orange blossoms, jasmine and iris, Samira made her way out of the office and toward the elevator. She felt decadent in a satin-trimmed lace dress with corset boning that clung to her curves and revealed just enough of her skin to tempt and tantalize.
Her Christmas Wish ; Designed by Love Page 35