Chapter 358 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“What?” Sonia asked, confused.

“Can you stop giving me relationship lectures and just listen when I’m talking to you? I already raised the subject and talked to him about it, so your lectures right now aren’t necessary. Maybe if you hadn’t gone on and on about marriage this morning, I wouldn’t have misunderstood his actions or raised the subject like I did when I did. So please stop!” Celsie said, and Sonia pressed her lips together and raised both hands.

“Okay. Go on. I’m listening.”

Celsie said nothing for a moment as she sat on her dressing stool, and looked into the jewelry box that contained her stylish, but inexpensive jewelry. “I told him I don’t want to get married, but he says he wants to get married,” she said as she took out three pairs of earrings.

“Am I allowed to speak now? Or should I just keep quiet and listen?” Sonia asked, and Celsie tried not to roll her eyes.

“I said don’t give me relationship lectures, I never said be mute.”

“Great. My mouth was already itching to speak. I don’t want the summary version of your conversation. I want the details. What happened?”

Celsie turned to look at her, “You are not going to include this in your story, are you?” She asked suspiciously.

“I will change a couple of things, I promise,” Sonia said, reasoning how she would change the way Celsie’s character in her novel would present the subject to Benne’s character. She would rather a discussion like that happens in the bedroom, probably after an hour of intense lovemaking.

Celsie drew in a deep breath before going on to tell Sonia about all that transpired between her and Benne, “…he says we will find a way around it. Do you think there is any way we can reach a compromise without both of us getting what we want?” She asked, and Sonia rolled her eyes.

“You said you don’t want relationship advice from me,” Sonia reminded her.

“I’m not asking for a lecture. I just need your opinion. Both my heart and stomach are jumping at the thought of having this conversation again with him later, and I need to be objective when the time comes,” Celsie said, unable to hide her worry.

“You should relax.”

“I can’t. I love Benne. I don’t want us to break up, and I don’t want to be selfish either. But I really don’t think I can do this marriage thing…” Celsie said, and Sonia raised a brow.

“Can’t or won’t?”

Celsie shrugged, “Both have always meant the same to me.”

“Then perhaps it is time for you to learn to distinguish between them. Can’t is a matter of lacking ability, and won’t is a matter of lacking willingness,” Sonia said as she rose and walked over to where Celsie was seated by the dressing table.

“I understand that this whole thing is not easy for you, Celsie, and I’m sorry that I pushed too hard this morning. You didn’t need that. You don’t need the pressure from me or anyone else for that matter. I’m both happy and grateful that you have a man as thoughtful and considerate as Benne in your life who loves you so much. I’m confident that you will both figure this out and work something out, I trust you, and I trust Benne,” Sonia said with a confident smile as she brushed a hand over Celsie’s hair.

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Once Jade arrived at Harry’s apartment, instead of going straight to the guestroom where she had spent the last two nights to pick up her bag, Jade decided to look around Harry’s apartment before leaving. By apartment, she meant his bedroom.

It still surprised her that he had never been with a woman before. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that a full-grown, wealthy, and good-looking man like him had never been with a woman. She had been with just Todd since he was her first love, and she had given in to having sex with him after much persuasion on the night of her twentieth birthday.

She paused when something else occurred to her. Did that also mean that he had never kissed a woman before? Was that possible? Kissing wasn’t the same as sex, was it? Or was the kiss they had shared the previous night, his first kiss? Her heart fluttered at the thought of giving him his first kiss, and she raised her finger to touch her lips as they curved in a smile.

Although she knew that she was snooping and invading his privacy, she was too curious about him to care. Her conversation with Sonia earlier had ignited a kind of longing within her for him, and since she couldn’t see him physically, she wanted to feel close to him in other ways. She wanted to know him better and understand him more.

As she pushed open the door that stood between her and his bedroom, her lips curved of their own volition when she stepped inside and saw the state of his bedroom. As expected everything was in its place. Harry was a meticulous man, she thought as she walked further into his bedroom.

His bed was laid out so straight that it called to her. She stifled the urge to lay on the bed and inhale his scent, as that would be creepy even for her, and she knew that even if she decided to give in to the urge, it would be next to impossible for her to straighten the bedspread the same way she had met it. Then Harry would definitely know that she entered his bedroom.

She walked around the bedroom like an inspector, hoping to find something that she didn’t already know about him. Hopefully, something that would tell her that he was interested in her.

She walked over to his bedside table when she noticed two photo frames sitting on it, facing the bed. She leaned forward as she picked up both frames, and her heart felt heavy when she saw that one of the frames was a picture of a beautiful young lady. She studied the lady’s face, and something about her seemed so familiar, but Jade couldn’t place her fingers on it.

The lady had honey-brown eyes like Harry’s, and her hair was a mass of curly gold hair. Her eyes were gleaming with laughter, and her lips were curved with an infectious kind of smile with dimples flanking both sides of her cheek. She looked so beautiful and of life.

Jade didn’t need anyone to tell her that was Harry’s mother. The resemblance between them was striking, and maybe that was why the woman seemed so familiar. She couldn’t imagine how much Harry must miss the mother he never met to have her photo by his bedside.

Her gaze moved to the other frame in her hand. It was the photo of a very attractive-looking middle-aged man with Amber eyes. He was holding a fishing rod and scowling at the camera, even though his eyes were gleaming with laughter, and the corners of his lips looked like he was struggling not to smile.

“I thought I heard someone come in,” a deep masculine voice spoke from behind her, causing Jade to spin around in surprise.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise when she gazed into the same pair of Amber eyes she had just looked into in the photo.

Great! What a nice way to meet the senior Mr. Jonas for the first time.

Jade appraised the senior Mr. Jonas, as he did her too. He was dressed in a blue-striped shirt and black chinos trousers, and he was barefooted. He looked big, robust, and comfortable. He seemed like the kind of man you would feel safe in his company even without knowing his name. The man didn’t look like he spent a lot of time in the gym, although his skin was tanned like he spent a lot of time outdoors.

He looked very handsome too, and although Harry had inherited some of his mother’s facial features like her eyes and dimpled smile, there was no doubt that he had gotten some of his good looks from his father too. Like the straight nose, the full lips, his bushy brows, and his hair too.

Although Harry’s rich black hair was inherited from his father, the senior Jonas’ quiff-styled hair was beginning to sprout some gray hair at the temple. His well-groomed beards were already gray, and it all added to his sexy zaddy look. Perhaps she could trade the son for the father? She thought, amused.

‘What a way to think about the father of the man you’re interested in,’ Jade chided herself.

“I promise, I wasn’t stealing from him,” Jade said, for lack of anything better to say.

“I promise, I wouldn’t mind if you were. I’m sure Harry wouldn’t mind losing a possession or two either. Seeing how you could get into his apartment so easily, I’m sure it’s not your first time here,” Aaron Jonas said as he eyed the lovely lady who was standing beside his son’s bed with both photo frames in her hands.

He knew his boy well enough to know he wouldn’t let just anyone into his home. Hence he was curious to know who this beauty was and why she was in his son’s bedroom. Seeing how she was holding the frames, he could easily have assumed that she was there to clean, but there was nothing about her that suggested she was a cleaner. Not her clothes, and definitely not the confident aura she exuded.

From his tone, she sensed that he was jumping to conclusions about her relationship with Harry, so she decided to clear the air quickly, “It’s not what you think…”

His eyes twinkled with humor, “It’s definitely not what I think. If it were, you would be holding a cleaning rag and probably wearing an apron,” he said, and Jade felt laughter bubble within her.

“Besides, I doubt that you would go for those frames first if you were here to steal,” he said, directing his gaze to the frames she was still holding.

Jade’s lips curved with an awkward smile as she glanced at the photos in her hand. Okay, so how was she going to explain snooping through his son’s bedroom when she wasn’t in a relationship with him and she wasn’t a cleaner? “I was looking for something…”

“I hope you find it,” Aaron said with a straight face as he stepped forward, offering her a hand, “I’m Aaron Jonas. Harry’s father. I’m sure the frame would have told you that already,” he said, and Jade dropped the frames gently before taking his hand.

“I’m Jade Delgado, Harry’s friend. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Mr. Jonas,” Jade said and watched as the man’s eyes lit up.

Delgado. That explained it. “Oh! The intelligent beauty. The pleasure is all mine. And please call me Aaron,” he said as he shook her hand. His face beamed with pleasure, telling her he meant every word he said.

The intelligent beauty. So Harry had said something to his father. She was curious to know exactly what he said and when. “I didn’t know you were in. I was just going to…”

Aaron waved off her explanation, “You don’t have to explain anything to me. Whatever happened in here, stays here,” he said, making a zipping gesture on his lips, and if Jade wasn’t already in love with the man, she fell in love with him.

“Thank you,” Jade said, feeling more relieved and grateful than embarrassed since she had no idea how she was going to explain herself. She was glad that he was the one who caught her snooping and not Harry.

“If you have found what you were searching for, do you mind sharing a glass of wine with me?” He asked, and Jade smiled once again.

“I would love that,” Jade said as she walked out of Harry’s bedroom with his father.

He led her to Harry’s bar and poured white wine into two glasses before handing a glass to her, “So you’re Benne’s sister, the lawyer?” He asked as he sat down on the barstool next to her but turned in his seat so that he was facing her.

“The one and only,” Jade said with a grin, and Aaron chuckled.

“Harry told me about you the first time you met,” Aaron said, a smile playing on the corner of his lips, and without taking his eyes away from her, he sipped from his glass of wine.

Hearing that, Jade’s curiosity was aroused, “I’m tempted to ask you what he told you,” Jade confessed as she sipped from her wineglass, and his smile broadened as he dropped his glass of wine on the counter.

“The same way I’m tempted to ask you what you are doing in his apartment and searching for in his bedroom.”

“But you said I didn’t have to explain anything to you,” Jade reminded him as she sipped from her wineglass.

Aaron nodded, “Of course, you don’t have to. The same way I don’t have to tell you what he told me either,” he said with a sly smile, and Jade giggled as she watched him with interest.

“Are you suggesting that we trade secrets?” Jade asked, looking at the man whose eyes were glittering with mischief.

“I wouldn’t dare say that to a lawyer, would I?” He asked with an innocent expression as he picked up his glass and raised it to his lips.

She laughed softly this time, “I actually stopped by to pick up my bag. I’m on my way home. I was curious to see what his bedroom looked like. Hence I was there,” Jade said, and he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

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