The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (13 page)

“
No. Not at all,” Desmond
said.

Sherita just shook her
head, then took a sip of water.

“
I don’t know, Dante,”
Desmond said. “Sherita doesn’t look like she’s sure about
this.”

Sherita looked up at
Desmond, held his gaze and responded, “That’s because I’m
not.”

“
Then don’t do it,”
Desmond said with an arrogant grin. “Nobody’s forcing—”

“
Des…chill, man,”
Dimitrius said.

Desmond sat back in his
chair. “Fine.” He angrily bit into a croissant.

Sherita took a breath then
took another sip of water.

“
So, as I was saying,”
Dante continued, “I need you two at the courthouse
tomorrow.”

Sherita nodded. “Dante, I
forgot to ask…how long will I have to do this…you know…this
marriage thing?”

“
Right now, we’re looking
at five months.”

Sherita’s eyes grew big.
“Five months! Why so long? I thought it would be a shorter term
than that.”

“
I’m sorry,” Dante
apologized. “I should’ve told you that yesterday, Sherita. I was so
overjoyed that you were willing to do it that it completely slipped
my mind. So yes, it will be for five months, and you will also need
to live together.”

Sherita shook her head
saying, “Okay, that’s where I draw the line. I’m all for helping
you guys, but I won’t live with him.”

Desmond chuckled and said
facetiously, “This is nice. Y’all tell
me
to chill, but she sits here and
talks about me like I’m not even at this table.”

Sherita looked at him. “I’m
not talking about you, Desmond.”

“
I won’t live with
him
,” Desmond repeated. “You didn’t just
say that? Like I’m so bad to live with. It’s not like we’re going
to be sharing a bed or a room for that matter. You’ll be in the
basement.”

“
In the basement?” Sherita
asked. “I’m not sleeping in anyone’s basement.”

“
Okay, let me
rephrase…it’s a studio apartment, not your typical basement. I had
it converted to a top-of-the-line apartment for guests.”

“
Is that okay, Sherita?”
Dante asked

Sherita looked at him, then
glanced at Emily, seeing the pleading look in her eyes.

“
Yes. That’s
fine.”

“
And there will be rules,”
Desmond told her, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the
table. “This isn’t a traditional marriage by any means. That means
nothing about it will be traditional. Since such is the case, I
have a few things I want to go over with you so you know what
you’re getting into. Feel free to write them down if you don’t have
a good memory.”

Sherita kept on eating,
pretending she wasn’t listening to a word Desmond was
saying.

Desmond continued, “One –
you don’t cook for me, clean for me, wash my clothes…nothing of the
sort. I have a maid service, and I order takeout. Two – you will
not have any guests showing up at my house. Emily and Melanie are
fine. No one else. Three – don’t bother bringing a lot of clothes
and things because five months will go by like the blink of an eye,
at least that’s what I’m hoping. Four – if we so happen to be in
the same room at once, do not ask me how my day was or inquire as
to my whereabouts, and I won’t inquire of yours. There may be more
rules coming…these are just a few I shot off the top of my head.
Questions?”

Melanie’s mouth fell open
wider than Emily’s had. Neither had witnessed Desmond behaving like
this before. They’d heard stories from his brothers about how
challenging he could be to work with and how insistent he was about
getting his way. That’s what made him phenomenal at his job. But
there was no reason to talk to Sherita like that. No reason at
all.

After dabbing her mouth
with a napkin, Sherita said, “No. I don’t have any questions.”
Pushing away from the table, she stood up. “Thanks for dinner,
Emily. I’m going to go…not feeling so good.”

“
I’ll walk you out,” Emily
said, standing.

Melanie stood up. “Me
too.”

After the women exited via
the front door, Dante looked at Desmond and said, “You’re going to
mess this up for us…you know that, right?”

“
I told you I didn’t want
to do it anyway,” Desmond said.

“
Well, you
have
to do it,” Dante
said, raising his tone. “Snap out of it, man. I don’t know what
your problem is with Sherita, but everyone else seems to get along
with her, just fine, except for you.”

“
So you’re going to pick
and choose who I’m supposed to like and don’t like now?”

“
No, Des—”

“
Then why are you, Dante?
Jeez, man. I’m not the immature twenty-year-old you had to watch
after after Mom and Dad died. I’m thirty. I can think for myself.
It’s bad enough I have go along with this cretinous, pretend
marriage to start with. Why don’t you just thank your lucky stars
I’m doing it?”

Desmond pushed away from
the table, exiting out of the front door. He breezed by the women
in the driveway without saying a word, then got inside of his jeep
and drove away.

“
I don’t know
what his problem is,” Emily said, “But I don’t
feel like this is a good idea, Sherita.”

“
It’s fine, Em,” Sherita
told her.

“
No, it’s not,” Melanie
chimed in. “He’s so rude to you.”

“
It doesn’t matter,
Melanie. It’ll be fine. I’ll stay out of his way and afterwards,
I’m leaving. My lease is up in a month so instead of renewing, I’m
going to put my stuff in storage and save the money I was spending
on rent to prepare for my move. Everything will work out, now y’all
stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine.”

“
Are you one-hundred
percent sure you want to do this?” Emily asked again.

Sherita nodded. “Yes. I’m
sure.”

“
All right.”

The women hugged, then
Sherita got inside of her car and drove away. She would be okay.
Dealing with Desmond wouldn’t be an issue because she knew how much
she needed a change. Living with him would be a means to an end. It
was a way for her to save money since she would no longer have to
pay bills associated with her apartment. It would afford her the
opportunity to look for a new home in Myrtle Beach. Her new
beginning would happen soon enough, and nobody, not even Desmond,
would stand in the way of that.

CHAPTER 15

Desmond saw her the moment
she rolled up in the parking lot with her little, navy blue Honda.
He’d been standing in front of the courthouse, waiting for her,
pacing back-and-forth, dressed in a gray suit, black leather shoes,
a royal blue and white checkered shirt and a solid royal blue tie
that brought the outfit together.

With his hands in his
pockets, he watched her get out of the car and swallowed hard at
the sight of her. She actually had on a dress, a white one, but it
wasn’t a gown. It was more like a summery, beachy dress – one that
stopped at her knees, showing off her legs. She had her hair curled
in spirals, bouncing all around her face and then there was her
make-up. It was done beautifully and the sparkle of her lip gloss
caught his attention. Held it.

“
Hi,” Sherita told him,
and it took everything inside of her just to say that.

Desmond didn’t say a word.
He just stared at her lips. He wasn’t sure what to expect from this
courthouse wedding. Would they say vows? Would he have to kiss her?
Could he handle kissing her and manage not to feel anything from
it, unlike the last kiss they’d shared? He’d been thinking about it
last night while sitting at the dinner table.

“
So, are we going to do
this or not?” she asked.

“
We are. Here, take this.”
He handed her a platinum band. “You’ll have to put it on my finger,
so you may as well hold on to it.”

“
Was I supposed to get a
ring for myself?”

“
No. I got your ring.
Let’s go,” he snarled, reaching for her hand.

She looked
puzzled.

As if reading her thoughts,
he said, “We have to make this look good, right? May as well start
now.”

The moment she grasped his
hand, she felt a current navigate through her body. And why was he
holding her hand with a death grip?

Together, they walked
inside of the building. Desmond hadn’t realized how tightly he was
holding Sherita’s hand until he felt her attempt to wiggle her hand
free. So he loosened the grip, then waited patiently. They weren’t
the only couple getting married today.

“
Do you, Sherita
Wilkins take Desmond Champion to be your
husband?”

Still in acting mode,
Sherita looked at Desmond and smiled big. “I do.”

Desmond hid a
frown.

“
And Desmond Champion, do
you take Sherita Wilkins to be your wife?”

He faked a smile. “I
do.”

“
Then by the power vested
in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your
bride.”

Desmond, holding Sherita’s
gaze, leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. It hadn’t
been anything further than a prolonged peck on the lips, but it was
enough to signify this union. Enough to send his heart pounding
again. Enough to confirm what he’d already known – that Sherita was
the woman for him. Still, he didn’t like it. He could acknowledge
it, but he wouldn’t act on it.

They exchanged rings.
Sherita gasped when she saw the yellow diamond Desmond slid on her
finger. It was one spectacular, jaw-dropping ring.

Walking back outside,
hand-in-hand, the same way they had walked in, Sherita looked at
Desmond. “Now what?”

He let go of her hand.
“Carry on with your day. I’m going to work. You do whatever it is
you do on a Friday.” He turned to walk away then stopped and said,
“Oh, almost forgot…” He reached in his pocket and took out a key.
“You need to move in today, so if you don’t have anything to do
with your time, why don’t you get started with that.”

Sherita took the key from
the palm of his hands. “Thanks.”

Desmond turned around and
walked away. There was no
you’re
welcome
or
enjoy
the rest of your day
…nothing of the sort.
He just walked away.

Sherita shook her head.
This had to be the coldest, most unimpassioned wedding in
history.

* * *

“
So how’s married life?”
Dante asked, withholding sarcasm from his voice as he peeped around
Desmond’s office door.

“
I knew I should’ve locked
the door,” Desmond grunted.

“
Come on, Des,” Dante said
walking in. “Sherita’s a good woman, and you know it.”

“
Do you know how
many
good
women
I’ve been with, Dante?”

“
I don’t think
you
know how many good
women you’ve been with,” Dante quipped.

“
You joke, but it’s true.
I
don’t
know. My
point is, I never put a ring on their fingers, so being a good
woman doesn’t necessarily mean Sherita’s worth changing for. None
of the others were.” With his elbows on his desk, Desmond massaged
his temples. “All I know is, Victor better not back out of this
deal. I still can’t believe I actually went through with this
nonsense.”

Dante took his cell phone
from his suit jacket when he heard it beep. He read the text
message from Emily. It was a simple
I love
you
text that brought a smile to his face.
He texted her back, told her the same and then focused his
attention back on Desmond. “After you blew up at dinner last night,
I suspect I know what’s going on with you…I know why you’ve never
been in love.”

“
Dante, I really don’t
need this right now.” Desmond kept rubbing his temple.

Ignoring him, Dante
continued, “When Mom and Dad died, you were the youngest. We all
took their deaths hard, but you took it the hardest, and I tried…I
tried to be there for you, but—”

“
Stop. All right? Just
stop! You got what you wanted, Dante. I married the girl! Now go
make Victor happy. Fifty-million dollars is on the line, remember?”
Beyond irritated, Desmond pushed away from his desk and left the
office, slamming the door. Four hours later, he’d already regretted
his decision to marry Sherita, and he was angry at Dante for
putting him in this position.

CHAPTER 16

Sherita had just navigated
her way to what she thought was Desmond’s house. Her eyes grew big
when she turned into the driveway of what looked like a mansion
sitting on at least ten acres of land. She noticed the stucco
material on the outside of his house, a new roof, a three-car
garage and horseshoe driveway. She double-checked the address again
to make sure she was at the right place. She doubted that Desmond
would live here alone. She’d heard he lived in a big house, but in
her mind, she couldn’t picture one this large.