The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (25 page)

“
All right. Be careful
Rita, and call me when you get there.”

“
I will. Bye.”

Desmond had been
pacing the deck with his cell phone in his left
hand when the ringing snatched his attention away from his
thoughts. He saw a number he didn’t recognize and quickly answered,
“Hello.”

“
Hey, you.”

He closed his eyes, feeling
relief wash over him like the cold shower he’d had earlier.
“Sherita, I told you to call me. And why didn’t you leave your cell
phone number with me?”

“
Desmond, I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean for you to worry, but I’m fine. Everything is
fine.”

“
You didn’t leave me your
number. I was worried about you.”

“
I’m sorry, Des. I really
am. You forgive me, handsome?”

Desmond scrubbed his right
hand down his face and said, “Skip every hour. I need you to check
in with me every thirty minutes.”

Sherita grinned.

“
Why are you laughing?” he
asked, his irritation mounting by the second.

“
Des, don’t you think
every thirty minutes is a little excessive?”

“
Not at all. You’re alone,
on the road, and I want to make sure you’re okay Sherita. If you
don’t call me, I’ll call you.”

Sherita smiled. Then,
teasing him, she said, “Doesn’t mean I’m going to
answer.”

Frowning, he all but
growled, “Do you think this is a game to me?”

“
Desmond—”

“
I’m not playing around
with you.” He mumbled something incoherent, inadvertently, hanging
up the phone. He never wanted this, never wanted a woman this close
to him. He’d let her get too close, and now he had to deal with the
repercussions. Or did he?

CHAPTER 28

Sherita had tried calling
him back several times after their call was disconnected. At first,
she thought she dropped the call, or maybe it was his phone. Hours
later, she realized he must’ve hung up intentionally, especially
since he wasn’t answering her calls or wasn’t trying to call her
back. This from the man who ordered her to call at the top of every
hour, then every thirty minutes…

She’d seen multiple red
flags from Desmond – parts of his personality she didn’t like. He
was controlling – not like those Dr. Phil guest husbands who told
their women when to eat, sleep, cook and wash their feet. He was
controlling in simple things – in when he wanted her to call him,
telling her to drive his car when her car was perfectly operational
and even laying out those bogus rules for her when they first
entered into this
agreement
– rules he’d broken.

She also thought it was a
double standard for him to insist she didn’t see or talk to Thane,
not like she wanted to anyway. Still, she hadn’t told him to stop
talking to his women, and even if she had, would he have listened?
She wondered just how many women there were.

And the last thing about
him that bothered her the most was the fact that he was pretending
he loved her. If he really loved her like he claimed, then why did
he request they keep their relationship a secret from his family?
To pretend like they were merely nothing but housemates when they
shared the same bed? His bed?

Sherita shook her head and
placed a hand on her stomach, feeling queasy. Emily was right. This
thing she had with Desmond wasn’t going anywhere. They’d been
living together for close to two months, and she was still a
secret. If any man was going to claim to love her, then he would
have to express that love publicly. She wasn’t about to be anyone’s
secret wife.

Arriving at Ocean
Creek Resort in North Myrtle Beach where she had
her only job of the day, she gathered her camera and other
equipment, heading out to the beach where she would take pictures
of Josh and Lily Shaffer. They’d booked her for the job a year
ago.

Sherita held the camera in
her hand, instructing them on how to stand as they were immediately
in front of the shoreline. She’d already taken photos of the entire
wedding party. Now, she was busy snapping bride and groom
shots.

Bride and groom…

She thought back on how her
courthouse marriage to Desmond Champion had been the most rushed,
coldest ceremony a woman could have. There was nothing special
about the day. It was all about money. Seeing this couple happy, in
love and proclaiming that love in front of hundreds of guests left
her with a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach. A man had never
loved her this way, and she doubted one ever would.

Withholding tears, she
gathered up her equipment, then walked as quickly as she could to
the bathroom where she leaned over a toilet and vomited. The
fatigue of driving so far alone, working in ninety-degree heat and
then having to think about Desmond was stressing her out to the
point where she’d become sick. She wasn’t sure how much more of him
she could take.

CHAPTER 29

She drove to Desmond’s
beach house and sat there in the jeep, not wanting to go in. She
tried to call him again but he hadn’t answered. Now, she was
worrying. Sick and all, she was worrying.

For a split second, she
thought about calling Emily but decided not to. Desmond would call
eventually, once he got out of his sour mood.

Finally getting out of the
jeep, she opened the back door, took her suitcase from the back
seat, then rolled it to the front door of the house. She found the
house key Desmond had given her and when she unlocked the door, she
stepped in, pulled her bag in and closed the door.

“
When I tell you I love
you, do you believe me?”

Sherita turned around so
fast, she almost lost her breath. Desmond was standing there, in
the living room. Was she seeing things? He had on a pair of jeans,
a white tank top and his hands were hidden in the front pockets of
his jeans.

“
Desmond?” She placed a
hand over her heart. He nearly scared the life out of
her.

“
Answer my question,
Sherita.”

After balancing her
breathing, she asked, “Desmond, what are you doing
here?”

“
Answer my question,
Sherita,” he said in a demanding tone.

“
Answer mine,” she said,
thoroughly confused, hearing the beats of her muffled heart in her
ears. She’d left him standing in the driveway this morning and
didn’t expect to see him again until next Friday.

“
Okay,” Desmond said.
“This is
my
house. That’s why I’m here. Now, answer my question. When I
tell you I love you, do you believe me?”

“
No,” she answered
honestly. How could she believe him after what they’d done? What
he’d done? This marriage was nothing more than a business
transaction. Even when she thought they were becoming something
more, he’d told her not to tell the family about them.

He glared at her, hands
still in his pockets. “You don’t believe me?”

“
No. Is that why you came
here? To ask me that, when all you had to do was call me or answer
your phone? I—”

“
Why don’t you believe me,
Sherita?”

Holding his angry gaze,
Sherita said, “This is ridiculous. I didn’t expect to see you here,
and I didn’t come here for this, Desmond. I don’t feel good, I’ve
had a long, stressful day and I don’t need this right
now.”

“
Why don’t you believe me,
Sherita?”

“
It really doesn’t
matter.”

“
It
does
matter,” he said angrily, his
eyes darkening. He took a few steps closer to her and said, “Why
must we play these games?”

“
I’m not playing any
games.”

“
Then answer my question.
When I tell you I love you, why don’t you believe me?”

Sherita pulled in a
breath. Deciding to put it all out there and be honest with him,
she said, “I don’t believe you because my gut tells me the only
reason you said it was to keep me around. If I leave, your company
risks losing fifty-million dollars so naturally, you would do
whatever it took to make me stay – buying a laptop for me,
redesigning my website, letting me drive your car, giving me a
thousand dollars for spending money, the keys to your vacation home
– everything you do for me, supposedly out of generosity, has a
purpose and nothing about it involves love. It’s business, and I
get that. I signed on for that. But I didn’t expect to fall in love
with you, but I did. So when you tell me to pretend like there’s
nothing going on between us in front of the rest of your family, I
do it, while
pretending
it doesn’t hurt me. When you make love to
me…sorry, let me correct myself. When you sleep with me, I pretend
you are a man who actually wants me, who swept me off of my feet
and got down on one knee and promised to love me forever, but
you’re not that man. You’re just a man who sees what he wants,
knows what he wants and does anything to get what he wants. I know
I can’t compete with fifty-million dollars, but it was nice to
pretend.”

Sherita pinched the tears
from the corners of her eyes. “I take pictures of these happy
couples all the time and with every flash of my camera, I always
wonder when my time is coming. When my prince would sweep me off of
my feet and declare his undying love for me in front of everyone –
our friends and family. But that time will never come for me
because I always end up with men like you, and Thane.”

Without saying a word,
Desmond took a final step in front of her, placed his hands on her
face and said, “You don’t believe any of that.”

“
I do…every word of
it.”

“
Then why do you make love
to me, Sherita? You say I’m controlling, that I don’t love you and
that this is all about the money for me, but I have never, nor will
I ever, force you to make love to me. So why? Why do you make love
to me?”

With trembling lips, she
responded, “Because I love you, Desmond.”

He swallowed hard when he
watched the tear crawl down her face. He released her, turned away
then walked on through the kitchen and out the door.

Dabbing her eyes, she stood
there, in the foyer, debating whether or not he should stay or go.
One thing was for certain – she was tired of crying.

Taking her suitcase
upstairs, she pulled it inside one of the bedrooms and ran into the
bathroom, vomiting again. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d
been this sick. Then again, she couldn’t recall being this worked
up over a man, a job and on top of all of that, she’d had to deal
with her parents, their mortgage, then finding a new apartment in a
couple of months.

Peeling off her clothes,
she showered quickly then turned off the lights and slid between
the covers. In the morning, she’d be able to think clearer. She’d
be able to make a decision about whether or not she would fulfill
the remainder of this five-month marriage deal or go on her
way.

Desmond climbed the
stairs. He didn’t like what love was doing to
him. He’d been acting sporadically, irrationally, taking a flight
to Myrtle Beach with the sole purpose of making sure she was okay,
especially after all of those visions he was having. He could’ve
called her back, but her voice alone wouldn’t suffice. He needed to
lay eyes on her.

Standing over her bed now
while she slept, he thought about the things she had said – that he
didn’t love her because the only thing that had brought them
together was money. That was true – a business deal had brought
them together, but he knew what he was feeling for her had to be
love. He never went to such extreme lengths to ensure the safety of
a woman. He was never angry when he couldn’t reach a woman by
phone, and he never felt the urge to be close to a woman as he felt
with Sherita. And it hurt him to know she didn’t think his love was
real. He was insulted when she’d lumped him in the same category as
Thane.

He eased on the bed so as
not to disturb her, then rubbed his fingers on top of her soft
hair. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore, Sherita,” he whispered.
“You’re right about me. I’m no good for you.” He stood up again,
leaving her bedroom and headed to the living room. He shouldn’t
have come here. He realized that now. Come morning, he’d leave
before she had a chance to be upset by his presence yet
again.

CHAPTER 30

After reluctantly leaving
Myrtle Beach Sunday morning, Desmond returned home to Asheville in
the early part of the afternoon. Then he did what he did best – he
got down to business. He had lunch delivered, sat at the table in
the kitchen and ate alone, flipping through the newest edition of
Business World Magazine, reading an article Dante had texted him.
It was an entire write-up on Victor Westwood – how he had started
from humble beginnings and ended up a billionaire. He highlighted
points he could use, gathering some much needed inspiration for
marketing ideas. Then he began writing a list of tasks – things he
needed to accomplish for the upcoming week.