Love.
That’s all he had to offer. He couldn’t promise her riches. Hell, he couldn’t even promise her that her renewed self-esteem wouldn’t take a hit if she pledged her life to him. All he could promise her was a lifetime of love. He could promise to cherish her until he took his last breath. But would that be enough for her?
“When I left work today, I kept telling myself that this was just another hurdle. I could deal with it. But once I got home…it feels like another failure. I gave that job my all. That should’ve been enough for them to see my value.”
Nate turned away from her, rubbing his hand over his head. He wanted her to be happy and he knew her job and the independence it gave her made her happy. But the asshole in him wanted to give her an ultimatum of his own.
He faced her, his heart constricting at how depressed she seemed.
“I love you enough to let you go…but I can’t,” he choked out, emotion invading his chest. “I let you walk away from me before without a fight, but I’m not doing that again. You’re a part of me. I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”
Nate moved to stand in front of her and dug the small box from his front pocket. He’d been carrying it around for the past few weeks, trying to determine the best time to present it.
He got down on one knee.
Liberty gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth.
Nape flipped the lid of the box open revealing a two-carat halo diamond engagement ring.
“Liberty, I was too late the last time, but… I love you. I love you more than I ever thought I could possibly love another human being. I know how important your job is, but don’t leave me. Marry me. I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to—”
“Yes,” she cried and fell into him, her arms going around his neck.
Nate stood, lifting her off the floor at first with one arm before wrapping his other around her, the ring still in his hand. Overwhelmed, he had to fight his own tears. The fear of almost losing her had his heart beating triple time.
He set her on her feet and slid the ring onto her finger.
“It’s so beautiful,” Liberty said in awe, her hand outstretched as she admired the diamond.
“We can get it resized since it seems a little loose.”
She shook her head. “I’m never taking it off.” She brought her hand to her chest, covering it with the other one. “I had no idea. But there’s something you have to know, Nate.”
Unease racing through him at the sudden serious turn of her facial expression and tone. “What is it?”
“I chose you. Eden fired me because I wasn’t willing to walk away from you. I couldn’t.”
“Wait. What? You…you quit your job…for me?”
She laughed while wiping her eyes. “No, they fired me because of you.”
They sat on the love seat while Liberty explained the whole conversation between her and her boss. Her former boss. Nate felt even more confident in his decision to pop the question tonight in light of her revelation. They had professed their love for one another months ago, but they’d done that years ago too. Telling him about the ultimatum LCA had given her, Nate felt as if he had been reliving that day back in college all over again.
Thankfully the outcome was different. Instead of keeping the job she was great at, she’d given it up. For him. “I don’t know what to say. I’m glad you chose me, but I hate you had to give up your job.”
“It was the right thing to do. I couldn’t walk away from you again. It would have killed me. Nothing, especially a job, is as important as you are to me.”
“Aw, baby.” He kissed her temple and held on to her, never wanting to let her go. “We’re going to fight this. There has to be some law that they’ve broken. We won’t let them get away with this.”
Liberty shook her head. “I was still on probation. They could let me go at any time for any reason.”
Nate leaned back. “You’ve been with them almost six months. How long was the probation?”
“Six months. I think Isaac got to them.”
Nate gave a humorless laugh. “Come on. He might be the shit in Chicago, but you’re telling me that he has the power to get this company to let you go?”
“Isaac has his hands in so much.” She glanced down, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. “I, um, called him when I got home.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I wanted to see if he was responsible for what happened today. And more than anything, I want to be done with him once and for all. If I hadn’t called, I would’ve always wondered if he had gotten to LCA.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he had nothing to do with me getting fired, and he’s never even heard of the company. He also said he has better things to do than to screw with my life.”
Nate shook his head. The guy was such an asshole. “Do you believe him?”
Liberty shrugged. “He’s a good liar. I’m not sure what to believe. He sounded sincere, and I haven’t heard from or seen him since that networking event.”
“So now what?” Nate asked.
“I told him it was time we both moved on with our lives. I tried to keep the conversation civil and even wished him well. He didn’t really return the sentiment, but said, have a nice life. Then he hung up.”
“Well, we’re not going to worry about Isaac.”
“You’re right. I’ll eventually find a job that he can’t touch.”
Nate rubbed his chin. “Isaac has no power over Jenkins & Sons and never will. As for LCA, it would be interesting to see their reaction to you overseeing the Unity Project on our end.”
Liberty smiled. “I can’t ask you to—”
Nate’s cell phone rang and he glanced at the screen. “This is the detective. Maybe they have something.”
“Hello.”
“Mr. Moore, this is detective Nugent.”
“Hi, what’s going on? Did you guys find the person?” Nate put the phone on speaker.
“We think so. Does the name, Trevor Swan, ring a bell?”
“No,” both Nate and Liberty said.
“All right, are you two able to come down to the station? I’d like for you to check out a video that we got access to. I’d also like for you to see the guy we picked up. We need to know if either of you recognize him.”
“We’ll be there shortly.”
Twenty minutes later, Nate and Liberty sat in a small room that was the size of a closet without windows. They watched a video of the man smashing in Liberty’s car windows. She flinched each time the guy swung the bat. But what ran through Nate’s mind is that what if the person had gone after her directly? What if he had attacked her instead of her vehicle?
“Where did the video come from?” Liberty asked.
“One of Mr. Moore’s neighbors.”
When the video ended, Nate sat back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. “It’s been over a month. Why now? Why hadn’t they come forward when it happened?”
“They’ve been on a thirty-day cruise and recently returned.” The detective, who’d been sitting across the table from them stood. “Let’s take a walk. My partner is talking with the perp now. He doesn’t know we have the video and he hasn’t admitted to anything.”
They were shown to a room with a one-way mirror. On the other side of the glass, a detective and the man in question were sitting across from each other at a table.
“Wait, I’ve seen that guy before. He’s a friend of Angel’s. They were together when I ran into her at my cousin’s restaurant.” Nate explained the encounter to the detective and they all listened as the detective on the other side of the glass continued questioning the man.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think I need a lawyer.”
“Why would you need a lawyer if you haven’t done anything?” the detective asked calmly, as if they were just two friends hanging out.
“Because…”
“May
be because you maliciously destroyed someone’s vehicle? Take a look at this,” the detective said. He played the video on a laptop.
The man’s whole demeanor changed. Nate knew they had him, and he placed his arm around Liberty’s shoulder.
“What made you take your anger out on a car?”
“Because that guy ruined my life!”
Nate frowned, curious to see what this guy thought he had done.
“What guy?” the detective asked.
“Nate. The woman I loved…she…”
“She what?”
“It took me forever to get her to go out with me and then all she talked about was him! Like he was some damn rockstar. I even sent her flowers and she thought they were from him. Then she goes to see Nate and he upsets her. I tried to tell her that she didn’t need him, but he was who she wanted. Apparently, I wasn’t good enough for her. She left me and moved out of town.”
Nate and Liberty exchanged a look, and she laid her head against his shoulder. Nate had heard some crazy things in his life, but this was way over the top. His brother’s words, about Nate’s good deeds coming back to bite him in the ass, came to mind. He had always tried to treat women right, but he had no control over their reactions to his kindness.
“That guy ruined my life!” The man pounded his fist on the metal table.
Nate couldn’t see the detective’s expression since his back was to them, but he didn’t move. He didn’t seem phased by the guy’s outburst.
Nate had heard enough. “Do you need anything else from us?” he asked Nugent.
He shook his head. “No, we have enough to charge this guy. I’ll let you know if we need anything else from you.”
“That was…enlightening,” Liberty said as they walked hand in hand out of the police station. “I knew you were all that,” she teased. “But I had no idea the power you had over women.”
“Ha, ha, ha. I’m just glad this mess is over. Now we can move on with our lives.”
She smiled up at him, her whole face lighting up. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Me too, baby. I love you so much and I plan to spend the rest of our lives showing you.”
“I can’t wait.”
Epilogue
12 Weeks Later
Liberty sat at her computer, putting the last touches on an affidavit before she headed out. It was the last item on her to-do list for the week that she hadn’t had a chance to finish the day before.
She smiled as she saved the document. Working at Ben’s firm as a law clerk was by far the best job she’d ever had. He had hired her shortly after finding out about the situation at LCA. Nate had also brought her on as a consultant for Jenkins & Sons to manage the Unity Tower project. Showing up at the first meeting to discuss the project with her former boss had been sweet justice, but it was working with the Jenkins family that kept a smile on Liberty’s face. Now she was juggling two jobs, and happier than she’d been in a long time.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re here on a Saturday,” Ben said, leaning against the door jamb of her office. “I thought we agreed that you would take weekends off.”
“I know, but I really wanted to get this affidavit done by Monday. What are you doing here?”
He shrugged and stepped into the office, sitting in the single chair in front of Liberty’s desk. Her space was fairly large and nicely decorated. Most importantly, it was hers.
“I work seven days a week. This place is my second home.”
Liberty shook her head and printed out the affidavit. “We need to find you a woman.”
Ben laughed. “Not you too. Been there and done that. I’m not looking.”
“You might as well give up on that idea, babe.”
Liberty glanced at the door, surprised to see Nate there already. He had dropped her off at work before running some errands.
“Every woman in the family has tried setting up Uncle Ben on blind dates,” Nate said. “He turns the women down before giving them a chance.”
Liberty stood as Nate strolled across the office looking as sexy as usual in a long sleeve Henley, black jeans and a pair of Timberland boots on his feet. Just the sight of him made her giddy inside. And when he looked at her, the way he was now, with so much love in his eyes, she felt like the luckiest woman on earth.
“Hey, baby.” He gave her a long, sensual kiss.
“Hey, yourself,” Liberty said breathily once he let her up for air. She looked forward to doing everything that kissed promised. They had already tested out the desk’s stability when they christened it a few days after she was hired. Since there weren’t any other flat surfaces, besides the floor, maybe next they’d try out her desk chair.
Nate kissed her again and grinned as if reading her thoughts. “Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?”
“As a matter of fact, you mention it all the time, and I love you too.”
“Alrighty then. I think that’s my cue to vacate the room.” Ben headed to the door.
“Hold up, Uncle Ben. You might want to stick around.”
Liberty lifted a brow. Maybe her and Nate’s thoughts weren’t lined up because what she had in mind required privacy.
“What’s up?” Ben asked.
Nate pulled an envelope from his back pocket and held it out to Liberty.
Anxiety inched through her body, and her heart pounded fast and hard inside her chest.
“Is that what I think it is?”
Nate nodded and handed her the envelope.
“Maybe I should give you two some privacy,” Ben said.
“No, Ben. You can stay. Whatever’s inside affects all of us.”
Liberty stared down at the letter in her hand. The only thing that stood between her accomplishing or failing her number one goal was inside the envelope.
“Open it,” Nate encouraged, handing her the letter opener that was laying on her desk.
After a slight hesitation, she ripped the envelope open and pulled the letter out. She quickly skimmed it.
“Oh. My. God. I passed!” she screamed, jumping up and down until she leaped into Nate’s arms. “I passed!”
“I knew you could do it.” Nate kissed her lips before setting her back on the floor.
Liberty placed her hand on her chest, breathing hard as she read the letter a little slower. She glanced up at Nate feeling as if she was going to burst.
“I just…I just can’t believe it. It’s official. I’m an attorney.”
“Well, let me be the first to congratulate you, Attorney Stewart,” Ben said and hugged her.
“Thank you, Ben.”
“Now go. Get out of here. Celebrate. Monday, we’ll discuss your new position: associate lawyer.” He walked out, and Liberty squealed.
“Congratulations, baby. I’m so proud of you.” Nate wrapped her in his arms and held her tight.
“Thank you, honey. For everything.” She pulled out of his hold and shut down her computer. “When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a lawyer. Originally, I wanted to be one so that I could make enough money to help my parents. Now, I just want to be the best damn lawyer I can be and help as many people as possible.”
“I have no doubt that you’re going to be the best. Ready to go? We have some serious celebrating to do.” He put his arm around her shoulder and guided her to the door. “So, what should I call you? Attorney Stewart? Counselor? Cutie-Pie Lawyer?”
Liberty laughed. “You can call me anything you want, but I think my favorite name will be Mrs. Nathaniel Jenkins-Moore.”
“I like the sound of that, and I can’t wait to make you my wife.”
“And I can’t wait to be your wife.”
In less than sixty days they would be married. Nate had wanted to get married right after she took the bar, but Liberty wanted them to have an intimate wedding that only included family and close friends. But considering the size of the Jenkins clan, the plans were turning into a bigger event tha
n either of them considered.
Liberty didn’t care. She looked forward to marrying this incredible man who had given her a second chance at love. And she had no doubt that being a part of the Jenkins family would be fun and exciting.
She released a contented sigh as they headed to the elevator hand in hand. All of her dreams had finally come true, and she couldn’t wait to see what came next.
*
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About the Author
Award-winning and bestselling author, Sharon C. Cooper, is a romance-a-holic - loving anything that involves romance with a happily-ever-after, whether in books, movies, or real life. Sharon writes contemporary romance, as well as romantic suspense and enjoys rainy days, carpet picnics, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She’s been nominated for numerous awards and is the recipient of an Emma Award for Romantic Suspense of the Year 2015 (Truth or Consequences), Emma Award - Interracial Romance of the Year 2015 (All You’ll Ever Need), and BRAB (book club) Award -Breakout Author of the Year 2014. When Sharon is not writing or working, she’s hanging out with her amazing husband, doing volunteer work or reading a good book (a romance of course). To read more about Sharon and her novels, visit www.sharoncooper.net
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