I pushed the gin and tonic away on its soggy coaster and I leaned forward on the bar, willing myself to stand up and accept defeat. I made an effort. That was all I could do. Maybe it had been wrong to involve Emmy and get her hopes up; watching how eagerly my niece had illustrated my rewritten ‘fairytale’ had only confirmed how much Emmy missed Daisy. I had no idea how I would fill the void left in my own life, let alone in Emmy’s.
12:00 my watch ticked. I slid forward off the barstool and threw a final hundred dollar bill onto the bar, then I turned towards the door and step straight into a black suit.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” the man bumbled, taking a step backwards, and I deduce from the gold name badge inscribed ‘concierge’ that he was hotel staff.
“Don’t worry about it,” I mumbled, stepping around him.
“Erm… are you Mr. Preston, by chance?” he called after me.
I glanced back, then I glanced around the rest of the bar. Besides a couple making a baby in a corner booth and a pair of Midwest thirty-something soccer mom tourists who came to New York hoping for their Sex and the City experience, the bar was empty. No other potential Mr. Preston’s there.
“Yes,” I admitted reluctantly.
“This is for you,” he said, handing me an envelope. Then, in a loud whisper, he added, “It’s urgent.”
He waited around for another few seconds, probably to see whether I opened it, before he nodded politely and scurried back towards the hotel’s reception area. I debated whether I should just stuff the envelope in my pocket or tear it open there, and in the end, it was the concierge’s emphasis on the word ‘urgent’ that made me curious enough to pry open the envelope and see what’s inside.
I find a note, scrawled in red pen ink on hotel stationery:
‘Someone once said that there’s something sensual about hotels; the guests are like strangers exploring a foreign land, and should two of them meet and the mood strike, then pure bliss is just a room key away. Well, here’s to testing that theory. 615.’
I remembered that line, and I remembered who said it. I told Daisy that on our first date, right here at the Hotel NoMad. I glanced into the envelope and even though I already had a pretty good idea of what I’d find inside, I still felt a jolt of excitement when my eyes landed on the black rectangular room key.
Room 615.
It was her.
I slipped the note into my pocket and headed for the elevator. My pulse was like electricity, throbbing as it pulsed through my veins. I was hard as fucking steel by the time the elevator doors slid shut, and even though I had an entire script planned for tonight, the apology, the groveling, the explaining myself and revealing my feelings, I had a hunch that Daisy had other plans for the night.
But when the elevator dinged on floor 6 and the doors slid open, I hesitated. I told Daisy once before that things between us couldn’t be meaningless. And I meant it. If the past week has proven anything, it was that there was something real between us, something dangerous and fragile, but something real nonetheless.
And I was not fucking it up again.
I glided down the hall, my footsteps muted by the plush red carpet. I found room 615 and I slipped the key into the door, then I took a deep breath before I pushed it open.
Inside, the room was dark, dimly illuminated by the flicker of candles lining the narrow entryway. I found the room empty; the bed was made, the sheets undisturbed. My cock screamed through my pants and I wondered if I’ve missed her again.
Then I spotted the beam of light snaking out from under the bathroom door. I crossed the room, the weight of my steps creaking on the old hardwood floors, then I pressed the door open with my knuckles.
The bathroom lights were off, but the glow of candles was stronger in the small bathroom. The flickering flames reflected off the massive white cast iron tub, which was filled with a sea of bubbles and, more importantly, Daisy.
Her neck was resting on one end of the tub and her feet were propped on the other. Her arms were draped around the rim, and when her eyes flicked up to me she remained perfectly still. Her face was completely blank, but the look of want in her eyes, combined with the sight of her soaking in that tub full of bubbles, made my need for her burn even hotter through my veins.
“Interesting choice of locale for a conversation,” I said finally, breaking the tense silence.
“I didn’t invite you here for a conversation.”
“No? Why, then?”
“I thought you didn’t like stupid questions,” her pout twisted into a smile, and she sinks a bit lower into the bath of creamy white bubbles.
The animal inside of me wanted to dive through those bubbles and ravage her right there in the cast iron tub, but the gentleman in me remembered the thoughts I was thinking in the elevator.
“I already told you before,” I said, standing my ground. “I can’t have meaningless sex with you.”
“You’ve told me a lot of things, Caleb, and they haven’t all been true.”
I crossed the bathroom and sit on the rim of the clawfoot soaking tub, bending down so I can smell the rose-scented bubbles as they pop against her bare shoulders.
“You want the truth, Daisy?”
She didn’t respond, but she dipped her chin subtly; a nod.
“The truth is that I can’t just fuck you, because I fucking love you.”
She blinked behind the shield of bubbles, sinking lower into the tub but keeping her eyes locked on mine. She was silent and in those few seconds and I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking or what she was going to say.
“Tell me what you want, Daisy.”
Her eyes flicked up and her lips pursed together.
“I want you.”
I gripped the edge of the tub, my body reeling with the ache of restraint. Her hands slipped from the rim, sinking into the bubbles. I watched her shoulders bunch together and I could tell exactly what she was doing. She was touching herself.
I imagined the feeling of her velvet skin, wet from the rose scented bathwater; wet with how much she wished that her fingers were mine as she slipped her knuckles between her legs underwater.
“Tell me what you want,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on mine.
I leaned forward, bending through the bubbles between us so that our faces were close.
“You.”
She bent up the rest of the way and our lips connected. It was a desperate, hungry kiss, and I only pulled away so that I could tear off my suit jacket and plunge my arm into the bubbly bathwater. The water soaked through the white sleeve of my dress shirt, but I didn’t care. I needed to feel her.
Under the bubbly surface I found her fingers spread over her clit. I weaved my hand over hers, then I guided her fingertip to make small, slow circles around her clit. She inhaled sharply and sucked in her lip, leaning towards me.
I kissed her again and then she pulled her hands away, letting me take over. I slipped my hand lower, plunging two fingers into her hole while I tasted the gasp escaping her lips. Then her hands popped through the bubbles and wrapped around my waist, then moved towards the fly of my pants.
I kept pressing my fingers into her underwater while she tore open my pants and released my screaming cock through the opening of my briefs. Her fingers wrapped around the base of my shaft, and just feeling her hands on me made me want to explode. The way her eyes widened as she took in my size made me need her even more.
I pulled my hand out of the tub and she propped herself up on her knees. My hands found her perfect tits as they emerged from the bubbles, and my fingers slipped in the suds as I slid my fingers over her nipples, making the same little circles that I made over her clit.
She moaned again, then she lowered herself towards my pulsing cock. I braced myself for the sensation of her hot little mouth taking me in, and I gripped the edge of the tub, willing myself not to come.
I felt her tongue first, lapping up the underside of my head. I felt a jolt of pleasure shak
e through my spine and I gripped the tub a little harder as she spread her lips open, tasting all of me as she slides my thick cock into her mouth.
She went tantalizing slow, and I felt my body melt inside of her with every inch she took. I knew I would come if she didn’t stop, so I slid back out. Her eyes flicked up, disappointed.
“I’m not good?”
“You’re too good,” I assured her. “I need to be inside of you. Now.”
She smiled.
“Come on,” I said, bending into the tub and pulling her from the water. I tossed her over my shoulder and she squealed with shock. All of her bubbles and wetness soaked through my shirt, forever staining me with traces of Daisy. I wore her proudly, and carried her through the bathroom door, then hurled her onto the bed.
She squealed again, then watched with wide eyes as I stripped off my pants and shirt. I needed to be inside of her, but I also needed her to come first.
“Touch yourself,” I said, watching her wet body squirm on the bed.
“No way,” she said. “It’s not the same as when you do it.”
“Don’t make me tell you twice,” I warned, giving my cock a quick stroke to ease the pure fire that’s pumping through my skin.
She slipped a delicate finger between her legs.
“Spread your legs,” I said. She obeyed, but not enough. “More,” I said.
She spread her legs further apart, and I watched as her fingers clumsily try to replicate the way I played with her clit. The way I tugged on her lips, the way I pinched and pulled and rubbed all the right places. She got it all wrong, and she glanced up at me hopelessly.
“Pretend your fingers are my mouth.”
I bent down on the bed and she watched intently as I planted my tongue on the inside of her knee, licking up the inside of her thigh. She swallowed heavily, then her fingers start moving between her legs again. This time she bit her lip with concentration and her fingers moved to a different rhythm, finding a new pattern. A new design to trace over and over.
She moaned softly, feeling pleasure from the things she was doing to herself. Then her fingers started to move faster and her face wrinkled up and her head tilted back. Her moans turned into shrieks as she made herself come with her fingers.
When the orgasm faded, it was time to reward her. I nudged her hand aside and took over with my mouth. She melted into me as my tongue glided over her skin, tasting the sweetness of her orgasm.
I loved tasting her, but I wanted to be inside of her even more. I grabbed onto her thighs, yanking them up around my waist so her pussy was in the air. Then I guided myself into her eager little hole and thrust.
The blush of the last orgasm was still tinting her cheeks, but she was already moaning as I pumped inside of her.
The last coherent thought I had before my brain exploded with ecstasy was how I was not sure how I ever thought that this could be meaningless. Being with Daisy wasn’t just sex. It was much more than that. It was intimate, it was affectionate, it was personal, it was deep, it was… love.
We collapsed into a heap on the bed, our bodies dripping wet with bathwater and bubbles and sex. And somehow our lips found their way into a kiss, and she only pulled away to whisper.
“I love you.”
EPILOGUE | ONE YEAR LATER
DAISY
“Oh fuck,” I moaned before I could stop myself. I planted a hand on the grass cloth bathroom wall, steadying myself as Caleb thrusted into me from behind. I felt his heavy hand clamp over my mouth, silencing me as I climaxed, and I know it’s for the best; we shouldn’t be doing this here, we shouldn’t be doing this now. But even after a year together, we still have an insatiable need for each other.
Caleb grunted into my neck and we came together. His hand slid away from my mouth, gliding over my chest and squeezing through the thin fabric of my cocktail dress.
I braced myself against the bathroom wall for several seconds, panting for breath as my body recovered. Caleb’s chest pressed against me, and my heart swelled in my chest.
“You’re incredible,” he whispered into my neck, his hot breath tickling my skin.
“You’re not too bad yourself,” I said. I pulled my panties up and roll my skin-tight dress back down over my hips, then I turned to inspect Caleb as he readjusts his suit.
“Looking good,” I said, then add with a wink, “No one will guess you just had a quickie in the bathroom with your charity director.”
“That’s too bad,” Caleb lamented. “If they did, maybe they’d stop flirting with the boss’s girl.”
“Jealous, Mr. Preston?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Protective,” he corrected me. “I like guarding what’s mine.”
I smiled, letting him drop a kiss on my cheek before I twist the lock on the bathroom door.
I adjusted my skirt one last time, then I slipped through the door. Luckily the marble corridor of the Preston Hotel is empty, and nobody was there to witness my post-quickie exit stroll.
Caleb followed a few seconds later, and he catches up with me as I walked towards the ballroom of the Preston Hotel.
Tonight was a big night for both of us, and for multiple reasons.
For a start, today marks the one-year anniversary of the day I handed in my official letter of resignation at Bellamy Day School. The decision to leave Bellamy was bittersweet, but Caleb made it a bit easier to rip off the band aid when he offered me the position of Director of Operations at the Preston Foundation, the hotel’s own in-house non-profit organization. I had spent so much time telling Caleb how much I wanted to make a difference, and after a lot of listening (and giving it some careful consideration) he decided to give me the opportunity to change the world. One baby-step at a time.
In the year that followed, I poured my heart and soul into the position. With the help of Preston Foundation’s staff (and the funding of a billion-dollar company to back me up), I forged ahead with plans for a new charity. The idea was simple: I wanted to create a safe space for kids to go. Any kids, rich, poor, and everything in between. I wanted everyone to feel welcome. I wanted every kid to feel like they had a home away from home, and somewhere they could turn when they needed help or security. Or just a PB&J at the end of a hard day.
We went back and forth about how to make this possible, and we kept hitting a snag on one logistical nightmare, where could we create these spaces? We had considered everything from leasing a vacant commercial property to setting up shop in an unused school classroom. When Emmy heard us weighing pros and cons of our location options, she chimed in with a question of her own, why would we need to rent a space, when we already had so much of it?
We had the answer to our problems right under our noses the whole time, the Preston Hotel! The hotel had an abundance of free space, and after making a few calls, Caleb confirmed that a conference room and kitchen had been cordoned off for us to use. We got a design team in to redesign the space and make it more kid-friendly.
To honor the inspiration behind this initiative, we decided to name the charity Emmy’s Place. And tonight, we were celebrating the launch of our very first Emmy’s Place location, right here in Manhattan’s Preston Hotel.
This was just the beginning. Next month we’ll cut the ribbon on ten more Emmy’s Place locations in other Preston Hotels, and there are already talks to continue spreading throughout the nation, and eventually, beyond that.
Emmy has played a huge role in the charity, but she hasn’t let it all go to her head, in fact, she’s managed to stay pretty humble. She will be graduating from kindergarten next week, and then she’ll be moving on to grade school. She couldn’t be more different from the shy little girl I first met at Bellamy Day, and I feel proud to be a part of her childhood.
Caleb gets some of the credit, too. He stepped up to the plate and readily accepted the responsibility of caring for Emmy, and he never looked back. Emmy’s mom, Calista, got herself back into a rehab program a few months ago, and she’s due to graduate to a sober
living community soon. She hopes to be involved in Emmy’s life someday, but for the time being she thinks it’s best that Caleb and I continue to give Emmy a stable and loving home.
The three of us may have come together in an unconventional way, but we’re a family.
And after tonight, the whole world will know it.
Caleb and I have kept our relationship under wraps for an entire year. This was largely due to office politics, we didn’t want to raise any red flags until Emmy’s Place was up and off the ground. It was also an attempt to spare Emmy and I both some of the tabloid scrutiny. Caleb has kept a low profile for the last year, and we’re hoping that when we go public with our relationship tonight, the same night that we celebrate the opening of Emmy’s Place, we’ll barely make a blip on the radar.
Now, as we make our way towards the gala, I felt Caleb’s hand wrap around mine and give a supportive squeeze.
“Before we go in there,” he whispered, “There’s something I want to ask you.”
I stopped walking and turned to face him. We’re just a few paces away from the party, and I could hear the pulse of music and chatter of the crowd on the other side of the wall.
“I know this is a big night for you,” Caleb said. “And I wanted to know… are you sure you want me to introduce you as my girlfriend tonight?”
“What?” I frowned. “Of course I do, Caleb! I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. Why would you even ask me that?”
“Well,” Caleb said slowly, “I thought I might introduce you as something else…”
“What?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he dropped to one knee and immediately I understood what was happening. My hands rushed to my mouth and I felt my stomach do cartwheels.
“Daisy Wright,” he said, pulling a little black velvet box from his jacket pocket. “Can I please introduce you as my fiancée?”
The box popped open and I see a giant diamond sparkling inside.
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