Читать книгу Love, Honor or Stray: - E.N. Joy - Страница 12

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” the familiar voice spoke over the soft music. “I know you are probably more than surprised to see me right about now.” He gave Deborah a mischievous look. “But you didn’t think I’d give up that easily, did you?”

Deborah stood in what she now knew to be the dining room in the house. Her mouth hung wide, the opening for words to march out. But none came. Not a single one. Then finally, she was able to speak. “I… I can’t believe this. Wha…what have you done?”

He looked down and helped himself to one of the roses that sat in a vase in the middle of the dining room table. “Isn’t it obvious?” He slowly walked toward Deborah while smelling the rose. “I’ve fallen in love.” He extended the rose to her.

At first she just stood there staring down at the rose, still in awe at the sight before her. There were roses, dozens of them, in vases all around the room. There were flickering candles, scented ones. Deborah inhaled: vanilla candles. A bottle of sparkling cider sat in an ice bucket next to the roses on the dining room table. There was a place setting for two. It looked to be fine china and silverware. The flutes at each setting waited to be drenched with the non-alcoholic chilled beverage. The laced table cloth, a slightly dingy white, looked as though it might have belonged to his grandmother, probably the china too.

She met her hand with his, momentarily taken in by the delightful ambiance. Deborah quickly snapped out of her vanilla-scented trance. She demanded her hand take its rightful place by her side without the likes of the rose.

“Still up to your same old tricks again, huh, Mr. Chase?” Deborah asked with a glare, shaking her head. “First your little stunt at Family Café and now this.”

“Deborah—”

“Miss Lewis,” she corrected him.

He relented with a smile. “Okay, Miss Lewis. I’m not sure what you mean by my little stunt at Family Café. I remember you rambling something about me arranging a bogus meeting. I didn’t know what you were talking about then, and I don’t know what you are talking about now.”

He wasn’t lying. He had no idea what she was talking about because he hadn’t been involved in setting up any bogus meeting. Right before she’d left for her sabbatical, Deborah thought he’d gotten someone to pretend to be a prospective client just so she would agree to a meeting. With every intention of meeting this so-called prospective client at Family Café, Deborah was shocked when Lynox showed up. Initially, she thought he’d tricked her. When she later learned at Mother Doreen’s going away potluck dinner that there really had been a real client, that the meeting was legitimate, she had to admit that she had been wrong. But still, him just happening to be there, as if he’d been stalking her, was considered a stunt in her book.

“If I were going to set up some bogus meeting with you, Miss Lewis, trust me, it wouldn’t have been at the Family Café. It would have more like…” He looked around, impressed by his own handiwork. “Something more like this.”

She’d known from the first time she met him that Mr. Lynox Chase was persistent, but she was certain she’d seen the last of him that day in Family Café when she’d spit her lemon water all over him. Not only that, but she’d snapped at him and practically threw his manuscript he’d wanted her to shop as his agent back at him. What man in his right mind would still want to deal with a woman capable of all that?

That’s it! Deborah had figured it out. This man standing before her had to be out of his mind.

“You’re out of your mind, Mr. Chase, to think that I would fall for this…this…this whatever it is you’re trying to do,” she told him. “I am a child of the Most High. God is not going to allow me to be ignorant of the enemy’s devices.”

“Good, because I’m not the enemy. If I were, then why would God have allowed you to even come here in the first place, let alone come inside? I mean, what woman besides those crazies in those horror movies would have actually come into a stranger’s dark house? Are you kidding me?”

Deborah had to admit that he had a point, a good one. Why had God allowed her to come here? If it was a trick of the enemy, why had she fallen for it? Why hadn’t she gotten one single suspicion about the entire Mr. Born thing? She didn’t have the answers, but for now she had the solution, and that was to get out of there.

“Whatever, Mr. Chase. If I’ve told you once, I’m telling you again, I don’t have time for games. I hope you enjoy your evening.” On that note, Deborah turned on her heels and headed back toward the front door.

“But wait!” Lynox called out. Deborah stopped, but didn’t turn back around to face him, to face the brown-skinned, medium height, sculptured figure. He took a couple of steps in her direction and turned on the light.

“I didn’t know what else to do. You wouldn’t take my phone calls, you blocked my e-mail address.” He paused before continuing. “I had gone to eat at Family Café at least a dozen times before God showed me favor and you finally showed up.” He took another step toward her. “And I promise you on everything, before I’d walked into that restaurant, I’d said a prayer to God. I had told him, ‘Lord, if this is meant to be, then let it be, because this is my last time coming here.’ And I’d meant it. If you didn’t show up, I was going to let things go…let you go. But you did show up, and now I can’t… I can’t let you go.”

Deborah’s heart almost melted like the candle wax. She slowly turned to face him. She noticed his fresh haircut, a nice, tight fade. She blushed within at the thought he’d gotten a fresh cut just for her.

“I’d heard Family Café was the town restaurant that everyone went to, so I knew sooner or later you would too.” He grabbed his stomach. “I only wish it had been sooner. You have no idea what those twelve bowls of chili did to my digestive system.”

Deborah chuckled.

“Ah ha! The lady laughs.” Lynox pointed at Deborah, happy to finally see some emotion other than anger displayed. “Anyway, I’m sorry…about everything. Will you forgive me?” Once again, Lynox extended the rose to Deborah that he still held in his hand.

And once again, she stared down at the rose. After a few seconds of contemplation, she accepted it. “Because I am a woman of God, I must obey Jesus and forgive you.”

Lynox cheered up. “Great.” He rubbed his hands together. “Does that mean you’ll stay? I made a wonderful chicken parmesan dinner.”

Deborah looked around at the romantic surroundings. Not even recalling the last time she’d had an evening appetizer with a man, let alone a romantic dinner, she knew if she stayed, there was a chance she’d end up being dessert—or the brown-skinned hunk of a man standing before her would be hers. That was a chance she didn’t want to take. Well, she wanted to—her flesh did, anyway—but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. For His name’s sake.

“Sorry, Mr. Chase, but it’s a no.” She turned around and walked away before she could even consider changing her mind. She swooped a couple of her sister-locks out of her face before exiting his front door.

“You haven’t seen the last of me, Miss Lewis,” Lynox said with a smile as he watched her walk to her car.

Deborah got into her car and started it up, thinking, I hope not, Mr. Chase. I hope not. After inhaling the sweet fragrance of the rose, she pulled away from Lynox’s home, but not his heart.