by Alycia Brown
I pulled away, catching my breath. “So what happens if I move to New York with you?”
“What do you mean if?” Ronan cocked his head as our eyes held. “Alexis, you’re going to New York. You’re going to be with me at all times. I’m going to show you the side of the diamond industry you never knew existed, and you’re going to design the world’s most beautiful jewelry. We’ll take over the world one cushion cut engagement ring at a time.”
I had to admit, it sounded pretty magical.
“Once I get you to the city, I’ll put you up in one of my penthouses,” he purred. “You know, the same one I live in. We’ll do everything together, Alexis. You’re going to have the time of your life. The whole world will be at your fingertips. You won’t know what to do with yourself.”
“And what’s in it for you?”
“Happiness by choice,” he said after a brief pause. “For the first time in my life, I’ll have made a decision that will directly result in my happiness.”
“How do you know I’ll make you happy?”
“Because you already do.” He leaned in and placed a tender kiss on my lips, lighting them on fire with a tingle of electricity. “We’re cut from the same cloth, me and you. We run on the same batteries. We want the same things. How could I not be happy with the woman who’s heart was made so perfectly to go with my own?”
Who knew hard-assed, take-charge Ronan Pratt had a soft spot? My hatred for him dissolved in an instant, and my grandmother’s words echoed clearly in my mind.
“Everything happens for a reason, baby. Even if the reason makes no sense at all.”
“Fine, Ronan. I’ll go with you. I’ll move to New York, and I’ll be with you.”
His hands skated down my sides, cupping my ass and hiking me up around his waist as he carried me to the sofa. “I knew you’d make the correct choice.”
EPILOGUE - RONAN
One Year Later
“Ms. Turner, can you come in here please?” I buzzed Alexis’ office phone.
Two minutes later she rushed into my office and shut the door. “You can’t keep doing this?” She was already unbuttoning her shirt. She knew the drill. Every day at precisely ten o’clock for the last two weeks we’d been having quickies.
I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t get enough of her. We’d been together officially for a year, but everyday with her felt brand new. When Alexis moved to the city, she brought with her a renewed energy and she brought into my life a sense of calm.
She was there for me from day one, and hit the ground running the second we landed at JFK. She was there when my grandfather passed away. She was there when my mother remarried to a pompous jackass. She was there when I took a two month trip to Africa to focus on my charity.
In every early morning and every late night, Alexis was there by my side, working tirelessly to keep the business running. On top of it all, she’d successfully launched a rebranding campaign at Pratt Diamonds which was centered on her eclectic designs. Profits had nearly tripled in the fourth quarter.
Alexis was already straddling me in my chair with her full lips pressed against my neck when I stopped her cold. Her face fell as if she were confused.
“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked as she climbed off me.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Oh, God, what is it?”
I reached into my pocket, pulling out a canary yellow box, Pratt’s signature line collection, and cocked it open. A flawless, ten carat diamond shined bright and casted sparkles across the walls of the room.
She lifted her hand to her mouth, though I could still see her smiling. “Ronan…”
I lowered myself to one knee and pulled the ring. “Alexis Turner, in the year that I’ve known you, you’ve brought more happiness into my life than I ever expected. You’ve been there for me through thick and thin. You’ve tolerated my mood swings and my demands. You’ve loved me with reckless abandon. I am asking you now, will you be mine forever? Fully and completely? Will you give yourself to me for the rest of your life?”
She wiped away a rogue tear and nodded, slipping the sparkler over her delicate fingers before leaning down and kissing my mouth.
We may have started things on a complicated page, but moving forward things would be simple: she was mine and I was hers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alycia ‘Aly’ Brown is a thirty-something mother of four living in the Appalachian part of Georgia. She is a stay at home mom by day and a loving wife by night (wink, wink). She got her start writing stories when her youngest kid started school and she suddenly had an abundance of free time to fill.
This was her first novella, and she sincerely hopes you enjoyed it!
LETTER / THANK YOU FROM THE AUTHOR
Thanks for reading my first book! I hope you were entertained! If you had a moment to leave a review on Amazon, I’d be very grateful.
I also want to take a moment to thank my best friend, Monica (whom I based Monique on!) and my beta readers, Charli and Tamara. Love you sisters.
Be Blessed,
Alycia
