Damn straight I’m a fucking mess. “I’m drunk.”
“I see that,” she says.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Mel asks as she comes out of the hallway then takes one look at me and scrunches up her face. She grabs her bag off the kitchen counter and walks towards us. She gives Gigi a hug. “I’ll leave you guys to it,” she says before reaching for the door handle behind me.
“You going to tell Tom how much you hate him while you screw his brains out?” Gigi asks as I move out of Mel’s way.
Mel can’t help but grin at Gigi before she slips out the door, leaving us alone. “Come on,” Gigi says as she takes my hand and leads me down the hallway. She pulls me into the bathroom and grabs the hem of my shirt before pulling it up over my head.
I help her to fully remove it, which is when her hands come down on my chest. My skin burns from her touch and I absolutely love it. Her eyes burn with desire and I slide my arms around her waist, pulling her in.
My lips instantly find hers and she moans into me. Fuck yeah. My hands travel down to her perfect ass. I give it a squeeze and lift her onto the vanity. Her legs wrap around my waist, but she gently pushes me back.
I look down at her in confusion. “We’re not doing this,” she says.
Disappointment floods me. “Why the hell not?”
“Because your drunk and not the good kind of drunk. Something’s going on with you right now and I have absolutely no idea what it is, but something tells me it’s not good. So, you need to shower and preferably brush your teeth, then I’m putting you to bed.”
With a sigh, I pull her back into me. “That’s not how I was hoping tonight was going to go.”
“You’ve made that clear. Now hurry up and get your ass in the shower,” she tells me as she tilts her chin up and gently touches my lips.
I step back from her and reach for the button of my jeans. Her eyes follow the movement and the desire within them intensifies as I undo it. “You staying or leaving?” I ask as her eyes reluctantly move back to mine.
“Leaving,” she finally says as she jumps off the vanity. “My self control isn’t that good.”
With that, she leaves the bathroom and I get myself showered and somehow manage to sober up enough that I can stop making an ass out of myself, or an arrogant asshole, as Gigi puts it. Though, she’s right. I was a complete asshole.
I make my way out of the bathroom and into her living room where I find her curled up on her couch with a cushion squished under her face. She looks up at my movement and climbs off the couch. She takes me by the hand, silently walks into the kitchen, hands me a glass of water and drags me down the hallway into her room. “Get in,” she says.
I raise a brow at her. “Are you seriously putting me to bed?”
“Yep,” she says. “Now, get in.”
I do as she says before patting the space beside me. “You getting in, too?”
She bites her bottom lip and is silently thinking about it. “Are you going to maul me?” she questions.
“Depends,” I grin.
“On?”
“If you want me to.”
“You know, I do,” she tells me as she kneels on the edge of the bed, creeps towards me and drops into my arms. “But only when it’s me you’re thinking about,” she says so quietly I have to strain to hear her.
Her comment hits me like a freight train. She’s right. I’m not being fair to her right now. “I’m sorry,” I whisper into her hair.
“It’s ok… do, um, do you want to talk about it?” she murmurs. “I mean, you don’t have to, but I just thought it might help.”
I let out a sigh as I realize that she deserves to know. I fully intend for this woman to be a part of my life which means I need to let her in. I need to open up and completely let her into my life. I give myself a moment until I’m sure I’m not going to break down. “It was my wedding anniversary today.”
She gasps and her eyes instantly fill with pain before she closes them and holds me a little tighter. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “I was wondering if it had anything to do with Sara.”
“Yeah,” I whisper.
She snuggles her face down into my chest and draws little circles with her finger. We each lay silently, lost in our own thoughts and eventually drift off to sleep. Finally putting this day to rest.
Chapter 21
Gigi
I sit on my couch with my feet thrown carelessly over the side as I cradle my coffee mug in my cold hands. The front door is thrown open and Mel barges her way through the door. I raise a brow as I take in the startled look on her face. “Just getting in?” I grin.
She lets out a sigh before dumping her handbag and the mail on the table. “Yes,” she groans.
She flops down into the couch beside me before taking in the heavenly aroma of my coffee and changing her mind. She gets straight back up again and heads into the kitchen to make one of her own. “How was your night?” she questions. “Is he still here?”
A smile instantly takes over my face at the chance of talking about Sean. “Yeah, he’s still in bed. He’s going to have a wicked hangover today.”
“I bet,” she murmurs as she adds milk into her coffee and gives it a good stir. “Did you guys happen to talk?”
“Not really,” I tell her.
“Oh,” she grunts as she sits back down beside me. “So, you don’t really know what last night was about then?”
“Oh, that?” I say. “Yeah, he explained about his wedding anniversary.”
“Oh good,” she sighs. “I hope it doesn’t bother you but Tom mentioned it last night. Are you… ok with it all?”
“Yeah,” I smile. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s another woman in his life.”
“You sure?”
I reach across the couch and give her hand a squeeze. “Yes, I’m perfectly fine with it. She made him the incredible man he is today. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good,” she smiles. “I’m happy for you. You’ve been so desperate to find your Prince Charming and you finally have.”
“Hey,” I scold. “I wasn’t desperate.”
“You were, babe,” she laughs. “Did you finally get him in the sack?” she asks as I take a sip of my coffee. The second her question is out, coffee comes sputtering out on my mouth and I have to wipe my sleeve across my face to mop it all up. “I’ll take that as a no,” she grumbles.
“Shhhhhhhh,” I demand as my eyes flick back to the hallway to check he’s still safely in my room and out of ear shot. “We’re taking it slow, remember? Besides, it’s not like it’s been easy for us. He has his demons to deal with and I got shot.”
“Excuses,” she grunts. “If you guys take it any slower, you’ll both be dead. I mean, you guys have been dating for nearly two months, you should be screwing like rabbits instead of acting like an old married couple.”
She’s completely right, but then, she doesn’t understand our reasoning. Sex to her is for fun, it’s not romantic, it’s not about love, it’s about who’s the first to reach the finish line with a screaming orgasm. I let out a sigh as I focus in on her. “How was Tom?”
She rolls her eyes, clearly seeing my question for what it is; a horrible way of changing the topic and avoiding her curiosity. “He’s fine,” she grunts.
“That’s all you have to say about it? I thought you had a strict ‘no sleep over’ rule.”
“We do,” she grumbles under her breath before lifting her mug to her lips and taking a long, drawn out sip.
“What’s going on, Mel?” I say, giving her my serious tone.
“Nothing. It’s just casual sex,” she says.
I let out a huff as I lean forward and place my coffee mug on the table so I can make a show of crossing my arms. “Casual sex is not supposed to be every damn night. That’s why it’s called casual. “Besides, I started this thing with Sean two months ago, which also means you’ve been dancing around Tom for two mon
ths as well.”
She lets out a sigh before looking up at me. Her bottom lip starts to wobble and she begins desperately blinking back tears. What the hell? “I think I like him,” she blurts out.
I fall into a fit of laughter. “Holy shit, Mel,” I say, gasping for breath. “That’s fucking hilarious.”
“Shut up,” she whines. “I don’t know what to do.”
I somehow manage to pull my shit together and give her a straight look. “You stop being such a little bitch about it and man up. Tell him how you feel and see how it goes. What do you have to lose?”
“My dignity,” she scoffs.
I roll my eyes. “You’re being an idiot,” I say under my breath. “No, you’re being a dramatic idiot. You never had any dignity to start with.”
She silently leans back into the couch and puts her feet up on the coffee table as she continues to pout. I flick the TV on and she eventually gets up and takes a shower. She returns half an hour later with a bowl of cereal, dressed to the nines in her scrubs. Scrubs that are making me so fucking jealous.
I look over at her and can’t help but sigh as I take her in. “You’re so weird,” she grunts as she annihilates her breakfast.
“Huh? Why?”
“Because you must be the only person I know who doesn’t enjoy having paid time off work,” she explains.
“I can’t help it,” I tell her. “I love my job. I mean, who else can say they shove their hands up pussies all day long and pull out slimy little humans?”
“Good point,” she grunts, absolutely disgusted. “How much longer now?”
“I’m good to go back on Monday. I saw Dr. Monroe yesterday and he cleared me, as long as I keep it light to start with.”
“Seriously? It’s really been six weeks already?” she asks.
“Already? It feels like I’ve been cooped up in this little apartment for months.”
“Hey,” she scolds. “Don’t knock the apartment.”
“Who cares about the apartment? I get to go back to work,” I grin.
She rolls her eyes again and gets up to wash her bowl. She grabs her bag off the table before picking up the mail and skimming through it. “Hey,” she says with a frown as she walks towards me and hands me an envelope. “There’s a letter for each of us from the hospital.”
My eyebrows instantly pull down in confusion as I study it but dread fills my stomach. “It’ll be about the shooting,” I tell her as we start ripping into them.
“No doubt,” she grunts.
I open up the letter and start reading through.
Holy shit.
“Fuck yeah,” Mel cheers, pumping her fists into the sky as I read through the letter thoroughly. “I knew today was going to be a good day.”
“You getting a payout too?” I question.
“Sure am,” she grins. “It’s not enough to buy my island but certainly enough for a new set of pornstar tits.”
We instantly switch our letters and take a good look at the other’s. “Wow, thirty-five thousand dollars, not bad,” I tell her as I look back up at her to see her eyes practically bugging out of her head.
“Holy shit, dude,” she grunts in disbelief. “You’re getting one hundred and seventy-three thousand big ones.”
“Apparently,” I murmur.
“What? You’re not happy about this? I’m fucking thrilled.”
“I bet you are,” I chuckle. “I just don’t think you can put a price on getting shot.”
She lets out a sigh and gives my good shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “That was a bit insensitive of me. I’m just… I’m excited.”
“It’s ok,” I say before taking the letter back from her and looking at it again. “Is this even legal? I mean, what are they trying to achieve? Is it hush money?”
“When I hear ‘is it legal’ and ‘hush money’ in the same sentence, it’s usually right before I put some bastard behind bars,” comes a groggy, sleepy voice from behind us.
I turn around to find Sean heading up the hallway with his hand shoved up his shirt, scratching his chest while showing off those show stopping, orgasm-inducing abs. An almighty yawn rips itself out of him as I get up off the couch and grab him some pain killers and a glass of water.
He greedily accepts them from me before downing the pills and throwing back the water. He places the glass in the sink, pulls me into his arms and presses a kiss to my lips. “Morning,” he murmurs with his lips moving against mine.
“Good morning to you, too.”
“Ugh, you two are going to make me taste my breakfast again,” Mel grunts before pulling her bag higher on her shoulder and blowing me a kiss. “I have to go. Will I see you for dinner?”
My mouth opens to answer but Sean’s voice is what I hear. “Nope.”
I look up at him with a raised, questioning brow but he’s not giving away any secrets.
Mel slips out the door and Sean takes my lips in his once again. I melt into him. I’ve been kissed by a fair few guys in my twenty-seven years but nothing compares to this. Passion and emotion pours through him when he touches me and I simply can’t get enough.
I take Sean over to the couch and grab my discarded letter before handing it to him. “What do you make of this?” I ask. “I don’t quite understand it.”
He reads through it and from the look on his face, the pain killers haven’t quite kicked in yet. “Looks as though the hospital is giving the staff and families involved in the shooting a payout in hopes they don’t get sued for negligence.”
“What?” I grunt. “Why would anyone do that? The hospital isn’t to blame. The shooter is.”
“I agree completely but people are greedy. All they see are dollar signs. They know they’ll never get anything out of the shooter, so they’ll go after the hospital.”
“How do you mean?” I question as Sean falls into the couch and pulls me down with him.
“The hospital will be sued for negligence and probably a shitload of other things which will ruin them. The last thing the hospital needs is a highly publicized court case. Its reputation will be dragged through the mud and they’ll be up for millions of dollars.”
“Shit,” I curse as I look up at him. “What do I do?”
“I can’t answer that for you, babe.”
“Well… what are my options?”
“The way I see it, you have three,” he starts. “You could ignore the letter and forget anything ever happened. You could sue the hospital and come out a very wealthy woman, though probably never work there again. Or you could accept the money in this letter and put it behind you.”
I consider my options for a while but there’s one very clear winner. There’s no way I could ever sue the hospital. That place is my home and there’s no way I could ever place blame for being shot on them. But do I deserve some sort of compensation for the shit I’ve been through? Hell yes.
“And if I accept the money?” I ask.
“Then you’ll most likely have a meeting with the big wigs of the hospital. Sign some papers declaring that you won’t persue any legal action against the hospital and go home with a check.”
“That easy, huh?”
“That easy,” he confirms. “You can put it all in the past and move forward.”
“That sounds pretty good to me,” I murmur.
“I bet it does,” he says as he grabs me by the waist and pulls me up onto his lap. He reaches up and slips the fabric of my shirt off my shoulder, checking how the wound is healing, just as he has done every time I’ve seen him since the shooting.
His fingers lightly brush over the pink scar before he presses the softest kiss to my skin and gives me goose bumps. I straddle him and feel his strong hands slide around my waist. He looks up at me with those deep eyes that I love so much and blows me the fuck away.
“I love you, Gigi,” he murmurs. “I’m sorry it’s taken me until now to tell you, but I think I knew the second you answered the door the day we went rid
ing. You looked radiant and I felt my heart kickstart again, only it terrified me because it meant I was starting to move on.”
My heart swells but I sit quietly, sensing he has more to say. “I talked to Sara last night, and believe me, I know how crazy that sounds, but I was at the cemetery and I feel like if there were anytime that she was there listening, last night would have been it.”
“I told her exactly what was going on and I realized she would have been ok with it. The second that happened, everything just kind of settled. I’m still pissed that she’s gone and I miss her every second of every day, but I no longer feel like I’m betraying her.”
I snuggle into him and slip my arms under his so I can hold him tight. “She already knew,” I tell him.
“What do you mean?”
“That day you kidnapped me, I saw that picture of her in the hallway upstairs and I stopped to talk to her.”
“And what did you tell her?” he questions.
A soft, shy smile takes over me and I squish my face into his neck. “That you’re the kindest man I have ever met and it’s thanks to her that you’re here in my life. I told her you’re an amazing father and you’re doing an amazing job of raising Georgie on your own.”
“And?” he prompts, knowing there’s more.
I pull my face out of the nook of his neck so I can see his perfect face. “I told her that you were hurting and that I want to bring you happiness.”
Emotion shines bright in his eyes as he looks deep into mine. “You’ve already brought me so much happiness,” he tells me. “I adore you and so does Georgie. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.” He pulls me in and captures my lips in his again.
His hand comes up and gently pushes a stray lock of hair behind my ear and I gently pull back. “Sean?” I murmur as my forehead rests against his. “I love you, too.”
His chin tilts up to mine and he gives me everything he’s got as he bares his soul to me. “I’m sorry I was an arrogant asshole last night.”
“It’s ok,” I sigh. “It was actually a little entertaining.”
“You’re kidding right? I barged in here like a dirty drunk hoping to get my rocks off.”
Sean: Denver Royalty (Book 3) Page 16