The Billionaire's Masquerade Page 0,60
around me so my ventures are profitable.”
Rachel felt defeated. “I wasn’t ever able to be successful,” she replied. “It wasn’t ever instinctive to me.”
He took both their bowls of chili and put them on the coffee table in front of the sofa then turned so she was looking directly at him once again. “Rachel, I want you to listen to me and really hear me this time. Will you do that?”
She was nervous again. He wasn’t just close, he was surrounding her. And it was overwhelming. She’d wanted him back for so long and this was Jack! This was the man she loved. The Emerson side was still there but she could see how the two sides meshed together and….the Emerson Jackson man was…thrilling! She nodded her head carefully.
“Good! Now here’s the problem,” he started off. “You think you haven’t succeeded, but you need to examine your idea of what success is. You think it’s being the alpha in a pack of rabid dogs.” He ignored Rachel’s snort of laughter and continued. “But that’s not success. I accept that your need for success is directly tied to your need for financial security, but perhaps you could also be successful if you were happy in the job. If you were happy doing what you want to do. The one thing you missed when examining all of the companies I had you research was the human factor. You kept looking at the statistics and never looked at the people within the companies.”
It suddenly struck her, what he’d been asking her all the time. “You kept asking me to talk to the leadership of the companies,” she said with growing wonder.
“Exactly. And I wanted you to see the person behind the company. Statistics don’t run businesses, Rachel. People work in the factories producing the product, human beings set the quotas, run the machines, make the decisions.” He paused to let that sink in. “If the company isn’t a good place to work, if management isn’t good at their jobs, if they don’t treat the people right and the people believe in what they’re producing, the company isn’t going to be successful.”
She heard his words and, as he explained his point of view, the tension slowly left her body. “So what you’re saying is that I should find something I love doing and I’ll eventually be successful.”
He gripped her arms, shaking her slightly. “No, Rachel. I want you to re-examine your definition of successful. I want you to consider just being happy as the goal.”
She suddenly realized how happy she’d been in that tiny cottage with him, how secure she’d felt just lying in his arms, waking up to his kisses on her shoulder or his rough beard against her cheek. She looked into his dark eyes and it felt like something exploded inside of her. “I felt happy with you,” she whispered, almost afraid to say the words.
Emerson couldn’t believe what she’d just said. He’d thought it would take several more days of arguing with her before she finally admitted that. He was so stunned, he didn’t react for several heartbeats. When her declaration finally hit him, he grabbed her into his arms and lifted her up, his hands diving into her hair so he could kiss her. Really kiss her!
Rachel clung to his large frame, wanting to show him how much she loved him, how astonished she was that she felt so free, so liberated! “I love you,” she finally said when he finally lifted his head. She’d said it with her eyes closed, not really intending to say that, but the words just slipped out accidentally. When she realized what she’d said, her eyes popped open and she was looking directly into his own, her heart racing as she waited for his reaction.
“Finally!” he replied. He buried his face in her hair, kissing her neck and running his hands up and down her back. “Rachel, I’ve been waiting so long to hear you say that,” he told her.
Leaning back, he dug into his pocket. “I love you too,” he told her. “I know we have a lot of things to work out, one of them being what you want to do with the rest of your life, but while you wonder and consider the details, would you marry me? Would you do me the honor of being by your side, helping you, loving you and living with you for the rest of our lives?” He took her hand while he said