A Reason to Stay

by Melissa Ellen

  I could see the wheels turning in his sexy head and knew he was trying to figure out a way to convince me.

  “It’s not happening, Rhett. I have work, and I really need to finish my graduate applications.”

  I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to give him the opportunity to change my mind, because he easily could. I was falling fast and deep for him. The time apart would be best for me. I needed the space to slow things down in my heart and process in my head.

  The drive to my apartment was silent. Our hands were clasped on my lap as Rhett drove. My stomach churned with anxiety, thinking about our inevitable goodbye in a few moments. He squeezed my hand tighter. I looked over at him as he gave me a soft, reassuring smile.

  When we arrived to my apartment, Rhett parked, walking me to my door, carrying my bag for me. I stood there silent, looking down, not wanting him to see the worry and sadness in my eyes. He pulled my chin up, brushing a loose tendril behind my ear.

  “When do you leave?”

  “We fly out, tonight. I’m headed home to pack and then to the airport as soon as I leave here.”

  I nodded, not knowing what else to say. Three words came to my mind. Those words scared me. It was way too early to be feeling or saying them, yet for some reason, I had the urge to say them. I bit my bottom lip to hold them in. Misunderstanding my reason for biting my lip and line of questioning, Rhett raised an eyebrow and smirked his sexy smile.

  “No!” I giggled, pressing his chest with my hands to keep him at bay. As much as I wanted to, I was already running late for work.

  He leaned in, giving me an intense kiss. I parted my lips, letting him in, tasting him. Ingraining the feel of him into my memory. I folded my arms around his neck as he pulled my hips into his, holding me tight to his body. The kiss was possessive as if we were both trying to remind each other who we belonged to. When we broke apart, our foreheads stayed together as we recovered.

  “I’ll see you soon, beautiful.”

  He gave me one more gentle kiss before leaving. I walked into my apartment, closing the door, leaning against it. I inhaled a deep breath as tears started to build in the back of my eyes from worry. I took a moment to give myself a pep talk before walking to my bedroom to get ready for my shift.

  CHAPTER 11

  “What time is it there?”

  “Late,” Rhett answered with a yawn. “I should probably let you go soon…My father is already on me about nodding off during the last meeting.”

  I giggled. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be keeping you up all night.”

  I wasn’t really all that sorry. Rhett had kept his promise to call me every day, which was tough between my shift schedule, his work and the time difference. We made it happen, though, even if one of us had to get up early or stay up late in order to manage it. Occasionally, we would even do a video call. I looked forward to those moments of being able to see his face and hear his voice. It didn’t compare to having him in person. It was better than nothing, though.

  “No worries, beautiful. It’s worth his lectures to hear your voice.”

  I grinned. “Tell me about your day. Did you finally get out of the office to explore London? Please tell me you did.”

  “No. I came straight to the hotel after leaving the office.”

  “How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you don’t have any stories to tell me about your explorations of London?” I teased.

  “I guess you’ll just have to come with me next time.”

  I rolled my eyes. He’d been relentless about taking me to London one day. “What about dinner?”

  “I ordered room service.”

  “Rhett, you should get out some.” I sighed, feeling guilty that he spent most of his spare time talking with me instead of enjoying the city.

  “It’s not my first time to London, Ava. We’ll be back and you can make it up to me then.” I could picture the smirk on his face.

  “You’re very confident about that, Mr. Blackwood…,” I teased. “Who says I’ll want to go anywhere with you?”

  “I’ve been told I have a unique set of persuasive skills, Ms. Conner. I would be happy to demonstrate them on you.”

  Laughter escaped from my lips as he teased me back. “No need. I’m well aware of your unique skills.”

  He chuckled. We talked a little longer before we both started to yawn, reluctantly saying our goodbyes.

  After my lunch shift on Friday, I headed to the store to pick-up a few items. Rhett was coming home tomorrow night, and I wanted to surprise him with a home cooked meal when he returned. I decided to stop by Victoria Secrets first to pick up some lingerie. I wasn’t sure if Rhett was a lingerie man. Regardless, wearing it made me feel sexy, so I splurged.

  As I walked out of the grocery store, I sent Lizzie a text reminding her that she would be staying at Mike’s tomorrow….not that she needed much of a reminder. She had pretty much all but moved in over there. I would be surprised if they were still abstaining from sex.

  As I finished loading the groceries in the back of my car, my phone started ringing with a call. Figuring it was Lizzie, I answered without looking.

  “Hey!”

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Oh! Hi!” I was surprised to hear from him. I wasn’t supposed to Skype with Rhett for a few hours yet.

  “Were you expecting someone else?” he asked. I could hear the stress in his voice. He seemed off and not in as good of mood as I would have expected.

  “No. I mean, yes, but no... I thought you were Lizzie. I’m glad it’s you, though. I didn’t expect to hear from you until later. Is everything okay?”

  I heard him release a deep sigh, something definitely bothering him. He was silent for a moment which made my heart speed up anxiously.

  “Ava, I’m not going to make it home tomorrow.” My heart went from beating fast to dropping to my stomach. “We’re still negotiating the deal and will need to stay another week.”

  He paused, waiting for me to say something. I couldn’t think of anything to say. Sadness overwhelmed me as my earlier excitement deflated. “Oh. Okay.” The disappointment dripped from my voice.

  “Ava, I’m sorry.” I could hear the pain and guilt in his voice. This was just as much of a disappointment for him as it was for me.

  “Rhett, its fine. It’s only a week. I’ll see you when you get back.” I tried sounding optimistic and supportive. It was his work. And the last thing I wanted to do was make him feel guilty about having to stay to take care of business. I only hoped Serena wouldn’t be staying also. To my relief, he saw very little of her the whole week. He passed on a few dinners with her and their fathers in favor of spending time in his hotel suite, talking with me. “So….are you all staying?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

  He chuckled, knowing where my line of questioning was going. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Ava…and to answer your actual question, Serena is already on a first class flight home.”

  I smiled with relief. That made him being gone another week a little more bearable.

  “That’s not what I was asking!” I lied, provoking another laugh from Rhett.

  “Sure, babe,” he said unconvinced.

  “Are we still Skyping in a few hours?”

  “I won’t be able to. We’re working late tonight to review the contracts and terms of the deal with our attorneys. I wanted to make sure to call you while I had a moment.”

  We went on talking for a few more minutes with me filling him in about my boring day and him telling me about his until he was interrupted by a man in the background.

  “Ava, I have to go. They need me.” I need you. The words ran through my mind. I held them in, knowing he felt bad enough having to cut our conversation short. And frankly, the words scared me.

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

  “I will. Bye, beautiful.” He ended the call.

  I sat in my car in the grocery store parking lot, staring at my pho
ne. I texted Amber to let her know I wouldn’t need her to pick up my shift on Saturday after all. I would need the distraction now. Then I turned on the ignition and drove home.

  I was intent on sulking alone in my tub and bed for the remainder of the night. But Lizzie was home, and after learning of my despair, she was on a mission to pull me out of my misery. She tried to get me to go out drinking. There was no way I was doing that, though. We compromised on staying home with Chinese food, wine and chick-flicks.

  After all the tears and snot, induced by the Notebook, we switched to comedies. Near the end of the second movie, my phone chimed with a new text. I picked it up off the coffee table in front of me.

  R: Goodnight, beautiful. Dream of me.

  A: Always.

  I smiled, looking at the clock. It was after ten at night our time which meant it was around two in the morning in London. He was definitely up late working. I only hoped he was texting from his room on his way to bed and not from the office.

  Lizzie looked over at me as I held my phone. “Rhett?”

  I nodded, putting my phone back down. “Yes, just saying goodnight.”

  She smiled. After the party at Mike and Stephen’s, she became very fond of Rhett. She told me any guy that would break down a door to get to me was a keeper in her book. We went back to watching the movie, laughing. Sometime during the third movie, we both fell asleep.

  The next few days seemed to drag on forever. Rhett had to cancel our video call on Monday. After he cancelled again on Tuesday, I started to think I might not be able to see or talk to him until he was home.

  On Wednesday, I decided to work a double shift to help make the day go by faster. The more time I was at work, the less time I had to think about Rhett and how much I missed him. Thinking about how deep I already was in such a short period of time, scared me.

  We were surprisingly busy for a Wednesday. It appeared everyone was out and about doing Christmas shopping with it only being a few weeks away. By the end of my closing shift, I was exhausted.

  Stephen invited me to have a drink with him afterwards. He didn’t want to spend another night at home being the third wheel with Lizzie and Mike. I couldn’t blame him. I was too tired, though, just wanting to go home and go to bed. I also didn’t want to miss out on the chance to talk to Rhett, in case he was able to tonight. That hope was dashed when I received his text cancelling, once again, as I was closing out with Hank.

  I dropped my phone back into my apron, not even bothering to respond. I was too tired to fake supportiveness. I pocketed my tips, saying goodnight to Hank before heading out the back door to my car.

  I stepped out into the crisp, cold New England air, my breath floating in front of me in a little white cloud. I tugged my jacket tighter around my body, walking towards my car. I faltered in my steps. My heart stopped and my breath caught.

  I swore I was seeing a mirage from being overly tired from my shifts. Rhett stood a few yards from me, leaning against my car, looking even sexier than I remembered. He had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

  I had to remind my heart to beat and my lungs to breathe as I stood stock-still, afraid to move. Scared that any movement would cause his image to fade into the dark sky. When it was obvious I was frozen in place, Rhett straightened, strolling towards me with his usual smooth gait. His movement knocked me from my dazed and confused state. I ran, jumping into his arms.

  He picked me up, spinning me around, laughing as I clanged to his body, wrapping my legs around his waist and arms around his neck. I breathed him in, smelling his heavenly scent. He held me tight in his arms as I schemed in my mind to never let him go. He pulled back to look me in the eyes for only a second before smashing his lips to mine. Those lips. I missed those lips. They were lips that served to make me moan and they did just that.

  He broke our kiss, staring at me again. “Hi, beautiful,” he said in a low husky voice, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Hi.”

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.” I smiled a toothy smile still in shock that I was in his arms. “When did you get home? Why didn’t you tell me? How long have you been waiting? Where is your car?” I spouted off all the questions that had been running through my head the moment I saw him.

  He laughed, “Anything else you want to know?”

  I smacked him, then hugged and kissed him. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to surprise you. I just got back about an hour ago. I had the driver bring me straight here. When I texted you, we’d just pulled up.”

  “I can’t believe you’re here. I thought you wouldn’t be home for another couple days.”

  “Well, we pulled a lot of late nights, so I could get home to you sooner.”

  “I guess I’ll forgive you for continually canceling on me then,” I teased. I nuzzled my head into his neck, “Thank you for coming home to me sooner. I was worried you may have started to forget about me.”

  “That would never happen, Ava.” He kissed the top of my head. “Now, let’s go. It’s fucking cold out here. I want to get you home and in bed.” I couldn’t argue with that.

  The next morning I woke with Rhett spooning me in my bed. I turned, finding him awake, watching me.

  “Morning,” I murmured, stretching my body, feeling the ache between my legs from last night’s marathon of reunion sex.

  Luckily, when we arrived at my apartment last night, we found it dark and empty - a sign that Lizzie was staying with Mike. Not that it would have mattered. There was no way either of us had the patience to make it to Rhett’s place in Boston. We could barely keep our hands to ourselves in the short car ride to my apartment. With me driving, Rhett took the liberty of driving me crazy with his hands and mouth all over my body as I drove.

  I repaid him the torturous favor by making him wait, while I slipped on the lingerie I’d bought for his original return home. It turned out Rhett appreciated it very much. The look of satisfaction and lust on his face was worth the money I spent on it – granted I’m sure he would have had the same look if I walked out naked.

  “Morning,” he rolled on top of me, positioning himself between my legs. He was ready, and I was willing, even with my sore body.

  “I missed this….waking up in your arms.”

  He gave me a small peck on the lips. Followed by another. And another. Each one lasting longer, penetrating deeper. He rolled us, so he was on his back and I was straddling his hips, allowing me to take control. As I shifted to guide him inside of me, my door burst open.

  “Wake up, you lazy bitch! We’re going…”

  Shit! Rhett moved lightning fast, flipping us back around to protectively cover my naked body only to expose his own nude ass. “Oh, shit! Sorry!” screamed a shocked Lizzie.

  In the midst of being surprised and inundated with Rhett’s return, I totally forgot I had plans this morning to go Christmas shopping with her. I looked over Rhett’s shoulder, seeing his bare backside exposed and a stunned Lizzie, staring. Her mouth agape.

  “Lizzie! Out!” I yelled at her.

  “Shit! Sorry,” she repeated, slowly closing the door with a mischievous smile on her face.

  She had no shame, the hussy! I wasn’t threatened by Lizzie blatantly ogling my man. That was just Lizzie – though Mike may have felt differently if he were here. I was mortified. Rhett’s face was buried in my neck, his body was shaking with silent laughter. He lifted his head, beaming with pride, still chuckling to himself. I pushed him off me, smacking his ass, rolling him onto his back which only amused him more. He laughed out loud, tickled by my embarrassment.

  “Stop it!” I glared at him. “This is not funny!”

  “Oh, babe…it is very funny!” he said through his laughter.

  “No, it isn’t. She saw you naked!” I huffed. It seemed the more I got worked up, the more he laughed. “What if that had been…I don’t know, Riley or Adam walking in on us and they saw my bare ass? Would it still
be funny to you?” That shut him up, the brightness in his eyes quickly vanished, replaced by darkness. The realization dawning on him. Point made.

  I threw the covers off me, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

  “Where are you going?” he asked confused.

  “To shower. Mood officially dead and don’t even think about following me into the shower!” I threw over my shoulder, closing my bathroom door, only to hear him still chuckling to himself behind it.

  Lizzie and I went for brunch before embarking on our long day of Christmas shopping. It was tradition for us to do all our Christmas shopping together for our families, and this year we had the added bonus of shopping for Mike and Rhett. I had no idea what I was going to get Rhett, so I was thankful to have Lizzie to help.

  We sat, waiting for our food, sipping our mimosas and coffee. She’d been wearing a stupid grin on her face, since we’d left the apartment.

  “Stop grinning like that!”

  “Like what?” she feigned innocence. Poorly.

  “Like you’re picturing Rhett naked.”

  “I don’t really have to picture it now. Do I? I’ve seen it in person,” she taunted me, laughing. She knew how modest I was. She had always teased me relentlessly about it and catching me in the act like that, only added to her arsenal.

  “Watch it. Or I may just have to let Mike know that you enjoyed it a little too much,” I warned her with a roguish smile. She waved me off, rolling her eyes.

  “Go for it. Maybe it will make him man up and take me to bed,” she sighed, disgruntled. “I have to get my kicks where I can right now. Sorry, if your man’s delicious and toned, I might add, ass is the only opportunity I have at seeing male nakedness.”

  “Seriously?! I thought for sure you guys would have by now.”

  “That makes two of us! I guess his definition of taking it slow and my definition are completely different. I feel like a couple of virgin teenagers with all the foreplay, heavy kissing and petting, but never quite closing the deal. I have never felt so sexually frustrated.”