Chapter Twenty-Five
Ava
The next three weeks go by in a blink of an eye, or so it seems. There’s plenty to do at the office—which I am used to. What I am not used to is coming home and not being alone. Since the Bennetts found out I moved in with Sebastian, they find an excuse to drop by every other evening.
Like the eternal pessimist I am, I keep waiting for the fairy tale to end. If something is too good to be true, it probably is—that’s what Mom always said. The trouble? Sebastian’s more amazing with each passing day, and his skills in bed are unmatched. Seriously. This man can do things with his mouth that should be illegal. Okay, so maybe fairy tale wasn’t the right name for this.
Unless it’s the adult version, that is.
“Sebastian, stop, or I’ll be late,” I say, without much conviction in my voice. He smiles against my swollen flesh and lifts his mouth. He keeps his finger on my clit, applying pressure.
“You’re the one who said you want to be woken up like this every morning,” he whispers in my ear as I dig my fingers in his back, my breath frantic. Tension builds inside me. My hands roam over the hard lines on his naked torso, his manly scent overwhelming me.
“I don’t, thiwatonow,” I babble, spectacularly aware of all my nerve endings. The rhythmic movement of his finger ignites me.
“I love it when you forget English.”
That’s when I come. Hard and fast. I plant my heels in the mattress, bucking against his strong hand. He captures my orgasm in a kiss, holding me close to him until my breathing and heart rate slow down.
“Good morning,” Sebastian says.
When I’m certain I can string coherent words together, I say, “Good morning to you too, handsome.” Supporting himself on his forearms and knees, he towers over me. “I really need to shower and go meet your sister.” It’s Saturday morning, and Pippa and I scheduled a girls’ day out for today.
“You’re taking advantage of me, you know that?” he asks, tracing my lower lip with his thumb.
“And I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
I shower quickly, putting on a light green dress. When I arrive in the living room, Sebastian’s talking on the phone. He has his business face on. I catch the word senator, and grin. Yes! This is Sebastian Bennett, ladies and gentlemen. Wakes me up with an orgasm, and then talks senators into doing whatever he wants. More proof that his mouth is magic.
Tiptoeing around the place, I make myself a sandwich and eat it, then strap my sandals on. Sebastian catches up with me as I’m about to leave the apartment.
“You’re taking over my family.” Hooking his arms around my waist, he pulls me to him for a kiss. He lightly brushes my lips, but he’s only wearing boxers, and being this close to his bare chest is a dangerous endeavor. I might end up not leaving, after all.
“Does it bother you?”
“Well, I’m a greedy bastard and want you all to myself.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Ava, why would it bother me? You’re not my dirty little secret. Even though you can be dirty in bed.”
“I thought you liked it,” I say shyly.
He pushes me against the door, spreading my legs with his knees. In a quick move, he pins my hands above my head. “I love it when you’re feisty. You look at me like there isn’t anyone else in the world you’d rather be with.”
“Well, there isn’t,” I say truthfully.
“I’d better let you go, beautiful.”
“You call me beautiful a lot.”
“It’s true.”
“Mmmm. . .” He plants a soft kiss on me and lets my hands go, caressing my shoulders. Sebastian doesn’t just say those things, he makes me feel them by the way he looks at and touches me. He worships my skin and my lips.
When we break apart, he says, “Have fun.”
“Jealous you’re not joining us?”
Sebastian steps back, finally leaving me free to move from the door. “It’s a girls’ day out. Enjoy it. Besides, I have a hunch Pippa’s going to take you to her favorite interior design shop. I love my sister, but spending more than five minutes there makes me want to punch someone.”
I grin. “She did mention she wants to go there. Do you want me to buy anything?”
“If there’s anything you think fits here, go ahead.”
I lick my lips, swallowing twice. “You want me to bring my own decorations in your apartment?”
“Yeah.” There is a strange glint in his eyes as he leans against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. “I want you to feel at home here.”
“But I’ll only stay here for another six weeks and then my placement will be over.” Suddenly, no air reaches my lungs. I open my mouth to breathe and there is no oxygen.
Sebastian’s jaw ticks, the glint in his eyes more pronounced. “Let’s pretend it won’t.” Oh, God, I trust this man with everything I have: my body, my heart, and my mind. I’m afraid I’ll leave all of that here after I’m gone.
Deciding to be naughty and lighten up the mood, I add, “Pippa said we’re going to a strip club in the afternoon.”
He stiffens. “What?”
I bite my tongue to keep a straight face. “Yeah, apparently there’s one with a new show, where the audience is also encouraged to get. . . involved.”
In a millisecond, Sebastian unhitches himself from the wall, striding to me. “I won’t allow you to—”
I burst out laughing, unable to keep up the charade. I’d make a terrible spy.
“You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”
“Guilty. I love it when you go all alpha on me. I mean, Pippa keeps talking about going to a strip club, but she’s not serious.”
Sebastian’s smile melts into a frown. My stomach churns.
“What is it? You look worried.”
Taking a deep breath, he says, “I should spend more time with Pippa. She closed herself off from me after her divorce, and I’m not sure how she’s really doing.”
“You’re out to save the world, aren’t you?”
“Nah, I’m too selfish. I care about my family. And you.”
My heart bounces. “I’ll make sure Pippa has fun today. I’ll take her mind off things.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me. She’s not even talking much to Alice or Summer. Maybe she’ll open up to you.” Sebastian looks at me as if I indeed told him I’m saving the world today. I feel like Wonder Woman.
“You don’t have to do everything on your own, you know. I like to help.”
“I see that. But if helping will include strippers, I’ll have a word with my dearest sister.”
***
A day filled with estrogen and girly activities turns out to be exactly what Pippa and I need. We’re going textbook on this. Manis and pedis are first on our list, followed by hours of shopping. We stop by the interior design shop, and while Pippa buys half their stock, I only buy a small fruit bowl. It’ll look great in Sebastian’s apartment, and it’ll be a nice, unobtrusive reminder of our time together in six weeks.
The thought depresses me, and as I pay for the item, I find my lower lip quivering and my eyes stinging. Soon, a burning ache settles in my chest. I’m missing him already. God, how will I survive my Sebastian-less future? Thankfully, Pippa drags me to a cupcake shop next. Nothing like an overdose of sugar to stuff dark thoughts right where they belong, in the recesses of my mind.
Turns out, I don’t need any spy skills to make Pippa talk about the divorce. Over coffee and cupcakes, she opens up to me.
“Sebastian has to stop worrying about me. I’m not okay, of course I’m not, but I have my big girl pants on.” Looking sadly at her empty plate, she adds, “If I keep stuffing myself with cupcakes, I will literally become a big girl.”
“He’s your older brother. He’ll always worry.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s always been like this. There were two camps when we grew up, the older ones and the younger ones. I remember Logan, Sebastian, and I making a pact when I was about eleven years old that we’d always look after the younger ones. Of course, Sebastian, being the oldest of the lot, took it upon himself to take care of everyone.”
Adoration for her older brother is etched on her every feature. Her smile is contagious, and I find myself imagining the scene and a younger Sebastian being as bossy as now. I feel like hugging her.
She lounges back in her chair, crossing her legs and arms and keeping her eyes on the wooden table. “And now I feel like I failed them. I mean, how did I choose so wrong? Was I blind?”
Ah, so that’s why she isn’t talking to her family about it. The urge to hug her grows stronger.
“Pippa, I’ve seen enough of your family to know that they’ll love you no matter what. None of them thinks you’ve failed. If anything, they’re relieved you got rid of—”
Her gaze snaps up to me, her shoulders going rigid. “Don’t say his name.”
“—him. They want you to be happy, honestly. And your sisters aren’t kids anymore. It’s not like you have to be a role model or something. Don’t push them away. You’ve always had each other’s backs, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, when that meant covering for mischief, or going through a high school breakup. But every single person in my family—that includes about half of the adopted Bennetts—more or less told me he wasn’t right for me. I didn’t listen, and it turns out they were right. I’m ashamed on top of hurt.”
“You’re the one shutting them out, and no one’s chanting I told you so.”
She sighs. “I know. I’m mishandling all of this. I need more time to pull myself together. I tried yoga, meditation, and whatnot to stop feeling like crap about myself. I’m one failed meditation away from trying voodoo.”
Pippa says this with a steady voice, but my stomach clenches nonetheless.
I choose my words carefully. “It’s okay to wallow for a while, Pippa.”
“The problem is I feel the ground slipping from underneath my feet. I’m not wallowing. I’m drowning.” For the first time, her voice wavers, and her eyes are glassy as she looks up at me. “I grew up with parents who loved each other to death and brothers who worshipped me. I felt safe. When I started dating, I felt like a sheep among wolves. I thought Terence was different. Turns out he was just better at pretending.”
I try to imagine how she must be feeling. Maybe because I grew up without a father, or I’m a natural pessimist, but I went into most of my relationships half expecting them to end badly. Even so, I was brokenhearted when they were over. I can’t imagine how a divorce feels to Pippa, who grew up watching her parents’ perfect marriage and probably took happily-ever-after as a given.
"It'll get better eventually,” I say. “But it'll suck badly for a long while before it does."
To my surprise, Pippa smiles. "That actually makes me feel better."
"Really?" I ask skeptically.
"Yeah. It sounds realistic, gives me something to look forward to.” Eyeing my half-eaten cupcake, she adds, “Are you finishing that?”
“No.”
With a grin, she draws my plate to her.
It’s early afternoon and we’re on our way to the beach when I notice a familiar face in the line to an ice-cream stand.
“Anna,” I exclaim, stopping dead in my tracks. Anna is my least favorite coworker. Though she’s older than I am, she came to the industry later on and has a lower position, which frustrates her. She’s nosy and gossipy, and takes immense pleasure in seeing people going through difficult times. “What are you doing here?”
“Took a few days off, and my husband’s family lives here.” She swings her bushy red hair behind her shoulder. “I’m flying to New York on Monday. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“Ah, sure, this is Pippa Bennett, Sebastian’s sister. Sebastian’s the CEO.” I speak very fast, almost babbling.
“You’re on a first-name basis with him,” Anna remarks, an unpleasant smile appearing on her face.
Pippa takes a step forward. “Everyone in the company is on a first-name basis.”
“Everyone also goes shopping with the CEO’s sister?” She eyes the bags in our hands. “That’s a cozy. . . enterprise.”
Welcome to the advertising industry, where everyone is out to get you. Maybe it’s like this in every industry, I don’t know, but if she takes her gossipy mouth to Dirk, I could be in trouble. He could become suspicious.
“Have you heard about Laney?” Anna asks, referring to one of our colleagues.
“No, haven’t had much time to check in with the other girls.”
“Dirk fired her.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, you know it was her third project with the real estate mogul in LA. Dirk found out she was actually sleeping with him.”
Next to me, Pippa stops in the act of searching for something in her bag. When Anna moves forward in the line, it takes me a few good seconds to order my numb feet to follow her. Anna’s not done. I can tell that by the hungry look in her eyes.
“It was a scandal at the office, since it hadn’t happened in forever. Young girls today, they are so tempted by the forbidden fruit. Lucky I’m married. No temptation for me.”
“Yeah, lucky you,” I murmur, hunching my shoulders as if a ton of bricks fell on them. “Is Laney okay?”
Anna shrugs. “Haven’t talked to her.”
Typical.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Anna.” Pippa’s words come out clipped. “But we must get going. We have a full schedule for today.”
Anna purses her lips. She doesn’t say anything more than, “It was nice meeting you too, Pippa. Bye, Ava.”
“She’s such a bitch,” Pippa hisses when Anna’s out of earshot.
“Yep.”
“You’re worried.” It’s a statement, not a question.
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“Listen, your boss won’t find out. And if he does, Sebastian will sort it out. We have shark lawyers, but it wouldn’t even come to that. Sebastian can be very persuasive.”
I straighten. “I don’t need Sebastian to save me. He’s got enough on his plate already, watching over your family.”
Pippa gives me a long look. “Oh, I could tell you weren’t looking for a knight in shining armor since I met you.” At my raised eyebrows, she adds, “I’m the people reader in the family, haven’t you heard that?”
I shrug noncommittally, even though I do remember Sebastian telling me that. It scares me.
“Anyway, as I was saying, you didn’t strike me as the type who needs a knight, but an equal—someone who doesn’t save you, but who you can count on.”
I gulp. Holy crap, she does read people well.
“He’s my brother, and I’m biased, obviously, but Sebastian fits that role perfectly.”
I burst out laughing. I can’t help it. “Pippa, I recognize a sales pitch when I hear one. I’ve moved in with your brother already. You don’t have to sell him to me.”
“Yeah, I do. You said Sebastian has enough on his plate with the family.” Pippa gives me a long look, and then her features light up in a smile. “You are part of the family now.”