Loving Violet

by Terri Anne Browning

  There were at least a half-dozen people waiting for tables, all of them with reservations, but she took us straight back to a secluded booth and assured us the chef would be out to speak to us personally soon. I was used to this kind of treatment, so it didn’t matter to me if the chef came to talk to us about our dinner or not.

  I sat down first, and then Shaw slid across from me, leaving Remington to choose which of us he wanted to sit beside. When he didn’t even hesitate to next to me, I felt my entire body heat with pleasure and want. Under the table, Shaw nudged me with her foot and winked before mouthing, “Told you so.”

  A waitress appeared to fill our water glasses and ask if we wanted wine. Remington ordered a bottle of red wine for us and then turned his body so he was pressing his thigh up against mine.

  “How did you like the car?” he asked casually, but I felt like he was holding his breath while he waited for our answers.

  “It’s sexy,” Shaw told him before taking a sip of her water. “My brother is going to be so jealous when he sees I got to sit in it before he even knew it existed.”

  His face clouded, and his gaze dropped to my mouth at the mention of Cannon. “How is that douchebag these days?”

  Shaw choked out a laugh. “I’ve always liked that about you, Remington. You don’t mess around. A person always knows where they stand with you.” Setting her glass down, she grinned. “Cannon is doing a lot better these days. Military school beat some respect and even a few manners into him that our parents never quite could. Ever since he graduated, he’s been trying to get Violet to forgive him.”

  Blue eyes landed on me once again. “And has she?”

  I shrugged. “I forgave him a long time ago. He just doesn’t know it.”

  His brows lifted in speculation. “You forgave him so easily?”

  “It was part of therapy. But just because I forgave him doesn’t mean he needs to know that. Let him suffer a little longer. Especially if it keeps him at my beck and call like he has been.” I smirked. “If he knew I was so forgiving, he might suddenly stop rushing out to get me a burger, fries, and shake at two in the morning when I casually mention I’m hungry.”

  As he leaned into me, Remington’s breath brushed over my neck when he murmured close to my ear. “Then tell him you forgive him. I’ll gladly fetch your late-night cravings for you from now on.”

  Holy shit. I felt like my entire body was going up in flames. I wanted to grab his head and pull him in for a kiss. I wanted to know what he tasted like, if kissing him would be just as wild as kissing Luca once was. If he could drive me crazy with the brush of his tongue over mine as easily as his touch on my back earlier had done.

  Before I could even take another breath, a shadow appeared over our table, and I stiffened, remembering we were in a crowded restaurant. And while the booth was designed to offer us privacy, I wasn’t sure I wanted Shaw as a witness to my first kiss with Remington.

  “When Jan told me Remington Sawyer was gracing my humble establishment tonight, I had no idea he would be bringing two of my favorite blondes with him.”

  Hoping my face didn’t show just how turned on I was, I smiled up at Aldrich Baldwin. He was a celebrity chef, and he was close friends with my entire family. He was so calm and cool in the kitchen during every kind of emergency, and I’d rarely seen him as anything but over the years. Aldrich was handsome, and with his pale blond hair, it was hard to tell if he had any gray mixed in with it, but at fifty-two, I was sure he had at least a few scattered in his thick mane.

  He slid into the booth beside Shaw and casually draped his arm over her shoulders. “How are you, darling?” he asked as he kissed her cheek.

  “Starving,” she told him with a pout.

  “Are you saying you won’t chat with me for five minutes and want me to slave over your dinner?” He turned wounded eyes on me. “My heart is breaking right now.”

  “She’s definitely a heartbreaker,” I agreed. “Mia tells me Jagger’s newest song is all about how Shaw Cage won’t forgive him and keeps stomping all over his heart.”

  Shaw rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it. Jagger’s solo hit was on both the rock and pop stations and climbing charts left and right. But a song wasn’t how to win Shaw over, and he knew it. The dumbass.

  “Ah, young love.” He winked then stuck out his hand to Remington, which Remington shook readily. “Pleasure to have you dining with us tonight, Remington. I heard you were in the city but didn’t dream you would be visiting us. But since you’re with these two beauties, I’m guessing they strong-armed you into treating them to a meal here.”

  “I’ve heard good things about this place,” Remington told him with a smile. “And if Stevenson recommends something, I always know I’m in for a treat.”

  We spent a few minutes catching up with Aldrich before he stood. “As lovely as it is to visit with two of my favorite girls, I need to get back to the kitchen. What shall I whip up for you three?”

  “Surprise us,” Shaw told him.

  “Perfect.” He glanced at Remington, shook his hand again, then blew Shaw and me kisses before returning to the kitchen.

  For the next hour, the three of us caught up. It was a great evening of delicious food and fun company. I found myself craving the small, intimate touches Remington kept giving me. They were subtle, barely there caresses to my arm or tenderly pushing a few locks of my hair back from my face. Tiny things I’d seen other couples doing all my life. Things Luca and I had both done in the past. I realized I’d missed being touched, but other than Luca, Remington was the only other guy I’d ever actually liked having touch me.

  By the time our dessert plates were being cleared away, I was sad to have the night end. But I kept a smile on my face and followed Shaw to the bathroom when she said she needed to fix her lipstick.

  “What’s with the sad eyes?” she asked me as soon as we were in the ladies’ room.

  I bit my lip. “We’re going home tomorrow,” I reminded her. “And I think I already miss Remington.”

  “So, don’t go home tomorrow,” she said, as if it were that simple.

  “I can’t not go home tomorrow,” I muttered and swiped gloss over my bottom lip. “I have class Monday.”

  “A class you don’t even like,” my bestie reminded me. “You still haven’t decided what you want to study yet, and these required classes you’re trying to get out of the way first are boring as hell to you. Just come clean and tell your parents that college life isn’t for you. Or at least tell them you need a bodyguard to keep the idiots back so you don’t have to worry about getting blindsided while you’re having lunch.”

  “It’s only been a few weeks. Maybe I’ll start enjoying it.” But I knew I was only fooling myself. College wasn’t for everyone, and I was certain I fell into that category.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want a college degree. It was that I didn’t want the college experience. It wasn’t fun for me. I’d been contemplating switching to online classes to get the education I wanted without having to deal with other college life issues. Like joining a sorority or going to frat parties or having people basically stalk me in the cafeteria when they realized who I was.

  It was getting annoying, and I felt uncomfortable even eating on campus because I was starting to feel like I needed a personal bodyguard just to keep people from bothering me while I tried to enjoy a meal.

  “I can’t stay past tomorrow,” Shaw told me as she returned her makeup to her purse. “But you can, Vi. There’s something going on with you and Remington. The chemistry between you two is sizzling. And no one is here to stop it from happening this time. Well, no one except you. If you don’t want to explore what you two could have…”

  “Get out of my head, Shaw,” I muttered and grabbed my purse.

  “I’m just saying.”

  “I know,” I grumbled and pushed open the door.

  As we approached our table, Remington stood. There was a dete
rmined look in his eyes when his gaze locked with mine. A determined, hungry look that made my knees turn to jelly. When only a few feet separated us, he reached out and caught my hand, tugging me into his space.

  I held my breath as I looked up at him and decided to let fate lead me. If this was where I was meant to be, if there really was a chance that I could be happy with this guy, then I was going to close my eyes and let the universe decide it for me.

  My lashes lowered, and I just stood there, waiting for a sign.

  When I felt his lips brush ever so gently over mine and my heart skipped a beat, I knew.

  Opening my eyes, I smiled up at him. “I don’t want the night to end.”

  He released his breath as if he’d been holding it. “I was hoping you would say that.”

  “Well, this girl is tired.” Shaw yawned dramatically, and I knew she was faking it. “I’m going to head back to the hotel.” She kissed my cheek and whispered close to my ear, “Call me later. Let me know what you decide.”

  Before I could stop her, she waved and then practically skipped out of the restaurant while Remington and I both watched her go.

  “Should I make sure she gets back to the hotel safely?” he asked after a moment.

  She was already getting into a taxi, and I shook my head. “Shaw is the most capable person I know. That girl could take on the world all on her own and still come out swinging.”

  “I don’t doubt that.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my fingertips. “What would you like to do now? I know a few clubs we could try out. I’ve never been to them, but my assistant sent me a list of places she assures me are popular.”

  “Take me home with you,” I told him boldly. Having let fate decide for me, I was going to grab on to this moment and not let go until I couldn’t hold on any longer.

  His eyes darkened. “You sure about that, Stevenson? Because if I take you home with me, I can’t promise you’ll leave it anytime soon.”

  “Promises, promises.” I tilted back my head bravely. “I’m sure, Remi.”

  Chapter 33

  Violet

  I felt something lick my toes, and my eyes flew open. Sunlight was leaking through the partially drawn drapes, but I could tell I was alone in bed.

  Alone except for the massive black pit bull at the end of the bed, licking my foot. I’d only seen a dog this big in pictures on social media. This one made those dogs look like toy poodles in comparison. But when I looked into his eyes, all I saw was a sweet soul looking back.

  Smiling, I tucked the sheet around my naked body and then patted the bed beside me. “Let’s go, sweet baby,” I cooed, and the dog climbed up beside me. His head took up most of my pillow, and he stuck his nose right to mine for a boop before licking my cheek.

  Giggling, I kissed his head and then cuddled up against him. I didn’t know this dog’s name, but he was just as cuddly as Oscar. Burying my face in his fur, I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep again.

  I didn’t know how much time passed—it could have been five minutes or five hours—but I heard the curtains being pulled back, and then the room was flooded with light. Groaning, I held on to the dog a little tighter and slowly lifted my head.

  Remington, dressed in nothing more than a pair of gray sweats, walked to the end of the bed, where he picked up a tray loaded with toast, scrambled eggs, juice, and a pot of tea. I noticed his hair was still damp from a shower as he carried the tray around to my side of the bed and waited for me to sit up.

  I didn’t know what was more mouthwatering. The smell of the food or the sight of his bare chest and stomach. With each step he took, the outline of the bulge in his sweats was more defined, and I found myself licking my lips as a plethora of dirty images flashed through my head.

  I felt a blush fill my cheeks when he smirked, telling me he knew I was checking him out, and I tried to keep the sheets tucked under my arms as I settled back against the pillows. The dog grumbled loudly and rolled over, but he pressed his back into my side like he couldn’t bear not to be touching me.

  “Krush, down,” Remington ordered.

  The beautiful dog lifted his head, grumbled again, then laid it right back down. Remington huffed, and I couldn’t hold back my giggle. “Already trying to move in on my girl, I see.”

  “Am I?” I asked, cocking my head to the side as he placed the tray over my lap.

  “Are you what?” he asked, meeting my gaze. With a groan, he kissed me. “I’ve tried to be good all morning, Violet. I woke up with your beautiful body pressing into me so warm and trustingly, wanting you so badly I could barely think. I went for a run and then took a cold shower just to keep my hands to myself, to give you time to recover after last night. But you keep looking at me like that, and I won’t be able to control myself.”

  Memories of the night before played in my head, making my body come alive all over again, and I couldn’t help squirming. Being with Remington had been more than I could have ever dreamed. It wasn’t how I expected to lose my virginity, and he wasn’t the guy I’d always thought I would lose it to.

  But he wasn’t a substitute.

  Luca was my past.

  Remington was my now.

  Biting into my kiss-swollen lip, I looked up at him through my lashes. “No one told you to be good, Remi.”

  “No one has ever called me Remi,” he informed me as he sat on the edge of the bed beside me.

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”

  “I don’t want you to stop.” Taking the tray from me, he set it on the nightstand then leaned in to kiss me again. “I fucking love it, Violet.”

  “What happened to calling me Stevenson?” I teased.

  “I’ve tasted your sweet pussy. Calling you ‘Stevenson’ seems wrong when that decadent flavor is still on my lips.” He kissed me again, and Krush growled at him unhappily. “Get your own girl,” Remington told him, rubbing his hand over the massive dog’s glossy black fur.

  Grinning, I scratched Krush’s head. “I thought bull terriers were banned in the UK.”

  “I found the loophole,” he told me. “I rescued Krush when we lived in New York for a few weeks. His old family couldn’t keep him because he was too big to handle in their apartment, and the cost of his food alone was too much for them to afford. It was a kill shelter and he was so damn beautiful, even if he had been aggressive, I would have taken him home with me.”

  “He’s not aggressive.” I scratched Krush’s back. “Are you, sweet baby?”

  He turned his head and licked my face, making me giggle again.

  “No, he’s pretty laid-back. Which was why I was able to bring him to London when we moved here. I had to prove he’s not a danger to anyone, and register him.” Remington turned so he was sitting beside me against the pillows and then picked the tray back up. “You need to eat. It’s almost noon.”

  I picked up a triangle of toast and took a hungry bite. Krush rolled over to face me and gave me those big, soulful eyes, and I offered him a small bite.

  “Shameless,” Remington muttered with a shake of his head. “You keep spoiling him like that and he’s not going to let you leave this house without him.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to leave,” I muttered under my breath.

  “You mean that?”

  My head snapped up, heat filling my cheeks because I didn’t realize I’d said it loud enough for him to hear. But when I saw the hope in those beautiful eyes, my heart melted. I gasped at the sensation. I hadn’t felt something like that in years. Not since I’d watched my heart get pulled away by the waves after Luca had decimated the damn organ.

  “Did you mean it when you called me your girl?” I asked instead of answering his question.

  He cupped the side of my face. “I’ve wanted you to be mine since you were sixteen, Violet. But there was always something in our way. I still want you to be mine. Would give up everything I own if that was what it took. But if you don�
�t want to be, if you’re still in love with someone else, then I’m not going to stand in your way.”

  “Part of me will probably always love Luca,” I told him honestly. Hurt sparked in his eyes, and my heart clenched. Before he could drop his hand from my cheek, I covered it with my own and pressed his fingers into my skin. “But I’m not in love with him anymore.”

  “Does that mean your heart is free for the taking?”

  “I’m fairly certain there’s only one guy in the universe who could hold on to it right now.” I grinned up at him as his eyes began to burn with hunger. “He looks like a god in nothing but a pair of gray sweats and has a wickedly talented tongue—something I’m seriously jealous over, because I know he had to have been practicing those skills on someone to get so good at it.”

  “No one who ever mattered until now,” he breathed. “It’s always been you I’ve wanted, Violet. I walked into that damn school and took one look at you, and I felt like my heart wasn’t my own any longer. If there hadn’t been someone else for you back then, I probably would have packed you in my pocket and taken you everywhere with me from that day on.”

  “There’s no one else now.” I leaned into him, enjoying the clean scent of his skin and damp hair. “And I meant it when I said I don’t want to leave.”

  “I don’t want you to leave either.” He stroked his fingers down my neck, making goose bumps pop up along the way. “If I had my way, I’d keep you right here for the rest of my life. But you have college to get back to?”

  “And you have work?”

  We both said it like questions, but I wondered if either of those things was really a reason we should hold ourselves back. I didn’t want to go back to school. And right then, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to move to online classes. All I knew was that I didn’t want to leave Remington.

  “I’ve been slowly transferring all of my grandfather’s work over to his CEOs,” he told me. “I never wanted the company. He knew that, but it didn’t stop him from pushing it on me. When he died, I decided I would make sure the company stayed strong and the executives who were in charge would keep the place running smoothly. Too many people would lose their jobs for me to just walk away from it without making sure it was secure. But I promised myself that everything would be ready for me to step down by the time of the unveiling of this car.”