An Arrangement of Love (31 page)

I gazed down at my tight dress. “I guess I’m overdressed, huh?”

“Never.” He let his eyes travel from my head down to my toes, drinking me in. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you.” I crossed my hands behind my back and twisted a little from side to side. “So, are you ready to go inside and eat or have our plans changed?”

He backed away from the glass door. “This is bittersweet.”

“What is?” I glanced over my shoulder at my guards as they surrounded us. “I’m sorry, but could you give us some room?”

The big muscled guys bowed their bald heads and stepped back several feet, enough that they could charge at anyone attacking me, but far enough where they wouldn’t hear what we were talking about.

“Jasmine, first I want to tell you I’m sorry,” Gabe said.

I scrunched my face up in confusion. “For what?”

“Just promise me you won’t be mad and you’ll try to understand why I’m doing this.”

“I can’t promise you that if I don’t know what it is.” I placed my hands on my hips. “But I’ll try my best.”

He formed his lips into a grim line and nodded. “Chase came to the Lan last week and offered me a deal.”

I froze in my spot. My breath caught in my throat. “What was the deal?”

Gabe kicked at a rock on the ground.

“Gabe? Just tell me.” I was starting to get worried.

“He bought the restaurant.” Gabe directed his attention back to me. “He offered to sign over ownership to me if I could get you to do two things.”

I formed my hands into fists and gritted my teeth.

“He wanted you inside of the Lan for dinner and by yourself, no guards,” Gabe said. “And he wanted you to agree to stay in there with him for at least thirty minutes so he could talk to you. Tonight.”

I shifted my view to the street as cars sped by and couples strolled hand-in-hand along the sidewalk. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“And then you’ll own the Lan?”

“Yes. I had a lawyer look over the whole contract and he couldn’t find any holes or deception in it.”

At least not the deception in regard to lying to me.

I closed my eyes, hoping it would be enough to calm me down. Gabe could have told me this last week. He’d talked to me over the phone every other night and never mentioned this. I felt stupid, dressing up for him and in the end he’d swindled me into a date with Chase. Nevertheless, my heart pumped with fear and eagerness at the thought of being alone with Chase, and I hated myself for it.

When will I get over him?

“Please say something,” Gabe said. “If you want to slap me, I’ll let you.”

I opened my eyes and shook my head. “I wish you had just told me this when you found out.”

“I wasn’t sure if you would understand.”

“That’s bullshit.” I rolled my eyes. “If anybody understood why you would do this it would be me. Just like you, I’m supporting my family. I get that you dream of moving your parents out of South End, and that owning the restaurant would help you do it.”

Gabe’s mother and father were good people with bad luck. They’d had him in high school, married, and dropped out to work. Over the years, more births filled their house. Gabe had three sisters and one brother. His parents worked hard, sometimes two jobs each at a time. Going to Gabe’s place was like stepping into warm world of love. They hugged nonstop, always had cheery smiles, greeted me at the door with refreshments, and always inquired about my life. Eventually, Gabe’s dad was injured during a factory job. A hung-over forklift driver ran into him. He’d lost his leg and had been in a wheelchair ever since.

“I went to my parents about Chase’s offer,” Gabe said. “They both told me not to do it. That I’d lose you and in the end you were worth more than anything the restaurant and its profits could give me. My mom’s pissed at me right now.”

I smiled. “Should I tell her not to worry?”

“Only if it’s true.” He gazed at me with sad eyes.

“It’s true.” I went to him and clasped my hand into his. “You’ve been my friend and spoiled me with gourmet food for years. I’m just mad you didn’t tell me.”

“Would you have still come?”

I stared at the ground. “I’m not sure. Good point.”

“Fuck. You don’t have to do this.” He guided me away from the door, but I stopped him.

“He’s not going to end this unless I talk to him. The more I avoid him, the more I think he’ll figure out ways to get to me.” I shrugged. “It’s time to yank my big girl undies up and deal with him.”

No more running into my apartment before he gets out of the limo and avoiding his phone calls or emails.

The last few times he’d texted me I replied that the next time I would talk to him it would be in hell while it was raining flowers. He’d replied with,
That’s all?

“Do I still have a chance for a future date or am I pushing my luck?” Gabe asked.

“Let’s discuss that after my thirty minutes with Chase. Then I’ll know what type of punishment you should receive.” I playfully wagged my finger at him. The grim frown remained on his face. I sighed and hugged him. “Gabe, don’t worry about it. I’m actually happy I could do this for you. Your own restaurant. Wow! You used to sit on the phone with me for hours telling me how it would look and what you would serve.”

“Like I said, this is bittersweet.” He tightened his embrace.

“How about this. I demand you name the restaurant after me and provide at least one of my favorite dishes on the menu.”

“Done. Your name is already a part of the restaurant.” He pointed to the sign as I pulled away. “For some reason, Chase changed it to this.”

“What?” I glanced up at the top of the building and, sure enough, there were huge silver letters that said,
Jasmine’s Hell
. I laughed.

Chapter 34

T
he acoustic guitar
melody to the song “Tomorrow” greeted my ears. Darkness bathed most of the restaurant, except for one table all the way in the back where a single crimson lamp hovered over it. A waiter stood by the table with his hands clamped to the side and a wide smile on his face.

He named the restaurant Jasmine’s Hell.

I’d told Chase I would talk to him in hell while it was raining flowers.

I guess I should watch what I say to him from now on.

A light shower of rose petals floated down from the ceiling. It resembled those first few moments when the arrival of snow signaled winter. Slowly, inch by inch, so many different rose petals drifted along—scarlet red, pale yellow, blushing pink, and pure white. Their silky textures slipped past my skin, tickling my cheeks and settling on my shoulders. A flowery perfume flooded the area. I breathed it in and it felt like I had dived into a pool of blossoms right on the edge of spring.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Chase stepped out of the shadows near the table. “It took ten florists, two carpenters, and one brilliant mechanical engineer to do it.”

I paused. Only four feet lay between us. It was the closest we’d been in two weeks. A rousing energy bridged from me to him and thickened the air. I wanted to run to him, touch his skin, rip off those buttons on his dark blue shirt, and explore what lay underneath the black pants he wore. Petals rested on his midnight waves. It was all I could do not to run my fingers through his hair and rustle the flowers away.

This is exactly why I avoided Chase. Two weeks, and I still can’t be alone with him in a room.

“You’re stunning,” he whispered while the waiter bowed and disappeared into the shadows.

My flesh trembled as his gaze started at my eyes and gradually journeyed down the length of my body. Wherever he looked, my blood reacted, soaring to those areas and pulsing within me. He moved a foot closer to me. Startled, I stiffened. My breathing increased.

I turned away. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“Do what?” His voice sounded strained.

“Be alone with you.”

He touched the bare skin of my arm with his fingertips. Those feathery strokes triggered a soothing pleasure that swam within me. I continued to look in another direction, as if not gazing into his eyes would protect me. The situation was too overwhelming for my mind, emotions, and body. It was what my mother must’ve felt like when she sat in a room full of drinking people, trying her best not to salivate as wine was being poured or reach out for a glass and end her years of sobriety. I’d been so proud of myself. Two whole weeks I’d stayed away from him. But one minute next to him and I was ready to throw that all away for just one kiss.

“I only want these last minutes with you.” He glided his fingers from my shoulders down to the inner area of my palm. “And then I will finally leave you alone.”

I snapped my face to him.

“I won’t interfere with your job hunting. No more phone calls. No more sleeping outside of your apartment, hoping that one day you would come out and let me beg my way back into your life.” He moved his hands to my hair and ran his fingers through my tresses. His voice was low and only a whisper of the dominance he used to have could be heard. Now it passed through his lips with humility and an unassuming edge, like he was thinking through each word before he said it.

“Why would you leave me alone now?” I’d known one day he would give up. I’d been ready for it, hoping for that moment. And now that it arrived, my heart swelled with a scorching pain I feared would burn through me.

He edged away, avoided staring into my eyes, went to a chair, and pulled it out for me. “You’re even more enchanting when you’re yourself and not when I dress and style you. How stupid I’ve been.”

I stayed frozen in my place. “That’s not an answer.”

Still more petals floated down, almost obscuring my view of him, but I saw him close his eyes and heard a frustrated breath leave his lips.

“Why does it matter to you, Jasmine? You came here tonight for Gabe, dressed sexy and smelling good. And I don’t blame you. He’s what I can’t be. He’s the exact man you should give your heart to.” He tapped the edge of the chair with his fingers. “But right now, I have less than thirty minutes to pretend like you came here for me, so I’d rather talk about something else.”

I wish he wouldn’t talk like this. Why do I feel so bad?

I sighed.

“Come here, please,” he said and again it sounded so low and foreign to what I was accustomed to.

“I won’t see you anymore?” My own voice squeaked at the end of the sentence.

Isn’t this what I wanted? For him to give me space so I could get over him?

“Every night I look at your window. The light goes on and off, on and off. The few times I see your silhouette I go mad with insanity and lust.” He combed his fingers through his hair. The petals on top of his head fell to the floor. “You ask me if you’ll see me again like I’m the one who holds that answer.”

He headed my way in slow steps, as if trying not to frighten me. “Do I have a chance?”

“I don’t know.”

“No. You don’t get to bow out with that answer tonight.” He paused right in front of me. “Do I have a chance? Because if I do then tell me and I’ll be outside your apartment tonight and every other night until you’re ready to come outside and see me. But if I don’t, not even a tiny bit, then let me know so I can crawl away with the little dignity I have left.”

My lips quivered. It all came down to this moment. Desire and fear merged and twirled into a ball inside my chest. All the days and nights we’d spent together raced through my mind. The things I’d felt for him had never left me. They’d never given me any peace or fled my body. They simply remained inside my heart as if they’d been waiting the whole time for this moment to arrive so they could spill out and saturate my thoughts.

“God help me,” Chase said. “Do I have a chance?”

I bit my lip. “If...”

“If what?” He frantically searched my face, clasped his hands onto my waist, and tugged me to him, pressing his hard body against mine.

“Nothing...never mind. I just can’t do the arrangement.”

He scrunched his face up in confusion. “I’ve been outside of your apartment every night and all night for the past two weeks. Do you really think I’m still in that arrangement?”

“You’re not?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

“You happened.” He captured my lips and groaned as he seized my tongue.
God. I missed this so much. I missed him.
He cupped my behind with his hands. “I’m in love with you.”

He spread kisses on my cheeks, my chin, the curve of my neck, and the swell of my breasts. He covered me in his lips’ caresses until I stepped back, unable to take any more.

“No. Stay next to me.” He slid his hands around my hips and guided me back to him. “I want our bodies attached to each other for at least a week.”

I put my hands on his chest and gently pushed him away. “But Chase, we still should talk. There’s a lot we still have to figure out.”

“Does it have to be now?” He buried his face in my cleavage, dipping his tongue between the folds of my breasts and wrenching down my dress until only my strapless bra showed. My nipples hardened with excitement. How many nights had I dreamed about
my nipples between his lips and his mouth gently tugging until I cried with desire?

Damn you, Chase.

“There’s plenty of time to talk later. Now I need to be deep inside of you until we both forget there was ever a time of separation.” He wrenched my bra down. Flower petals slipped past my aching nipples. I shivered with hot lust.

Our kisses transformed to caresses. Our clothes left our bodies within seconds and between panting. We made love, in the dimly lit space of Jasmine’s Hell. Flowers showered us as he tortured me with his hardness, taunting my moist body that was so wet from his tongue and my pleasure. Each time an orgasm burst between my thighs another stirred to take its place. I drowned in him. He greedily devoured me, gulping me down, and swallowing me whole, until we fused into one being. And when we were done, we lay on the petal-drenched ground, exhausted. Flowers surrounded the whole space and blanketed us with perfumed softness.