Heart Robber (Lifestyle by Design Book 2) (21 page)

"Wow! Everything smells delicious, Dad," Jessa said as she went to the man who was checking something in the oven.

"Hello, Jessie," Joe said as he kissed her forehead. "Everything has to be delicious. We're celebrating your twenty-ninth birthday."

"It's not for another two weeks."

"Are you coming back here in two weeks?" her dad boomed.

"Uh, no."

"Well then, tonight's your birthday dinner. Now, introduce me to your man," he commanded.

"Okay." She reached for Rob, who moved closer to them.

Joe twisted around and extended his right hand after wiping it on his apron. "Hello, I'm Joe, Jessa's father."

"It's great to meet you, sir. I'm Rob."

Rob clutched Joe's extended hand with a sure grip and stared back unflinchingly at the piercing gaze directed at him by Jessa's dad.

"So, you're from Sydney, Rob."

"Yes, I'm originally from there. For the last five years, Melbourne has been home, but I'm currently in the process of moving back to Sydney."

"Rob has a marketing consultancy business here," Jessa explained to her parents. "But he is expanding to Sydney."

"Congratulations," Alice said. "Business must be doing well if you're relocating back there to expand."

"Actually, I'm moving back because of Jessa." Rob sent her a loving smile, which she returned with equal affection.

Joe visibly relaxed and clapped his hand on Rob's shoulder. "Why don't we all have a drink while we wait for Jasmine?"

They sat at the stools by the breakfast counter.

"Whereabouts in Sydney will you be moving to, Rob?"

Rob cast a questioning glance at Jessa as he answered. "We found a place at Crows Nest, which is not far from Jessa's current place."

"I'm moving in with Rob, Mum and Dad. The new place will be ready for us next week," Jessa announced.

"Oh," Joe said in surprise. "Kind of quick, isn't it? How long have you kids been dating?"

"Four months," she replied. "And I'm almost twenty-nine, Dad."

Joe sighed. "I know, Jessie. So can we visit you in your new place?"

"Of course," she and Rob responded together. "Anytime," Rob added for good measure.

The doorbell rang and Alice went to get it.

Jasmine walked into the kitchen, looking her usual gorgeous self in a designer dress and coat. She was carrying a box. "Jess!"

"Hi, Jaz." Jessa went to hug her little sister.

Jasmine was two years younger than she was but had always been the worldlier, more sophisticated one. She had no doubt Jasmine could have been a supermodel if she was just a little taller.

"Is that my birthday cake?" she asked.

"Hey, you can't peep. You'll see it later."

Jasmine looked behind her and her sister's eyes opened wide in appreciation. She fought the urge to sigh loudly. Her sister had caught sight of Rob and she liked what she saw.

Jasmine wasn't malicious. In fact, she had a huge heart. But she was a big flirt and had the aura of a damsel in distress that seemed to snare all male attention around her. Men just naturally seemed to fall for her charms.

"Hi, you must be Rob," Jasmine said, extending her hand to him.

"Yes, it's good to meet you, Jasmine."

"You, too. I can't believe my sister's finally brought home a boyfriend. You're the first one, you know. She must really like you a lot."

"I sure hope so," Rob grinned.

"I more than like him, Jaz," Jessa interjected, eyeballing her sister. "I love him."

Rob's face shone with tenderness as he put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her hair. "I love you, too, baby."

She breathed easier. Not only had she staked her claim, but her whole family heard how Rob felt about her. That was enough. She wouldn't worry anymore.

The rest of the night was fun and relaxed. Rob and Joe got along like a house on fire and stayed in the dining room, talking about business, sports and whatever else men talked about. Jessa sat on the couch with her mum and Jasmine sipping tea.

"He's really hot, Jess. The two of you look great together," Jasmine remarked. Her mum murmured her agreement.

Jessa arched her eyebrows. "That's almost implying I look hot, too," she joked.

"Well, you do. Especially with your new hairstyle and that trendy outfit. You look really good."

"Thanks." She blushed. Her sister thought she was hot. That was something.

"Are you blushing, Jess?" Jasmine's eyes were wide with amusement. "Still can't take a compliment, can you?"

She reddened deeper.

"What?" Jasmine demanded, laughing at her reaction.

"Nothing. You know I'm just not used to being … hot."

"You mean to tell me Rob hasn't told you you're hot?"

"Sure, he has. But that's because he's in love, so he's blind," she chuckled.

"You were always the one who hid your beauty, Jess," her mum commented. "You didn't use to be interested in getting your hair done or putting on makeup or buying clothes that flattered you. Your dad and I have always seen you as more interested in intellectual pursuits than in beauty and fashion."

"And I'm the opposite one, right, Mum?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes, although we really hope you'll take relationships more seriously, darling. Find yourself a nice man and stick with him for longer than three months."

Jasmine pouted. "I really want to! But none of them are interesting enough to hold my attention for longer than that."

Alice shook her head at her younger daughter.

"Is he 'the one' Jess?" Jasmine asked.

A shy smile spread on her face. "I think so."

"Well, it's obvious he's crazy about you," Jasmine said with a wide, knowing grin.

In that moment with her mother and sister, a haze that Jessa didn't even notice before had lifted. She felt loved and she felt beautiful. It was then she realised beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. With a cheeky grin, she made a commitment to finally acknowledge her own beauty.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Wakefulness slowly came to Jessa as she felt Rob stir beside her. She sighed in pure contentment as she snuggled closer to him. His arm tightened possessively around her waist and his leg draped over hers. She could feel his familiar morning erection on her belly.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Happy birthday," Rob said huskily as he lifted her face to his and kissed her.

"Good morning, honey, and thank you," she murmured against his lips.

"Time for one of your birthday presents," he whispered wickedly in her ear as he ran his hand over her body.

She giggled and put her arms around Rob's neck as he proceeded to make sweet love to her. She couldn't think of a better way to start her birthday.

When they were both catching their breaths from their satisfying orgasms, Rob asked her, "What do you want to do today, baby? We can do anything you want until about five this afternoon."

"What happens at five?"

"I've planned a special birthday dinner for you."

"Oh? Where?"

"It's a surprise," Rob grinned widely.

She grinned back and stroked his face lovingly. "I can't wait."

"So what do you want to do before then?"

"I really want to stay in bed with you for a while longer. Then maybe we can go out for brunch and watch a movie in the afternoon."

"Sounds good."

"So where are we going, baby?" Jessa asked Rob as she got dressed for her birthday dinner.

"You'll know soon enough," he smiled mysteriously.

Just as she was putting on her makeup, the doorbell rang and Rob went to get it. She wondered who it could be until she heard familiar voices.
Faye and Clarise!
She ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs to find her two gorgeous best friends in sexy party dresses.

"Happy birthday, girlfriend!" They hugged each other tightly.

"Oh my God! What are you guys doing here? Wait a second—you're joining us for my birthday dinner, aren't you?"

"There's no way we'd let Mr. Granger keep us away from you on your birthday," Faye replied.

From the open front door, she spied Rob and Will discussing the contents of a big box Will was carrying.

"Hey, go back upstairs and finish getting ready. You can't see that until you're ready to blow your candles."

~~~~~~~

"It's a nice place, Jess. Lots of room for just the two of you," Faye commented as Jessa showed them around their new place.

"Rob wanted three bedrooms so we can have a study room each that can also double as guest bedrooms with sofa beds. I love this place, although I still feel a little guilty I'm not contributing anything towards the rent. Rob's just so set on paying the whole thing himself."

"Get used to it," Clarise advised. "Will's the same and he just gets annoyed every time I bring up the topic. Anyway, I thought Rob wanted to buy instead of just rent."

"He does but it will take a bit of time to find the right property. How are you and Will doing with your house hunting?"

"We went to four open houses last weekend and there wasn't one that we really liked. We're thinking of postponing buying a house until after the wedding. There'll be too much to do otherwise."

"Hmm. You're right. In our case, Rob has his hands full with growing his Sydney client base. He wants me to look around but it's going to be his house, not mine, so I feel a bit funny about that."

Faye and Clarise exchanged a quick look just as they heard a voice sing out, "Hey, girls! Where are you?"

Victor!

"We're here, darling!" she cried out.

"Oh, this is so great. We're all going out together."

"Happy birthday, beautiful Jess!" Victor greeted her with a big kiss. He turned to Faye and Clarise. "By the way, the caterers are here."

Caterers?

Jessa felt spoilt. Very spoilt. Rob had organised a surprise birthday party for her at their new home, with the help of her friends. Even Ray and some of her colleagues from work were there. She was not expecting it. This was her twenty-ninth birthday, not her thirtieth. It was just another year. But all this fuss made her feel special. She took a deep breath and let that feeling wash over her, making her eyes water.

"What are you thinking?" Rob whispered in her ear as he placed an arm around her shoulder.

She smiled shyly up at him. "I was thinking about how special I feel today. Thank you."

He kissed her lips. "You're special to me every day."

She put her arms around his waist and they held each other for a long moment as they watched her guests chat and laugh and drink.

"Are you ready for your next surprise?" Rob asked all of a sudden.

"There's more?" Her eyes were wide.

Rob nodded and turned her around so she was facing the front door. Her parents and her sister were making their way in. She shrieked and ran to them.

"There is still so much food left," Alice commented in wonder. "It looks like Rob ordered for one hundred instead of twenty-five!"

"Everyone will just have to take home some leftovers. The caterers were so organised they left us heaps of take-away containers," Jessa replied. "And there'll be plenty of food for us tomorrow since you guys are here —" Her voice trailed as everyone started to sing 'Happy Birthday'.

She watched with a huge grin as Rob carried her cake, complete with number two and number nine candles, to the dining table. She walked over to have a look at it for the first time as her guests continued to sing. She gasped at how pretty it was. The cake, which she guessed was chocolate mud, as that was her favourite, was square but in the middle was a big bouquet of edible, red roses. She did a quick count. Thirty-six. Three dozen.

Her friends and family hip-hip-hoorayed. When they finished, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and made a wish, then blew out her candles in one puff. There was loud cheering and several people called for a speech.

"Wow," she heaved. "I really don't know what to say. But thank you, everyone, for being here, especially Mum, Dad and Jaz for flying all the way from Melbourne. I feel so loved and I'm really grateful I'm sharing this day with you all. And," she turned to Rob with love shining in her eyes, "thank you, sweetheart." She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Is that the best you can do, Jess?" Victor teased.

"Whoa, the dad is in the room," Joe bellowed, to everyone's laughter.

"Now you've got to cut your cake, baby," Rob said. "But first you have to take out those yummy flowers so you can cut properly." His voice was hoarse and a little breathless.

She took the candles out first. When she started pulling out the roses, Rob took a step back and watched her intently. She placed the flowers on a plate Clarise put on the table. She thought it would be a brilliant idea to put one rose on each piece of cake for her guests. They were really beautiful and she couldn't wait to taste them.

She'd removed about ten of the roses when she noticed there was something underneath. She pulled out another one and stilled. A stunning emerald-cut diamond ring sat beneath the flowers. She turned to Rob. Her mouth dried and her heart pounded so loudly she was sure everyone heard it.

Rob licked his lips nervously and dropped down on one knee.

There were a few gasps from around the room, then there was deafening silence.

Rob reached out for her left hand. "Jess, before I met you, I never imagined I would even consider being seriously committed to anyone. But you've stolen my heart and I can't imagine a future without you. I love you so much, baby. Will you marry me?"

She didn't notice how much she was crying until she answered Rob. "Yes," she sobbed, nodding her head enthusiastically in case he didn't hear what she said.

Relief flooded Rob's face. A dazzling smile played on his lips as he reached out to get the equally dazzling ring from the cake and slid it on her finger. It fit perfectly.

Rob stood up and gave her a slow, sweet kiss while everyone around them cheered.

"Well, that's all the surprises I have for you today," Rob murmured against her lips.

"This is the best day of my life - so far," she declared emphatically.