Little Black Book

I went back into the living space and his eyes moved down my body like a seductive touch.

“You look amazing,” he pulled his shades down over his eyes and started toward me.

“Thanks,” I responded.

He held his hand out for me to proceed him onto the elevator, and then he got on, pushing the button to take us to the lobby.

His car was nice. No, it was beyond nice. It was a black Jaguar—sleek and sexy, just like him. He opened the door for me and I slid in. The rich leather hugged my bottom with love, and I melted into the comfort. He went around the car, took the keys from the valet, and slid in next to me.

He drove like a madman, flying past cars on one-way streets and running yellow lights as if they were green. My fingers dug into the door grip like it would keep me safe, and he chuckled at my side. He parked in front of a nice building. The brick outside was white and set with gold trimming.

There was a gorgeous archway that went into the front and glass doors with a doorman parked out front nodding nicely to the people that passed.

“Come on, beautiful,” he said, tossing his keys to the valet.

I followed behind him to an elevator. We waited for the door to open and warmth moved up my spine when he placed a hand on the small of my back as we waited for the elevator.

The elevator opened into a room. It was furnished nicely with feminine décor and again had a wall of windows that showed New York City outside.

He grinned down at me before he stepped off of the elevator and pulled me along with him. I took the room in—a sleek condo with expensive furnishings that were definitely decorated by a professional. I tried to figure out where we were, and then I started to see familiar pieces placed around the room. Pictures from Gran’s living room were on the wall and frames full of Kyle’s smiles were sitting on a table to the side.

I gasped. “Is this…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“It’s yours.”

With a gapped mouth and eyes wide with shock, I made a circle in the room. I could hardly believe my eyes.

“But my things. How did you…” I felt the tears sting the back of my eyes.

“Vick. She took care of everything. Apparently, your friend that works at the club will tell anything for a few bucks.”

I turned back to him with wide eyes. No one had ever done anything so amazing for me before. Everything that I’d stored in Trish’s parents’ garage was there.

There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but nothing felt good enough. Instead, I went to him and threw my arms around his neck. He tensed and stood there without hugging me back.

“Whoa,” he chuckled, setting me away from him.

I pulled back and smiled up at him. “I have no words. Thank you, Sebastian. I’ll pay you back. I’ll…”

He held his hand up to silence me. “No worries. I’ll collect payment very soon.”

His eyes devoured my mouth and I swallowed hard.

“Let’s take a look at the rest of the place,” he said, turning his back to me and walking away.

The place was magnificent—no expense spared. It was huge, more than I knew what to do with, but I knew it wasn’t permanent. This thing that was happening with Sebastian was just starting, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think it would last forever. For Kyle, and secretly for me too, I’d do this. But I had to have a back-up plan.

Sebastian took me back to the hotel, and didn’t stay. Business meetings were taking him away and the strange part was, I felt sad he was leaving. I was beginning to feel safe with him and that wasn’t good. He was the opposite of safe. He was dangerous. Especially since he made me feel things physically I’d never felt before.

I packed all of our belongings, and went down to meet Kyle in the lobby after school.

“So we have a place now.” My smile hurt my cheeks it was so big.

Pulling him into my side as we walked back to the elevator, I ruffled his hair.

“That’s great. When do we move in?” he asked.

“Right now. Everything’s already in place. All of our things are there. It’s perfect, Kyle.”

“But how?”

“A friend of mine is helping us out until I get on my feet.”

“Pretty nice friend,” he shrugged.

Thankfully, the subject was dropped and once we got to our place and he saw how fabulous it was, I didn’t think he cared about the hows or whys.

That night I slept in my bed, in a secure place, surrounded by all my things. My hair was damp from soaking in a hot bath all night and my body felt more relaxed than it had in years.