Chapter 37

Grant

Everything had to be perfect. I did another lap through my apartment, just to double check that everything looked as it ought to. I usually kept a pretty tidy apartment anyway, but it still didn’t hurt to make sure. I also had to check that the few extra furnishings that Kendra had bought over the past month were on display, too.

There was the Egyptian rug that she had picked out. I personally thought it was hideous, but she insisted that it added some much needed color to my apartment. My bed also had on the new bedsheets that she had personally chosen, and the shrub that she had gifted me was also on prominent display in the living room. It was all ready.

Really, I just wanted to make the place look like home, or as close to home as it could. Over the last month, Kendra had been coming here almost every night. In fact, I think I may have been to her place on two occasions only. It wasn’t personal. It was just that my place was so much nicer. And that was kind of the point of tonight. I had a big question that I needed to ask, and I wanted everything to be perfect. Well, I actually had two questions, but she had to say yes to the first before I even considered the other.

The truth was that I was just a touch on the nervous side. Everything between me and Kendra had been going so well for the past month that I was constantly on the lookout for something to go wrong. It seemed that was our usual pattern, and this prolonged period of happiness was messing with it. That was why I was so worried. There was a chance that what I was going to ask, if she didn’t agree, could send us down a road we both knew all too well.

It was just as I was finishing my final round that I heard a knock at the door. Sure enough, it was Kendra on the other side.

“Hey, babe,” I said as I pulled her into a kiss.

“Babe? You know how much I hate that,” she joked as she pushed herself back from me, ducking my lips.

“Just testing it out. I have a new one ready tomorrow to try, too.”

She laughed this off, entering the apartment. “I love this rug,” she cooed as her eyes fell on the Egyptian rug. “Where did you get it from?”

“I found it,” I shot back, smiling as I did. “Out on the street. There’s a stain on the floor underneath, so I figured it would cover it perfectly. Ow!” Laughing, she slapped me on the arm. I grabbed her hands, pulling her in for a real kiss this time, one she didn’t try and pull away from.

Once finished, I walked across the room toward the kitchen where I poured us some drinks. Vodka cranberry for her, and whiskey neat for me.

“How was it?” I asked, handing her the drink.

She rolled her eyes at my question. “The club is coming along really well. All the sponsorship deals are signed, the permits came through, the staff is hired...”

“But?”

“Jack is an absolute menace. He insisted that he be involved in the hiring process. I said yes, obviously. I mean, why wouldn’t I? But the moment that we started, I knew that I had made a mistake.”

“Let me guess,” I said, not even bothering to hide my knowing smile. I knew exactly what the problem was going to be, of course. “He only hires the pretty girls?”

“Not even that!” she exclaimed. “If he only hired the pretty ones, then we might have gotten somewhere. But they had to be beyond pretty. He insisted. They had to stop time and make jaws drop and... and...”

“It sounds kind of like this girl I hired one time.” I put my glass down, pulling her back into me. “She used to make jaws drop when she entered the room, too. And I swear, that one day, I was so late because time actually stopped when we were together.”

“That was different!” she protested, trying but failing to pull herself from me. “I can actually read. And count. And string sentences together that contain multi-syllable words.”

“Oh?” I asked. “You thought I was talking about you?”

She slapped me on the arm again. “Very funny.”

I smoothed her annoyance away with a kiss. “Okay, okay,” I relented, letting her go and picking my glass up again. “But, after all that, how is everything?”

“Everything is perfect.” And I knew she wasn’t just talking about the club. As if she wanted to confirm just that, she kissed me on the tip of my nose. “I’m just going to pop into the bathroom, and then we can eat.” She hurried across the room toward the bathroom.

Yes, everything was going perfectly. We were both obviously happy and hadn’t had anything even resembling a fight in a full month. I just hoped that didn’t change. I had two more things I needed to broach and just prayed that she took them the right way.

It was as we ate that I decided to ask her. Kendra was always in her best mood around food, and as she was also a few glasses deep at that time, too, I figured that the timing was perfect.

“So, what do you think of the new additions to the apartment?” I asked, casually.

“You mean the ones I picked out?”

“Yeah. Those ones.”

“Well,” she began, eyeing me suspiciously. “Seeing as how I’m the one that chose them and then forced you to put them out, I would say that I rather like them.” She finished her bit, her eyes still locked onto mine.

“If that’s the case, how do you feel about adding some more?” I tried to sound as normal as possible while asking, as if I were just making pleasant conversation. I had the feeling though that she wasn’t buying it.

“I could do that. But why would I? I had a hard enough time convincing you to put that rug down.”

“Hold up. It wasn’t that hard. I just wasn’t sure about it.”

“You called it the ugliest thing you had ever seen in your life. You said that you would rather knock the entire room down than put it out.”

“I was tired,” I protested, throwing up my hands in defense. “You know what? That really isn’t important. What is important is what I’m going to ask you next.”

“Okay,” she said simply, giving nothing away.

“I was wondering, hoping actually, that since you enjoyed furnishing the place so much, and seeing as you’re already here so often, it just makes sense. Well, maybe it doesn’t make sense, but I think it would be a good idea, if you wanted to—”

“Grant,” she cut in, holding her hand up for me to stop. “I would love to move in with you. In fact, I’m kind of mad you didn’t ask me sooner,” she finished with a smile.

“How did you know?” I asked, surprised that she was so clued in. We had, after all, agreed to take our relationship slow, and her guessing my motivations was the complete opposite of this pact.

“Please, I know everything. But I will only agree on one condition, and you have to promise me that you will honor it?”

“Sure. Anything.” I had no idea what she could possibly ask for.

“That you treat me like an actual employee and not your girlfriend. Seriously, I’m sick of having to explain to everyone at the club why my paychecks are always so much bigger than theirs.”

“Oh, that.”

If we had anything close to a fight over the last month, that was it. About three weeks ago, when Kendra had signed her new contract for her new role, I had offered her a rather lucrative raise. She, however, found the amount of money offered was ridiculous, as in it was too much. And on that point, she could not be argued down. She simply refused to sign the contract if she was to be getting paid as much as I had offered. So, to counter this issue, I opted to pay her in bonuses each week instead. Whenever her pay went through, a small bonus sum was attached, enough to ensure that she was more than comfortable.

For some reason that I could not understand, she found this insulting and refused to spend the extra money. She even created a separate account to store the bonuses, with the intention of giving it all back, once she figured out how to get me to take it. It seemed that she had now found a way.

“If we are to do this,” she was saying. “And you are serious about us living together, it’s going to be as equals. My pay will help go towards rent, food, and other expenditures. I’m not your mistress. I’m your girlfriend. Understand?”

The last thing I wanted was an argument. We had argued more in the past few months than most couples do in a lifetime. Plus, from the look on her face, I could tell that arguing would be all too pointless. So, biting my tongue, I nodded. And to that, she smiled back, lifting her glass in the air in celebration. Our glasses clinked, and it was the sound of change.

“So,” she began as we finished up our food and drinks. “The rug is out. The plant is out. Did you have the foresight to put the bedsheets on, too?”

“Oh, did I ever,” I said with a wicked smile.

“Show me.”

I took her by the hand, leading her to the room. She didn’t really want to see the bedsheets; her desires were far more devious than that. But still, I was glad I had the sheets on nonetheless. Anything to keep her mood elevated.

One thing that had improved beyond measure since the two of us had become more serious was the sex. Every single time now, it was mind blowing. Sometimes, we made it about her, sometimes it was about me, and sometimes it was about both of us. I found that it didn’t matter honestly, as every session was equally as intense as it was pleasurable. I got as much pleasure from going down on her as I did from receiving a blowjob, and she told me the same thing about her.

In the end, I guessed that was when you knew that you had found that special someone. Whenever everything you do is the best it could be, just so long as you have that someone by your side. And, as I led her to the room, I had a feeling that tonight was going to be extra special.