“I don’t believe that,” Damion said defiantly. “I think if that were true, you’d answer his call and tell him to leave you alone.”
Emma’s eyes flared open with surprise.
“I think you’re just scared of being hurt again,” Damion continued. “And I understand that, Ems, truly I do. But you still love him, it’s written all over your face. I’ve lost count of the times you’ve looked out at his apartment just while I’ve been here. I know it’s scary to open yourself up, to let someone in, but you love each other; you need to let go of the past and let him in.”
Emma bit her lip thoughtfully.
“Next time he calls, just answer,” Damion urged.
Casting her eyes to the ground, Emma shook her head sorrowfully. “I want to believe he’s changed,” she said. “But I just don’t think he has.”
“YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING big.” Damion pointed a finger at Daniel sitting on the sofa in his apartment wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt. From the stubble on his face and his matted hair, Damion wondered if his friend had even showered that day.
“What did she say?” Daniel asked.
Damion was pacing in front of him, full of purpose after his visit to Emma’s apartment. He didn’t relish his current role of playing cupid, but he was determined to see his two best friends find happiness.
“I thought everything was great between us,” Daniel continued. “And now she won’t even answer my calls.” He plucked his cell phone from his pocket and disdainfully cast it aside on the sofa.
“She doesn’t trust you,” Damion said as he ceased pacing and lowered himself down on the sofa beside his friend. “She’s been through too much and is terrified to let you in.”
Daniel grunted with frustration and ran his hands through his messed-up hair. “I’ve apologized over and over again,” he declared. “What more does she want from me?”
“That’s why you have to do something big!” Damion pointed at him again. “You need to show Emma how much you love her, how this time you aren’t going to flake and leave the country.”
“I’m not getting a tattoo,” Daniel said. “I love Emma to bits, but having her name scrawled across my chest is just too extreme.”
“I don’t mean a tattoo.” Damion chuckled. “I mean some big gesture that will put a stop to her questioning your intentions.”
Daniel leaned back as he pondered this.
“She still loves you,” Damion continued. “I see it in her eyes. She’s just scared.”
Daniel replayed the moment out by the tree. Everything had seemed to be perfect then. Emma had been so receptive to his advances. They’d made love, he’d promised her forever, and it had all seemed right. Suddenly they’re back in the city and she’s keeping her distance without so much as an explanation. He felt confused and dejected. Was she trying to make him feel the way she did when he went to London? Was this all just some game to her?
“It’s time to strap on your big-boy pants and show Emma that you love her,” Damion told his friend.
“And how am I supposed to do that?”
“You know.” Damion nodded sincerely. “It’s now or never, Richmond. You mess it up this time, and you won’t get another chance. Are you willing to lose her for good?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you know what you need to do.”
“Yeah.” Daniel nodded slowly as everything fell into place in his mind. “I know what I need to do.”
EMMA FELT DISTRACTED at work the following day. She cast her eyes over the new designs for the upcoming spring line and tried to focus, but her mind kept drifting back to that tree with the carved initials and what had happened up against it.
Shaking her head, she snapped back into the moment and looked across at her computer screen. She had almost twenty emails demanding her attention and designs she still needed to sign off on. Running Delacourt Designs was hard work, but it took her mind off Daniel, or at least it usually did. Besides, it was her dream. She was sitting in her old family home, running the design company she created. But something was missing. She felt like she had her cake, but there was no icing upon it, not yet.
Nick confidently strolled into her office without knocking. He wore a silver suit and had his hair slicked back and looked devastatingly handsome.
“Morning, Delacourt.” He grinned.
“Morning.”
“We all set for our meeting at ten?” He casually perched on the edge of Emma’s desk as he spoke to her.
“I think so.” Emma nodded.
“We need to discuss Christmas ideas,” Nick continued. “I know it’s crazy, as we aren’t even in spring yet!”
“The fashion world operates on its own calendar,” Emma said softly.
“Doesn’t it!” Nick exclaimed. “I’m still adjusting to it!” He looked at Emma and then noticed the writing pad beneath her hands, where she’d scrawled the crude image of a heart.
“What’s that?”
Emma glanced down at the image and straightened in surprise. She hadn’t even realized that she’d drawn it; she must have been doodling while her mind continued to think of nothing but Daniel.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Emma quickly wadded the piece of paper with the image into a ball and dropped it into the small trashcan near her feet.
“I thought it might be a new design or something.” Nick shrugged.
“It was just a doodle.”
The sound of someone knocking at the door made them both look up. A delivery guy stood there holding a bunch of fresh white lilies.
“These are for Emma Delacourt.” He read the instructions on the delivery note.
“Congratulations, you’ve found her!” Nick pointed dramatically at Emma, who was already blushing. The delivery guy placed the flowers on her desk, and Nick handed the guy a ten-dollar bill.
“Flowers! Someone’s got an admirer!” Nick winked.
“Hmm,” Emma replied dubiously as she rummaged in the bouquet for the note. She found the small white card and opened it, already knowing whom it would be from. She anticipated that these were yet more apology flowers sent from Daniel. But the contents of the card caught her off guard.
My Beloved Emma,
I’m done saying sorry. It’s time I said something else. Midnight.
DR xxxx
Bemused, Emma read the note several times. She had no idea what Daniel meant, but she supposed she’d find out at midnight.
“LET’S HOPE YOU DON’T turn into a pumpkin,” Damion quipped from his position on Emma’s sofa, where he sat reading the paper while she got ready.
“Very funny,” Emma called from the bedroom, where she was currently deliberating over which dress to wear. Last time she went out with Daniel he advised sensible shoes, but this latest invitation contained no such guidelines.
“I’m concerned you might have fallen down the sink,” Damion declared as he folded his paper and wandered towards Emma’s bedroom. Casually he leaned against the doorframe and looked in just as Emma slid herself into an emerald tea dress that accentuated her long, lean legs.
“What?” Emma turned and looked at him, confused.
For a moment, Damion was speechless. His previous joke dissolved by the sheer vision of Emma’s beauty. She looked timelessly stunning in a way only the truly beautiful can.
Self-consciously Emma glanced at the dress and asked, “Do I look all right?”
“Ems.” Damion partially found his voice though his breath caught in his throat. “You look stunning.”
“You think?”
“Absolutely.”
As Damion watched her carefully eye her reflection in the bedroom mirror, he realized that if Daniel didn’t take this opportunity to finally make things right with her, he wasn’t sure they could ever be friends. Because this time, if Daniel didn’t come through for Emma, Damion was determined to be there, ready to offer her a shoulder to cry on and somebody to love her.
But right now, she was still Daniel
’s girl. Damion shook his head and brought himself back to the moment.
“I was saying how you’d best not have fallen down the sink,” he repeated his previous quip.
“I didn’t take that long, did I?”
In fairness, Emma took barely any time at all to get ready compared to other women. She’d even allowed Damion to come round for their weekly DVD night, insisting that he wouldn’t be in the way of her getting ready.
“It’s just all so cloak and dagger,” Emma said, her voice filled with curiosity as she left the bedroom, with Damion trailing behind her.
“Typical Daniel.”
“Do you know?” Emma spun round and looked at him intently.
“Know what?” Damion shoved his hands deep into his trouser pockets.
“Know what Daniel is planning at midnight?”
“Honestly I’ve no idea.” And he didn’t. Daniel had gone rogue on this latest romantic gesture and hadn’t involved his best friend at all.
“Hmmm.” Emma frowned and pursed her lips in contemplation.
“I imagine he’s hired out some restaurant so you can have a private meal together or something,” Damion suggested. It was the sort of thing you saw in movies, the sort of thing girls went crazy for.
“Oh.” Emma sounded disappointed.
“Not what you were hoping for?”
“No, it’s just...” Emma glanced at the clock hanging on the wall in her kitchen area. It was already half past eleven. “I think it’s awfully late to eat,” she admitted.
Damion laughed at this. “Yeah,” he agreed. “I guess it is.”
Emma glanced nervously at the clock and began to knit her hands together and then release them repeatedly.
“Where are you meeting him?” Damion asked casually.
“At his apartment.”
Emma wandered over to her window and looked out at the glass structure lingering at the edge of her view. She scrutinized it, searching for some clue as to what was waiting for her at midnight, but the glass giant refused to divulge any of its secrets. It remained partly illuminated from lights within, like a Christmas tree in desperate need of maintenance.
MIDNIGHT.
Damion pulled into the parking lot of Daniel’s building and watched Emma slide out of his car.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait for you?” he offered for the third time.
“No.” Emma shook her head. Her hair was in a smart bun at the nape of her neck, giving her an elegant line.
“I can always walk home.” She shrugged as an afterthought.
“At this hour?” Damion was appalled at the suggestion. The city streets at night were far from safe.
“Stop worrying.” Emma smiled warmly at him. “I’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.” Damion sighed. “At least text me later to let me know you’re okay.”
“I will,” Emma promised.
“Okay.”
She closed the car door, and reluctantly Damion drove away. Taking a deep breath, Emma walked purposefully towards Daniel’s apartment building. She had no idea what surprise awaited her at midnight. A part of her was poised for disappointment, but another more hopeful part had fantasies of them running away together, eloping. But it was already the witching hour; soon all would be revealed.
THE CORRIDOR LEADING to Daniel’s apartment was as it always was, modern and minimal. Emma hurried down it in her designer ballet pumps. Her height meant that she rarely wore heels, especially if there was a possibility that she might have to walk home later that night. She stopped when she reached Daniel’s door and raised her hand to knock on it.
The door was bare except for the silver number indicating which apartment it was. No note, no indication from Daniel that anything exciting waited for her inside. The hopeful part of Emma began to fade away. Gently, but with conviction, she tapped upon the door. After several elongated minutes, the door opened, and Daniel was standing there wearing a tuxedo. Emma’s features widened in surprised. Why was he so dressed up? Were they really going for a private meal at such a late hour? Then she noticed the low lighting within his apartment.
“You’re here.” Daniel grinned. Then he stepped aside and allowed Emma to enter his apartment. As she did, she realized why the lighting seemed so low. Dozens, possibly hundreds of candles around the open plan of his apartment flickered gently and bathed the whole space in an ethereal glow. It was beautiful. The whole effect made Emma feel as though she’d stepped into the pages of a fairy-tale book.
“Daniel,” she gasped, taking it all in. “This is beautiful.”
Then her eyes grazed the floor, and she saw that it was littered in rose petals; only they weren’t haphazardly placed, they were collected in a giant heart shape in which she was currently standing.
“Wow,” Emma gasped in admiration. “Did you do this all yourself?” She looked up at Daniel, who was standing nearby, looking incredibly nervous.
“Sure did.” He gave a quick, tense nod.
“It must have taken ages.” Everywhere Emma looked there was a pure white pillar candle glowing.
“A couple of hours.” Daniel shrugged modestly.
“Well, it was worth it. This is just beautiful.”
“No, Emma, you’re beautiful.” Daniel reached out for her hand and grasped it in his own. He was usually warm to the touch, but now his palms were clammy and cold. Emma looked at him in concern and saw the tension in his jawline, felt the slight shake within his grasp.
“I went to see your father today.” He began talking, but he was rushing his words and blurring them together.
“My father? Why?”
That was when Daniel released her hand and dropped to one knee. Emma’s own hand fluttered up to her chest, as she feared that her heart might stop beating. Everything moved in slow motion as Daniel reached into the pocket of his tuxedo and produced a small, dark velvet box, which he then opened and held up to Emma. The box contained a beautiful princess-cut diamond atop a stunning white gold band. It was exquisite, and it sparkled in the candlelight like some exotic treasure.
Emma’s heart beat madly in her chest, echoing in her ears and almost deafening her.
“Emma Delacourt, I’ve loved you since the day I met you. I know I haven’t been the greatest man, but I promise that will change. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you by my side. I love you, Emma. I love the way you laugh, the way you smile, the way that being with you makes everything right in the world. Please will you do me the honor of agreeing to be my wife, and I swear I’ll spend every day striving to make you feel just an ounce of the happiness which you brought to me when we were together!”
The ring sparkled knowingly, willing Emma to place it upon her finger and accept.
Emma couldn’t breathe. The room began to swirl around her. This was everything she’d wanted, everything she’d dreamed of, and it was happening, right there before her. She willed her mind to mentally photograph this moment, but her senses were sluggish and unresponsive.
“Ems, don’t leave me hanging.” Daniel looked at her desperately from where he waited on bended knee.
“Yes!” Emma’s voice finally caught up with her mind. “Yes, a thousand times!” She pulled the ring from its velvet carriage and slid it onto her finger. It fit perfectly. Daniel jumped to his feet and pulled her towards him. They kissed, and it was just as intense, just as heated as it was out by the carved tree. Somehow, Daniel had managed to bring the magic of that moment into the city.
Emma kissed him hard, and he tasted of salt, of whiskey and of hope. She wanted to keep kissing him until her lips went numb.
When they finally parted, Emma extended her hand and girlishly admired how her ring sparkled in the candlelight. As she watched it refract the light, she noticed a new sensation stirring within her. It took her a moment to realize what it was, as she’d not experienced it for so long. She laughed in surprise when she realized that it was happiness. She was finally happy.
“What is it?” Daniel scanned her with his eyes, wondering why she’d laughed.
“I’m just happy,” Emma told him. “For so long I felt like something was missing, and I didn’t know what it was, but this was it.” She held Daniel’s hands and drew him back towards her.
“You were it,” she insisted. “When it was us against the world, I felt unstoppable. You gave me the courage to pursue my dreams, the courage to move on after I lost my mother. I was drowning without you.”
Daniel felt his eyes start to leak, but he didn’t care. Still trembling from his earlier nerves, he cupped Emma’s face and kissed her, long and hard. As they kissed, she pulled him down to the wooden floor, down to the rose petal heart. Seductively Emma removed everything except the engagement ring glittering upon her finger.
They made love three times that night. Each time was soft, sensual, and deliberate. Their bodies eagerly entwined together as though they’d longed to be reunited, remembering just how they fit together.
When they finally broke apart, dawn was breaking the darkness of the previous night, and some of the candles had completely burned down.
“So, Emma Delacourt, are you excited to become Mrs. Richmond?” Daniel asked as Emma contentedly rested her head upon his bare chest.
“I don’t know about that.” Emma ran her fingertips over his skin. “I’m a modern woman, Daniel Richmond, I anticipate I’ll be keeping my name.”
“We’ll see.” Daniel laughed. “You’ve got a wedding to plan, though.”
“Can’t we just stay here forever?” Emma asked dreamily. The chirp of her cell phone disturbed their tranquility.
“I’m afraid we can’t,” Daniel whispered to her.
“That’ll be Damion.” Emma suddenly felt a pinch of guilt at the fact that she’d yet to text him to let him know that she was okay.
“Are you going to tell him the good news or am I?” Daniel asked.
“I will.” Emma smiled, pushing herself off the floor and heading over to her discarded dress and phone.
“Damion.” Her voice was high with excitement when she answered his call. “I’ve got some big news!”
Designing Emma (Volume 6) Page 5
