THE NEXT MORNING I WOKE with the sun. A coffee in hand, I stood at the massive set of windows and watched the world come alive. Memories from the night before and how I’d spent it filing papers and doing secretary work in the smallest clothes known to man, made me laugh. I should have been mad, but I couldn’t help it. Sebastian really was a crazy freak, and I guess I was one, too, because I was kind of enjoying our little games.
An hour later, I walked Kyle to the lobby where we were met by Mr. Martin. When I got back to the room, I cried in the shower. It was the strangest thing to cry when things were sort of looking up, but I cried for Kyle, for Gran, for my parents—I sobbed loudly over life in general, which was so unbalanced. Things could change at the drop of a hat. Thanks to Sebastian, life was getting easier—more confusing, but easier.
Then again, Sebastian was just another thing in my life that wasn’t permanent. Not to mention, he was all over the place. I wasn’t sure I understood him, but I knew I’d gotten myself mixed into something crazy. After a life that was pretty boring and spent taking care of others, maybe crazy was what I needed.
When I was done, I turned off the shower, pulled back the curtain, only to find new clothes and a thick luxurious towel waiting in the bathroom for me.
Quickly, I dried my body and instead of dressing in the clothes, I threw the complimentary robe on. I didn’t know who was in the room with me, but I wasn’t going to sit around in the bathroom scared to find out.
I crept into the living space of the hotel and found Sebastian. He’d forgone his typical suit for a pair of jeans and a collar shirt that clung to his thick chest and arms. He was standing in the middle of the room, slinging a set of keys around his finger. Staring at the view of the city, his hair was messy and held a pair of sunglasses. He looked delicious.
Once he realized I was staring at him, he turned his gorgeous blue eyes on me.
The air left my body. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
The side of his mouth lifted, showing off his sexy set of dimples. “The room’s in my name and I paid for it.”
He stalked toward me and I was suddenly aware of how awful I must have looked. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe he wouldn’t want to have sex with me at that exact moment.
I reached up and touched a strand of soaking wet hair. “I know I must look…”
“Absolutely fucking sexy.”
He ran his hand down my cheek and grinned down at me. “There are droplets of water covering the skin I can see. I’d like to lick them from your body.”
I shivered and pulled the robe around me tighter.
“But first, I want to know why you’re crying.” He pinched my chin roughly like he had the day before, and exhilaration ran through me. “Sexy lips like these should never wear a frown.”
I wanted him to kiss me hard, but he pulled away, releasing my chin.
He spoke and looked at me like we’d known each other for years. It wasn’t terrible. It made me feel an odd sense of security that I hadn’t felt since Gran was alive.
“It’s nothing,” I said.
“I think I know what’s bothering you. Get dressed,” he said sternly. “I want to show you something.” He turned me toward the bathroom and patted my butt.
I picked out my nicest bra and panty set, and dressed quickly in the clothes he brought for me. The tags were still on them and I almost died when I saw that the pants alone were more than two hundred dollars. I quit looking from that point on. The shirt he bought fit perfectly and the green color of it looked nice with my red hair.
I brushed my teeth, ran a brush through my wet locks, and looked at myself in the stand-up mirror in the corner. Sebastian had really nice taste in clothing.
I went back into the living space and his eyes moved down my body like a seductive touch.
“You look amazing,” he pulled his shades down over his eyes and started toward me.
“Thanks,” I responded.
He held his hand out for me to proceed him onto the elevator, and then he got on, pushing the button to take us to the lobby.
His car was nice. No, it was beyond nice. It was a black Jaguar—sleek and sexy, just like him. He opened the door for me and I slid in. The rich leather hugged my bottom with love, and I melted into the comfort. He went around the car, took the keys from the valet, and slid in next to me.
He drove like a madman, flying past cars on one-way streets and running yellow lights as if they were green. My fingers dug into the door grip like it would keep me safe, and he chuckled at my side. He parked in front of a nice building. The brick outside was white and set with gold trimming.
There was a gorgeous archway that went into the front and glass doors with a doorman parked out front nodding nicely to the people that passed.
“Come on, beautiful,” he said, tossing his keys to the valet.
I followed behind him to an elevator. We waited for the door to open and warmth moved up my spine when he placed a hand on the small of my back as we waited for the elevator.
The elevator opened into a room. It was furnished nicely with feminine décor and again had a wall of windows that showed New York City outside.
He grinned down at me before he stepped off of the elevator and pulled me along with him. I took the room in—a sleek condo with expensive furnishings that were definitely decorated by a professional. I tried to figure out where we were, and then I started to see familiar pieces placed around the room. Pictures from Gran’s living room were on the wall and frames full of Kyle’s smiles were sitting on a table to the side.
I gasped. “Is this…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence.
“It’s yours.”
With a gapped mouth and eyes wide with shock, I made a circle in the room. I could hardly believe my eyes.
“But my things. How did you…” I felt the tears sting the back of my eyes.
“Vick. She took care of everything. Apparently, your friend that works at the club will tell anything for a few bucks.”
I turned back to him with wide eyes. No one had ever done anything so amazing for me before. Everything that I’d stored in Trish’s parents’ garage was there.
There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but nothing felt good enough. Instead, I went to him and threw my arms around his neck. He tensed and stood there without hugging me back.
“Whoa,” he chuckled, setting me away from him.
I pulled back and smiled up at him. “I have no words. Thank you, Sebastian. I’ll pay you back. I’ll…”
He held his hand up to silence me. “No worries. I’ll collect payment very soon.”
His eyes devoured my mouth and I swallowed hard.
“Let’s take a look at the rest of the place,” he said, turning his back to me and walking away.
The place was magnificent—no expense spared. It was huge, more than I knew what to do with, but I knew it wasn’t permanent. This thing that was happening with Sebastian was just starting, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think it would last forever. For Kyle, and secretly for me too, I’d do this. But I had to have a back-up plan.
Sebastian took me back to the hotel, and didn’t stay. Business meetings were taking him away and the strange part was, I felt sad he was leaving. I was beginning to feel safe with him and that wasn’t good. He was the opposite of safe. He was dangerous. Especially since he made me feel things physically I’d never felt before.
I packed all of our belongings, and went down to meet Kyle in the lobby after school.
“So we have a place now.” My smile hurt my cheeks it was so big.
Pulling him into my side as we walked back to the elevator, I ruffled his hair.
“That’s great. When do we move in?” he asked.
“Right now. Everything’s already in place. All of our things are there. It’s perfect, Kyle.”
“But how?”
“A friend of mine is helping us out until I get on my feet.”
“Pretty nice friend,” he shrugged.
Thankfully, the subject was dropped and once we got to our place and he saw how fabulous it was, I didn’t think he cared about the hows or whys.
That night I slept in my bed, in a secure place, surrounded by all my things. My hair was damp from soaking in a hot bath all night and my body felt more relaxed than it had in years.