I showed him the first step. "First you make a knot like this, and then you place the big end through."
"I don't need to be taught." Darius placed his hands on my waist, pulling me against him. "You can do my ties every time."
"What about during your business trips?" I tried to loop it around but my hands were stuck between myself and his chest. I don’t plan to go to all his business trips. He has to learn how to do a tie. How did he get them done before?
"Jesse can do it then," he answered, as though he read my mind.
"Jesse does your ties?" I asked incredulously, leaning back so I could finish the knot.
Darius shrugged and said, “Or Margaret.”
I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. I could just imagine a frustrated Darius yelling at Jesse to do his tie and then shoving it at him after he finished the meeting. Typical.
I narrowed my eyes at the tie and sighed, looking up. "You're distracting me."
"I'm not doing anything." He looked innocent enough, but his green eyes twinkled with amusement as I finished the tie and took it off my neck. He didn't have to do anything. Just staring at me intently like he was now was enough for every thought to disappear from my brain.
I placed the tie around his neck, pulling it tighter to make it sit perfectly between the collars.
"Are you trying to kill me, Mrs. Quartz?" he teased, removing one hand from my waist and loosening his tie.
"No, don't do that." I slapped his hand away. "It's got to be tight." This wasn't school to have unbuttoned shirts and a loose tie. It would be a formal event, and to think Darius should know about this.
He rolled his eyes at me, which was a comical sight to behold. Who knows the great billionaire can roll eyes like this?
"Okay, done. Let's go or we're going to be late and I don't think Daniel will be happy!"
I was surprised we were even invited. I didn't even know how they contacted us but when Darius told me this evening that Daniel had invited us to his twenty-first birthday, we could go if I wanted. And of course I wanted to go.
We had met them all when we played volleyball at the beach. I was surprised they even remembered us. It was touching.
"Do you have the present?"
"In the car." Then he raised his finger and wiped it across my lips.
I pulled back, looking at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing!" I exclaimed, seeing the red lipstick on his finger. He took out his handkerchief and wiped it off.
"Don't wear lipstick."
My mouth dropped as I stared at him. I was sure this colour looked nice. Rose picked it out, saying it made me look good. "Why?"
Darius smiled and leaned down my ear to say, "Because then I can't kiss you. In case it smudges."
"You guys made it!"
Daniel greeted us as soon as we walked into the large venue. It was a rented hall in Docklands, a part of the city with a spectacular view of the waterfront. You can see the ships and boats by the harbour and the place was decorated with black, white and gold balloons.
"Happy birthday!" I yelled, throwing my arms around him. Did he get taller?
He laughed, his grey eyes twinkling as I hugged him and he picked me up before putting me down. "Great to see you both again," he said, ruffling my hair like last time and I slapped his hand away. It was ironic how much we hated each other, or didn't get along when I first met him, but somehow seeing him after all this time made me miss them all.
I patted my hair back into place as he gave Darius a 'man hug' and I tried not to laugh at Darius's face.
Henry, Jeffrey and Kyle rushed toward us, screaming like girls when they saw us which made me raise an eyebrow.
"We should have brought Adrian," Darius whispered in my ear and I laughed my agreement. Adrian would have fit in perfectly with these boys.
The party was great as we talked to the guys who stayed by our side most of the time, making us feel welcome since we didn't know anyone else.
"You ok?" I asked Darius as they rushed away to bring the birthday cake, which was a surprise. Darius nodded, wrapping his arms around me from behind and resting his chin on my shoulder. He had been standing behind me the whole time, barely talking and just looking around.
He looked tired but he didn't say it. He had left at a rush as soon as we had finished playing monopoly, which went past midnight, as he got a business call and then came back at lunch time. Did he even sleep?
I told him, "It's okay. We can go after the cake."
Darius chuckled behind me and I could feel the vibrations on my back. "What?"
"Trust you to want to eat the cake."
I felt my face go red and warm. "Kyle said the cake is delicious."
Who goes to a birthday party and leaves without eating the cake? I pulled Darius close to the crowd as the birthday cake came out and I was impressed. It tasted even better as slices were given out in throwaway cups and I sighed with pleasure. It was a raspberry and white chocolate cake and it was amazing.
"What?" I asked as Darius stared at me and he shook his head.
"Do you want my slice?"