“And?” Jonah prompted.
“You’d lose your job as the CEO.”
Jonah pushed a strand of hair off my face. “Sweetheart, I’ll look into Dylan. I’ll make sure he doesn’t pull any tricks on us.”
“And I appreciate you kicking him off the premises, both at Altika and here,” I said, giving him a kiss.
Jonah’s lips tipped up. “Good. Because I don’t like him near you. It makes your face look sad, and I can’t tolerate it.” He gave me a slow, deep kiss, and I smelt his scent, felt his lips on mine and relaxed into the moment. We spent a minute in each other’sarms, kissing until he drew back. “Besides, do you really think Dylan could do anything to make my life miserable?”
Ah, yes, the reminder that Jonah was one of the wealthiest men in Manhattan and the world did bend to him more than I could believe.
“Perhaps not, but I can’t take the risk,” I said, smiling. “As it turns out, I don’t want to see you look sad either.”
“I appreciate the sentiment. But let me remind you, there is no chance Dylan can do anything to make life difficult for me,” he said, scowling briefly at the memory.
I had to keep from grinning at his response. “Yes, sir,” I teased.
His expression lightened, and the tension in my heart eased.
“Lexi, believe me when I say, Dylan may be a problem, but you don’t have to handle him all by yourself anymore.”
“Uh-huh. Because you’re my man.”
Jonah’s face changed into a full out smile. “More importantly, because you’re mine.”
I should have been flustered and irritated at those words, but I liked them. I liked belonging to him.
49
LEXI
That Friday, when I was going home, I got a call from Sasha.
“There are two women here. Personal shoppers for Jonah who’ve shown up with clothes and stuff for you. What do you think? Should I let them in?”
I was holding tight to Evie’s hand as we crossed the road, so I distractedly told her to go ahead.
When we got home forty minutes later, Sasha launched herself at me.
“What’s this about you going out for the night and all of tomorrow?” Sasha asked as I walked in with Evie.
I’d texted her on my way home, letting her know of my plans for the weekend.
I pulled her aside while Evie shrugged off her jacket and bag and sat down to play with her train set.
“Jonah’s planned for me to spend the day with him tomorrow,” I whispered to her.
I’d already prepared Evie for this on our ride home, but now that it was close to the time Jonah would arrive to pick me up, I was starting to feel twisted up inside.
“Uh-huh, I kind of figured it was a big deal,” she said, grabbing my wrist and hauling me upstairs.
She threw open my bedroom door, and I stopped dead in the doorway.
In my bedroom, three towering department store racks occupied the floor. The racks were heavy with beautiful clothes made of silk, satin, and cashmeres.
On my bed, there were twenty pieces of jewelry, laid out like a private boutique, arranged on velvet trays, with names I hardly recognized. Cartier, Buccellati, and Messika, to name a few.
This wasn’t a surprise. Jonah had sent things for me before, but this time, he’d gone the extra mile. My heart thudded in my chest because things like this didn’t happen to girls like me. Not unless this party was a really big deal.
