“Drew…” I said softly, the need heavy in his eyes as he stared at me. “I’ve already given the money to Monica. She’s counting on me. I can’t leave her in a lurch like this.”
“Forget the money. You say the word and that money’s back in your account tomorrow. Monica can keep it for her trouble. I just want you here.”
I didn’t know what to say. This had always been part of the plan. I wasn’t going to stay. I was going to get my own place and make it on my own for once. He didn’t want me to go though and if I was being honest, I didn’t want to go either.
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve been happy,” he began. “And I’m not about to sit back and watch it slip away from me.”
The determination in his eyes was unlike anything I’d seen before and when he reached out, wrapping his arms around my waist, I didn’t resist. I didn’t want to pull away. I didn’t want to ever leave his embrace.
“Okay.” My voice was soft, but the satisfied expression on his face showed me he’d heard me.
“Okay? You’re not going to argue or fight me on this?”
“No.”
He looked surprised and his grip around my waist got stronger, pulling me even closer to him if that was possible.
“You make me so happy, Natalie, and all I want is for you to be happy too. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” His lips were only inches from mine and I wanted nothing more than to press my mouth to his, tasting everything about this man.
“I know and all I want is you,” I whispered.
He didn’t wait. His lips were on mine, moving slowly, methodically, until he pulled back, cupping my face in his hands as he stared into my eyes.
“And you can have me forever.”
Nine
I was afraid Ava would be upset when I told her I was reneging on moving in with her sister, but when I called her and told her I’d decided to stay, she understood and when I saw her at work on Monday, she grinned slyly at me telling me she wouldn’t leave either if she had a man like Drew to share a home with.
Drew was more relaxed after he knew I was staying. I hadn’t realized how tense he was with my impending exit until I’d changed my mind. We resumed the routine we’d established and life returned to normal, only with a permanency that hadn’t been there before.
“So,” Drew began after a long week. We were stretched out on the couch, both of us lounging in our most comfortable sweatpants, sipping a glass of wine while a OneRepublic song quietly flowed through the room. “I was thinking this place could use a makeover.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am. It’s your home too. I want it to feel that way to you.”
I hadn’t mentioned I’d been thinking about that exact notion so when he brought it up, I reached over and took his hand. He always had a way of knowing exactly what I needed, just when I needed it.
“I think it’s a great idea. Thank you.” I leaned over, kissing him on the cheek and snuggling in closer to him as he draped his arm around me.
“I’ll call my designer on Monday,” he said and I sat up quickly.
“A designer?”
“Yes. She’ll come over and give us thoughts.”
“You have an actual designer, like on retainer or something?”
“I don’t have a designer, per se, but the woman who decorated when I first moved in was very talented.”
“I agree she’s got great taste if you’re into chrome and black,” I laughed and he folded his arms, glaring playfully at me.
“I’m a man, Natalie. Black and gray are men’s colors and this is a man’s apartment,” he said, but then raised an eyebrow at me. “I should say it used to be a man’s apartment.”
“It could be fun,” I said, taking his hand. “Decorating ourselves.”
“One of the perks of success is not having to do certain things, such as painting and shopping for my own furniture.”
“But it’s a right of passage for couples and if we’re really a couple…” I said and he interrupted, the left side of his mouth curling up into a grin.
“Are you doubting our legitimacy as a couple?”
“Perhaps I am,” I said, stretching out on the couch, laying my head on the arm rest and propping my feet in his lap. He started rubbing them and then he looked over to me.
“All right. Tomorrow we’re going shopping.”
“Excellent. I’m looking forward to it.”
He squeezed my feet again with his strong hands and then he moved them aside before he began the slow crawl over my body, the weight of him resting on me a moment later.
“I’m looking forward to it too,” he whispered as he began nibbling on my ear, eventually pulling and sucking on it in a way that had me squirming beneath him within seconds. “You are so easy to turn on, Miss Vasser.” His voice was breathy in my ear as he continued to tug on it with his teeth. “I think I could get you to do just about anything I wanted to.”
I started giggling because I knew he was probably right, but then he suddenly stopped, pushing himself up so he was hovering over me.
“I need to take that back,” he said, his eyebrows creasing seriously. “I would do anything you wanted me to do. So tell me, beautiful, what do you want me to do?”
“You know what I want,” I whispered, rocking my hips towards his.
“Then you shall have it.”
He kissed the tip of my nose sweetly before he thrust his mouth on mine, kissing me slow and deep, his hips rubbing against mine as our tongues danced until he pulled away. He sat back on his knees, his hand reaching up and resting at the base of my throat before slowly trailing between my breasts and across my stomach, stopping at the waistband of my sweats. His fingers curled inside, sliding them off slowly and I watched his eyes tracing every inch of my legs until they were gone and he tossed them onto the floor.
“These are cute,” he said, snapping the waistband of the black thong I was wearing. “But I’m afraid they have to go.” He was true to his word and they were gone a moment later. “Much better,” he grinned, leaning over and kissing my inner thigh, trailing his tongue up to my belly button, tickling it for a moment before sitting up again. “Now for this pesky top.” He took my hands, pulling them up and seductively sliding my shirt off so I was completely exposed before him. There was a content smile on his face as his eyes wandered over my body as he pulled his own shirt off quickly and then stood up, stepping out of his pants before crawling back on top of me. The feeling of his skin on mine, the warmth of his body consuming me and then he was nestled between my legs and the anticipation was almost more than I could take. “You are the most exquisite woman I have ever seen.” I was shaking beneath him, aching to feel him and then he came closer, his mouth right next to my ear. “And you’re mine.” I couldn’t respond because in that instant I was his and he was mine and we were one.
~~~
I don’t know why I was amused by the Home Depot in the middle of Manhattan. Perhaps it was because the moment you stepped inside, it was as if the hustle and bustle of the busiest city in the world disappeared and I realized New York City was full of do-it-yourselfers just like any city in America. It looked like every Home Depot I’d ever been in, complete with orange accents, except for one thing: the multiple levels. It shouldn’t surprise me. There was no room in Manhattan to build a sprawling box store. The only way to go was up and that was where Drew and I found ourselves the next morning, staring at paint swatches. We’d already spent the first half of the morning picking out new furniture, a simple white standalone couch with a matching oversized chair and loveseat. The black and teal accents of the throw pillows had given me an idea for the color scheme of the walls, but as I stared at the different options, I was stuck.
“What do you think?” I asked, holding out two swatches to Drew. One was a teal that matched the pillow and the other was a light gray.
“They’re both nice,” he said, but I knew he was just saying it to get me to make up my mi
nd. This was not his idea of fun. He would’ve called a designer and a painter if I’d let him, but I had to give him credit for humoring me.
“You have to have another opinion other than nice.”
“I have no clue when it comes to this stuff, hence the reason I hired a professional. It’ll look great no matter what you decide on.”
“But, I want you to like it too.”
“I will love whatever you come up with. I promise.” He took my hand, kissing the back of it before I focused on the colors again.
“How about we do the wall where the TV is this color,” I said, holding out the teal swatch. “And the other walls in the gray? That way we get a pop of color without overdoing it.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said, grabbing the two swatches and marching over to the paint counter.
We stocked up on supplies as the worker mixed the paint and we soon had a cart full of paint rollers, tape, floor covers and every other thing I could think we would need. We grabbed the paint when it was ready, made our way to the checkout and then lugged it all to Drew’s Range Rover. He rarely brought it out into the city, but neither of us felt like loading everything into a taxi.
It was a surprisingly painless drive home, the traffic flowing through Manhattan at a decent pace, even though we had to dodge the constant droves of pedestrians and soon we were settled back into the apartment. I could tell Drew was less than thrilled about spending his Saturday painting, but he moved cooperatively around the room helping me to cover the floor and tape off the baseboards and windowsills.
“You find this relaxing?” he asked as he slathered paint on the walls while I did the cutting in.
“A little,” I answered, turning to face him from where I stood on the step stool, only to laugh when I saw the grimace on his face. “Especially because I’m spending time with you.”
The grimace vanished and he smiled at me, setting down the paint roller he was using and sauntering over to me.
“You bring up an extremely valid point, Miss Vasser.”
His hands were on my waist then, my stomach nearly level with his mouth. He started rolling my shirt up until my bare stomach was exposed to him. He took the brush I was holding and then he painted a teal circle around my bellybutton.
“Bullseye,” he said, handing the brush back to me and then planting a slow, wet kiss in my navel. I could feel my stomach muscles spasm under his touch and before he could distract me anymore, I took the brush, swiping a teal stripe onto his forehead.
“What the hell, Natalie?” he exclaimed, jerking back and for a second I thought he was genuinely mad, but then his eyes met mine and he was grinning before he dunked his finger in the paint can and drew a swirly line down my arm.
“Are we really gonna do this, Drew?” I asked and he shrugged his shoulders. I took the brush and wiped a thick line across his mouth so he looked like he’d eaten a smurf. He shook his head, but then took my hand, pulling hard enough so I’d come off the step stool, but gently enough that I wouldn’t fall. When both feet were on the ground, he pulled me to him, kissing me forcefully with his teal mouth so the paint spread across my face. My bullseye belly button pressed against his white t-shirt and I knew that paint would be there forever.
The loud ringing of his cell phone interrupted our silliness and he moaned, reluctantly breaking our kiss.
“Sorry about this,” he groaned, reaching for a paper towel and wiping his mouth off. “I’ll be right back. Hold that thought.”
He squeezed my hand before walking away and part of me was grateful the phone rang. The way things were bound to progress after what we’d started, we’d end up on the floor doing anything but painting.
I cleaned my face as best I could before climbing back onto the step stool and getting back to work. I could hear Drew’s voice, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. From the tone though, it sounded work related.
I expected him to come right back, but he was gone for a while and when he returned, holding the phone at his side, I could tell something was on his mind.
“Everything okay?” I asked and he inhaled deeply before letting it out.
“The acquisition went through.”
“Acquisition?” I asked and I could feel my face curl up in confusion. I had no clue what he was talking about.
“It’s been in the works since before you even moved to New York and it finally happened.”
“What are you talking about? I never heard anything about this when I worked for you.” I got off the step stool and set the paint down.
“It was kept very quiet.”
“Did Court and Anna Beth know?” I asked and he shook his head.
“Only a few people in the office knew.”
“What kind of acquisition are you talking about?”
“Clark got it in his head that the office should expand,” he began and I could only assume he was talking about Clark Taylor, the other partner at Drew’s architecture firm. Even when I worked at Taylor and Saben, I rarely saw Mr. Taylor as he was referred to. He spent a lot of time out of the office on projects and when he was there, he stayed to himself. Since I hadn’t worked there in months, I was obviously even more out of the loop since I had no idea about any of this.
“What do you mean by expand?”
“Take over another firm so we could have offices on both coasts.”
“As in the Pacific Coast?”
“Yes. Los Angeles.”
“L.A.? You’re starting a firm in L.A.?”
“Not really starting one…taking over an existing one under our name.”
“What does this mean?”
As he walked towards me, I could sense his anxiety. It was confirmed when he took my hand.
“It means I have to go to L.A.”
“For how long?” I asked, assuming he meant for a week or two.
“I’m not sure,” he answered and I froze as I tried to understand the implication of his words.
“Why am I just now hearing about this, Drew?” I asked and I could hear the anger in my voice.
“I didn’t think it would happen and I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If you knew there was even a possibility of something like this happening, you should’ve told me. You don’t just blindside me like this. If there was a chance your job was going to change, I should’ve been warned.”
“I’m sorry, Natalie. I should’ve told you, but it’s my job and this is an opportunity I cannot pass up. I didn’t get to where I am by asking permission.”
His words stung and I didn’t know how to respond.
“You didn’t need my permission, but some warning would’ve been nice,” I spat at him. “I don’t understand. You’re the king of order. You control every aspect of your life and you didn’t think this kind of thing deserved a conversation?”
I could see the regret on his face and he brushed his fingertips over my cheek, locking his eyes on mine.
“Everything was new with us. I should’ve told you but you’d just broken up with Ethan. You were fragile…” he said, but I cut him off.
“I’m not fragile, Drew,” I said, staring at him. “Is that how you see me?”
“No, but…”
“You must if you didn’t think I could handle this.”
“I don’t think you’re fragile,” he sighed, shaking his head. “I’m batting a thousand with you right now. I’m sorry. I messed up. That’s all I can say. I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t want you to worry.”
“But now I am worrying because I don’t know what the hell is going on or what this acquisition means for you or for us. When are you even leaving?”
“Monday.”
“As in two days from now?”
“Yes.”
“You’re kidding,” I said, flatly and I could feel the anger building inside me. I opened my mouth to start berating him, but then I stopped. I had to think long and hard about
how I was going to respond to this. Yes, I was not happy with how Drew handled it. Yes, I was hurt he didn’t tell me about the possibility. And yes, part of me wanted to lash out my frustrations at him and start acting like a crazy, pissed off woman, but I couldn’t. Through the course of our relationship, Drew had always put me first. He’d never done anything to hurt me. He was imperfect just as I was and I had to try and let this go and make the best of this unexpected situation.
“If you’re leaving in two days, we’ve got a lot of work to do then, because I’m not finishing this alone and I’m not being left behind in a disheveled apartment,” I finally said and I watched the surprise on his face. I knew he hadn’t expected my reaction. He’d expected a lashing, but instead, I turned back to the task at hand, picking up the paint, climbing up the step stool and resuming what I’d been doing before Drew threw this monkey wrench at me.
“That’s it?” he asked and I turned to see him looking at me curiously.
“Do you want me to freak out because I can do that if it’ll make you feel better?”
I started painting again, but Drew didn’t say anything. With my peripheral vision, I could see him standing in the same spot I’d left him, but then he was crossing the room, his hands on my hips a moment later, lifting me off the stool and holding me for a second until my body slid down his and I was in his embrace.
“I screwed up with not telling you, Natalie,” he began. “And I’m sorry. For so long, it’s been just me. Me and my job. I never thought I’d find someone to share my life with, but I have and I should’ve thought of you, not me, when this started going down.” He paused for a moment, pulling me even closer and I didn’t fight him. “You’re too understanding.”
“What choice do I have? I can’t change it. I can’t change that you didn’t tell me. I just have to focus on tomorrow and the days after that…with you.”
The Heart of Tomorrow (Book Two) (The Tomorrow Series 2) Page 8