My White Lottery Winner (BWWM Interracial Romance) (8 page)

“
You trust me that much?” she asked.

“
Babe, how can you ask that? Of course I trust you,” he said. “And I  know that you can make the right decision,” he added. Desiree laughed.

“
Fine, I’ll have an answer for you by the evening,” she said.

“
Cool. Should I pick you up?” he asked.

“
No, I’m leaving a bit early. I need to check up on things at home. It feels like I haven’t been there in forever,” she said. “You could come over. We can make dinner there and have a nice family dinner,” she added.

“
Aww, you just called me family,” Taylor said.

“
Don’t you dare get all mushy on me, Ericson,” she said. She heard Taylor laugh at the other end of the phone.

“
Fine. I’ll see you then,” he said.

“
Cool, see you,” she said before she hung up.

She took a long deep breath as she looked at her computer screen. Maybe he was right. All she needed was to go with her gut. But what if her gut was not right? She was still scrolling through the various web pages when she heard a familiar voice saying,

“You are quite the hard worker, aren’t you?” She looked up and almost threw up in her mouth. Right in front of her stood the one man she had sworn she would never entertain, the man she would have been with had she kept to her lie.

“
Hello Mark,” she said looking at him.

“
Desiree, nice to see you. May I?” he asked as he pointed to the seat in front of her small desk.

“
Suit yourself,” she said shrugging.

“
Nice little place you got yourself here,” he said as he looked around. Desiree knew that her small office, which was actually once a supply closet, was a far cry from his perfect one which was probably situated in some glass building with a great view of the city.

“
Thanks. It’s not much but it works for me,” she said as Mark sat down in front of her. She looked at him and shrugged. “So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?” she asked. Mark smiled at her and shook his head.

“
Can’t a man just pop in to see his girl unannounced?” he asked.

“
His girl? I’m sorry but you lost me. Who’s your girl?” she asked looking at him. Mark smiled.

“
Well, if you agree, then it most definitely is you,” he said. She laughed and shook her head.

“
Me? Have I died and gone to hell already? Because I know it’s been long since I went to confession but damn, my sins can’t be that many,” she said sarcastically. Mark laughed and shook his head.

“
Well, you still have a great sense of humor. I’ll give you that,” he said.

“
Yeah some things don’t go away,” she said. “So, again, I ask, what brings you here?” she asked, looking at him. Mark cleared his throat and crossed his legs.

“
Well, this is more of an apologetic visit,” he started. Desiree looked at him and shook her head.

“
What do you mean?” she asked.

“
Well, I was kind of an ass the last time I saw you,” Mark said. Desiree let out a sarcastic laugh.

“
Kind of an ass?” she asked looking at him. “Try full blown ass,” she said in a cool, calm and collected way even though she was really pissed off that he would even consider coming to her place of work.

“
Wow, you can keep a grudge,” he said. Desiree shook her head.

“
No, keeping a grudge would suggest that I actually care while in essence I don’t,” she said.

“
I did behave like an ass, I agree, so I will give you that. You have a right to get pissed,” he said. Desiree was getting impatient. Having Mark there was not something she wanted to entertain. She crossed her arms on her chest and looked at him.

“
I will not ask again, Mark, Why the fuck are you here?” she asked.

“
Well, like I said, I came to apologize. I hate thinking that there exists bad blood between me and you for the way I behaved, especially since you are one of a kind. I would definitely hate to lose you,” he said. She looked at him and shook her head.

“
Lost me? You never had me,” she said looking at him.

“
I know and that was actually my fault,” he said.

“
Listen, Mark. I appreciate you coming here and apologizing but I don’t think you and I have anything more to discuss,” she said.

“
That’s where we differ,” Mark said.

“
Really?” she asked in a cynical voice.

“
Yes. I think you and I can have something special,” he said. Desiree laughed, this time a more genuine laugh.

“
Two things Mark. Hell no, and two, I am happy with someone else. Someone more deserving of my time than you will ever be,” she said. Mark nodded.

“
Yes, I know about you and the former marine,” he said. Desiree raised an eyebrow. How could he possibly know about Taylor’s past?

“
What? Are you stalking me now?” she asked.

“
Not at all, I just wanted to know how you are doing,” he said.

“
So, let me guess, you had someone look into me like you did the last time?” she asked.

“
Never mind how I did it. It’s all semantics,” Mark said in an attempt to brush off the topic. “All that matters is that I am here now and that I am willing to put the past behind us,” he said.

“
Me and you do not have a past to put behind anything, Mark,” Desiree said.

“
Listen Desiree, please try to understand that I don’t want to fight you but I think that you and I could really have something special,” he said. Desiree shook her head. She could not believe what she was hearing.

“
Are you freaking serious right now?” she asked.

“
I am a busy man yet I chose to come and talk to you. That should count for something at least,” he said.

“
And I am a busy woman and you are wasting my time,” she said angrily.

“
Come on, you work in a store. How busy could you possibly be?” Mark asked, smiling.

Desiree smiled back and looked at him. It was not the kind of smile she gave her sister, cousin or even Taylor. It was also not the kind of smile she gave her workmates. It was the kind of smile that spelled doom.

“And just like that, you prove to be the ass you have always been to me, but guess what Mark, when I get that paycheck, it does not read that I work in a store and honestly I don’t care what you think because at the end of the day I make an honest living and that’s enough for me,” she said and then pushed her chair back before standing up. “Now, I would like you to leave my office,” she said as she looked at him.

“
Yes, but we are not done talking yet,” Mark said looking at her.

“
You were talking. I was here wondering when you are going to shut up,” she said.

“
Wow, you are a tough nut to crack aren’t you?” Mark asked.

“
I like to think so,” she said still looking at him.

“
Okay, maybe I should ask one thing before I leave. Why him? What does he have that I can’t offer you?” he asked. Desiree smiled.

“
Simple. He is everything that you are not. And that is good enough for me,” she said.

“
What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“
Well, for starters, he actually respects me and what I do for a living. Two, he is not an ass like you are. Three he is humble and finally and most importantly, he loves me for who I am,” she said. He looked at her and shook his head.

“
You know I could give you all he is worth a million times over, right?” he asked.

“
I know. But I would never be happy,” she said. “So whatever fix you are in, maybe your mommy has insisted that you marry a nice black girl or whatever, trust me when I tell you that I am not now, nor will I ever be, your cushion for whatever landing you are destined for,” she said. Mark smiled and nodded.

“
Really? Even if I told you that there would be a substantial kitty for you and your family to make sure that you are all as comfortable as you would ever imagine?” he asked. She shook her head.

“
Just what kind of fix are you in, Mark?” she asked. “I know there is a catch,” she added. Mark took a long deep breath and looked at her.

“
My company is…it has not been doing so well for a long time. I need money from my trust to invest; otherwise I will have to declare bankruptcy,” he said.

“
What has that got to do with me?” Desiree asked. Mark took another long breath and sighed.

“
Well, one of the conditions of getting my trust is that I have to get married,” he said. Desiree laughed.

“
You are kidding, right?” she asked. Mark shook his head. “Well, I am sorry but that will never happen, Mark. Have some of the mail order brides or something because there is no way I am marrying you. I can’t even stand you,” she said. Mark looked at her, nodded and then stood up.

“
Well it was worth a try,” he said as he walked towards the door. He turned around and looked at her. “If you change my mind, you have my number,” he said.

“
I won’t,” she said as she watched him walking out of her office.

She took a deep long breath and leaned back in her chair as she came to terms with what had just happened. By the time she left that day, she had no idea whether she was going to let Taylor know what had happened in her office that day. As she walked out of the store that day, she wondered what exactly had made Mark think of propositioning her. He was the kind of man who could get absolutely anyone he wanted, so why her?

She had just started walking down the street when a sleek black BMW pulled up next to her. She rolled her eyes and looked at the tinted windows. “God, Mark. Don’t you get the point?” she asked as the window rolled down. “No means fucking no,” she added.

“
Whoever Mark is, I wouldn’t want to be him,” Leon, Desiree’s ex said.

Desiree looked at him and sighed. The day was not turning out as she wanted at all.

“
What? Is today douche day or something?”
Desiree wondered as she looked at Leon.

“
You look surprised to see me, Dee. Or is that your pleased to see me face?” he asked as he smiled at her.

“
Your first guess was right. What are you doing here? I just dealt with one douche. I don’t really need another, one at least not now. A douche a day is my limit,” she said.

“
Douche is a really strong word, don’t you think?” Leon asked.

“
Actually no, because in my books, a man who lies to a woman about his marital status is as much a douche as Bin Laden,” she said.

“
Ouch,” Leon said, still smiling at her. He climbed out of the car and stood in front of her. Because of her whole ordeal with Mark, she had lost all patience. The only thing going through her mind was how much she wanted to bash his face in. “And by the way, I didn’t lie,” he said.

“
Oh yes you did. You lied by omission,” she said as she looked at him. Leon smiled.

“
You always looked so pretty when you got mad,” he said. Desiree rolled her eyes and looked at him.

“
I have no time for your bull, Leon. I have things to do,” she said looking at him.

“
That’s fine. I got you something,” he said as he opened the rear car door.

“
I don’t want anything from you,” she said as Leon took out a big square gift box. “What the hell is that?” she asked as she looked at the wrapped package in his hands.

“
Well, why don’t you open it?” he asked. She looked at the package and sighed.

“
I told you I don’t want anything from you,” she said.

“
Will you at least open it and see what it is?” he asked. “It’s something you will like, I am sure of it,” he said. Desiree was getting anxious. She wanted to be out of there as soon as possible.

“
Fine,” she said as she took the package from his hands and tore the wrapping paper off the package. She almost gasped when she saw what was inside. A beautiful painting. She could not make out who exactly had done it.

“
I was going to give you that for your birthday but…well, certain events transpired,” Leon said as Desiree admired the piece of art in her hands. “It’s a piece by a good friend of mine in Italy. I thought you might like it,” he added. She looked up and shook her head.