Page 51 of At Your Service
Before he could answer, Jacoby spoke. “You got something for me, young man?”
“Ah, yeah. I have it right here.” Major reached around to his back pocket and pulled out some folded papers. “All you need to do is read over the lease and sign it. I can take it back to the facility today and you can move in as early as tomorrow.”
Nina stood. “Move? What facility? Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?” Her hands were trembling and her heart was about to pump right out of her chest.
Jacoby took the papers Major handed him and then waved his free hand. “Go on, take her in the house and say your piece before she flips out. She never did like not knowing or controlling everything. Gets that from me, I suppose.”
Major stepped closer to her. “Can we go inside and talk for a minute?”
She didn’t know what to say and still couldn’t believe he was there. “I guess that’s what we’re supposed to do at this point.”
Before Major or her father could say another word, Nina walked into the house. She passed through the kitchen and stopped in the center of the living room, turning to see Major as he followed her inside.
“What are you doing? You got my father into that facility you were talking about, without consulting me?”
“I consulted your father,” he said with a nod. “And before you go off telling me I had no right to do that, I wasn’t going to. When I called your father this morning, it was strictly to ask him if he would mind me coming by to see you. He brought up the facility, asking if I knew of any places in New York that he could afford on his budget.”
“No,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “That’s impossible. His budget isn’t enough to hardly cover the expenses in this house. And his home...our home...is here in York.”
“I wish it could be in New York with me,” he said quietly.
“Major—”
“Wait,” he said, holding up a hand. “Just give me five minutes. Let me just get this out the right way this time and then you can react. You can tell me to kick rocks and leave you alone forever, if that’s what you want. But please, just listen.”
She folded her arms over her chest because the warmth that was now swelling there alarmed her. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Early this morning she’d sat on that porch resigning herself to having fallen in love when that hadn’t been her plan and to making the best of the help she’d gleaned working with his family’s company for the short time she’d been blessed to do so. She hadn’t thought of contacting Major again or going back to New York to see him. She would deal with whatever legal repercussions were brought on by her breaching the contract, but her new plan was to move on.
“I love you,” he said when she nodded for him to continue.
“I didn’t plan on falling in love and neither did you. We planned to do what was best for our businesses. And to be totally honest with you, Nina, I believe in my heart that you and I partnering together in a consulting and development firm that will cater to a full scale of technological needs to the fashion industry is the best career move for us.”
She opened her mouth to speak and Major stepped closer, touching a finger softly to her lips.
“I’m not here to save you, your father or your business. Because you don’t need to be saved. You’re a brilliant, beautiful woman with a bright future ahead of you whether or not you take me up on this offer. But I don’t know how to move forward without you, Nina. You walked into that building all those weeks ago and the moment you bumped into me,yousavedme.”
He slid his finger away.
“You saved me from the lonely life I’d resigned myself to because I refused to trust again. You agreed to do what was a crazy job from the start and, every step of the way, all you were concerned with was doing your very best to make that crazy job work, for my family’s company as well as for your own. I can’t thank you enough for your help and I couldn’t let you go without admitting to you that I need you. I want you, for real this time.”
Tears welled in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
“You knew all I wanted was to take care of my father.” Her voice was shaky and she wanted to stop. She wanted to turn away from him and go somewhere alone to break down under the pressure of emotions that had steadily built with each word he’d spoken.
“You’ve taken care of your family for so long. You thought it was your job, but it wasn’t. Your father asked me to find him a place in New York because he feels that’s the only way you’ll follow your dreams. I did it because I love you and I want your dreams to be my dreams. I want us to do this business thing and the family thing together.”
The first tear rolled down her cheek and she cursed the warm, wet feel of it.
Major used his thumb to brush that tear away.
“You weren’t planning to buy my business,” she said slowly. “You wanted us to be partners all along?”
He nodded. “I would never take anything away from you. I believe what you’ve built can enhance what I’ve started. And my father and RJ loved your ideas about the accessory line for RGF. I told them about it when I was hijacking RJ’s email account to schedule that message you received.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “I knew RJ hadn’t written that.”
“No, but he had a good time saying he told me so while I typed it. My dad appreciated my groveling to you a bit more than I expected, as well.”
He used both hands to cup her face now, tilting her head up to his. “I’m dying to kiss you.”
“Kisses aren’t part of the negotiations this time, Major.”
He froze at her words.
“I want more,” she said, coming up on the tips of her toes to touch her lips to his briefly. “I want a real engagement party where you’ll officially slip my ring back onto my finger, and a huge wedding and when we launchourbusiness, I want it to be called the Gold Service.”
His smile spread slowly and warm tendrils wrapped around her heart. “I think that can be arranged,” he replied.