Shannon asked a few questions, but for the most part, Claire, who clearly knew her stuff, was a font of knowledge. That she was proudly enthusiastic about the way Barrett did business was obvious, giving Shannon a measure of satisfaction at how well Nick’s efforts were paying off.
During part of their conversation, Shannon must have said something that alerted Claire to the length of time that she and Nick had known each other. She couldn’t fault the woman for being curious, but to her credit, Nick’s PA knew not to step too far over the invisible line of business versus personal. Shannon offered just enough detail to satisfy some of the questions that must have been running through Claire’s mind and then left it at that.
“We worked together on a water project in sub-Sahara many years ago,” she intoned. “Nick was a team leader, of course.” She laughed and added, “I was a translator, so in a way you could say that I worked for him, too!”
At Claire’s riveted expression, Shannon went on. “It was my job to make sure that Mr. Get-it-Done didn’t step on too many local toes…something that wasn’t always easy.”
The two shared a quiet chuckle at that assessment, and with Claire’s curiosity somewhat appeased, the tour continued. When they’d made their way to Claire’s desk outside Nick’s private suite of executive spaces, Shannon was just starting to feel the effects on her still-sore ankle of having been walking around in heels.
“Do you mind if I sit down for a bit, Claire?” she asked. “My foot is starting to complain. Nick tried to dissuade me from wearing my favorite shoes, and I’d rather not give him the satisfaction of knowing he may have been right!”
The two women laughed together as Claire guided her solicitously to a nearby sofa and offered to fetch her something cool to drink while they waited for the man of the hour to reappear.
Several long minutes passed as the two sat chatting while Shannon rested her foot before Nick’s voice sounded in the reception area. When he turned the corner, Shannon had a moment to observe him in deep conversation with a younger man at his side as they talked and looked to be comparing notes on their smartphones.
Claire stood in anticipation of her boss’s approach while Shannon continued watching Nick’s demeanor with his employees. He seemed approachable and, of course, well mannered and polite to everyone he came in contact with.
There was something about the young man at his side, though, that sparked her curiosity. He seemed familiar somehow but yet not. Turning her entire attention on the two men as they got nearer, a thunderbolt surged through Shannon when recognition lit up her memory.
“Oh my heavens!” she cried. “Is that you, Obi?”
Jumping to her feet with all thoughts of her aching ankle instantly forgotten, Shannon beamed in delight when the young man with Nick lifted his head in confusion and stared her way. Nick, momentarily surprised, looked back and forth between the two in confusion before realization hit him as well.
“Sharona?” the young man asked in a shocked voice. “Sharona?” he asked again as his eyes swung between the woman and his boss, who was mugging at him with a happy smile, nodding in answer to his shocked question.
Stepping forward before Nick could actually say anything, the young man swept Shannon into a mighty bear hug and swung her around in greeting.
“My Sharona!” He laughed over and over while Shannon giggled in delight.
Putting her down, the two looked at each other like long-lost siblings. “You’re all grown up, Obi Wan. I can’t believe it’s you! What are you doing here?” she asked taking in the tall, dark-skinned young man wearing a Western business suit whom she remembered as a local youth dressed in khakis and sneakers that they’d known from their time in Africa.
“I work for Barrett Global now,” he said, acknowledging Nick with a nod in his direction. “The Big Bwanna helped me get into a good college, and once I had my degree, he gave me a chance to work here.”
With that Claire, who still stood nearby, cut in with, “Big Bwanna? Obi Wan? Sharona? Am I missing something?”
The three of them laughed as Obi carefully explained that nicknames were how they all addressed each other years ago.
“We called Shannon by the name Sharona. Something I bet she learned to despise since all anyone ever did was sing My Sharona around her! My real name is Obi, so Obi Wan was a no-brainer.”
Claire smiled, clearly charmed, but asked, “And Big Bwanna?”
Shannon and Obi looked at each other laughing while Nick cleared his throat before adding, “Think John Wayne.” This brought giggles from Shannon, a huge grin from Obi, and stunned mirth to Claire.
When Obi did a dead-on impersonation of John Wayne’s stagger as he instructed invisible cowboys to “put the wagons in a circle,” it looked like Claire had to bite back an explosion of laughter that neither Shannon nor Obi tried to stop.
“Alright, alright,” Nick cut in. “Enough with the joking at the boss’s expense. My dignity is at stake, you two, and now Claire is wondering if she can permanently block that spot-on impersonation from her mind, so thanks a million for that, Obi.”
Although he sounded every inch the annoyed executive, Shannon delighted in the twinkling smile that lit up his face accompanied by those wicked dimples of his that never failed to heat up her thoughts. When Nick put an arm around her waist in clear possession, Obi’s raised eyebrows told a million stories and asked a million more.
“I didn’t know you two were still in touch.” When neither Nick nor Shannon fed any explanation into the brief silence which followed, Obi added, “Mama Jo will be so happy to hear that she was right all this time.”
At the mention of Mama Jo, Nick’s arm around her waist had tightened ever so slightly as Shannon’s questioning face met Obi’s.
“Mama Jo?” Shannon asked. “What do you mean she was right?” She looked up at Nick and found the confusion on her face mirrored on his. He shrugged in silent response and waited for an explanation along with Shannon.
Shuffling slightly as if he recognized perhaps he’d gotten too personal in front of Nick’s PA, Obi looked at his boss for clues how to proceed from there. When Nick asked, “You’re still in contact with Josephine?” Obi released a small sigh of relief and answered.
“She stays in touch. My mum keeps her up-to-date with letters and pictures I send home. Mama Jo runs the children’s center that Mr. Nick built last year,” he said with obvious gratitude as he looked from Shannon to Nick to Claire. “She always thought you two were destined to be together.”
Shannon tried swallowing around the huge lump of emotion that clogged her throat when Obi’s words hit home. Nick hadn’t abandoned the project they’d worked so closely on all those years ago. Not only had he found a way to bring Obi from desperate third-world poverty to a job and a career in New York, he’d also kept his interest alive with a much-needed family resource in a struggling area where children were often left without much in the way of aid or education.
The wife of a powerful tribal leader, Mama Jo had been the female equivalent of a medicine man. She was half French, having been born of a European businessman and a local woman, and had been heavily involved in the modernization projects affecting her tribal areas.
It was she who shared the story of the two birds, representing lovers united, which had led to the matching tattoos Nick and Shannon each carried. Learning that the kindly older woman with the wise eyes and bright spirit had declared them to be destined for one another made Shannon want to cry.
Finally finding her voice, Shannon stepped forward and grabbed both of Obi’s hands in hers, saying, “Please let Mama Jo know I send my warmest greetings to her and her husband, Obi. I’ve never forgotten her.”
“It would be my great honor to do so, Shannon,” Obi replied. “Perhaps next year when Mr. Nick visits the village you could come and see all the good work being done at the children’s center.”
Claire seemed to be nodding her head as though a handful of puzzle pieces suddenly fe
ll into place. “Is that the trip to Nairobi?” she asked while punching keys on a handheld device, probably checking her long-range calendar for details. “Ah, I see it here. You’re in Monte Carlo for Mr. Ben-Ari’s wedding and then continuing on to Africa.”
Shannon turned eyes rimmed with welling tears at Nick, who stood by uncharacteristically silent. The big, bad, powerful, unfeeling business tycoon was a huge fraud, she thought. He also did not like anyone acknowledging his altruistic actions, and just like the discomfort she picked up on coming from him each time the privileges available to him got mentioned, he visibly squirmed at mention of his still-vibrant connection to something Shannon thought he had scorned.
She wanted to hug him. No, she wanted to cover him with kisses and tell him in no uncertain terms how proud she was of the man he’d become and how sorry she was for not believing in him. Even though he had thrown her feelings away at the time, she now understood why and felt a measure of guilt at having judged him so harshly.
It took less than three minutes after that for Nick to wrap up their hallway conversation and send Obi and Claire on their way with Shannon promising to stay in touch with the young man. He wanted some alone time with the woman at his side, and he didn’t want any outside eyes intruding on the conversation he knew they were about to have.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ushering Shannon into his private office, Nick steered her immediately to a grouping of comfortable sofas and chairs that made up a seating area clustered before a series of tall windows offering spectacular city views. The moment she plunked down on the wide, deep sofa, Shannon kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under her legs, settling into the seating.
He saw the moment she noticed the crystal bowl of butterscotch candies sitting in the middle of a low coffee table also covered in magazines. Shannon sat there for the longest time, seemingly lost in thought, as she considered the beautiful Baccarat crystal and its contents. Nick waited in an agony of silence, wondering what she would say next.
He was prepared to explain and would gladly tell her whatever she wanted to know. He’d never really given much thought to his ongoing interest and involvement in the little village on another continent where they had first met. It was second nature to him, using his wealth to advance causes and concerns he felt connected to.
Obi was just one of several smart, driven young men and women from that area who he had lent a helping hand to. The children’s center was one of numerous charitable endeavors he’d been involved in as his thoughts drifted to the training classes and village clinic he’d spearheaded.
He expected Shannon to launch into a full-on inquiry, but instead she simply sat there, cute as could be with those long legs of hers tucked under her rear end while she thought god only knows what.
He held his breath when one of her small hands reached out and plucked a cellophane-wrapped candy from the elegant bowl. Nick thought she meant to unwrap it and pop it into her mouth, but she just continued to sit there silently with the candy grasped in her hand. Normally he found it pretty easy to read her thoughts, but at the moment, his own wildly careening emotions were making that nearly impossible.
When she dropped the tiny candy on the table and leaned toward him, Nick’s startled face got even more so when reaching out, she grabbed the ends of his tie, and pulled him towards her.
When she reached for him, he pulled her pert bottom onto his lap and let her cover his face and neck with kisses. He hadn’t expected a physical reaction, but he’d take it, that’s for sure.
The kisses she gave him were sweet and simple, expressions of the way she felt because words seemed to be inadequate at the moment.
They stayed like that, with her on his lap, for a long time. No words were spoken for none were necessary. It was a moment for remembrances and reunions as they used touch and lover’s sighs to communicate what language alone never could.
Shannon couldn’t wrap her mind around everything that had happened in the last hour, much less the last week. She was back with the only man she had ever loved, he wasn’t the prick she’d been imagining him as, and pretty much every thought and regret she’d been nursing for the past eight years had been turned upside down and replaced by a feeling of peace and happiness.
Some business intruded sometime along the way, but Shannon didn’t care. She was happy to be here by his side and even happier to have all the ghosts from the past well and truly dispatched to the ether forever. There was still one lingering memory, the unhappiest and most painful of them all, hovering around the edges, but now didn’t seem like the time to bring it up.
They ate lunch at a nearby restaurant where they were swarmed by paparazzi looking for a story. Mr. Allen stepped up when the camera flashes started going off and blocked most of their shots, but Shannon knew by the end of the day the media would be trying to figure out who the woman on Nicholas Barrett’s arm was. Was she ready for that? Well, she’d better be, she thought, since nothing short of a court order was ever going to separate her from this unbelievably wonderful man ever again.
* * *
After lunch, feeling stuffed and slightly exhausted, Shannon was shocked when their limo pulled up to the private entrance to a seriously high-end jewelry store.
When Shannon’s curious gaze sought out Nick’s for explanation, she was startled to find him looming over her with one of those cowboy-pirate rakish grins complete with dimples that rendered her thought process to a melted puddle.
The best she could manage was something that sounded like, “Er, um…Ni…uh,” as his smiling eyes bored into her soul.
He whispered so close to her mouth that she breathed in his words when he spoke, “This is where I get to throw around the Barrett name along with some serious cash and find you whatever ring you want, Shannon. Anything.”
The gentle kiss that followed was so sweetly tender and romantic that Shannon closed her eyes and sighed with happiness, so perfect was the moment.
Oddly, she felt that in all honesty, she didn’t need the ring. Didn’t even need the ceremony. All Shannon wanted was Nick. She was an odd bird, she supposed, with this way of thinking. As long as she had his heart, as long as he wanted her, she was all in. Nothing else mattered next to that. After all, his love was all she’d ever wanted or needed. It was kind of funny and ironic that, of the two of them, it was Nick who was the most hung-up on propriety and appearances.
He clearly wanted it all and had been exquisitely descriptive about what that meant. The ring was important to him, she thought. It wasn’t a wealthy man, trophy wife thing at all, Shannon acknowledged; it was an expression of the commitment he was making to her and to them.
When the long, sweet kiss ended, Nick lifted one of her shaking hands to his chest, saying, “I want you to take a piece of my heart and turn it into a diamond that you and I will know means so much more than just the symbol of an engagement. Do you understand, little one? You are my heart; take all of it as it’s yours anyway.”
“Oh, Nick,” Shannon sighed while she ran her fingers over his cheek and along his lips before ending up with her entire hand cupping the side of his face. His words had touched her heart more deeply than anything she’d ever heard before. Could it really get any better than this, she wondered.
With a shy smile, she told him what she was feeling, holding nothing back. “I’m nervous about this entire thing, Nick. It almost seems too good to be true.”
She sighed in frustration. “In the space of a week, our lives have been…” Finding the words wasn’t as easy as she thought. “You know what I’m getting at. This has been a lot for me to take onboard.”
“Shannon…” Nick interrupted.
She stopped him by saying, “No, Nick, let me finish,” while moving her hand against his mouth. Nodding in agreement, he then pursed those delectable lips and pressed a sweet kiss to her tingling fingers. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts after that.
“I will do all of this as you want it. The ring
, a wedding, even the house in the suburbs,” she continued, “but all of it comes with one condition.”
Nick experienced a fleeting heartbeat of fear as he contemplated what her condition would be. He’d do anything, he realized, absolutely anything, to ensure they stayed together this time. That certainty and inevitability calmed his emotions as he turned a half-smile at her serious face.
“I will do whatever is necessary for you to be happy, Shannon. To me, nothing is more important than that. Whatever it takes, and you will be happy, my love. I won’t have it any other way.”
That little touch of arrogant certainty at the end of his declaration of happiness amused Shannon to no end. Lord, but the man was magnificent when he was being so sure of himself, she wryly thought. All of her I am woman, hear me roar shtick went right out the window when he took control, although she certainly didn’t want him to know that. Besides, he was completely adorably awesome and sexy when he was being earnest and bossy, so why should she spoil the show?
“Nick, you say you want me to be happy. Well, my darling, here’s the thing. I can’t be happy unless you are happy, so we have a draw. I need to know that you want me, not just love me, Nick. I can only do this if you’re with me, by my side every step of the way.”
Nick understood what she was saying, and his heart swelled with joy and pride at how brave and straightforward she was being. She could only do that if she truly trusted him, if she was completely invested.
“Done and done,” he answered quickly. “Want, need, love. Done. You will never regret this decision, Shannon, love. This is my vow to you. It’s forever, you and me. My first priority from here on out is us.”
She smiled then, because what else could she possibly do? The idea of actually marrying Nick, of being Mrs. Nicholas Barrett, was totally unique and so completely outside the realm of possibilities she had anticipated in her life that Shannon decided to just step back and let the power of the situation sweep her along. After all, how often does a girl get to say that a billionaire tycoon fell in love with her and then took her to an exclusive lux jeweler telling her to pick out anything?
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