Chapter 359 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Oh! I’m glad. For a moment there, I thought you found out about the money he embezzled to buy me a house, and you were in his bedroom to get evidence against him,” he said, and Jade looked at him with a confused frown, thinking he was serious, and then she giggled when she realized that he was pulling her legs.

This man! “You got me there for a moment,” Jade said, and he grinned.

“How come your bag is here, yet you don’t know what his bedroom looks like?” He asked, and Jade smiled in understanding as she raised her glass to her lips once again.

She set down the glass, “I spent the last two nights here. He let me stay in his guestroom, so I don’t know what his bedroom looks like.”

Aaron knew she was telling the truth since he had moved around the bedrooms to see if there was anything new once he arrived, and he had noticed the bag and feminine cosmetics in one of the guestrooms, “And you slept in the guestroom?”

From his tone, Jade could tell he was hoping she had slept in Harry’s bedroom, “With the lock in place.”

Aaron looked at her for a moment, and she didn’t miss the disappointment in his eyes, “Am I assume that you chose to stay here because something is stirring between the two of you, or did your brother suddenly run out of bedrooms in his mansion, so you had to find an alternative place to stay? Perhaps he decided to convert his mansion to one of his luxurious hotels?” He asked with such a straight face that once again, a laugh bubbled out of Jade.

She realized that she was laughing and smiling a lot within the short time she had spent in his company. Harry’s father seemed to have withheld humor during the gene transfer. Or maybe Harry had it but just didn’t show it when he was with her. She reasoned when she remembered his interaction with Celsie the previous day.

“My dad is at Benne’s. Today is his birthday, and I’m supposed to be the birthday surprise,” Jade said, but Aaron did not buy it.

“And neither you nor your brother thought that a hotel would be safer for you instead of the house of such a gorgeous single man? You guys must trust my son a great deal. Now I feel like I did a very bad job raising him,” he said, slapping his face dramatically, but Jade could see the humor in his eyes even as he said it.

“You should be proud. You raised a gentleman,” Jade said before downing the remaining content of her glass.

“There are times I wish he weren’t so gentle. A woman like you shouldn’t feel so safe around him,” Aaron muttered under his breath, and Jade’s laughter rang out.

“So, what did he say to you?” Jade asked curiously.

“Seeing how curious you are to know what he thinks of you, am I to assume that you are interested in him?” Aaron asked, deliberately evading her question.

“I thought we were trading secrets, and it was your turn to answer my question, not ask me more questions?” Jade asked, and Aaron shook his head.

“When did I ever agree to trade secrets with you?” He asked with false confusion.

Jade’s mouth rounded in a silent O as it dawned on her that Harry’s father had tricked her into telling him what he wanted to know without returning the favor.

“You sly old man,” Jade hissed, and Aaron chuckled.

“You had both just finished speaking that night when I called him. He was very impressed. Not just by your beauty, but by your brains too,” Aaron said, not wanting to go into the details of his conversation with his son.

“And you still remember that after over four years?” Jade asked, surprised.

Aaron’s lips twitched, “Harry isn’t the type to talk about girls. He barely shows interest in them. You are the only girl he has ever talked to me about, so how do you expect me to forget that?” Aaron asked, and Jade leaned forward with interest.

“Do you think he likes me?” Jade asked hopefully.

Aaron angled his head as he considered her for a moment. Although he wanted Harry to get into a relationship, he trusted Harry enough to know that if Harry were interested in Jade, he would get around to telling her about it eventually, and if he was holding back, then he must have his reasons.

“Do you think he likes you?” Aaron asked without answering her question once again.

Jade pursed her lips, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Do you like him?”

“It’s hard not to like him, considering how well you raised him,” she said, and Aaron smiled as he raised his glass to his lips.

“I don’t know about him, but I like you. I can see why he found you interesting,” Aaron said after a while.

“I like you too,” Jade said with a grin, “So when did you get here? Is he aware that you are around?”

“No. I am here to surprise him, so I hope you can keep our meeting to yourself, at least until he sees me,” Aaron said, and Jade gave him a nod.

“Sure. Whatever happens in Harry’s absence stays there. I should get my stuff before he gets back from work,” Jade said as she slid off the barstool.

Aaron gave her a nod as he watched her walk away. He stood up when she returned a moment later with her bag and walked up to her.

“It was nice meeting you, Aaron,” she said as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his cheek. Even though she had met him less than thirty minutes ago, she felt at home with him.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said with a pleased smile as he reached for the bag.

“Don’t bother yourself on my account. I can manage,” she assured him.

“I hope I get to see you again sometime,” Aaron said as he followed her to the door.

“I hope so, too. Take care of yourself,” Jade said as she opened the door and walked away.

Now that Benne was alone in his bedroom, he had more than enough time to ponder on the issue Celsie had raised in the vehicle. Although he had tried his best to appear calm and unbothered so that she wouldn’t be more upset than she was, he was more worried about the issue than he had let on.

Celsie didn’t want to get married. His heart contracted at the thought, which completely contrasted with everything he had ever wanted. Right from when he was a kid, he had always thought about getting married and being a strong and reliable husband and father like his own father. He had worked as hard as he could to attain success because he wanted his future wife and kids to live in comfort and luxury. He had worked hard to build an empire so that he would be able to give his family all his time and attention when the time came. Family meant everything to him.

Initially, when he had met her for the first time, he had thought she didn’t want to get involved with men because she lacked experience in that area and was just closed to the idea because she was a workaholic. And then, after she told him about Jaime, he had thought that her awful experience was the reason she had been avoiding men, and he had somehow come to believe that now that she was with him, she was getting over it. He had planned to take things slowly with her until he saw that she was ready for them to get married.

He had thought that it would be a case of later, not never, for her. And that was because he had assumed that since her mind about relationships had changed, naturally, she wouldn’t mind getting married. But now, hearing her say it to his face. Telling him that she never wants to get married to him. That had cut right through his heart more than he cared to admit because not only did he want to make her his wife, but he also wanted to have kids with her, and she didn’t want any of that.

What then did she want? To just be in a relationship with him like this forever? Or to date him until she gets tired of him? Because he knew he could never get tired of loving her.

Even though he knew there were people in such arrangements who didn’t want marriage and were doing well in their relationship, it didn’t make sense to him. It would never make sense to him.

That sort of arrangement wasn’t for a person like him. He believed strongly in family and craved a family of his own. He wanted a wife and children around him who he would love, care for, provide for, commit to, and be responsible for. That was all he wanted. That was what he had always dreamed of until Celsie had come into his life and had become the only woman whose face he pictured when he thought of his wife. He didn’t want just any woman to be his wife. Celsie was the wife he wanted. How often had he looked at her and imagined her, ripe and soft, with a rounded abdomen, carrying the life they created together? How was he going to make this work out? He wondered as he combed his restless fingers through his hair and paced around his bedroom.

He knew that he could easily decide to just shrug it off and relax since a couple of weeks ago, she hadn’t even been interested in being in a relationship with the opposite sex. Yet, here she was, in a relationship with him now. It would be too easy to tell himself that if he could make her fall in love with him, then he could as well make her want to be his wife. But he wasn’t arrogant enough to believe something like that, and he couldn’t dismiss her concerns so easily or remain with her based on the assumption that she would eventually change her mind and get married to him. That wouldn’t be fair to her, and it definitely wouldn’t be fair to himself either if she never changes her mind, Benne reasoned.

A breakup wasn’t even an option since for him, it wasn’t a mere matter of just getting married to anyone for necessity but marrying the person who made his heart flutter. And that person was Celsie. It wasn’t a matter of just seeing just anyone ripe and round with his baby in her abdomen. He wanted to create life with the one person who had become the essence of his life. He wanted to watch their creation grow within her and see her aglow with the transformation. It was Celsie’s face he wanted to see beside him in bed first thing every morning and last thing at night. So he was more than a little bit bothered that she didn’t want all of that with him.

He replayed their entire conversation in his head, and although she had said she loved him, and he believed her, doubts were beginning to crawl out. He was beginning to question himself. He wasn’t sure how much she loved him or how much longer she would stay with him. Did she even want to live with him? Did he even know what she wanted, or had he just been doing what he pleased this whole time, while she had been going along with it for his sake, just like the whole sex stuff? Was that what these past weeks have been about? He knew he shouldn’t be having such thoughts, but he couldn’t stop himself.

He had been the one chasing her relentlessly from the first moment he laid eyes on her, and maybe he was doing too much. He realized that along the line, he had begun to treat her like an egg or a delicate china set that he expected to crack if he didn’t handle carefully, and although it wasn’t a bad thing, but maybe that wasn’t what they both needed since it was beginning to take a toll on him, and possibly on her too. Perhaps it was time he relaxed and just allowed her to come to him willingly without any pressure.

“What’s up?” Bryan asked, cutting into his thoughts as he suddenly opened the bedroom door without knocking.

Benne put on a bland expression as he glanced at him, “Nothing serious. Sup?”

“Must be serious if your hair is standing like that. I do that with my hair too, when I’m worried. I guess it’s a Delgado thing,” Bryan said, eyeing Benne’s hair which bore testament to his restless fingers as he walked further into the bedroom.

“Just trying to figure out stuff. What about Jade? When is she getting here?” Benne asked, changing the subject.

“Soon. I believe. Unless she has decided to toss us under the bus and just spend some more time with Harry. I’m traveling back tomorrow to settle a couple of things with Paul. Although Jeff is handling them already, my presence is needed,” Bryan said, changing the subject as he sat on Benne’s gold padded vanity stool.

Benne’s brow arched, “You need my permission to travel?” He asked, and Bryan grinned.

“You’re going to be my boss soon, aren’t you? I should start practicing how to be accountable to you,” Bryan said, and Benne scoffed.

“Let me know if he tries to make things too difficult, and I’ll take care of it,” Benne said, and Bryan made a hats-off gesture.

“Sure, boss brother!” Bryan said, and Benne’s lips twitched at his brother’s silliness.

“Let’s tell mom about Simon tonight. We’ve put it off for long enough,” Bryan said, and Benne glanced at him in surprise.

“I almost forgot about him,” Benne said with a sigh as he pressed his fingers against his eyes.

“Of course, you have a lot on your mind. Simon should be the least of your worries,” Bryan said with understanding.

“We can talk to her after the party,” Benne said with a sigh.

“And just so you know, I’m taking the case to court separately. I’d love to deal with Anita from my end while you do what you will from your end,” Bryan said, and Benne massaged his temple.

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