Page 158 of From Rivals to I Do

“Can’t wait to see you and make love with you! Winks,” he texts back.

“It’s a work meet, you naughty man!” I respond, smiling at the thought of him ripping this dress off my body. We have never had sex, and he knows how I feel

about it, but the thought of being intimate with Leonard gives me chills.

As I walk back to my office, I meet a young man in the waiting area,

“Miss Rayne?”

“Yes, that would be me,” I reply.

He hands me a parcel. “You have a delivery. Please sign here.”

I sign and collect my parcel.

“What are you up to?” I send another message to Leonard.

He takes his time to respond.

“Actually, those are gifts that were supposed to arrive yesterday as a congratulatory first-day gift, but I mixed the dates up, and it’s just arriving now. Very clumsy of me.”

“Okay. Thank you so much, baby.”

“Do you like them?”

I open the box. It’s an LV set, a silver purse, and silver sling-back sandals. The smaller box has a gorgeous necklace and earring set inside.

“Very pretty,” is all I can manage to text back.

“Not as pretty as my girl. Looking forward to seeing you.”

By 3:30 pm, Joe walks out and says we need to be ready to move in a couple of minutes. I pack my things, call the driver to bring the car around, and wait for

Joe’s instructions to go. I can feel the excitement rising in me. I’m going to be seeing my boyfriend as a client!

We arrive at the hotel a little late. Joe explains that the client has changed the meeting location from the reception area on the ground floor to the rooftop. I don’t make any comments but follow my boss inside.

As the elevator bell jingles and the door opens, I am almost beside myself when the first person I see is Charlee. Wait, Charlee?!

What is she doing here?

I peer closer. My daughter has a bouquet in her hands.

“Welcome, Mommy.”

Okay, dress, rooftop, and now Charlee. This is definitely not a meeting. How could I have believed such a lie?

I walk with Charlee on the flower petals scattered across the floor. My mom and Leonard’s dad, alongside a couple of friends, are on the side waving at me.

Some of them have their phones out, their cameras pointing at me. I look ahead, and I see Leonard. He is wearing a deep green tux that matches his eyes,

standing in front of a “Marry Me” prop with lots of flowers and candles.

I walk towards him, teary. This is so thoughtful and intentional of him. I’m sure pulling this off wasn’t that easy.

“So much for the miscalculation of dates,” I say to him as I finally reach him.

He is laughing so hard that it’s contagious.

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