Chapter Fifteen
Summit
Sometimes I found it hard to believe that this time last year, I’d been so one-sided. All the work and none of the play. My rare sessions with a single little had been the closest I came to a personal life.
But since meeting Rowan, everything had changed.
I still worked hard, but also had learned to balance my life a lot better.
My little had helped me with that. Every day, I tried hard to be more efficient and not allow myself to be drawn into unnecessary late hours.
There would always be some dinners or teleconferences, but in most cases, I could handle the conferences from home rather than waiting hours at the office then attending them.
I’d been away a few times, but had also gotten pretty good at limiting the times I actually had to appear in an office on another continent.
I’d never recognized before how much time I wasted in travel when technology had made it unnecessary.
Maybe I’d become as hidebound as the elder partners.
They had expressed displeasure, at first, when I let them know about the changes I was introducing.
But the results were good, allowing me much more productive time previously spent traveling, and had charged me with introducing the same changes for others on my team.
I’d already done it, but they didn’t need to know that.
They got such pleasure in thinking things were their ideas.
Of course, all travel couldn’t be avoided, and a trip to New Orleans offered the perfect time to take Rowan along with me.
“Are you sure?” he asked, uncertainly. “I don’t want to be a distraction from your work. You’ve already made so many changes for me.”
We were sitting on the couch, sipping a beer and watching a movie when I invited him along.
“No, Rowan. I made the changes you helped me see I needed to do for my health, our relationship, and a balanced life. Without you, I’d probably have high blood pressure in another year.
The only question is, can you get away from your job and come along?
My meetings are Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, so if we leave early on Thursday, we can get checked into the hotel and you can chill out by the pool or do anything you like for the afternoon.
We’ll have that night together then from Friday noon through Sunday, I’m all yours. ”
“I should be able to get free. Hang on.” He picked up his phone and typed into the screen. A minute later, he nodded. “I’m good. But what do I bring to wear in New Orleans? Is it formal?”
“It’s whatever we want it to be. Why don’t we look online and make some loose plans.”
Two days later, we were going up in our hotel elevator.
It was a gorgeous day, if a little hot and humid, and Rowan was so excited, clinging to my hand and chattering about all the things he wanted to see, eat, and drink while we were in a city he’d confided he’d always dreamed of visiting.
“I have a list, you know. I finished it on the plane while you were snoozing away. I’m not sure we’re going to have time to sleep if we are going to do everything I want to. ”
“I can nap during meetings.” Dropping a kiss on the top of his head, I led him out of the elevator.
Hotel staff had brought our bags up in their own lift and would likely have already deposited it and left.
Especially considering the number of stops we’d made on other floors before reaching this high one.
Not a penthouse, the finance team would have a fit, but a nice suite, nonetheless.
Apparently we got a great discount as well through frequent use.
Hopefully my program of less travel would not affect that, or I’d be in hot water all over again.
“You wouldn’t do that, would you?” He raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Not really?”
“No. You have to have a higher status than mine to get away with that.” And be old.
One of the seniors had done it a couple of times.
Fortunately with only staff present. “But I’m rested enough, don’t worry.
I’m very excited to see everything on your list. And if we can’t fit it in, we’ll come back again soon. It doesn’t have to be a business trip.”
Opening the door to the suite, I stepped back and let Rowan lead the way in. He gasped. “This is our room?”
“Well, suite, but yes. Do you like it?”
“Oh my gosh.” He took a tour around the living room and kitchenette then disappeared. “There are two bedrooms and two baths. It’s just us staying here?”
“Just us, Rowan.” I followed his voice and found him in the master bedroom, staring at the big bed. “Nice, huh?”
“Do you think it’s comfortable?”
“Test it out and see.” I thought he’d sit down and maybe lie back, but to my delight, he started in the middle of the room and ran at it, landing face down and bouncing.
“Wow. Maybe I don’t need to see anything after all. I’ll just stay here for the next four days.”
“Anything you like.” Our luggage was in the closet, and I got my shower bag and carried it into the bathroom to freshen up. “I’ll be gone until about six then back to go wherever you want for dinner. I can have someone at the office make a reservation.”
“Would it be okay if we just walked around and ate something casual? I’ve been dying to try a muffuletta and po’ boy and beignets and…well, everything.”
“Sure. Of course.” I had a plan for later in the evening, but as long as we wandered around and ended up back here by midnight, it would be fine.
My meetings ran longer than I’d have liked, but the text I sent letting Rowan know did go through this time, and he replied with a thumb’s-up. Some of those who had been involved were going out to dinner, but I thanked them and said I had plans. First time I’d ever done that, and it felt good.
We ended up eating at a “meat and three” place, another thing on his list, and roamed the French Quarter until a glance at my watch had me turning us back in the direction of the hotel.
I’d thought about waiting until Saturday but was unable to get the area I wanted due to a wedding already using it.
“I am sorry to make our evening end so soon,” I told him, not quite lying.
“No, it’s fine. While I was lounging around the room, you were working hard. And you have to work in the morning too.”
He was so understanding. I threw an arm around his shoulder and hugged him to my side. “Once I’m done, the rest of the weekend is ours.”
He grinned at me. “I’m having so much fun.”
Rowan, big or little, was fun to be around.
We got into the elevator and I tried to push the button without his seeing, but he was too sharp for me. “Hey, that’s not our floor. You made a mistake.”
“No. I just thought you’d like a look at the view before we go to bed. It’s such a beautiful night, and the Mississippi sparkles with the lights on the bridges and alongside.”
“Oh yes. If you’re sure it won’t keep you up too late? After the flight and everything.”
“Not at all.” I patted my pocket for the hundredth time since we left home. “It will be quick.”
The doors slid open to a small vestibule, and I took his hand and led him through it and out onto the roof.
“Oh, look at the lights!” He started for the low wall surrounding the rooftop terrace, but I tightened my grip and turned to the left. “Where are we going?”
“The river is this way.” I hoped it was, anyway. “You’re not too chilly?”
“Not at all.” He swiveled right and left, looking at the city spread below us. “Just having fun.”
Fun. I hoped he’d think it was more than that when we reached the other side of the terrace.
“Is that music?” He grimaced. “Maybe there’s a private event up here?”
Yes, there was. “I’m sure it’s okay. I really want you to see the river. It might be cloudy tomorrow night.”
“We’ll be quiet, then, just in case.” He held a finger to his lips. “Sshhh.”
Moving as quietly as possible, he stepped ahead of me and peeked around the corner of the elevator building. “Oh, no! It’s all set up for something romantic. There’s a man with a violin. And rose petals everywhere. So beautiful. I think someone is going to propose to their sweetheart. I…Summit?”
As soon as he’d stepped onto the rose petals, I’d let go of his hand, dropped to one knee, and held the box out to him. “Rowan.”
“S-Summit? Are you? Is this?”
I’d rehearsed this in my head a hundred times or more.
But the words I’d planned slipped entirely away.
So, I just let them flow and hoped he’d understand.
“Rowan, from the day we met, my whole life changed for the better. I love you more than I ever dreamed possible. Big or small, you’re the person I want to do life with. Will you marry me?”
Rowan’s eyes grew shiny, and his lips trembled. “You want to marry me?”
“More than I want to breathe.”
He held out his left hand, and I opened the box and slipped the ring, gold with narrow bands of sapphire in the two shades of his backpack on his fingers. “Then yes.” He pulled me to my feet and we kissed, the world gone away except for the two of us. And of course, the violinist.
When we parted for breath, he glanced over and grinned. “The violinist is blindfolded.”