Darius (Starkis Family #5) (26 page)

I appreciated his faith in me, but what he was proposing was ridiculous. Nate wanted us to be partners, to succeed or fail together. And he’d had a motive—guilt. He would have shared that inheritance with Shaun had he still been alive. Since he wasn’t, I was the next best thing. Darius was proposing something entirely different. I would be indebted to him, and I didn’t think I could live with that.

“Buying and renovating this club was a drop in a very large bucket for me.” He curled his hand around the back of my neck. “But owning this club could change your life.”

“But I couldn’t take it,” I said, grabbing his wrist. “It’s way too much. You know I don’t believe in taking something for nothing. I like to earn what I have through good old-fashioned hard work.”

His annoyance was obvious as he dropped his hand and shifted back, creating space between us. “See, I have a problem with that. You say you love me and want to be with me, but you won’t let me share my life with you.”

“That’s not fair,” I said, feeling the sting of his words. “I do love you. I want to be with you. But that doesn’t mean I expect you to support me.”

“Money is a part of who I am. I gave up trying to deny that a long time ago.” His voice was quiet when he said, “If you love me and accept me for who I am, you have to accept everything that goes with this.” He gestured to himself before waving to encompass our surroundings, looking amused. “There are certain perks. Most women wouldn’t complain about those.”

Now he was making me feel guilty for being ungrateful. Crossing my arms, I said, “I’m not complaining. I just need you to understand where I’m coming from.”

“I think I can understand where you
came
from,” he said softly. His gaze hooked mine before it fell to rest on my lips. “Life was hard for you. You expected it to always be that way.”

He was right. I’d never expected anything to come to me easily.

“But I’m here to tell you that life doesn’t have to be hard.” He smiled. “I want to offer you the club outright. It’s yours and your alone, to do with as you want, whether we’re together or not.”

I couldn’t imagine walking away from Darius, but the fact that he was prepared to give me his club, even if I chose to leave him, was mind-blowing.

“I want to give this to you as a gift, no strings attached.” He laughed at my confused expression. “I told my sister there was no way you’d even accept a car from me, and now I’m giving you an entire building including a business.”

My jaw dropped. “A car? Please tell me you didn’t.”

He raised his hand. “We’ll get to that in a minute. If you can’t accept the club yet, at least agree to be my partner.” When I started to object, he said, “You agreed to be Nate’s partner. I’ll be seriously offended if you turn me down.”

Tears sprang to my eyes when I realized he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I can’t even believe you’d want to do this for me.”

“I would do that and so much more for you, baby.” He leaned in to brush his lips across mine. “This is just the beginning if you’ll let it be.”

I didn’t know that I would ever get used to the embarrassment of riches Darius and his family were accustomed to, but I loved him for wanting to treat me to things I’d never had or wanted. I tried to clear the emotion from my throat. “I want a life with you, so I guess that means we both have to make some concessions.” I knew how ridiculous it seemed to concede that my billionaire boyfriend was allowed to spoil me once in a while.

“So if you agree to be my partner, we can still hire a manager, right?” he asked.

“I guess so.” I wondered if that would keep me busy enough. I was used to working as many hours as possible.

“I did a little research into the Comedy Institute and found that you’ll only have eleven hours of classes a week for a year.”

I couldn’t believe he’d gone to the trouble of finding that out. “Yeah, but I don’t have enough saved for the tuition yet.”

His smile was indulgent. “Well, I’m pretty sure the club will be profitable soon. According to the business plan I’ve been working on with Blake and Damon, it shouldn’t be more than a few months before we start turning a profit.”

I wasn’t comfortable taking money I hadn’t earned, but maybe I could convince Darius to let me reinvest some of my share in the business.

“I want you to live here, with me,” he said, looking so adorably uncertain I had to grin.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I don’t want us to be apart all week with you in the city and me here. I figure if you have to go into the city for classes a few days a week for a few hours, you could still put in some time at the club on those days.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something? I haven’t saved up enough money to start school in the fall.” I had five months to save the rest of the money, but I couldn’t do it while paying Darius rent, and no way would I agree to live with him without chipping in.

He sighed as though he was getting a little annoyed having to break down every road block I put up. “You could get a part-time job here in the Hamptons if you want. It would give you something to do until school starts. You’d still have to go into the city a couple of days a week to check on the club, but—”

“One other little problem,” I said, holding my forefinger and thumb an inch apart. I hoped I wouldn’t be inviting more trouble with this concern. “Transportation.”

His grin lit up his handsome face, making me wonder how I’d ever gotten lucky enough to draw the attention of a man like this. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ve got you covered.”

“Oh no,” I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. “Please don’t tell me you—”

“I bought myself another car.” He smirked. “You can borrow it any time you want.”

His smile told me I should be very wary. “You bought it for yourself?” The Mercedes logo on the key fob told me it may very well have been for him, but I wasn’t convinced. “When?”

He shrugged. “Last week.”

“Where is it?”

“In the garage. You want to see it?”

I wasn’t sure. I might fall in love. “Sure, why not?” I laughed when he stood and pulled me to my feet. “We don’t have to go out there right now. I can wait.”

“I can’t.” He practically pulled me along as he pushed a button to raise the door panel for the detached garage.

I gasped when I saw the sleek black two-seater convertible. “Oh my God, it’s gorgeous!”

“Then you won’t mind driving it?”

I tried so hard to keep a stern face. I didn’t want to encourage this kind of behavior, but my enthusiasm got the best of me, and I ran toward the car. I pulled open the driver’s door and slid into the seat, inhaling deeply as the smell of new leather assailed me. “I think this may be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Darius knelt beside the open door so we were face to face. “I have to disagree. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Chels. I knew from the first second I laid eyes on you my life would never be the same.”

Looking at him, my eyes filled with tears again, but instead of trying to blink them back, I let them fall. I didn’t want to hide from him anymore. I wanted him to see me. My fears and sadness. My elation, doubt, and insecurities. But more than anything, I wanted him to see how much I loved him.

“You’ve changed my life, Darius. In ways you can’t begin to imagine. I was so lost and confused when we met. I never thought I could trust anyone enough to fall in love again.” I stroked the stubble on his jaw, hoping he’d never shave. Darius wasn’t polished or clean-cut. He was a little rough around the edges, just the way I liked him.

“And now? Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” I whispered. “But even more important than that”—I leaned in as though I was sharing a secret—“you made me trust myself and my judgment again. That’s the best gift you could have given me.”

“Huh.” His broad shoulders slumped as he looked at the cement floor. “And here I thought the best was yet to come.”

“What do you mean?”

He slipped his hand into his shirt pocket and stunned me by producing a glittering diamond on a narrow gold band. It wasn’t huge, nor would I have wanted it to be. It was just perfect.

“Oh my God…” I stared at him as I waited for him to say something.

“This belonged to my grandmother,” he said finally. “She gave it to me before she died and told me to save it until I met the woman I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. So…” He held it out. “Chelsea, will you accept this ring?”

“Yes.” I held out my trembling hand, torn between crying and screaming with excitement.

He slipped it on, grinning. “Look at that—perfect fit.” He hauled me out of the car and pinned me up against it as he kissed me.

“Just like us,” I whispered against his lips. “Perfect fit.”

He growled as he trapped my body with his, leaving little doubt as to how he wanted to celebrate our engagement. “One more thing.” He tapped the roof of the car. “I lied. This car isn’t mine; it’s yours. And it’s my engagement gift to you, so don’t even think about telling me you can’t accept it.”

I was too happy to argue, so I simply flicked my tongue over his earlobe as I looped my arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” His hands skimmed my breasts as his teeth grazed my neck. “And I already paid your tuition. Call it one of your birthday gifts.”

“My birthday isn’t for a couple of weeks,” I said, knowing it was pointless to argue. “But thank you.”

It was clear that once my fiancé made up his mind about something, there was no changing it. Not that I’d have wanted to. If he hadn’t decided he had to have me, we wouldn’t have been standing here now with the knowledge that we were on the verge of celebrating the best years of our lives together.

“You’re going to have to get used to being a pampered princess,” he teased and kissed me. “That’s just one of the perils of being Mrs. Darius Starkis.”

“Mmm…” I tipped my head back, allowing his delicious exploration to continue. “I’m not sure I can live with that.”

His grip on my waist tightened right before his lips descended on mine. “Too damn bad. You’re stuck with me now. For the rest of our lives.”

The rest of our lives.
God, I loved the sound of that.

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