When he hangs up, he puts down the phone and walks toward me.
“How did it go?”
“You own a Batcave?”
“That’s what they call it,” he explains. “You live there, too, remember? Now, tell me what happened?”
“The book deal is on, under my terms,” I explain. “I can pay you back what you lent Eros.”
“Eros and I have a business deal,” he declares. “It has nothing to do with you or the money you would’ve had to return.”
“I deserve the story.”
He nods. “I created an internet browser during my first year of college.”
“Would I know it?”
“No. A big software company bought it,” he answers. “My father tried to get control of my earnings, but I emancipated from him soon after. It wasn’t because I didn’t trust him, but he got married just a year before that.”
“Clyde’s mom,” I guess.
He nods. “I still lived at home, because of Nate, but he had no access to my money. I learned the hard way that not everyone is looking after your best interests. You know that part—you live that part.”
“Did someone break your heart?”
He smirks. “No, I was too geeky looking, and by the time I was attractive, I was too jaded. After my parents’ divorce, my mom had left us. Which is what created my… What did you call them?” he asks rhetorically. “Right, abandonment issues. The friends I was making were just around because I had something they wanted. I learned to steer away from people in general.”
My heart beats fast, as I hear his words. Maybe I’m looking into the wrong conversations. Though, I ask more. “Is that why you tried to push me away?”
“That, and you were Sheila’s friend. Fuck, it infuriated me that you called me Chad. It was as if you just took everything she said and didn’t care to hear or figure out my side—or so I thought,” he amends.
“You chose to leave me in the dark, until I wiggled my way into your life,” I conclude.
“Simon isn’t the only one who barges into people’s places and makes himself at home. He learned from you,” he states.
“Sheila never told me any of this,” I state.
“They signed a NDA and received money to keep their mouths shut,” he explains. “Nate wants you to sign one, too.”
“He doesn’t trust me, or is it you?”
“We look after each other. He is afraid that with your work…” he declares. “But I’m sure it’s too late for NDAs. We’re past that, aren’t we, Joy?”
“Well, our friendship doesn’t make sense,” I stutter and touch my lips and then, everything makes sense. I was looking into the wrong conversations. I promised Lang I’d listen, I would be understanding… Also, I remember that once Lang kisses me that was it. And the kiss … it was just like he described on…
I stare at him, sweaty hands, and heart pounding. “Lang?”
He nods. “Langford Edward Chadwick.”
My eyes open wide. “How?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. You are the one who started the whole thing. The best part is that whoever was on the other side of the phone didn’t know shit about me and I could be myself.”
I smile and nod because it was the same with me. We were ourselves, then again, I wasn’t much different around Ford either. Well, I wasn’t flirting with him.
“When did you know it was me?”
“During the fire,” he confesses. “I had just found out when you arrived at your apartment.”
I pat my sternum, counting and trying to be rational because I did promise him.
“I was scared because I couldn’t find you. Fuck, I was panicking, and when I found Simon, I calmed down, but then … I texted Joy, and it was you.”
“You stopped talking to me,” I argue, and now my voice is coming forceful.
“Look at it from my perspective. You are Sheila’s friend. She’s been trying to make money off of me for years. Fuck, she’s been renting you a software that anyone can use for free.”
“Unless, you don’t want ads,” I correct him.
“I was weary about you because of her. I came back,” he tells me. “I swear, I was about to move to Seattle, but between your texts and the podcast…”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I should have, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t lose you as Ford. Lang had fucked up by ignoring you when you needed him.”
My head is about to explode with all this information. My stomach is filled with knots and my heart… The emotions are too many and too consuming.
What am I supposed to do with all this information? Love him? Leave him? I touch my lips. Forget the best first kiss?
“You can leave,” he says. “You can forget I exist. Langford Chadwick is a ghost. No one knows where he lives, only that his legacy continues growing. Ford … you know the man. You are the only person beside Nate who knows me best. I see you, Persephone. The woman behind the brand, the makeup, the lifestyle.”
He walks to me, lifts my chin and says. “I love you—all of you. My favorite part of you is the one who hangs out with her family. Who believes in all of them. I admire the way that you can separate your business from your personal life. I love the successful woman too.”
“What am I supposed to do with you?”
“Forget me or love me back,” he offers. “I prefer the second one, but if the first one serves your life better, I’m okay with it.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to be happy. I already found my happy—and you enrich it every day. You helped me find myself. You showed me that love is for everyone because everyone should love themselves. Also, I found my exception—you.”
I close my eyes, trying to find the calm in the eye of the storm. My heart is beating into overdrive.
“My happiness doesn’t depend on you, but I’m happier when you are around me,” he continues. “You are what makes my days brighter. I live for your voice, your laughter, and your smiles.”
Opening my eyes, I see him right in front of me. His blue eyes watching me anxiously. He moves. The tips of his fingers caress my jaw.
“Life, the people around me, the circumstances harden me. There was an emptiness in my life. Like I couldn’t quite feel complete. Then, you happened to walk into it.”
His voice is low and powerful. “Sure, I could live the rest of my life without you. I’ve survived almost thirty-five years on my own. I just don’t want to do it. Did I fuck up so badly that you can’t forgive me?”
“I want to be mad at you—at least for a day or two,” I say, letting out a breath. This is one of those times that I have to remind myself that life is too short and too beautiful to be angry at a man who has a big heart and has faced too much rejection to stay angry at him. “But damn it if I don’t love you, Langford Edward Chadwick.”
He smiles and cups my nape as we stare at each other. The intensity of his gaze is making my knees weak and my body tremble.
“There’s also the fact that I kissed you.” He nips my earlobe, and his warm breath tickles my skin.
“There’s no going back, Persephone,” he whispers with a sexy low husk.
A tremor runs through my body, as his arms wrap tightly around my waist. My blood rushes through my ears when his lips meet mine in a fierce crash. I moan against him, as his tongue meets mine. He presses me closer to him. This kiss is so different from the one he gave me in the elevator. I savor his exquisite mouth, without any reservation or regret. This time, there’s no rush or guilt, because there’s not another guy waiting for me.
He’s the only one—he’s been the one since I saw him next door. His strong and insistent kiss sears his lips on mine. Undeniable heat burns through my skin as we kiss hungrily.
Thirty-Four
Him
Tuesday, August 4th
I’ve never met someone so fierce and strong. She’s not simple. It’s her complexity that made me fall in love with her in such a wa
y that I can never take my heart back. I love her flaws. Those little things that make her so unique and special. So mine.
To this day, I don’t know when she captured me. It could’ve been the moment I saw her or when she took no shit from me. None of that matters. The only thing I care about, right now, is that she’s about to be mine. And if God is as merciful as they say, she’ll stay with me forever.
We go through the back staircase to the second floor of the penthouse and arrive at my room.
“You like penthouses,” she states, and her voice has a little squeak that tells me she’s nervous.
“We don’t have to do anything,” I whisper, placing my hands on her waist and drawing her closer to me.
I doubt I’ve ever been turned on as much as I am right now. This moment is special, unique, only because of her. The sexiest, most beautiful woman in the world.
“I want to,” she murmurs, her lips just inches from mine.
I meet her big brown eyes, shining with desire. My pulse accelerates. I drop my face to her neck and nibble her delicious skin. She smells so fucking good.
But I don’t want to just taste her. I want to devour every inch of her as I learn what it is that makes her tick. I might not claim her all today, but I will start exploring her. This isn’t a conquest, but the consolidation of two bodies into one soul.
“So, what is all that about having a Batcave?” she asks, caressing my cheek and staring at me with dazed eyes. “You’re definitely not an orphan.”
“Recluse billionaire,” I tell her.
“I can be whatever you want, Persephone. I could be your Hades. Would you eat those seeds for me?”
“Willingly,” she answers.
Desire flows through my veins. I kiss her neck, travel over her bare shoulder and lower the straps of her blouse. I trace a trail of kisses down her arm.
She shivers. My hands explore, as they start pushing, pulling and taking off her clothes.
“You’re the most gorgeous woman in the world.” My raw, lustful voice makes her tremble under my touch.
I press my lips to hers, kissing her tenderly. She’s so soft and small. I slide my tongue between her plump lips. She opens for me, letting out a soft moan. I thread my hands through her curls, pressing her closer to me. I can’t get enough of her. Her hands comb my hair before they entwine behind my head. She clutches me closer to her. From a steady, slow motion, our kiss switches to desperate and greedy.
The urgency is palpable as our hungry mouths devour each other. The addiction for Persephone increases as we undress each other. I can’t get enough of her, and I don’t want to ever let her go. After today, she’s going to be all I need—everything I need. We kiss as if we are the only air that could fill our lungs.
The world around us fades. There’s nothing but us. And only one person exists to me. Her.
Only her. My goddess.
I start with her beautiful breasts. I suck on each hardened, pearly nipple through the lace of her bra and it makes her arch. Her fingers thread tightly through my hair as I suck on her breasts. I inch my way down her body, kissing every corner of her soft skin, flicking my tongue across her belly button and then back up.
She moans, her back arching, as she grabs the back of my neck. I wrap an arm around her waist and cup her breast with my other hand, squeezing it, flicking her nipple, as I continue sucking on the other. I bury my face between her breasts, as my hands explore her beautiful body.
Her
His mouth is at my breast, his fingers tease along the inside of my thighs. This is the first time I’m letting someone take control of my pleasure. Ford doesn’t hesitate to take what he wants. To kiss, to lick, to nibble—to bite. I crave the calmness he gives me. The storm he creates as he kisses me.
I gasp a moan as his powerful hands find their way to my bare skin. When his mouth finally finds the apex between my legs, I scream. I grip his shoulders, pushing my hips against his powerful tongue. His fingers slide inside me, caressing deep, as my pleasure draws all the way into my core.
He doesn’t wait long. One second he’s tearing the wrapper of a condom, and the next, he’s spreading my legs open and holding his pulsating length.
“Persephone,” he says my name with such lust and yet tenderness.
“Don’t make me beg,” I plead, as my entire body is blazing into a damn inferno.
He rubs the head of his shaft and pushes it inside my entrance. I didn’t know I had longed for him until he sinks so deep, I feel him inside my soul.
“I love you,” he says, as he remains still, filling me up, making me feel whole.
Yes, I create my own happiness, but Ford completed me since the first time we met. I’m not sure why or how, it just felt right. He feels right.
“Maybe I’ve been in love with you since forever,” I whisper, as he begins to move slowly, claiming my body just as he claimed my heart.
Every thrust completes me. Consumes me. Pushes me to the edge. We are everything. I’ve never felt so much at once. I’m blooming, I’m withering, I’m exploding into a billion pieces. He takes my mouth as I moan in pleasure. I sink onto him, so deep, I don’t think we’ll ever be the same again.
Epilogue
Podcast Week 22 Season 3
Tuesday, October 27th
“Hello, all you beautiful people. I’m Persy, and this is Life with Persy. Each week, I’m answering your questions about your relationships with your cat, your significant other, your parents, your siblings, and your roommate, to name a few.
“Need to get along with a nosey neighbor from hell? There’s always a solution.
“Does that cute guy from Tinder come with more baggage than you bargained for? We’ll talk it up and dish it out here.
“I’ll offer advice, tactics, and tools that you can use in your daily life to create your own slice of happiness.
“Just a reminder, this podcast is not suited for work, but you can play it almost everywhere else on your favorite podcast listening devices.
“This week we have a new Almost Ten Tips, buying a new home with your partner, and we have a special guest. Edna, my mom, is here to talk about Sixtysutra, so stick around.
“Let’s start with the list that we all want to hear about … Almost Ten Tips to get the sex you want.”
“You only need one: You ask for it,” my live-in boyfriend interrupts.
We moved in together last August, right after we came back from New York, where we had spent two weeks. His brother kept pushing meetings, presentations, and even a conference with his employees. Ford told him to enjoy it because he wouldn’t be back for another ten years. When we arrived home, it made sense to just move in with him. It’s been a wild couple of months living with him. Every day is a new adventure, and I hope we can keep exploring what it is to be us.
That doesn’t mean I enjoy when he barges into my studio and disrupts me.
I glare at Ford. “You said you were working today.”
He nods. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to listen to what you are talking about. I’m minding my own business when suddenly I hear today’s theme. Needless to say, I have to tell you that you’re wrong. You don’t need almost ten, you only need, the one.”
“It doesn’t work like that for everyone.”
He smirks at me. “It works for you.”
I stop recording. “I can’t with you, Langford Chadwick!”
“Wanna bet that you could? We should try a marathon. Twenty-four hours. I’ll even buy you some new toys.”
“Can you go a few hours without thinking about sex?” I challenge him.
He shakes his head. “I live with the sexiest, most beautiful woman in the world—and she’s mine. It’s impossible.”
“I have a show to record.”
“Do it. I have a good one for you,” he says. “Press your magic button.”
I do it and wait. He pulls something out of his pocket, bends down on one knee and says, “Almost ten reasons why you want to
marry your live-in girlfriend.
She accepts you.
She makes you feel safe.
She’s your universe
You love her because there’s no one like her.
You can’t imagine your life without her love.
You want to create a family with her.
She is your midnight text.
Her soul lives inside your heart.
She confides in you and trusts you with her fears.
She’s the love of your life.
“Persephone, you are in fact my Joy. My sunrise and my sunset. The one person I trust with everything. This year has been a rollercoaster—because of you. And you know what, I enjoy having my ups and down. I never thought that fighting with you would be as fun as loving you. I don’t care where we live or what we do. The only thing I care about is spending the rest of my life with you, receiving dirty texts, trying new sex positions, and loving each other even more.
“Would you do me the honor of being my wife, my companion, the sender of the dirtiest texts I’ve ever read?”
“Ford,” I mumble, as tears roll down my cheek. “You… I. But you told me you didn’t believe. I mean, you don’t—”
“I want to. I want to fall in love with you every night. To spend every single day learning about life and each other. I believe in you and our love. That’s all that matters.”
Ford: I’m heading home.
Persy: How long until you land?
Ford: A couple of hours. I should be there before you fall asleep, but if I don’t…
Persy: Will you wake me up?
Ford: Don’t wear anything to bed.
Persy: What are you going to do when you get home?
Ford: I’ll slowly spread your legs and kiss you. Lick you up and down. Waking you up gently.
Persy: My fingers are already there.
Ford: Thrust it inside, Baby. Think it’s me…
Wrong Text, Right Love Page 21