Chapter 21

Jamie POV

I leave Crystal to ponder the things I have said to her. I do not want to overload her. Things are happening fast between us, much quicker than I ever thought things would happen. I cannot help myself; there is something about her that is so intriguing to me. I want to, oh shit; I want to marry her. I know she is not ready for that. I will take it slow and try to let her ease into this new dynamic of our relationship.

Do I still want her to be my little miss? Yes, I do; I want to be her daddy, her caretaker, her lover. I want to be everything to her. I want to give her the world. There is so much more to this relationship than I ever thought it could be until now.

I go downstairs to my office. I need to finish some work, and I have put off too much today. I sit down at my desk and turn on my computer. I open my email, and there is an email from Trey.

I open the email from Trey. *Urgent, Helen is causing trouble*

I grab my phone off the desk and call Trey. I have had all I can take of her trying to cause trouble. She did not even care about the clients until she saw I was happy without her. Now she wants to stir up trouble.

I select Trey’s number from the list and hit send. He picks up immediately.

“She is pissed about the event Friday,” Trey says.

“She will have to get over it, she will not be invited, and I do not want her near my house or Crystal,” I say.

“I know, but one of the clients coming in here, number one client, so how do I handle that?” Trey asks.

“That is what I pay you for, right. So handle it as discreetly as possible. Look, make the client an offer to come over to our firm, if they will not agree, then release the client to Helen. I am done with this mess. I do not want Crystal upset. This is not good for her,” I say to Trey.

“I get it. She seems like a nice girl. I will handle it. I only wanted you to know that Helen was trying to steal one of the clients,” Trey says.

“Fuck, man, if they want to go over to her firm, let them. I am not playing this game with Helen anymore. I want her out of my life,” I say.

“I never thought I would hear that. Crystal must really be special,” Trey says.

“She is special. Tell Andrea thanks for all of her help the other night. It meant a lot to Crystal,” I say.

“You got it. Andrea is coming Friday night. We had a hard time finding a sitter, but she is excited to come,” Trey says.

“Crystal will be pleased,” I say.

I hang up the phone. I have to cut Helen out of my life for good. No more shared clients or any business deals. We are finished.

I pull up a website to look at engagement rings. I must be crazy. This is way too soon. No, it is not. I know she is the one for me. I am going to ask her Friday night in front of everyone. I would like to talk to her friend Liam first. I could look at her phone records to get his number, or I could ask her for the number.

There is no need to be sneaky or invade her privacy. I have to learn to be a different kind of daddy for her. This change in our relationship is going to take some time on my part. I want to do this for her. She is not like the others. She is the one for me if she wants to be the one.

I scroll through the rings. I know her favorite color is purple. There is one three-karat diamond ring set in purple stones. This is the one for her. I select the ring. I do not know her size. How in the hell will I get her size? Liam can help me with this.

I rush up the stairs to Crystal’s room. I hope she agrees to move into my room soon. I open the door, but she is not in her room. I look down the hall and see my bedroom door open. I go down to my bedroom, and she is in my bed taking a nap.

I walk over to the bed and brush her hair away from her face. She opens her eyes. “I am sorry I was tired after all the running I did today and because someone woke me up early,” Crystal says.

“No, it is fine, please sleep; I was wondering if I could have Liam’s number. I want to make sure he has everything he needs for Friday night,” I say to her.

“My phone is on the charge, take it,” Crystal says, pointing at her phone. I kiss her on the forehead. I take her phone off charge and take it with me to my office.

I open her phone to see Liam has already texts to check on her. He is worried about her and her new relationship. I cannot blame him for that. I select his contact number and call him from her phone.

“Hello, Sexy,” Liam says as he answers the phone.

“Hello yourself,” I say to him.

“Oh shit, sorry, I thought you were Crystal,” Liam says.

“I figured as much. Listen, I need a favor,” I say.

“Sure, what do you need?” Liam says.

“Do you know Crystal’s ring size?” I ask him.

“I know every size she has from her… wait, never mind. She wears a size seven ring,” Liam says with a laugh.

“Thanks. Listen, do you have a tux for Friday night?” I ask.

“No, but Crystal was going to help me find one,” Liam says.

“No need, go to Barrons on Main. Do you know where that is?” I ask.

“Yeah, it is uptown,” Liam says.

“Go there tomorrow; I will tell Joannie that you are coming; she will fix you right up,” I say.

“Thanks; I hope we can talk Friday night. I love Crystal, and I want to know she is in a good situation,” Liam says.

“ I will make sure we have time to talk privately,” I say to him.

I hang up the phone. I go back to the website and order Crystal’s ring in size seven. It will be delivered Thursday afternoon.