Lovers Premiere (Kimani Romance) (10 page)

“Hey,” he said with a sudden note of seriousness. “You know me. I'll wait as long as you need me to.”

She did know that; had known it for a long time. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“No. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For finally asking
me
to marry
you
.”

T
he next morning, Sofia strolled through the office doors of Limelight Entertainment Management wearing a big smile. Almost everyone she passed in the building seemed to go out of their way to stop and offer their congratulations and well wishes. Sure, there was one or two of them that pointed or snickered about the Elvis impersonator or the small clip of Ramell giving her a strip dance—which, had, incidentally, generated hundreds of thousands of views online.

But none of that bothered her. She was too excited about her date tonight. Not even Stewart, who had screwed up her coffee order and dropped a very important director's call four times in a row, could upset her. It turned out she wasn't on her A-game, either. While Larry Franklin was still trying to lowball her on Ethan's next contract, her mind was still trying to figure out what she
was going to wear that evening. When she left for work that morning, she had narrowed her selection down to seven dresses.

“Sofia, are you still there?”

“Huh, what?” She blinked out of her stupor.

Larry cleared his throat. “I'm sorry. Was I boring you?”

“No.” She started to apologize but stopped. “But I'm still disappointed in the offer.” Sofia had no idea what he'd offered, but it was her job to press for more anyway so her answer couldn't have been wrong.

“All right, all right. I give. We'll accept your last counter offer. Does that make you happy?”

She perked up. “Extremely.”

“I'll have legal draw up the contracts,” Larry huffed, and she could tell that he was lighting one of his favorite illegal Cuban cigars. “I have to tell you, Sofia, I had hoped that marriage would have softened you a little.”

“There you go thinking again, Larry. I told you that was a dangerous proposition.” They shared a brief laugh and then ended their call. A second later, Uncle Jacob knocked on Sofia's glass door. She glanced up and smiled. “It's about time you rolled in,” she said, glancing at her watch.

“Actually, it's my day off. I only came in to see you,” he said, strolling over to her desk. “Two days after your nuptials and you're already back to work? I was hoping that marriage would've curbed some of your workaholic ways.”

“Seems everyone has been hoping that marriage would change me,” she said, a little irritated at that discovery.

Uncle Jacob's kind face crinkled at the corners. “Not change you. I just want you to slow down and smell the roses.” He moved around her desk and opened his arms. “In my eyes, you and your sister are perfect.”

Sofia stood and embraced her uncle. Because he was her father's twin, it had always been easy to view him as both her uncle and her father. With him around, she could never forget her father's face. And when she wanted to see her mother all she had to do was look in the mirror.

“I come bearing news of your wedding reception,” he said after they had exchanged a long hug.

“The wedding reception.” Sofia sank back into her chair. “You know Aunt Lily really doesn't have to go through any trouble. In fact, I'm sure that she has to be up to her eyeballs helping Rachel plan her wedding.”

“Nonsense. We want to celebrate both of your unions.” His smile doubled in size as his gaze started to shimmer with tears. “I know that your parents have to be smiling down on you two right now. I've only met Ethan a couple of times but I know that he and your sister are going to be happy for a long, long time. And as for you.” He reached down and tweaked her nose. “I've known for a very long time how Ramell has felt about you. I don't think anyone who has ever been in the same room with you two didn't know that one day…” He waved his finger and then winked.

Sofia smiled but dropped her gaze.

“But how do you feel about him,” Jacob asked. “Do you love him?”

She took her time thinking the question over. She
thought about the years that she had foolishly blamed Ram for the things his father did. It had been unfair, but at the time it was the only way she knew how to cope.

“Sofia?” Jacob pressed, concern starting to seep into his voice.

“I think I've always loved him…in some way,” she finally said. “Given how I've treated him, I'm not sure that I deserve him.”

Jacob chuckled. “We all deserve love, Sofia. Don't you ever forget that.”

She nodded and let his words wash over her.

“As for your reception, it's next Friday and then the week after that we all head out to Napa Valley for Rachel's wedding and for Thanksgiving.”

“Next Friday?”

“It was going to be sooner than that but Emmett is out in New York and won't be back until that Wednesday so we settled on Friday.”

Sofia's hands tightened on the pen in her hand. “She's inviting Emmett?”

Jacob paused and then said softly, “Well he is Ramell's father. It only seems right to invite him to the wedding reception.”

Sofia clenched her teeth together in order to prevent herself from saying something nasty. But the effort was hard and it instantly brought on a headache.

Jacob watched her reaction and then seemed to struggle with something. “Sofia, maybe it's time we had a little talk about Emmett Jordan,” he started, propping a hip up on her desk.

“No,” she said sternly. “The last thing I want to do is talk about that man.”

“But—”

“I mean it,” she snapped, feeling her face heat up. In the brief three days she had to think about this marriage, she hadn't given much thought on how she was going to have to handle
him
being her new father-in-law. The only solution that popped in her head right now was to keep the same game plan that she'd always had: stay the hell away from him.

“Well thank you, Uncle Jacob. I'll definitely tell Ramell our schedule.”

Uncle Jacob's brows hiked up. “He's not here? You left him home alone?”

“Actually, he mentioned something about needing the day off to plan for our first date.”

Jacob laughed. “Well, in that case I guess it's all right. You have any idea what he has in mind?”

“None.” She thought about it. “Maybe I should be worried?”

“Or,” Jacob said, standing again, “maybe you should be excited.”

 

Sofia didn't work a full day, something that should have been marked in the history books. Instead, she begged for her favorite hairdresser to fit her in. After that it was a rushed manicure and pedicure and then an eyebrow threading before racing back to her penthouse to decide on what to wear.

“What happened to my other Prada shoe?” she wondered aloud while she searched her bags. After another
twenty-minute search, she gave up and went for her black Jimmy Choos and a black Chanel dress.

Their date was for eight o'clock and that was exactly when her door bell rang. She gave herself a last casual glance in the mirror and went to answer the door. She started off with a casual stroll, but when the bell rang a second time, she ended up doing a light jog to the front door.

When she opened it, Ram stood on the other side in a black suit with one hand in his pocket and the other one mysteriously behind his back. “Good evening, Mrs. Jordan.”

That wonderful feeling of warmth rushed through her body again. Once again, Ram looked good from head to toe and she had to force herself to stop staring. “Evening.”

“Mind if I come in?”

She stepped back with a smile. “Absolutely. Come in.”

When he strolled through the door, his signature cologne filled her senses and weakened her knees. His white smile and kissable lips had her heart tripping in her chest. When on earth had he learned to turn her on so quickly? “I brought something for you,” he said.

“Oh?” She closed the door behind him.

Ramell gently pulled out a bundle of daisies. “I didn't think I'd be able to find them in November,” he admitted.

Tears stung the back of her eyes while her smile tripled in size. “My favorite.”

“I know.” He stepped closer and tipped her chin. “I
remember.” His head slowly descended until their lips locked together. His broad chest felt wonderful pressed against her. Her heartbeat became erratic. If this was all that he had planned, then he wouldn't get any complaints from her.

This is crazy.
But despite that, she was willing to see where this wild and unexpected ride was going to lead her.
Everyone deserves love.

Ram pulled back and then kissed the tip of her nose. “Are you ready to go?”

Not sure that she could speak, she nodded. But when she tried to walk, she still wobbled a bit.
What on earth is this man doing to me?

“Where are your bags?”

“Uh. I haven't actually had a chance to pack yet,” she informed him, looking for a vase that would fit her short stemmed bouquet. “It took all of my free time just to get ready.”

His gaze roamed over her again. “Don't worry about it. It was worth every second.” He offered her his arm and then escorted her out of the penthouse.

“Am I allowed to know where we're going now?” she asked when he opened the passenger-side door of his car for her.

“No.” He tossed her a wink and then shut the door. A few minutes later they were on the road and cruising down the highway.

When it became clear where Ram was taking her, a fresh wave of tears filled her eyes. “I don't believe it.”

Ram reached over, took her hand and kissed it. “Are you upset?”

Sofia shook her head as she stared at her old childhood home. The white three-story mansion nestled on a grassy knoll looked exactly as she had remembered. In a lot of ways it was as if time had just stood still. For years she kept promising herself to come by the old estate, but always allowed herself to get caught up with work or some other social function. A part of her also believed that the memories would be too painful, but now that she was standing there she couldn't stop smiling. Only belatedly did she realize that the lights were still on.

“Does someone live here?”

“Not exactly.” Ram climbed out of the car and rushed to the other side to help her out.

Taking his hand, Sofia looked up into Ram's soulful eyes and felt like she was stepping out of his car and into a dream. Again, she wondered at the magic he seemed to be able to cast over her at will. How she had been able to fight it as long as she had would probably be a mystery to her for the rest of her life. But right now, at this moment, she just allowed it to consume her.

“Our table awaits,” he said.

Sofia cocked a curious smile, but floated along beside him as he escorted her around the house. Once they made it to the backyard her gaze immediately zoomed to the large oak tree where she and Ramell used to steal childhood kisses. Tonight, a round linen-covered table with two flickering candles sat beneath it. Next to it a singular waiter and a violinist awaited them.

“Oh my God.” Sofia clutched a hand over her heart and a fresh wave of tears threatened to ruin her makeup.
She glanced to her left and met Ram's gaze again. “It's beautiful.”

“Believe me, it pales next to you.” He leaned over for another kiss. Each time he did it was as if heaven had momentarily touched down on earth. When their lips pulled apart, he escorted her the rest of the way to their waiting table. He'd pulled a few strings to get Patina to cater this evening. It was Sofia's favorite restaurant according to her sister. And he made sure to have her favorite meal prepared. “I can't believe that you went through all this trouble,” she said as he pulled out her chair.

“It was no trouble at all. I wanted to do this.” When she sat, he brushed his lips lightly against her shoulders. When her soft skin trembled beneath his touch, his chest swelled with love and his confidence soared. He took his seat and allowed the stirring music from the violin and the evening's cool breeze to wrap around them while their waiter busied himself removing their silver trays.

“You're quite the romantic,” Sofia said, blushing.

“I hope you don't mind.”

She shrugged shyly. “I guess there are worse things in the world.”

Ram couldn't stop looking at her. He could sit there all night watching the evening's gentle breeze play with her hair. Between the candlelight and the moonlight, she looked like she'd just descended from heaven.

“Stop.” She shook her head, looking uncharacteristically shy.

“Stop what?”

“Stop looking at me like that.”

He laughed. “And just how am I looking at you?”

Her cheeks stained red as she shook her head. “You're making me self-conscious.”

“I'm sorry, but I can't help it. I've never had a wife before.”

Her eyes met his again, but something flickered in them that scared him for a moment. “What is it?” he asked, wanting to tackle any problem head on.

“Well, I guess…I'm wondering, what are we doing? It's not like we really meant to get married, right?”

The question shaved a few inches off of his smile.

“I mean when I started receiving all those calls and Uncle Jacob seemed so happy…I couldn't bring myself to tell them…”

“Tell them what?” his voice dropped as he prepared for her to say something that was going to tear him apart.

“I couldn't tell them the truth.”

He sat silently during a few bars from the violin before he could bring himself to ask. “And what is the truth, Sofia?”

Her eyes started shimmering with tears while she tried to find the right words. “That's just it. Our truth is complicated.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Not on my end.” Ram reached across the table and took her hand. “My truth is that I'm thrilled that we're married. I love that you have my last name because I have loved you my whole life. And I have a sneaking suspicion that you feel the same way about me. I just never understood why you insisted on fighting it.”