Harrison had apparently just noticed her for the first time, but judging by the look on his face, he was impressed. Dez had that effect on people. No doubt he’d be asking her out.
The expression on David’s face reminded me of a cornered rat who had nowhere to run, no hole to dive into. “What do you want?” he spat through clenched teeth, clearly not liking the fact he had no other option than to admit defeat.
I gave him the same smug smile he had been wearing every day since I’d found him in my bathroom with Julie. And then I metaphorically reached out and snatched the little bit of cheese his tiny paws had been clutching. “Not much, just your half of the company. Seems like a small price to pay for your freedom. Don’t you think?”
“How do I know you won’t expose the videos anyway?”
“You don’t,” I answered truthfully. “But as much as it pains me to do so, I give you my word. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, I’ll hold up mine. You can thank Delaine for that. She’s far more forgiving than I could ever be.”
“Or me,” Dez interjected.
“What’s it going to be, Stone?” I asked.
“Fine. It’s yours. It’s all yours,” he conceded.
“Meeting adjourned,” I mumbled triumphantly, and then led Dez and Mason out of the boardroom so I could go collect my winnings.
David’s half of the company was only an added benefit. Delaine was the real prize—one I had every intention of savoring, and none whatsoever of squandering.
“I still can’t believe it’s really over,” Lanie said from the passenger seat of my Lamborghini as we drove down I-55 toward Hillsboro.
It had been nearly a week since the board meeting, and with all the drama we’d survived, we needed a break. Hillsboro was quiet enough to afford us that break while also allowing Lanie a visit with her parents. She thought we were going to get a hotel room. I didn’t make her think any differently.
“It’s over, kitten.” I brought our joined hands to my lips and kissed her bare left ring finger before giving her a crooked grin.
“Aw, there’s the cottage,” Lanie said when we came upon it.
When I released her hand so I could downshift and pull into the driveway, her brow furrowed—until she saw the expression on my face and knew I was remembering the last time we had been there.
“Noah, no. We’re not about to do that again.”
I said nothing as I opened my door and got out of the car. When I walked around to her side and opened the door, she had her arms crossed over her chest defiantly. “No, Noah. We can have all the sex you want at the hotel, but not here, not again. We almost got caught last time.”
“We won’t get caught,” I assured her, then took her hand, pulling her from the passenger seat.
She came with me reluctantly. Linking my fingers through hers, I walked her around to the back of the house and kept going toward the pond and the gazebo.
“What are you doing? Are you insane?” She was frantically searching our surroundings for any evidence that the neighbors had seen us.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” I pulled her up onto the gazebo step and walked over to the swing. “And it’s your fault. You make me crazy.”
I turned her so that her back was to the swing and lightly pushed down on her shoulders, encouraging her to sit. The sun was setting over the horizon and the orange and pink glow cast by its rays spilled over the perfect features of her face. The little family of ducks swam in an S-shaped pattern to the other side of the pond, their quiet quacks the only sound infiltrating our surroundings.
I kneeled in front of her, noting the confused look on her face. “I want to give you everything you desire, Lanie. Past, present, and future. And I will. I feel terrible for not doing this right in the first place,” I said as I pulled the navy-blue velvet box from my pocket.
She gasped and put her fingertips to her mouth. “Oh, Noah.”
“You know, for being the future Mrs. Noah Crawford, your ring finger sure does look bare.” I smiled up at her and then opened the box to reveal her engagement ring.
It was a one-of-a-kind original, designed for one woman, but handed down to the next in what I hoped would be a very long line of tradition. Three carats of diamond clusters were set in platinum that was intricately woven in loops and swirls around a central emerald-cut sapphire. Nothing too extravagant; simplicity was its allure.
I took it from the box and reached for her shaking hand with a smile. “It was my mother’s, and now I’d like for it to be yours.”
I slipped it onto her finger and looked into her eyes. Tears gathered and spilled down her cheeks. Her smile was the most beautiful I’d ever seen, and I wished I’d hired a fucking artist to be there to capture the moment in all its infinite glory, forever immortalizing it in time.
I gave her a tender kiss. “I love you, Delaine Talbot.”
“I know. I love you, too,” she whispered, and then she looked down at the ring on her finger. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but there’s more,” I told her with a devilish grin as I stood.
Her head snapped up. “More? What more?”
“Come on,” I said, taking her hand and pulling her to stand as well.
I felt like I was dragging her along, and I probably should’ve slowed down some so that she could keep up better, but I was too damned excited to show her the next surprise. When we reached the Lamborghini, I turned and kept going toward the front door.
“Where are you going? Someone’s going to call the police on us!” She tugged on my arm to get me to go back toward the car.
I pulled a little harder on her hand, forcing her to collide with my chest as I wrapped my arm around her. “Calm down, woman. Nobody’s going to call the police on us,” I said with a chuckle, and then I brought my hand from behind her so that she could see what I held: the key to the cottage.
It only took a second for that to register. She looked toward the front yard, finally noticing that the For Sale sign now had a Sold banner over it. “Noah, you didn’t.”
I could feel the smile tug at my cheeks, unable to not show how proud I was of myself for giving the woman I had fallen madly in love with the home of her childhood dreams. “Welcome home, Lanie.” She stood there stunned while I put the key in the lock and opened the door.
As soon as I’d returned home from dropping Lanie off at her folks’ house all those weeks ago, I’d made the deal on the cottage. It had been as good as sold, but when I offered four times the asking price, the owner had practically fallen over himself to accept my offer. Polly took over from there. I thought for sure she was going to spill the beans to Lanie, but I was damn proud of her for managing to keep her big mouth shut. And she didn’t even go overboard on the decorating.