by Ashley Blake
“How long?”
Just then Mark came back into the room with his lunch and plopped down in front of his computer to work through lunch. Sebastian instantly became distant as he put his work hat back on and asked to me check something in none of our files. I found what he was looking for and then left the room to go grab lunch.
So, I had to wait to be able to date him? Did he think that I was going to date him secretly, like someone who wasn’t good enough to be seen with in public? Fool around behind closed doors? No way, not gonna happen. I ate lunch by myself and was kicking myself for allowing the kiss to happen and allowing myself to fall for him. I decided that anything that might have started with Sebastian Blu was over because if he couldn’t date me openly, then he couldn’t date me at all.
Chapter Ten – São Paulo Part 4
Thursday flew by and I avoided any personal contact with Sebastian, just kept things on a professional level. Sophia and I had slipped into a comfortable working thing and she backed off with her snide comments which made working with her much more pleasant. We weren’t anywhere near being friends but we had achieved a level of respect when it came to work.
When I returned to my room Thursday evening there were two full racks of beautiful designer clothes waiting for me. I was in complete awe of the gorgeous dresses, suits, pants, blouses and shoes, and I felt like I had won the lottery. Even though I was pissed and hurt that he only wanted to be with me in the dark, I wasn’t above accepting the shoes and clothes. Besides, once he saw me in the gorgeous clothes he would want me even more and it would kill him that he couldn’t have me. He knocked on the adjoining door Thursday night but I ignored him and I smiled to myself because, I’m not gonna lie, it felt good to have him pursuing me. Even though he was probably just looking to fool around in the dark, it felt good to know that such a rich and powerful man was interested in me. But my smile fell when the reality set in that I wasn’t good enough to be seen with in public. The knock came again. Go away Sebastian.
On Friday I kept myself very busy with Sophia and did not give Sebastian a chance to be able to speak to me without anyone else around. Friday night I had just slipped into bed when I heard a knock at the adjoining door, and I looked up at the ceiling in the darkness and waited for it to stop. Go away Seabastian. If he couldn’t be with me openly then he couldn’t have me at all.
Saturday was a workday for us and Sunday was our day off so I was really looking forward to having some time to myself. We entertained clients for dinner on Friday and Saturday night and on Saturday night Sebastian and Sophia stayed after to have drinks with the clients. I tried not to let it bother me that he was spending that extra time with her, but it did because I knew how much Sophia wanted to get back together with Sebastian, she was super obvious about it.
There was no knock at my door Saturday night, and late Saturday night as I was laying in bed, I could have sworn I heard a woman’s giggle coming from his room. My stomach ached at the thought of Sebastian touching another woman, and I felt downright sick when I thought about that woman being Sophia. But I was being a hypocrite; of course he would be able to find another woman to fill his needs. I tossed and turned for what seemed like forever before I was finally able to drift off to sleep.
The next day I was going to do some sight-seeing and I couldn’t wait to take a ton of pictures and explore the city. I was looking forward to spending time by myself and having the day off because it had been a brutal week of work. I briefly thought about Sebastian while I finished getting ready, wondering what he had planned for the day but I was too excited to dwell on him and I welcomed the distraction of my sight-seeing adventures. I ordered room service and by the time I finished breakfast and getting ready it was 10:00. I checked my makeup one last time and grabbed my purse and was reaching for the door when I heard a tap at the adjoining door. I froze in my tracks as butterflies ravaged my belly. Should I just ignore him again? My head said yes but my heart made my feet turn around and walk over to the door.
He tapped again, a little louder this time.
“Elena, please open the door.”
I opened the door and was completely caught off guard by his looks; he was so damned attractive. He had a perfect tan and was wearing a light blue linen shirt and white linen pants and he looked like he had just stepped out of a page in GQ. I tried to look annoyed but I’m sure I failed because I was happy to see him. Even after his little speech about not being able to date me openly, and the fact that I thought I heard a woman in his room the night before, I was happy to see him standing at my door wanting to see me. Giddy even. But I couldn’t let him know that.
“Yes?”
“Good morning to you too, sunshine. May I come in?”
I stepped aside so that he could come into my room and he walked over to my couch and made himself comfortable. He clearly didn’t care that I was dressed and ready to leave, I mean just looking at me you could tell that I was on my way out.
He had one arm up on the couch and looked super comfortable as if he were in his own room. “I see that you’re on your way out. I want you to cancel any plans that you have today Elena.”
Was he kidding? I knew that he was arrogant but this was taking it a bit too far, my world did not revolve around him.
I put my hand on my hip and looked at him in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“It is not safe for you to go traipsing about São Paulo, especially when you have never been here, you could easily take a wrong turn and end up in a dangerous part of the city. I have made arrangements for us to do some sightseeing today and I have also fit in a couple of hours of complete R&R. You have been ignoring me for the past couple of days, I want to know why, and I want to spend time with you, just you and me.” He looked at me with a yearning in his eyes. “Please, will you cancel your plans?”
I looked at him with defiance in my eyes, my hand still on my hip.
“Why don’t you spend the day with the woman who was in your room last night?”
He looked thoroughly confused. “There was no woman in my room last night.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Really? I know that I heard a female giggle coming from your room late last night, so you're going to sit here and lie to my face?”
“It must have been my television. I have no reason to lie to you Elena, there was no one in my room last night. The only person I want in my room is you. So, will you please cancel your plans and spend the day with me?”
With the way he was looking at me I could have easily just melted right into the floor. I should have said no to him but he probably had a point about wandering into a dangerous part of the city, and the last thing I wanted to do was put myself in any kind of danger. Besides, as much as I did not want to admit it I was excited about the opportunity to spend the day with him.
“Okay, but only if Mark or Carol come with us.”
He furrowed his brow. “Elena, I want to be alone with you.”
“I know you do, but you basically told me that I am not good enough to be seen with in public, so we need to have someone else with us. I don’t want you to think that there is any possibility of anything happening between us.”
He took a deep breath and held his head in his hands as he looked at the floor and then up at me. “Elena, it is very complicated and because I have a high profile life I have to be very discreet about my private life. I can’t tell you all of the details now, but I will, I promise you, when the time is right. But I do want to be with you, please believe me. You’re going to have to trust me for a little while.”
My eyes searched his looking for any signs of dishonesty and I saw none, all I saw was genuine emotion. Trust him. That was not going to be easy but as I sat there looking at him, thinking about the past couple of weeks and how my feelings for him had grown, I decided to do it. I was going to trust him because I wasn’t willing to walk away from him.
I looked at him and gave him a half smile. “Okay.”
He smiled at me
and I think I saw a look of relief on his face. So the handsome billionaire isn’t so sure of himself all the time after all.
“Great. I promise we are going to have an incredible day, Elena. I see you have your camera so must want to start with something scenic?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
“Okay, there is a beautiful neighborhood called Jardim America that has a beautiful thoroughfare called Avenida Paulista we can stroll through and we can stop in at the Art Museum of São Paulo. After that we can walk through Estação da Luz, a gorgeous late 19th century train station that has been renovated and then stroll through a beautiful park called Praça da Luz, where bands play in a gazebo and the grounds are lush and beautiful with sculptures all around.
Then I thought we could grab lunch and then take a walk through Ibirapuera Park which is enormous, something like 400 acres, and I am positive you will find plenty of beautiful scenery to capture with your camera. After that we can head over to the Mercadão and really get a taste of local life and sample different delicious foods. For dinner, I thought that we could just come back to the room and order room service, if that is okay with you. Does this all sound good to you?”
“It does, it just sounds like a lot to cram into one day.”
“Well, we will have a driver so we will be driven to each spot and if at any time you are too tired to go on, just say the word and we will go back to the hotel. Is that okay?”
“Yes, I guess we better get going.” I almost felt like a giddy teenager as we left my hotel room and I was really excited about being alone with him that day, until I saw the bodyguard.
“Is he going to be with us all day?” I whispered so that I wouldn’t offend the big man behind us.
"Yes, he is, but you won't notice him. Isn’t that right, Carl?”
Carl had a very serious expression on his face. “Yes sir.”
“By the way, Carl this is Elena, Elena meet our private security, Carl. He’s a good man.” Sebastian gave Carl a chuckle and lightly tapped him on his shoulder. “You'll see that he just kind of fades into the background and you get used to it. He's here to keep us safe, Elena.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Carl.”
Carl nodded at me, never breaking character. “Likewise, ma’am.”
We got into the car that was waiting for us and I felt like royalty with the celebrity treatment I was receiving. Everyone from the doorman to the driver treated us like we were A-list celebrities. I guess that is what comes along with being wealthy. I was getting a tiny glimpse into Sebastian’s world and I had to admit that I liked it, it was nice to be treated so well.
As we drove through the city I was in awe of how drastically different it was from one block to the next. Some parts were so beautiful and others were downright depressing. Everything I saw that day was amazing to me because it was all so new for me. I was too excited to be tired so I was able to keep up with Sebastian as we hit every spot that he planned and I must have taken 1000 pictures. My favorite spot that day was probably the market because of the people and the incredibly cool and different food. I tried foods that I had never heard of or seen but I loved everything I tried. We fell into a very comfortable vibe and by the time we hit our last stop it felt like I had known him forever. Sebastian was very different away from work and I really liked the man that was with me.
I soaked up as much culture as I could in that one day and by the time we headed back to the hotel I was exhausted. We made it back around 6:30 and I was dying to take a shower to freshen up and help wake me up. I wasn’t starving but I could feel a tinge of hunger coming on. Sebastian came into my room and stood by the adjoining door and looked at me, and something in his eyes was different. Lust was replaced by genuine interest and I liked it.
“I am going to take a quick shower and then I would really like it if you would join me in my room for dinner around 7:15. Does that work for you?”
I smiled at him. “Yes, I will knock when I am ready.”
“Okay.” He winked at me before he closed the door behind him and butterflies fluttered in my belly as I spun around with a huge grin on my face. I’d had a perfect day so far.
I hopped in the shower trying to remember which new clothes I had because I wanted to look pretty for Sebastian. We’d had a really good day and something had changed between us. I don’t know if it was because I had learned to relax around him or if he had laid off laying it on so thick with me, but I really liked where we were and I couldn’t wait to see where we would go next. As my hair was drying, I quickly looked through the racks and pulled out a gorgeous red spaghetti strap mini-dress and knew that was the one. I slipped it on and it skimmed my body as if it were made specifically for me, it was so pretty. I had just finished putting on my makeup and I decided to blow dry my now slightly damp hair and just leave the natural waves. I didn’t have time to flat iron my hair, which was something that I did every single day because my hair was so thick and it was hard to manage if I didn’t straighten it. I put a little bit of product in it to tame the mass and it actually looked pretty. Being in São Paulo, it seemed perfect to have thick, wavy, kind of unruly hair with my red dress. When I looked at myself in the mirror I almost did not recognize the person who was staring back at me and I really liked the way I looked. I’m going to have to wear my hair wavy more often. It was 7:14 so I slipped on my black strappy sandals and knocked on the adjoining door.
Sebastian opened it and if it was even possible he looked more beautiful than the last time I saw him less than an hour before. His eyes slowly scanned me from head to toe and back again until they rested in mine. They searched my face, my hair, and then my eyes and seemed awestruck.
“You look absolutely beautiful, Elena, simply stunning.”
I could feel my cheeks getting warm as I smiled at him. “Thank you.” It felt really good to know that he liked the way it looked.
We both realized at the same time that I was still standing in his doorway, and I asked if I could come in and he asked me to come in at the exact same time. I erupted into giggles and he chuckled as I walked into his room. There was definitely a different energy in the room and he seemed a little bit nervous and I was definitely nervous, but not in a bad way. Things were changing between us and I liked it. I really liked seeing this side of Sebastian because his work mood could be so intimidating. It was nice to see that he was just as human as I was.
He handed me a menu and put in our order for dinner and then we sat down, him on the couch and me right next to him, and had a glass of wine and relaxed and chatted before dinner arrived.
“So Elena, how have you enjoyed São Paulo?”
“It has been amazing, especially today because we were able to see so much of it. Thank you, by the way, for asking me to change my plans, I had a wonderful time with you.” That last part slipped out before I could take it back and I felt a little bit shy about being so open with my feelings, but it was too late.
“With me, huh? Well, you are very welcome.” He looked at me with his gorgeous dark eyes and held my gaze. “The feeling is mutual.”
“This is a gorgeous room, Sebastian.” I had to think of something to say to break the sexual tension in the room.
“It’s not bad.”
“Not bad? This place is a palace compared to my apartment and the house I grew up in.”
He set down his glass of wine and leaned back against the couch, his arm resting along the back. “Tell me about that. What was it like growing up in Pensacola?”
“It was pretty awesome for the most part. It was me, my mom and dad. My mom calls me her miracle baby because she had such a hard time staying pregnant. She had four miscarriages before me so they were really happy when I arrived. She wasn’t able to have any more kids so it was just us.”
“Elena, you said it was awesome for the most part, what did you mean by that?”
I felt comfortable telling him about Brian because I trusted him.
“Well, I am not pro
ud of this, but when I was a senior in high school I was dating a boy named Brian and it got serious really fast. I’m sure you know what teenage love is like, they become your whole world. Brian became really possessive soon after we started dating and I just thought that he liked me so much that he didn’t want anyone to have me. He knew how to make me feel really special. Anyway, he hit me the first time after about three months.”
Sebastian interrupted me and fire flew across his eyes as his voice bellowed throughout the room. “He did what?!”
I was shocked by his reaction but I repeated what I said. “He hit me. I was completely shocked and distraught because I thought he loved me, so when he started crying and apologizing and telling me that it would never happen again, I believed him. But a couple of weeks later it happened again and he cried and told me how much he loved me and said it would never happen again so, like an idiot, I believed him. He sent me flowers every day and everything was fine for a couple of months. But one day he saw me talking to a guy by my locker and he went ballistic once we were alone in his car. When he hit me the third time, I snapped and told him it was over.”
