by M. E. Gordon
“Thank you, Simon, thank you for being patient with me. I don’t deserve it, but I’m so new at this I--I know that’s not an excuse, but I still have a few walls up. I’m working on them, I promise.”
Giving him one last comforting hug, I walked to Teddy’s door. I knocked gently before opening it, walking in, and checking the surroundings. The boys were sitting at a table filled with papers and their lunch.
“Hey, guys,” I said, walking all the way in, but taking a glance back to nod Simon in after me.
“Hey, baby girl,” Charles said, spinning around in his chair like a child. He quickly slammed his feet on the ground to stop the spinning the moment he saw Simon walk in behind me. Teddy simultaneously looked up to see Simon mid-bite into his sandwich. He placed it back on the wrapping paper.
“Who’s this?” Charles asked rudely.
My usual, jovial brothers were nowhere to be found, as they eyed Simon up.
“This is Simon, my umm...”God here we go again. Why can’t I just say it?
I turned to Simon for help. Taking a step closer, he took my hand in his, and I was thankful for the support.
“I’m dating your sister.”
As if the tension in the room wasn’t already on high, my over-protective brothers both stood, looking at one another.
Teddy was the first to move toward us. I didn’t know if he was going to shake Simon’s hand or punch him in the face. Fortunately, no one was punched in the face. Teddy held out his hand and introduced himself. My brother was taller than Simon and had a more slender build. Charles soon followed suit and introduced himself. Although he was the shortest of the three men, he had a certain air about him which I was sure was why women flocked to him.
I took a second to admire all three of them. I felt really out of place. Put Simon in a suit like my brothers and, if someone would have walked by, they would have thought it was a photo shoot for Ralph Lauren. Then there was me, standing between them in jeans and sweatshirt, my hair in a messy bun, and no makeup. Just plain, ordinary, and frumpy. I shook myself out of my self-pity to give my brothers a better introduction to Simon.
“So you’re sleeping with my baby sister?” Charles asked, going totally off topic in the middle of my intro about Simon being from California. “Well, are you?” he asked again.
Simon laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. “Umm--no?” Simon said nervously.
“Are you asking me or telling me?” Charles replied.
“Charles! Are you kidding me right now?” I shouted, letting go of Simon’s hand to hit Charles in the arm.
“What? I’m just getting the facts,” Charles said, rubbing his arm.
“You don’t need any facts, you jerk. It’s none of your business,” I snapped back at him.
Finally, Teddy stepped into help with this very awkward and embarrassing conversation. “I think what my no-filter brother is trying to say is, are you treating our sister the way she deserves to be treated?”
“I believe that I am, but you’d have to ask her.”
All three heads turned toward me, waiting for my response. I stood there opened mouth, stunned that this was really happening.
“Yes! Of course he is. Good God, you people are making this way more stressful than it has to be.”
“Just checking hiney holes, baby girl. You never know--”
“Charles, stop now. Just stop talking,” I said, holding my hand up to him.
Everyone laughed as we took seats at the table filled with papers and half eaten lunches. Simon began explaining what his company did and how it worked.
“If you don’t mind, I’d love to get a business card. We might need some good publicity for the opening night of 21,” Teddy asked.
“Here you go,” Simon said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and handing a card to Teddy.
We had been sitting and talking about this and that when my stomach rumbled loud enough for all to hear. I felt my face instantly flush.
“Geez, Beth, hungry much?” Charles asked.
I held my stomach in embarrassment. “Ha, ha, Charles. I haven’t had anything to eat today. We were going to get lunch after coming here,” I replied, relaxing a little.
“Well, don’t act too much like a pig at a trough. Don’t want to lose this good guy here,” Charles finished with a haughty laugh.
You know, for someone who says he wants to protect me, take care of me, and would never hurt me, he sure knows how to make me feel like scum.
“Damn it, Chuck, you are such an ass sometimes,” Teddy said, coming to my rescue like always.
“What’s wrong with a healthy appetite?” Simon chimed in, placing his hand on my knee under the table.
Charles looked between us all, a bewildered expression on his face as if he didn’t just say something cruel. “Whatever, you guys. Beth, you know I’m just messing with you.”
“It still hurts my feelings, regardless if you’re ‘joking’ or not,” I said as calmly as I could, since I was doing my damnedest to hold back the tears that were moments from flowing.
“I’m sorry, baby girl, come here,” he said, as he stood and walked around to me. Tugging me up and out of my chair, he wrapped his arms around me. “I love you and I won’t talk to you like that again. I promise.”
He spoke softly in my ear, and a smile spread across my face whether I wanted it to or not. My brother could be the biggest jerk to me, but he was one important part of my life. Jerk or not, I loved him.
“I think Simon and I should get going. You guys look like you have a lot of work,” I said, gesturing to all the papers on the table.
Standing, Simon shook Teddy’s hand once more. “It was nice to meet you guys.”
“Same here, Simon,” Teddy replied.
“I guess we’ll be seeing you next Friday?” Charles said, while taking his turn to shake his hand. Simon looked quizzically from my brothers to me.
“What’s next Friday?” he asked.
“Oh, I was under the impression that--umm.” Charles raised his brows in my direction not sure if he should continue.
Shit, I had forgotten to invite, let alone even tell, Simon about the charity event.
“I’ll fill you in at lunch,” I said to Simon, taking his hand and leading him out of the office, as my brothers looked dubiously at one another.
Just before the doors to the elevator closed, Adam made his way back to his desk. I waved bye to him and caught Simon giving him a little wave and wink.
“You are trouble!” I said, hitting his arm and laughing.
“So I’ve been told. I like keeping people on their toes. Now come here,” he said, pulling me into his arms and kissing me.
Before we left the building, I asked Danielle if anyone had found a lost cell phone, but there was no luck there either. Danielle was usually a very confident person. Not many people, men in particular, could get her all twitchy and anxious. Simon was standing behind me, holding onto me around the waist, which still made me cringe a little, knowing that he was touching parts of me I wasn’t even comfortable with. I could only imagine what he was doing back there because the expression on Danielle’s face was priceless. I turned to see what all the fuss was about only to catch Simon grinning down at me, all innocent and hot.
We decided to get a sandwich from around the corner. I filled Simon in on the charity event, not expecting him to be able to come.
“So, you’re leaving on Saturday?” he asked with a tinge of sadness to his voice.
“Yeah, I’ve got to get there early to set up and organize all the activities.”
“I wish you would have told me so I could have made arrangements to be with you. Wait one second, I’ll be right back.”
I watched as he stood from the table, pulling his phone out of his pocket, and walking out of the sandwich shop. I sat there, not thinking anything of it.
“I’ve got good news!” he said when he came back. “I just talked with my boss and I can make it out
there Thursday night, which gives you the whole week to get things together without me being there to distract you.”
I sat staring at him with a stupid look on my face--that, I was sure of. “Wait. You’re going to come?” I asked in disbelief.
“Of course, I am. If it’s important to you, then I want to be there. Where am I going for this event?”
I explained to Simon that it was at our family’s house outside of New York City. My parents bought it, to get us out of the city. It was the house they were going to grow old in, see their kids grow up in, and have their grandchildren come visit. The house was huge, something you’d see on the life styles of the rich and famous. It had its own staff to keep the massive space clean. Gran and Pop lived there with us after my parents died. Now Gran lived there during the winter until she could go back to her beach house.
We hosted the event at the house every year, it was more room than needed with a massive hall for parties and tons of rooms for guests, Gia was even able to claim a room for herself. My brothers and I couldn’t bear to sell it. It was the last thing our parents had given us and there wasn’t a chance in hell we were getting rid of it. Mixed emotions went rushing around my head. I was glad he was going to come, but the more I thought about it, the more I was hoping he wasn’t going to be able to make it. I wanted to get answers from Spencer, if he even showed up. Subconsciously, I knew that was why I didn’t tell Simon in the first place. I wanted to have all my attention on Spencer, find out what his deal was, or if I was seriously imagining it all. I didn’t need Simon breathing down my neck while I was trying to get answers out of Spencer.
Just then a fabulous idea popped into my head, an idea where I could win all around. “You need to bring your camera with you. I’m officially putting you to work. We could use the pictures you take at the party to put on the site and send to magazines.” God, you are so smart, Elizabeth Monroe. While he’s taking pictures, you can question Mr. Salvatore.
Feeling pleased with my plan, I smiled devilishly at him.
Chapter 12
The week leading up to the charity event blew by and before I knew it, Thursday night had arrived.
“That was so yummy, Gran. I’ve really missed your cooking,” I said as I cleared the table of dirty dishes.
“You know, I love cooking for my grandbabies, even if it is just one of you tonight,” she replied.
“So remember, tonight Simon should be getting in late.”
“I remember, muffin, you’ve told me every night since you got here and I even spoke with him yesterday. I may be getting old but perhaps you should have your memory checked?”
Witty old bat.
“I’ll send him up to you when he arrives,” she continued, winking up at me as I took the plate from in front of her.
My brothers were out for the night and staying in the city, so it was just Gran and I. Thankfully, she was a night owl. Me, not so much.
With my brothers gone for the night, I felt it safe to have Gran send Simon to my room, not that I would listen to them, anyway. Even though our house was huge with lots of spare bedrooms, I still wanted Simon with me. No distractions.
After cleaning up the kitchen, I retired up to my room. I got comfy in my bed and began perusing the local TV channels. I stopped on a pop-culture news station while I waited for the Thursday night line up to begin. The screen flashed to a picture of Spencer and all at once, my stomach started doing summersaults. Shit, the ultimate distraction.
“...we have just been informed by an irrefutable source that Spencer Salvatore is here, in New York, for a charity event. It seems the multi-millionaire has been inspired to publicly do some donating to a charitable cause. Our sources say that he will be attending an event, conveniently hosted by once thought to be lover, Elizabeth Monroe. Is this a chance to get back together? Our sources say yes. It seems as though he is taking all opportunities given to win her back. But like everyone else, we will have to wait and see what happens. In other news, lead singer from ONS, Kane Lawson has been...”
I quickly turned off the TV. The picture of Spencer was still burned into my mind even though the TV had been shut off. My thoughts turned to the box he left me. I had packed it, along with all the little notes. They were all sitting at the bottom of my suitcase in the closet. Why would he choose my family’s charity event to make a big stink about?
I chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek. My eyes burned a hole through my closet door. Should I look in his package? Ahh, hell, I can’t take it anymore. I had put it off since I’d gotten it and I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I needed to know what was inside.
I rushed over, slung open the door, and kneeled down. I quickly unzipped the bag and there, at the bottom of my suitcase, was the still perfectly wrapped box.
My fingers grazed lightly across his perfect penmanship.
I ripped the paper on the side. My chest became heavier with every rip. Setting the paper aside, I lifted the lid.
The first thing I saw was my phone on a bed of browning rose petals with a post it stuck to it.
Sorry. Picked this up thinking it was mine.
I picked it up, pushing the on button, but it was completely dead. Glancing back down at the box, I notice a folded piece of paper amongst the petals.
I was almost positive that I was going to pass out. I unfolded the paper and read.
Miss Monroe,
It seems as though I can’t shake you. I will come to your event if that is what you want, but I do not share. I will not be made a fool. ~ Spencer Salvatore
Oh God, I didn’t need this right now. Why did he keep doing this? I was so confused. If he wanted me, why hadn’t he just told me in the elevator or outside the club? Clearly, he had come by my building--twice! Why not just call up for me or wait for me to come out? I really needed some answers now. This was getting borderline stalker. He’d better show his face tomorrow night because, I had a mouthful for him.
***
As I lay in bed, sleeping, I was awoken by the rustle of clothes and a warm body cozying up to me. My eyes flew open, and I scooted back in bed, kicking my legs at the warm body.
I screamed when a hand wrapped around my ankle, totally forgetting that Simon was even staying with me. My first thought was that somehow Spencer had broken into my house and was trying to do god knew what to my ankles.
I reached over and flipped on the light on my nightstand and grabbed my alarm clock, ready to hit someone in the head.
“Hey, babe,” Simon said sheepishly.
I clutched at my chest as my adrenaline slowly began to subside once I realized it was Simon and not Spencer or a burglar. “Jesus Christ, Simon.”
He had a devilish smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eye. “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you. Your grandmother told me you were expecting me. FYI, I see where you get your good looks.”
I pushed his shoulder as he laughed at me. “You scared the begeezus out of me!” At that point, I was so far away from him, I was almost falling out of my queen-sized bed.
“That wasn’t my intention, believe me.” He scooted closer, rested his head on the edge of the pillow, batted his eyelashes like a girl, and stuck his bottom lip out. “Can you find it in that big ole heart of yours to forgive me?”
I rolled my eyes before I lay back down next to him. “I guess.”
“Good, now come here.” He pulled me against his warm shirtless body. “I’m beat and although I might kick myself later, I’m very content just holding you and passing out. That all right?” he asked.
I nodded “Yeah.”
I was glad to have him close again. I hadn’t realized that I missed him as much as I did. But with Spencer still fresh in my mind I was thankful he only wanted to sleep and not “sleep” with me.
***
The morning light came through the window sooner than I wished. Simon’s arm was still holding onto me tightly, as I listened to the many voices bustling around downstairs. I needed to get up and get he
lping, but the comfort of my bed with a man in it sure was tempting. Turning to face Simon, I reluctantly opened my eyes to stare at him.
“Hey,” I said, letting my fingers glide down his stubbly jaw line.
He stirred beneath my touch, his warm brown eyes opened and found me. He kissed the tip of my nose. “Hey, back.”
“I have to get up and get my butt in gear. It’s going to be a busy day.”
Lying back on his pillow, he rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands. I took that as my opportunity to get out of bed. I was a second away from throwing the covers off when I found myself pinned down.
“I don’t think so,” he said with a seductive grin.
“Simon! I have to get up.” I smiled up at him, but he didn’t budge. Using both hands, I pushed hard on his chest to get him off me. No luck, I was stuck, and not going anywhere. “Move, you beast!”
“Nope, not a chance, sweetheart. I was a nice guy last night. This morning is a whole different story. I haven’t seen you in a week,” he said, kissing either cheek. “Belle, you’re not going anywhere until I say so.”
“Simon, I get--”
“Shhhh. No talking.” He trailed kisses up and down my neck. “You. Taste. So. Sweet.”
My body took over, and I lost the fight. Arching up to him, I pulled him down closer to me. A warm hand brushed against the skin under my night shirt. His hand continued to move over my stomach and ribs, stilling under my chest. It felt so good, I didn’t want to him to stop.
This was it. All this time, and I was finally going to sleep with Simon, in my childhood bed no less. The bed that I had spent every evening praying for a boyfriend, praying for someone to love me the way I was. How ironic.
