“I loved him, but I don’t think he felt the same. He wanted a young pretty face on his arm. I was twenty-four and honored to have a man of his stature wanting me for his own. He disappointed me, too, just like my parents. I was relieved when he broke it off.”
“You could have been the one to break it off.”
“I know, but I was involved with moving up the ranks at Mountain Top. After he broke it off with me, I put my head down, dove into work, and got several promotions. Then Spotlight came calling to clean up their dysfunctional management.”
“Don’t let your past define you. I know you to be loving and kind, sweet, and caring. That’s the woman I want in my life.”
“Are you angry at me?”
“I am because you doubt yourself, but I still want to marry you.”
“And I want to marry you. Can you come back to bed?”
“What’s wrong with here?”
“Nothing. I want to be wherever you are.”
He turned and hovered above me before he latched onto my mouth. Austin made love to me, and when he was finished, he carried me back to the master bedroom and held me for the rest of the night.
11
It got out around the production community that JJ Wentworth attacked me. With his money and a high-powered attorney, he was able to work his way out of a sexual assault charge down to simple assault. He received a suspended sentence and a fine and was told to stay away from me. Jameson relieved him of his vice presidency at Sunny Sky to save the company’s reputation.
Austin and I shopped for engagement rings throughout the summer. I didn’t want anything flashy or even large. I didn’t want an engagement ring at all. We argued several times, and finally, he went out shopping on his own. He knew what I was interested in and preferred to choose something without my input.
The attack by JJ took something out of me. I wasn’t as hard or as brash, but I still knew how to run a company. Austin was right. I didn’t need to let my past define me. It had been months since I saw my parents and they were finally coming home from Africa. I planned to take them out to lunch and introduce them to Austin whom my mother called my mystery man.
“What should I wear?” Austin asked.
“Slacks and a dress shirt.”
“No tie?”
“I don’t think it’s necessary.”
We were meeting my parents at Le Garde Bar and Grill. It was a favorite for us and a common gathering place when they were in town. I worried they wouldn’t think that Austin was good enough for me. He was more than good enough and my better half.
I wrung my hands as we drove to downtown Los Angeles without realizing I was doing it until Austin stopped me. “Nervous?”
“Please don’t take offense to anything my parents say. They can be blunt.”
“Are you worried they’ll think I’m not good enough?”
“They’re opinion doesn’t matter to me. I love you.”
“What should I say if they ask how we met?”
I thought about this because if I said we met on vacation; my mother would raise an eyebrow. She believed in good solid foundations for relationships, and meeting someone in a bar or vacation wasn’t her idea of one.
“How about a screening? We often invite the public to review our movies before release.”
“Which one?”
“Wallaby Manor. You’ve seen it, and it was released in late January which means the screenings would be in late December, early January.”
“Why do we have to lie?”
“You’ll get it after you meet my parents.”
“Do you really think this man is for you?” my mother said.
We were in the restroom at Le Garde. My parents had been firing questions at Austin for the past two hours. He was cordial and polite even though I could see a hint of annoyance in his amber eyes.
“Absolutely. I love him.”
“Oh Samantha, you’ve only known him for six months. Did you tell him you love him?”
“Of course. He loves me, too.”
“I hope you plan on waiting if marriage is in your future.”
I looked in the large mirror as my mother washed her hands. “Why do you think he’s so wrong for me?”
“An English professor at USC? You can do better, and you did with Ivan.”
I frowned at my mother’s reflection. “Ivan was a self-absorbed, arrogant asshole. He dropped me for a woman over twenty years younger than him.”
“Maybe you didn’t treat him right.”
“He felt emasculated by my advancement at Mountain Top. I told you this.”
My mother took her compact from her purse, applying some to her nose. “If you’d become a doctor, you wouldn’t have this problem. You would’ve found another doctor to marry just like I did.”
I shook my head. “I hate the sight of blood. It would never work.”
“I still think you can do better than Mr. Doyle.”
“I don’t want to do better. I love him. Can’t you be happy for me?”
“I am happy, dear. I worry.”
“Worry about what?”
“That you’re getting involved because you’re lonely. You were always latching onto boys in high school because you had few friends.”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I dated in high school. I didn’t latch onto boys, and how would you know? You were always traveling.”
“We were doing for those in need. I’m sorry we weren’t there to hold your hand all the time.”
I removed some lip gloss from my purse and reapplied it to my lips. My look-alike mother stared at me.
“Since when do you use lip gloss?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, mother.”
“I guess not.”
She shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the bathroom before I was finished. I looked at myself in the mirror, feeling defeated. When I got back to the table, Austin was handing his credit card to the waitress for the bill. He fixed on my face and smiled at me.
“Austin, I invited you. At least let me pay the tip,” I said.
“I have it but thank you.”
I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. My mother gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek as did my father before we walked out. I was silent as Austin pulled out of the parking lot.
He squeezed my knee. “You’re quiet. What happened in the bathroom?”
“The usual bullshit. I don’t want to rehash it.”
We stopped an intersection, and while we waited for the light to turn green, Austin reached into his shirt pocket and held out his fist. “Open your hand.”
I looked at him, confused but opened my hand. In my palm, he placed a platinum diamond encrusted band.
“I planned on asking you to marry me at lunch, but your parents are impossible. I felt like I was at the inquisition.”
“You’re asking me to marry you?”
“You know I wanted to.”
“Even after that clusterfuck of a lunch?”
He nodded as he shifted the car, and we began moving again. “I’m not marrying them. I’m marrying you. Say, yes.”
I slipped the ring on my finger. It was a perfect fit and not at all what I was expecting.
“Why did you choose this?”
“You said you didn’t want a regular engagement ring, so I thought outside the box.”
“It’s beautiful. Yes.”
He took my hand in his and kissed the back then the finger with the ring. “I love you, Sammy.”
“Thank you, Austin. For all that you are and all that you make me.”
“I didn’t make you. You made you.”
“More. I need more.”
“Christ, Samantha, you’re going to be the death of me. What brought this on?” he panted.
“You’re my fiancé now. I want to know that you can satisfy me.”
His cock twitched inside me. We’d been in bed since we got home from lunch. I wanted him in the worst way
when we walked through the door of my house. He took me even before we were fully undressed.
“You know I can, and you also know I can go all night. You’ll be chafed by the time I come.”
“You already came twice,” I said.
He slid out of me and cuddled me in his arms. “A third time is not a problem.”
“I’m waiting to tell my parents.”
“I imagined you would. When?”
“They’re scheduled to go to South America in a few weeks. I can call them then.”
“I guess we won’t be having any warm and fuzzy holidays with them.”
“No. I highly doubt it. I found lunch to be uncomfortable. I love my parents, but everything I do seems to be wrong.”
“They should be ashamed of themselves. Leaving a young child with people, they barely know. In a way, our lives we’re alike though my grandparents were loving and kind.”
“I love Edith. She’s fun and spunky.”
“That’s grandmother. I want to visit her before the semester starts.”
“When?”
“In a couple of weeks.”
“The end of August?”
“Yes. That will give me a week when I get back to prepare my lesson plans and get the syllabus ready.”
I turned to look at him. “I made the reservations for the Maldives.”
“Maybe we should get married after Christmas and head there for our honeymoon. Ten days of my naked wife and gentle tropical breezes.”
“We haven’t even discussed what type of wedding we want.”
Austin kissed my cheek. “It’s your choice. I know how you hate crowds.”
I turned in his arms, so I was facing him. “Would you be okay with an intimate wedding?”
“Of course, I would. We could have fifty people at a small venue.”
“That’s what I want. Should we do it before Christmas?”
Austin reached over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand, scrolling through his calendar. “The twenty-ninth is a Saturday. Why don’t we do it then?”
“If that’s the case, then I have a lot to do.”
“We can get married in either one of our houses. Call a caterer, get a DJ. We could have the ceremony in the backyard by the pool of your house. You have more yard than I do, plus better parking.”
“I think most of the people will be your friends. I’ll probably only have my parents and a few people from work.”
“My friends are yours. Grandmother can come with Roman’s family.”
I stroked his chest. “I never met your brother.”
“You’ll love him and his wife, Sheila. They’re both very nice, and his children are adorable. You’re going to have to get used to having a niece and nephews.”
“I haven’t been around kids for a long time.”
“Time to get used to them, especially if we want one of our own.”
I bit my lip because I wasn’t sure if I would make a good mother.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure I have the maternal instinct. I would be a horrible mother.”
“I find that hard to believe. You’re caring and loving.”
I buried my face against Austin’s shoulder. I wasn’t sure if I could be a decent mother despite what he said. Only time would tell.
“Miss Stone, can I ask you a question?” Marina said.
“Sure, what’s up?”
She was sitting in my office, taking a few notes and pointed to my ring. “Did you get married this weekend?”
I looked at my hand and cleared my throat. “No, I got engaged.”
Her face light up with excitement. “Oh my God, that’s awesome. When’s the wedding?”
“We’re looking at sometime in December. We’re using our vacation to the Maldives as a honeymoon.”
“Good thinking. I’m very happy for you.”
“Thank you. I’m happy too.”
“Mr. Jindal called. He wanted to speak with you this afternoon. Can you make lunch?”
“What time did he say?”
“Noon. Otherwise, he said he could be here at two to have a discussion.”
“I prefer lunch. I need to get out of this office.”
She jotted some notes down on the pad. “I’ll let him know.”
“Please tell Antonio to be outside the building at 11:30.”
Marina nodded and left my office. I took care of some paperwork, made a few phone calls, and answered several emails before time came for me to leave for lunch. Downstairs, Antonio was waiting. Since the attack, we had a more cordial relationship which I enjoyed. He was pleasant and kind. I scolded myself for keeping our relationship as strictly business. He was a wise man.
“How are you, Miss Stone?”
“Antonio, I told you to call me Samantha.”
He put the car in gear, and we began to move. “I’m sorry. I need to get used to it.”
“It’s been several weeks,” I chuckled. “I’m fine.”
“And Mr. Doyle?”
“Ecstatic now that we’re engaged.”
“When is the wedding?”
“December twenty-ninth if we can get all the service people booked.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m very happy for you.”
We chatted about a few things, including his granddaughter’s fifth birthday this past weekend.
“Five already. Is she going to school this year?”
“Yes. She’s very excited. Are you planning on having children?”
“I don’t think I would make a very good mother.”
“Nonsense. I think just the opposite.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
Antonio dropped me off at the Tea Garden in downtown Los Angeles, tipping his hat as I got out of the car. Inside, Hassan was feasting on shrimp cocktail and drinking a martini. He stood when I approached the table.
“I’m starving. Myra has me on this ridiculous diet. It’s not working.”
“It won’t if you keep cheating,” I laughed.
“Shh, don’t tell her that.”
The waiter came, and I ordered a Caesar salad with grilled chicken and a glass of white wine.
“So tell me what this is all about? Why the urgency?” I said.
“Remember we spoke about…” his voice trailed off as he looked at my ring. “Are congratulations in order?”
I smiled. “I’m engaged. Austin asked me this past weekend.”
He fingered the stones, sliding over the diamonds. “But this looks more like a wedding band.”
“Austin wanted something different. When I marry, this will be my ring.”
He drained his martini before he continued. “Then this news might not be what you want to hear.”
“What do you mean?”
“We spoke about the studio in New York a few weeks ago, remember?”
“Yes, I do.”
I could feel a rock forming in the pit of my stomach, and my mouth suddenly felt dry as a desert. I took a long sip of water as Hassan continued.
“We finished with our due diligence. The company is squeaky clean, and the financials are good despite the shit show in management.”
My voice croaked. “What are you telling me?”
“We’re moving forward with the sale. I need you on board with this.”
I slumped against the back of my chair and looked down at my lap. “What does this mean for me?”
He chewed the shrimp in his mouth. “We need you out there. If the sale goes through as we planned, it will take three months, so we’re looking at early December. We would need you in the office in New York at the start of the year.”
“This is not good news. Austin and I plan on getting married at the end of December and heading to the Maldives for our honeymoon in early January.”
“Would it help if I tell you this would bump your salary twenty-five percent and open you to a bigger bonus?”
I sighed, pressing my back to the cushioned booth. “Mone
y isn’t everything Hassan.”
“You never would’ve said that six months ago. Austin has changed you.”
“In a good way. I still have my business sense, but I have him to consider now.”
“It’s a four to six-month commitment. Bicoastal and then once you have your staff trained and set, you can go to New York once a quarter or as you see fit.”
“I need to speak with Austin. What are my other options?”
Hassan signaled the waiter. “I need you, Samantha.”
“So there are no other options. I take this or what?”
I waited while he ordered another martini. “It’s not like that though I’m not the only one on the board who makes decisions.”
“Is my position in jeopardy?”
“I highly doubt it, but I prefer you work with us rather than give an ultimatum.”
“I’m not giving you an ultimatum, but Austin might.”
“Will you speak with him tonight?”
“I think I should speak to him when I get back to the office. He’s working around his yard today.”
“Very good. Let’s have lunch.”
I couldn’t eat because my stomach was in knots. I forced down a few bites, but that was all I could stand. When we were done, I had Antonio pick me up and went back to the office. Marina gave me my messages as I passed by her desk. I needed to call Austin and get this out.
He sounded out of breath when he answered. “Sammy, my love. How are you?”
“I just had lunch with Hassan.”
Austin’s lowered his voice. “Why is it that I’m not going to like what you have to tell me?”
“New York. It’s a reality.”
“And if I don’t want you to go?”
“It might mean my career.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“Not good, but you’re involved now that we’re engaged.”
I heard the bang of the glass slider. “I have a choice. Either you do this, or you end up resenting me because you lost a job you love.”
“I didn’t say I would lose my job, but they might demote me. Hassan said it’s not entirely up to him. The board makes the final decision.”
“That’s fucking crap. You’ve given your life to Spotlight, and they would dump you because you didn’t want to be transferred?” he growled.
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