Beautiful Ties (26 page)

Pearl even stopped by a few nights. When I told her Jason was moving in with me, I thought she was going to faint from excitement. When the two of us had a few minutes to ourselves one night, she told me that she approved of Jason being my boyfriend in the most adorable yet serious tone for a seven-year-old. Pearl’s sweet sincere words had me embracing her.

Every day I kept my phone by my side, waiting for Ryan to call and announce that Kate was finally in labor, but it had not happened yet. I was beginning to think that poor woman was going to be pregnant forever.

Then, on Saturday, after having lunch with Gail to catch up with her and to apologize for my recent absence since meeting Jason, I had a meeting with a CEO, Richard Grayson, who was interested in purchasing one of Kyle’s properties. The consultation went much later than I’d anticipated, but my thorough attention to details and dedication to answering all his concerns paid off in the end when Mr. Grayson said he had made his decision to finalize the sale. I was a bit bummed that Jason couldn’t come with me today to observe another meeting. Since he had brought more of his belongings over last night and hadn’t unpacked them yet, he’d opted to stay home today to finish.

After a crazy week, we were planning to stay in tonight.

I sent him a text to let him know I was done with my meeting.

Appointment with Richard Grayson went well! On my way back. ♥

I set my briefcase in the passenger seat of my Camaro, buckled up, and started my car. My phone beeped with Jason’s reply.

That’s awesome news. Now, get your fine ass back here. I want you all to myself for the rest of the night. ;)

I smiled and started typing away on my screen.

Sounds heavenly. Be there soon!

While driving home, all my thoughts were occupied with Jason and our road trip last Saturday. It had been exactly seven days since I realized I was in love with him. In each of those said days, I desperately wanted to share my feelings with him, yet something was holding me back. It was like I wanted it to be the perfect moment when I told him.

I pulled my Camaro into the parking garage. I quickly gathered my belongings, exited the car, and stopped to enter the key code to shut the large door. Once I was ready to leave, I spun around and saw Diane. She looked to be on her way out.

“Diane!” I said, waving as I headed toward her.

“Abbey,” she greeted me warily. “Pearl is gone on her field trip at the zoo today, and then my cousin, Sam, is picking her up. Is there something you need?”

It dawned on me that I hadn’t had the slightest clue that Pearl’s zoo field trip was today. I frowned, thinking that Pearl had to go by herself. I thought parents were supposed to attend those activities, too.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. I wish I would have known. I could have switched around my schedule and offered to accompany her,” I spoke out loud more to myself than her.

I realized I should have kept my thoughts internal at the exasperated sigh Diane released.

“Abbey, I appreciated your help last weekend when I was in a bind, but it’s not your job to escort her everywhere she goes. Pearl is a big girl. She can take care of herself, and she prefers to be alone quite frequently.” She shrugged. “Besides, she never even asked me to go, or maybe I would have considered.”

I completely disagreed with more than one of her statements, especially the one about Pearl being alone.

My eyes roamed over the planes of her face. Diane’s body language seemed stiff and distant. This was not the same woman I had spoken to on the phone last Saturday when Pearl needed somewhere to stay overnight. That person was nice and appreciative, sincere even. The one standing in front of me at this very second was not so nice, to say the least. Diane seemed to be hot and then cold. I could never get a feel for her. She would constantly throw me off my game. I feared voicing my opinion would rock the boat, so I tried to respect those boundaries that I really hated right about now.

I inhaled deeply, praying for patience and strength, aware that she was awaiting my response. “I can assure you that I only meant to offer my support because I love spending time with Pearl. I don’t want to overstep my bounds.”

“You are helping, but just leave it at that, Abbey,” she replied. Her eyes seemed to say much more than her words.

I felt like she was telling me to back off. “Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. “Well, please let me know if you ever need me to watch her again overnight. Pearl is always welcome to stay with me.”

“I will.” She nodded. “I have to get going now, but I’ll see you around,” she said, dismissing herself.

“Bye,” I murmured as she waved to me.

I turned back to head in the direction of my condo, my mood feeling sour, while pondering over our conversation. It had not been what I hoped for, but it had been better than nothing. I felt like my one step forward with her last week had just taken two giant steps back. I was so lost and confused, and maybe I was a little in over my head. Yet, here I was, still wanting to help. I was unable to back away from Pearl. The whole situation was disconcerting to be left so unresolved.

When I opened the front door, a soft, relaxing musical tone filled my ears. I stepped inside and set my briefcase on the floor next to the door, only to smell a distinctive vanilla and lavender scent aroma in the room. My gaze landed on Jason leaning against my kitchen table with one leg overlapping the other. His right hand was tucked into the dark blue denim pocket of his jeans. In his left, he was holding a single red rose. The rose bud twirled in the air as he rotated the stem between his thumb and forefinger. I could see the muscles on his bare forearm twitching with every movement. I swallowed, allowing my eyes to gradually meander upward until I reached his face. The warmth in his eyes had my pulse speeding up to an expeditious rate. His mouth curved up into the most loving smile. The sincerity in his expression stole my breath away.

“Welcome home,” he breathed with the smile still etched across his handsome face.

Like a magnet, I was drawn to him, my legs managing to carry me forward. He followed me with his gaze, and the space between us tingled with electricity that became more powerful with every step.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

When I was within his reach, he stood to his full height, towering over me, and tugged me against him. He bent down and nuzzled his nose into the crevice of my neck, tickling my skin.

“How was your day?” he asked in a soft tone.

I closed my eyes, absorbing the feeling of finally being back in his arms. I had only been gone for eight hours, and for a Saturday, it had been eight too many.

“Long,” I replied truthfully.

He started trailing kisses from my ear to the base of my jaw. “Not the simple day you expected, I take it?”

“My lunch with Gail was great, but my meeting ran much longer than I anticipated.” In fear of souring my mood, I didn’t want to bring up my conversation with Diane.

“Well, I have our whole evening planned out, so hopefully, I can brighten your spirits,” he purred against my cheek. He raised his other hand, and with a slow sensual movement, he stroked the velvety petals of the rose from the center of my throat to all the way down my chest.

Small tremors shook throughout my body at the tenderness of his touch. “Oh, I like the sound of that.”

Suddenly, he backed up. The loss of his contact had me gazing up at him inquisitively. I was yearning for him to come closer again.

The wicked glint in his eye told me he had more in store for me. “First on the list is…dinner.” He grinned.

I ignored the sexy look on his face and playfully glared at him. “Tease,” I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

A deep throaty chuckle escaped his lips. “I know, but anticipation is half the fun.”

He winked before pivoting himself, so I could see behind him. My eyes darted to the three candles flickering from the center of the table. Two place settings were set on the table with a covered dish in the center. Jason pulled the lid off the main dish, and inside laid a home-cooked lasagna. The marinara sauce smelled delicious, and it made my tummy rumble. I stared in awe for a moment, surprised it had taken me this long to see the meal. I blamed his good looks for distracting me. I glanced back up at him, smiling. He had taken the time to cook me dinner while I was gone.

“You did this all…” I paused, feeling overwhelmed with emotions. “For me?”

“Yes.” He nodded, unleashing one of his shy smiles that I hadn’t seen very often. “I thought you might be hungry after your meeting.”

My insides warmed, and butterflies replaced the hunger in my stomach. I didn’t know what I had ever done to deserve this man, but I was never letting him out of my sight—ever. Unable to restrain myself, I barreled forward, throwing my arms around his nape, and I kissed him reverently. His hands came to my hips, steadying me, as he matched my fervor while stroking his tongue with mine. Reluctantly, I drew back, and he let out a content sigh, dropping his forehead against mine.

“God, I love it when you kiss me like that.” He grinned. “Are you ready to eat?”

“Yes.” I smiled, tilting my head up at him.

He sidestepped to the left and pulled out a chair for me. “I hope you like lasagna since I found the ingredients in your cabinets,” he teased.

“I
love
pasta,” I replied, taking a seat.

Jason came to his side of the table and sat down. He lifted a large spoon, and then he placed a serving on my plate before putting a larger one on his own. He pulled aluminum foil off of another platter and handed me a slice of bread.

“Thank you,” I said, lifting my fork to take a bite. The lasagna had been cooked to perfection, and I moaned under my breath while chewing. “Wow, this is really good. Where did you learn to cook so well?” I asked.

“Thanks.” He chortled. “My mom is a big cook, and she always dragged me and my two brothers into the kitchen, saying that her boys would learn how to make meals,” he said with affection in his voice.

“My mother always cooked with us, too. For some reason, I was never able to master the skill. I seem to have a gift for either burning or undercooking food,” I said before taking another bite.

Jason swallowed a mouthful and then grinned up at me. I could tell he was remembering some of my disastrous meals.

“Yeah, you do.” He smirked playfully. “I must say I prefer burned over raw though.”

“True,” I agreed. “But now, I know you’ve been holding out on me all this time. You’re such a fine cook that I think you should take over dinners,” I teased.

His eyes danced with humor as he looked at me over the candlelight. “I think I can handle that.”

Throughout the rest of the meal, we carried on conversations about this and that. I told him more about my meeting and how pleased I was that I had been able to close the sale. I felt proud of myself for never wavering during the meeting, and I was confident that my backbone was firmly back in place since the mishap with Frederick Adams.

I brushed over my conversation with Diane in the parking lot, still feeling confused as ever about the whole situation. When telling him about Diane’s response, I could see a brief irritation and sadness arise in Jason, so I quickly covered the topic and moved on, not wanting to sour our evening. I knew he wanted to be there for Pearl just as much as I did, but I could see how much her situation bothered him. I wondered what else I could do in order to make it better for all of us. I firmly believed that if there was a will, there was a way, yet with so many unpredictable circumstances I had no power over, I kept coming up empty-handed. Feeling powerless was an awful feeling, and I promised myself that I would find a solution soon.

I steered the conversation back to him moving in. Jason informed me that he had made another trip back to his place and moved a few more boxes before unpacking all of them. I was amazed at how much he had accomplished since I left this morning.

Once we finished eating, we cleared our plates and cleaned the kitchen. A smile was firmly etched into my features the whole time, thinking of how domestic we must look and how natural it felt to have him permanently in my home. I put away the last dish as Jason gathered me in his arms from behind.

“Now that dinner is done, I have something to show you.”

Intrigued, I pivoted to face him, and I curled my arms around his shoulders. “What’s that?” I asked with excitement in my tone.
He is full of surprises today.

“You have to come with me to the bedroom.” He grinned wickedly while his eyes shimmered with a boyish look.

Anticipation spiked within me, and I wondered what he had up his sleeve next. “Okay,” I answered.

Whatever he had to show me must have been important because it had him gently wrapping his hand around my wrist before he tugged me in the direction of the bedroom. I laughed at his enthusiasm while I tried to keep up with his eager pace. After entering the room, I saw a large present sitting on my bed. It was wrapped in silver paper with a big blue bow on the front.

He stopped at the edge of the bed, maneuvering us until we were face-to-face. His hands lifted mine in between the center of our bodies. “I’ve wanted to give this to you for a while now. I went back to my apartment this morning, and I realized that today felt like the right day. I knew this belonged here now,” he said in a serious tone, gazing into my eyes.

Before I could respond, he reached for the gift and handed it to me. It was square and tall, so I rested the bottom edge along my mattress to balance the object. I looked between him and the present. My heart started to pound erratically within its confinements.

“Open it,” he breathed.

With shaky fingers, I tore a wide section at the top seam of the paper in a downward motion across the front. I gasped as I saw a mixture of blues and whites making up a familiar sky. My eyes whipped to Jason’s, seeing them glow with a profound sense of satisfaction at my response.