She pulls in a deep breath before she slams my office door behind her. "I asked if you would marry me."
I fumble for my suit jacket. I had tossed it over the back of my chair when I got into my office this morning. I had a full morning of calls and meetings related to the Wilkinson case. If all goes according to the settlement I've worked so hard to achieve, the granddaughters will begin receiving payments within the next three months. "I have to find the ring."
"You have a ring?" Jessica pulls her hand up to her chest in mock surprise.
"I've had a ring for the last six months." I push my hand into one pocket and I come up empty. "Where the fuck did I put that goddamn ring?"
"This is romantic." She taps her finger against the desk. "I can't have this be my memory of our engagement."
"You just asked me to marry you, Jessica." I'm on my feet now. "You can't take it back. Fuck, please don't take it back."
"I'm going to walk back out the door and get the secretary to announce that I'm here." She points at my office door. "She'll call me Ms. Ross but go with it. When I come back in, you'll have the ring in your hand and you'll get down on one knee and say something romantic."
I scrub my hand across my face. "What? Did you just give me a play-by-play on how to propose to you?"
"I did." She nods. "Do you have it? Do you know what to do?"
"No." I start towards her as she nears the door. "It's not happening like this."
She tries to pull open the door but my hand holds it closed. "Nathan," she practically screams my name. "I have to get to class soon. I don't have time for this. Let me leave so I can come back and you can propose."
I smile down at her, soaking in her obvious frustration. "It's not happening, Jessica. You don't get to control this."
"I'm going to say yes if you ask me today." She stomps her heel on the floor.
"You're going to say yes when I ask you and that's not going to be today."
She taps me on the tip of my nose, turns towards the door, throws it open and walks towards the bank of elevators without turning back around.
***
"I'm here as a client, not as an attorney." I toss the agreement Jessica gave me across the desk of my friend, Lyle Benson. "You're the family law expert. Tell me what you think."
He picks the papers up and scans them quickly. "This is the case you told me about on the phone?"
"I crossed out all the names." I had painstakingly spent last night copying every page of the document before crossing out the names. I trust Lyle but the last thing I need is a leak to the press. Jessica doesn't need her name dragged into anything to do with the Governor and his family.
He tosses the papers to the side. "Give me a day or two to go over this."
"I don't have that much time," I lie. I have all the time in the world. I've studied those documents for hours. I can't find even the smallest loophole. I don't even know what is driving my incessant need to find some way for Jessica to have a role in her daughter's life. I can only attribute it to my need to give her anything she craves.
"Sit." He motions to a couch against the wall near his desk. "Give me ten minutes."
I don't normally acquiesce this easily, but for Jessica I'll hang upside down if need be. I walk slowly to the couch, lower myself down and pray that there's something in those documents that will give her the chance she wants to see her baby girl.
Chapter 23
"I'll be done school in a few weeks." She sett
les down on my lap on the couch.
I push my phone to the side as I pull my arms around her. "I know. I'm excited to have my girl back." The words could be interpreted as selfish. They're not. I'm Jessica's biggest supporter. I pushed her to enroll in culinary school. I give her all the space she needs to focus on her career. Cooking is her passion. I want her to excel at it. I want her to have everything in life that she desires. I'll sacrifice whatever I can to give that to her.
"You're excited that I'll have more time to suck your cock."
I laugh out loud at how brash the words are. "You're starting to sound more and more like me every day." She is. She's so open about her desire for me, just as I am with her. We talk easily and comfortably about sex. We always have. It's just one part of our relationship that I cherish deeply.
"You can't deny it, Mr. Moore." She traces a path along my chin with her lips. "You love it when I slide your big, beautiful cock between my lips."