Page 7 of Mr. On Your Knees
“Jared is right, man. You have to get your priorities in check,” Noah said. “Though I’m not married, I have enough married folks in my life to know—your wife comes first. Always. All of this other stuff you have going on might be important, but nothing should be more important than Nia.”
“I know you guys are right, but—”
“Remember,” Noah interrupted, “happy wife, happy life.”
“Yeah, she means everything to me, and right now my baby ain’t happy,” Caspian said and was back to rubbing his beard again.
They talked a few more minutes until Caspian said, “Okay, enough about me. We know what’s up with Jared, but what’s going on with you, Noah? Are you still dating Genesis?”
Noah sighed loudly.
“Hmm…I guess there’s trouble in paradise,” Jared joked. “You might as well tell us what’s up, because even though I have a seventy-five-page proposal to review this afternoon, before going into another meeting, we’re not getting off this call until you talk.”
“So, talk,” Caspian added, and Noah laughed.
“Fine. I asked Genesis to marry me.”
“Whaaat? Ahh, man. That’s great!”
“Dude! Congratulations!”
Caspian and Jared spoke simultaneously, but Noah looked deflated.
“She said no,” Noah told them.
Caspian cursed and Jared shook his head. He couldn’t imagine how that felt. Getting up the nerve to ask a woman to marry him then having her turn him down. Damn, that probably felt just as bad as having Desi walk out of his life for a mistake he hadn’t actually made.
Noah filled them in on the botched proposal and how she had asked for a little space. “I have no doubt in my mind that she loves me as much as I love her, but there’s something else at play here. Something to do with her past,” he said.
“Do you think it’s another man?” Caspian asked, and Noah frowned before shaking his head.
“It’s not another man,” he said but he didn’t sound totally convinced.
“If she’s been distracted, what made you propose that night? You said you hadn’t planned to pop the question right then. Yet you did anyway. Why?” Jared asked.
It was a good question that Noah had asked himself a dozen times.
“Because I’m crazy in love with the woman, and I don’t want to live another day without her as my wife.”
Jared could do nothing but nod at that statement because somewhere deep inside he knew he was feeling those same type of deep feelings for Desi.
Chapter4
The Past
DESI
On Tuesday afternoon, Desi walked with all the confidence she’d been forced to nurture her entire life. An only child to a mother who thought the sun rose and set on a husband who treated her like dirt more often than not, Desi had learned early on to be her own biggest supporter. To act like she belonged in every room she set foot in and to never, ever, let anyone see her sweat. Least of all, a man like Jared.
The hostess led her to the back of LaSala’s, an upscale Italian restaurant located on the waterfront near the One Miami condo buildings. When she’d pulled up to the dwelling with the ocean at its back and flanked by palm trees, she’d renewed her resolve to maintain a business only persona. She recalled from a detailed account of one of Lauren’s many dates before she’d had Emerson, that this place was nothing if not romantic as hell. In addition to the ritzy area of downtown it was located in, she noted the floor-to-ceiling windows that would no doubt boast a phenomenal view of the Atlantic Ocean from wherever they were seated. That view, combined with what she’d been told was delicious food, excellent service and him sitting across from her seemed like a perfect date. On the surface that is.
In reality, she was about to enter a business meeting. A very big, very important meeting that would set the tone for the next stage in her career. She couldn’t afford to mess it up, which meant she couldn’t, by any means, let her past with Jared interfere with this project.
After Mari’s call yesterday afternoon, she danced around her office like she’d just hit the lottery. It wasn’t until she arrived back at her apartment after an impromptu trip to Lauren’s apartment to have cuddles with Emerson and a celebratory adult beverage with Em’s mama, that she let the anxiety of being up close and personal with Jared again nag at her.
That hadn’t ceased when she awakened in the morning, nor while she’d continued to go about the early part of her day being sure all her current projects were going on schedule. Adding this Juneteenth celebration to her itinerary with only five weeks to pull everything together was going to be a challenge. But she was up for it. This lunch and the trip to the gallery that she was told would follow, were another matter entirely because unlike her normal procedure of bringing at least her assistant, Natalie and site manager, Bernard along for venue visits, she would be doing this initial visit alone. Or rather, with Jared.
After leaving her car with the valet she stepped inside the restaurant to greet the hostess. A part of her had hoped they’d be seated outside so at least she’d have a steady supply of fresh air to keep her on task. But no such luck. The table they approached was—as she’d suspected—near one of those gorgeous windows with sheer white drapes pulled back for all the view to pour inside. Still, she knew she’d need more than a pleasant landscape to counter the stunningly sexy guy sitting at the table and bringing a glass to his lips.
