Proposal for Love

by Sharon C. Cooper

  “And I don’t trust Kayla Jackson. No way am I letting her near our business.” Nate returned to his seat and massaged his temples. He didn’t know what he needed more right now, sleep or a stiff drink.

  “Wait. Who the hell is Kayla Jackson? The woman who called me was Liberty Stewart.”

  Nate dropped his hands to his desk. He had never spoken of Kayla. At least not by name. Nate had met her after Christmas break his senior year at Northwestern. They’d run into each other, literally, at a restaurant he ate at all the time. And from that day they had been inseparable, except for when he spent Spring Break that year overseas.

  “Well?” Nick demanded, an eyebrow raised.

  “Liberty Stewart and Kayla Jackson are one and the same.”

  “LCA’s project manager? The woman who just called me?”

  Nate nodded. “We dated my senior year of college and I guess since then she’s changed her name.” Which had Nate curious. Actually, he had more questions than answers when it came to her. Like how had she ended up in Cincinnati. After graduation, she’d planned to start law school. Why wasn’t she practicing law somewhere?

  Still a beautiful woman, her exotic eyes that used to be his weakness held a hint of sadness he wasn’t used to seeing on her.

  Nate sighed, feeling like scum for kicking her out. He acted like a punk kid instead of the chief financial officer of a multi-million dollar organization.

  “Ahh, so that’s it. She booted your ass to the curb and your feelings are still hurt,” Nick taunted and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “You do realize that was like a hundred years ago, right?”

  “Man, whatever.”

  Nick burst out laughing, gone was the scowl he’d been wearing when he charged into the office. “Your ass got dumped,” he said as if he couldn’t believe it.

  Nate wasn’t ever going to live this moment down. They both had it easy when it came to attracting the opposite sex. Getting dumped wasn’t an everyday occurrence. For Nate, he prided himself on treating women special. So why had he let his wounded ego dictate his behavior earlier? He was better than that. No woman, no matter what she’d done, deserved to be talked to like he’d done.

  “I can’t believe it. My brother, the self-proclaimed God’s gift to women, got his ass handed to him,” Nick cracked, cutting into Nate’s thoughts.

  “Need I remind you of what happened with Sumeera?” Nate looked at his brother pointedly and Nick slowly sobered.

  “That was different.”

  “Was it? I remember her kicking you to the curb because you couldn’t commit and—”

  “And I eventually closed the deal.” He wiggled his ring finger at Nate, and the overhead light bounced off the inlay of diamonds in the platinum band. “Not only are we happily married, but I got a gorgeous daughter out of the deal. What about you? You’ve been on fifty million dates, but haven’t settled down. Why is that, huh?”

  Nate remained quiet. Considering the number of women who’d crossed his path, there had only been one who stirred something within him. One who he would’ve done anything for, and one who…

  “Wait.” Nick sat forward and leaned his tattooed forearms on the desk. “So this woman, this Kayla or Liberty person, was the one. Was she the reason you were so jacked up after graduation? I always wondered about the mystery woman. If she meant that much to you, how is it that we never met her?”

  After graduating high school, Nick stuck around Cincinnati. He went through a sheet metal apprenticeship while attending college with every intention of running the family business one day. Nate took a different path, wanting to experience life outside of Ohio. Attending Northwestern gave him the taste of freedom he had craved.

  “We didn’t date long,” he finally said.

  Nick lifted a questioning brow. “Yet, you were together long enough to fall in love with her.”

  Nate ran his hand down his face and lunged out of his seat. He turned to the window behind his desk and stared out at the employee parking lot. Only one person really knew of Kayla then and that was his father, Lewis.

  Nate remembered when he had called his father for advice. Things between him and Kayla were getting serious, and Nate wanted some direction regarding next steps with her. Lewis, always the voice of reason mainly listened, asked a few questions then told Nate to follow his heart. And when Kayla walked away, Nate hadn’t planned to tell anyone, but Lewis felt something was wrong. He had taken Nate, Nick, and a few of their cousins to Vegas. When Nate and Lewis were alone, Nate had told him everything.

  “Sometimes you just know. At the time, I thought she was the one,” Nate said still staring outside looking at nothing in particular.

  “What happened? Why’d you guys break up?” When Nate remained quiet, Nick continued. “Hey, if it’s none of my business, just say so.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Well, as your brother, I’m making it my business. What happened between you two?”

  Nate turned from the window, debating on how much to share as he leaned on the desk. Though the incident happened so many years ago, it felt like yesterday. Kayla had cornered him in the room where the graduates were gathered before the ceremony. Totally out of breath, she looked as if she’d just returned from running a marathon, claiming she needed to talk to him immediately. Fear that something was wrong with her, he had hustled her away from his classmates.

  “She flew to Vegas and got married the day before graduation,” Nate said with very little emotion. In mere minutes, she had shattered his heart and derailed his future plans that had included her.

  Nick sat stunned. Eyes wide and mouth hanging open, seconds ticked by before he spoke. “Dayum! That’s some jacked up shit! No wonder you’re trippin’. But why didn’t you tell me? You know I would’ve been there for you.”

  “Yeah, right after you laughed me out of town.”

  A smile wavered on Nick’s lips, and Nate wished he hadn’t told him anything. “What’d you do when she told you?”

  Thinking about that day angered Nate all over again. “I told her to have a nice life…in so many words.”

  Nick grinned. “Yeah, I just bet you did. So—”

  “The worst part was that she left me to marry a guy who verbally abused her. There was even once when I thought he was going to hit her. Isaac Culpepper,” Nate said the man’s name with disgust.

  “Isaac Culpepper? Of the Culpeppers in Chicago?”

  “That would be the one. He’s a big-time lawyer, and if I’m not mistaken, oversees some of his family’s businesses. They come from old money and have their hands in a little bit of everything.” Which Nate presumed had something to do with Kayla hooking up with Culpepper despite how bad the bastard had treated her.

  Nate recalled an encounter he’d had with Isaac after spotting the two arguing across the lawn near Kayla’s dorm. It was when Isaac grabbed her by the front of the shirt that Nate saw red. He took off in a sprint, not stopping until his fist made contact with the man’s jaw. They fought, rolling around on the ground until campus police yanked them apart. That day Nate didn’t know if he’d get kicked out of school or end up in jail for assault. Neither happened, but before being taken away, Isaac had warned that payback was coming.

  Isaac definitely ended up having the last laugh.

  Nate’s intercom buzzed, shaking him out of his reverie. He pressed the intercom button on his desk phone. “Yes.”

  “Sorry to bother you, Nate, but is Nick with you?” the receptionist asked.

  “Yeah, what’s up, Tam?” Nick toyed with the golf ball paperweight their mother had given Nate after returning from Palm Springs.

  “I’ve been calling you. Why aren’t you answering your cell phone?” Tammy fussed.

  “My battery died and I haven’t had a chance to charge it. Why, what’s going on?”

  “Sumeera’s been trying to reach you. She says it’s not important, but she wants you to call her.”

  Nick s
tood. “Will do. Thanks.”

  “And Nate,” the receptionist hurried to say.

  “Yes?”

  “Your nine o’clock appointment confirmed for tomorrow.”

  “All right. Thanks, Tammy.”

  Nate’s cell phone vibrated on the desk and he glanced at the screen. Groaning he pushed decline. A second later, it rang again and he wasn’t surprised to see the same person calling.

  “Who are you avoiding?” Nick asked.

  “Angel.”

  Nick folded his arms across his chest. “I thought you told her you weren’t interested.”

  “I did, but she’s not getting the message.” Nate rubbed the side of his forehead. Angel Harris might be drop dead gorgeous with a good job as a sales executive for a beverage company, but this angel was turning into a devil. “We went out a few times, which was my first mistake. I knew she wasn’t wrapped too tight after the second date, but I thought I was being too critical.”

  “You probably were. No one ever seems to be good enough.”

  “Anyway, after the third or fourth date, when she started talking about our wedding, as if we were engaged or something, I knew I had to move on.”

  “See this is what I’ve warned you about. All women can’t handle the Jenkins charm,” he said seriously and Nate laughed.

  “Man, shut up. She’ll get tired of calling eventually.”

  “You think ignoring her is a good idea? If something is mentally wrong with her, she might do something crazy.”

  “I’m not sure if she really has problems or was just messing with me regarding the whole wedding nonsense. I’m not too worried. Angel’s job has her traveling a lot and she’s out of town more than she’s in town. I doubt if she’s a nutcase.”

  Nick shrugged. “All right, well if you turn up missing we’ll start with her.”

  Nate chuckled. “Yeah you do that. Now, I need to get back to work.” Nate pulled the documents he’d been reading earlier closer.

  “Okay. I want to hear more about your girl, but—”

  “She’s not my girl.” She’s a beautiful woman, he wanted to add but didn’t bother.

  “Well, Kayla…or Liberty, or whatever name she goes by. Nate, seriously though, we can’t pass up this opportunity with LCA. You need to figure out a way to work with her.”

  Nate shook his head. “I’m not working with her. I also think it’s not a good idea to go with LCA if they have her heading up this project. I don’t trust her.”

  “You’re punkin’ out because of a girl?”

  “She’s not a girl!”

  “Well, woman. You’re not only screwing up this opportunity, but you’re running from a woman.” Nick stared at him, as if that would get Nate to change his mind. “Now I’ve heard everything. Poker night can’t get here soon enough. The guys are going to eat this shit up.”

  Once a month they got together with a few of their cousins to play cards. The last thing Nate needed was to become the butt of their ribbing. They lived for crap like this, and it would be a first for him to be on the receiving end of their jokes.

  “Fine. I’ll call her and let her know that going forward, I’ll be the contact person,” Nick said. “We’re not letting your personal issues get in the way of millions.”

  “Wait,” Nate said just as Nick grabbed the doorknob. He had never let his personal business get in the way of work and he wasn’t going to start now. “I’ll talk to her.”

  A slow smile lifted the corner of Nick’s mouth. “What changed your mind?”

  “You. No way I’m letting you near our books. I also can’t let you hold this project over my head for the rest of my life.”

  Besides, Nate was curious about the new Kayla…no, Liberty. Hell, he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to see her as anyone other than Kayla, the girl he had fallen in love with in college. And if the sadness in her eyes was any indication, that fairytale life she thought she’d have thirteen years ago didn’t end with a happily ever after.

  Nate tapped his fingers against the desk. Maybe working with her wouldn’t be all bad. If nothing else, he’d get to show her what she missed out on.

  Chapter Four

  Liberty stood in front of the full-length mirror second-guessing her outfit. She kept telling herself that she wasn’t trying to impress Nate, but if she was honest, that’s exactly what she was trying to do. After three changes, she’d finally settled on a flowy white blouse with bell sleeves, skinny black pants, and three-inch heels. Professional, yet stylish. Still, facing Nate again and not knowing what to expect had her on the verge of freaking out.

  “Just relax and keep it professional,” she told herself and blew out an anxious breath, willing the tightness in her chest to subside. Seeing Nate again had rocked her. All the old feelings came rushing back and Liberty’s heart broke all over again. Leaving him had been the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life and if given the opportunity to do it over again, she would definitely make different choices. But there was nothing she could do about that now. That was in the past and she vowed to leave it all there.

  She headed to the dining area of her tiny apartment for her laptop bag, and tried not to think about how different her life had turned out. Living in a penthouse with unobstructed 360-degree views of Chicago was a far cry from the one-bedroom apartment she lived in now. Gazing out the window at a brick building with an alley between them was a reminder of the changes in her life.

  Stuffing the company’s laptop and a notepad into the bag, she glanced around at the tiny, but tidy space. Her apartment was so small the kitchen, dining area, and living room were two steps from each other. This was all she could afford on her tight budget, but it sure beat the homeless shelter she’d been forced to live in only months earlier.

  It’s home.

  The baby blue and brown color scheme was warm and inviting despite the sparse décor in the furnished apartment. She had moved in three weeks ago, and had finally unpacked the last box. It wasn’t like she had a lot of belongings. Her ex-husband made sure she only left with what she’d come into the marriage with, and she was fine with that. All she wanted was out of that love-less, dysfunctional relationship.

  “Don’t start thinking about that asshole,” she said into the quietness of the space. It had been over a year since they had separated and six months since their divorce had been finalized. The past year of searching for work, living on one meal a day, and barely keeping a roof over her head would go down as one of the worst years of her life. Some days she still couldn’t believe that the man who she once thought of as a friend, the one who had vowed to take care of her until death, had turned out to be a monster.

  “An arrogant, misogynistic monster is a more accurate description,” she mumbled.

  Her cell phone rang before she could add to the list of deplorable adjectives that described Isaac Culpepper. When her phone rang again, she hurried to the bedroom and grabbed it from the bedside table. A smile tugged at her lips seeing her sister’s photo on the screen.

  “Demi, you’re turning into a mother hen. You don’t have to check on me every day.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Are you ready to face that Nubian god again?”

  Liberty chuckled. “I have to stop telling you everything.”

  “Don’t you dare. You went years keeping me in the dark with all that you were going through. Now we have a deal. We talk about everything. That means everything. Got it?”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve got it.”

  After Liberty had finally left her husband, she held off telling Demi the news. Her sister knew a little about what she’d gone through, but not everything. The last thing Liberty wanted was to hear the I-told-you-so or be questioned about why she’d stayed so long. Nor did she want her sister’s pity. Ostracized in Chicago’s business world by her ex-husband, Liberty not only struggled to find work, but her self-esteem had taken a significant hit. Yet, she had suffered in silence for months, barely able to keep a roof over her hea
d and food on the table.

  The day she had finally broken down and called her sister, her life started turning around. Demi and her fiancé, Alan, flew to Chicago and helped relocate her to Cincinnati. Despite all she’d been through in Chicago, it had been hard to leave the city she loved. But the move probably saved her life.

  “And how are you…feeling?” her sister asked carefully.

  The hesitation in the question let Liberty know that Demi wasn’t referring to the job. Her sister feared she suffered from some type of depression. Liberty’s life had never been perfect, but normally she could pick herself up and dust herself off. It hadn’t been as easy this time. However, after some serious self-talk over the last couple of days, she was encouraged that this second chance at the life she desired was on track.

  “I’m fine, Demi. You have enough on your plate. Don’t worry about me. Besides, you should be getting ready for your trip to Philadelphia.” She and Alan were heading out of town to visit his family for a few days.

  “But I’m never too busy for you.”

  “I know, and I feel the same about you.” Liberty glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Okay, I don’t want to be late. So I need to get going.”

  “Alright, but if Nate acts like a jerk again, put him in his place. You don’t have to take crap from him.”

  Liberty laughed. “Listen to you trying to sound all tough. I think Nate and I will be fine, at least professionally.” Personally, Liberty didn’t think he would ever forgive her for what she’d done, and that was something she would have to live with. However, maybe he would eventually come around and give her a chance to explain herself. Maybe.

  *

  By the time Liberty arrived at Jenkins & Sons Construction, her nerves were all over the place. Early in her career, when she did project management at a law firm she once worked at, she had all the confidence in the world when meeting with clients. Now, not so much. Yet, she was determined to prove to herself that she was still the beautiful, intelligent, independent woman she’d been then.