Simple Perfection (Perfection #2)(52)

Nile nodded. "I see," he said.

What the hell did "I see" mean? I was going to marry Della.

"I'm going to shoot straight with you, Woods. You're a good man. You have a bright future. When the woman you want to marry walks into your life, you will know it and you will want to be married to her. So, seeing as how you aren't thinking of marriage to Della just yet, I know, as a man, that you aren't sure she's the one for you. I was going to wait but I have decided to ask Della to move to Phoenix and live with us. Jillian is on board with this idea. We stayed up most of last night talking about it. We have an extra bedroom and Della can finish school. She's only twenty. She needs a family around her."

I could hear what he was saying but I felt like I had just stepped outside of myself and was watching this conversation happening. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. This man was not suggesting taking Della away from me. I shook my head before he finished talking and he stopped midsentence.

"No," was all I managed to say. He had blindsided me. I hadn't expected this.

"No?" he repeated as if he didn't understand that word.

"No," I repeated. "You're not taking Della away from me. I'll follow her. Anywhere she goes I will follow her. She's it for me. She isn't going to Phoenix. She's staying here with me. I'm going to marry her. No, I haven't proposed yet, but I intend to. She just came back to me. She's finally facing the horrors of her past and letting me help her heal. She's mine, Nile. She is mine. She's not going anywhere."

Nile studied me a moment, then he nodded. A smile touched his lips. "That's what I wanted to hear," he said, then turned and walked to the tee as if the conversation were over. It wasn't f**king over until he told me he wasn't asking Della to move to Phoenix.

"What does that mean?" I demanded.

Nile glanced back at me over his shoulder. "You showed passion and determination to keep her. You want her forever. I wanted to make sure. Now I just need to make sure she wants the same thing."

"You mean you lied to me to get me to admit I was going to marry her?" I asked. I wasn't sure I liked this man anymore.

"No. I'm very serious. If Della wants to move to Phoenix with us, then I'm taking her. I will spend every damn dime I have making up for the fact that I was a kid when she was born and didn't know any better. I will give her a family and I'll make sure she feels loved and a part of my family. But I needed to know that if I leave her here, then she'll have someone who loves her with the passion that forever requires."

Wait . . . he was still asking her to move to Phoenix? "Della isn't just mine. I belong to her."

Nile nodded. "Good. If she feels the same way she will tell me no when I ask her to move to Phoenix. If she does, I will know that she has a happy future ahead of her. I will also expect an invitation to the wedding."

"She won't leave me," I said with more force than necessary.

"I guess we will see. Won't we?" he said before giving his complete attention to his swing.

Della

Jasmine may have only been a couple minutes older than Jocelyn but she seemed years older. She laid out on a towel as if she were a teenager and talked to me about name-brand clothing, which I knew nothing about, but I tried hard to follow along.

Jocelyn and July asked me to build a sand castle with them, then we played in the waves until seaweed wrapped around July's leg and sent her screaming to the shore.

Jillian and I talked when the girls gave us a chance, but I preferred playing with them. They were so full of life. Nile had been a good father. They loved him. They all called him Daddy, which I thought was endearing.

"Are you going to come live with us? I heard Daddy talking to Mommy about it late last night. They thought I was sleeping." Jasmine watched me carefully.

I wasn't prepared for that question. She had waited until her mother had gotten up to take July to the restroom. I couldn't figure out why Nile would even think to ask me to come live with them. I was happy here. I had a home.

"I have a home here," I told her.

She nodded. "Yeah, but Daddy said you aren't engaged and it didn't look like you were going to get engaged. He was thinking you could live with us and go to college. We could be your family."

I was pretty sure Nile had never meant for me to know about this conversation. "I don't think we should be talking about this. If your dad wants me to know about it, then he will talk to me about it."

Jasmine rolled over and looked up at me. "He's going to. Just so you know."

Was this kid really nine? She acted like she was fifteen.

"Here comes Daddy now," she said with a smirk.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see Nile walking toward us in a pair of blue and yellow plaid shorts and a white polo shirt. He looked like he'd just walked off the golf course.

"Daddy," Jocelyn squealed from next to her attempts at another sand castle, and went running to him. He reached down and picked her up and hugged her. Then he pretended to care that she'd gotten sand on him. It was cute.

"Hey, Daddy, what did you shoot?"

"Seventy-nine. I'm rusty. Woods shot a seventy. It was impressive."

I was glad that they'd gotten to spend time together. Nile and his family were going home tomorrow. I wasn't sure if, or when, I would see them again.