Chapter 19
19
Wednesday
Aspen, Colorado
The princess is in a mood and so am I.
I’m in a mood because even though I’ve spent most of the past 24 hours fucking her—more than I should have, considering she was a virgin yesterday morning—I can’t get enough.
I spent the night worshipping her. Coming hard because she’s so damn responsive and her tight little squirming body pulls pleasure out of me like nothing I’ve ever known. I kissed her like a lovestruck lunatic until I was fully revived, then did it all over again. I lost count of how many times I spent myself inside her.
Of course I would never in a million fucking years have considered doing that in any normal situation. Lila Sunshine Danger Bailey—and holy fuck, is she dangerous—is a Code Red emergency.
I would never have trusted another woman if she’d told me all sweetly, I’m on the pill.
I’m a hot, well-hung billionaire. I’ve heard that one before.
But no, of course I didn’t take any other precautions, because I’m so fucking manic to get inside this girl and pump her full of my overflowing cum, it’s almost like I’m trying to knock her up.
Then she’d have to stay with me.
What the fuck am I even thinking right now?
If she’s knocked up and gets a job offer in New York, which I’ll make sure she does, she won’t move back to L.A. She’ll move in with me.
Jesus Christ.
I force myself to get a grip.
I can handle this.
I have to handle it.
I refuse to lose my mind over one sassy little nymph, no matter how gorgeous she might be.
I finish making her a latte on the European coffee machine. I put some whipped cream on it, as requested, and take it into the bathroom, where she’s up to her neck in the bubble bath. She’s sore. I pushed her too far. So I ran her a bath in the jacuzzi tub and carried her in, carefully lowering her into it, making sure the jets were getting the pressure points between her shoulder blades at just the right angle.
Her silver eyes are soulful, but still with that saucy little attitude behind them, and slightly bloodshot from not getting enough sleep even though she slept in until after nine.
“One latte with whipped cream for the most beautiful girl in the world.”
The sassiness is my weakness, like a hook that sinks deep into my beating heart and refuses to let go. But the soulfulness is my fucking Kryptonite. I can deal with the kittenish anger. Any inkling of vulnerability in this girl has me on my fucking knees.
I’m trying to tone it down. But it’s no use. One blink of those long eyelashes and I’m whipped like nothing I’ve ever known.
It’s a problem, and one I’m going to need to deal with as soon as we get to L.A.
Until then, I’m going to shower her with praise and presents until she’s smiling again. Because her smile is like water on parched fucking earth and I have no idea why.
I set her latte on the tray next to the tub.
“Thanks.” She’s still miffed about the job thing, and that’s fine. She’ll get over it. I made her reply to the email while I was running the bath to tell them of course she’d love to interview. She obeyed, barely even grumbling about how I’m trying to control her life .
“Drink your coffee. Then I have some things to show you.”
“What things?”
“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
She eyes me, and I can already see that she’s curious enough to almost forgive me my sins. She takes a sip of her coffee. “Is it still snowing?”
“No, it stopped. The sky is clear now. It’s a beautiful day out there, but cold. We’re going to take the snowmobile through the village and up to the gondola. We’ll ride up and there’s a restaurant at the top where we can get lunch.”
“Really?” Her eyes light up and it does weird fucking things to me. Like I’m addicted to her excitement. I want to make her happy like I want to fucking breathe.
How did I become so wildly obsessed with this stunning girl? So easily? So fucking uncontrollably?
She finishes her coffee and I wash her hair for her, running my hands through the silky strands. I’m fascinated by the wave in it, the long layers that cascade over her perfect breasts.
I massage the soap over her nipples, squeezing them gently, but I don’t linger. They’re already pink from my relentless need.
My job right now is to pamper her, not overwhelm her. There’s nothing I want more than to feast on her again and take her back to bed, but I’ve already forced a punishing pace. What she needs right now is comfort, luxury and gifts .
I rinse her hair. Then I hold out the towel for her. “Come on. Time for your surprise.”
She’s uncharacteristically obedient, climbing out of the tub onto the bath mat. Her wet, naked body is ludicrously beautiful, but I ignore my painfully omnipresent hard-on, which morphed into a superhero on steroids the minute she walked into my life.
I dry her and wrap a plush white bathrobe around her, tying it. I take the brush and, as carefully as I can, brush it through her hair. She watches me do this in the mirror with an expression that’s hard to read. She almost seems…awed. Accepting. Drinking it in. She likes it when I take care of her like this. Which means that’s all I’m going to do from now on.
“There.” I put the brush back on the marble counter. “Are you ready for your surprise now?”
“I don’t know what surprise you’re talking about.”
“That’s the thing about surprises, Sunshine. They’re surprising.”
I guide her out to the living area. The huge dining room table is piled high with food that was delivered while she was in the bath. It’s also piled high with wrapped boxes.
“What is all this?”
“An early Christmas. Open them.”
“These are for me?”
“Of course they’re for you. Who else would they be for?”
“Why are you buying me presents, Maddox? ”
“Because you like presents. Stop being all demure about it. Just open them.”
I serve her a plate of the food as she opens them one by one and—fucking hell, I’m a goner. Her delight is so adorable, I don’t even know how to describe what it does to me. My chest aches, like there’s not enough room in there. My heartbeat feels hot, blazing with obsession.
“A snowsuit?”
“There’s a lot of snow out there.”
“It’s so cute.” She holds up the silvery-white one-piece snowsuit. She unties the robe and drops it, stepping into the snowsuit. With nothing underneath. Fucking hell, just kill me now. I can’t with this girl. She’s too damn gorgeous. She zips it up. It’s one of those tight ones. It hugs every curve and then some. “I look like an astronaut.”
“A very sexy one.”
“Thank you, Cole. I love it.”
She opens more of the boxes. There’s a silver-white ski jacket to match the snowsuit, for an extra layer of warmth. There are matching gloves, a hat with fur trim, a scarf and fur snow boots.
“Colton, this is so over the top. You can’t just buy me all this stuff.”
“I can and I have. Open the last two.”
She opens the smaller one, holding up the diamond tennis bracelet with wide eyes. “ Maddox. Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” I almost point out my raging hard-on, but then I remember I’m supposed to be ignoring it. “Here, let me put it on you.”
“Is it…” She doesn’t finish her question. She’s too busy staring at the glimmering diamonds, set in white gold, that are now circling her slim wrist.
“Of course it’s real, Sunshine. Who do you think you’re dealing with here?”
“A crazy person? You buy diamonds for your girls?”
I shouldn’t be offended by the question, of course, but I am anyway. “I only buy diamonds for one girl.” I don’t know why I suddenly hate the sound of it so much. Girls. “Open the last one.” It’s the biggest box.
When she realizes what it is, her eyes pool with tears. She rips off the paper. “You got me a sewing machine ?”
“Not just any sewing machine. They told me it was the best one on the market. It’s computerized. You can do quilting, embroidery, whatever you want. You can even sew through leather with that bad boy.”
She throws her arms around me and kisses me.
“Easy there, tiger. If I’d known a sewing machine was going to get this kind of reaction, I would have bought one days ago.”
Tears wet her cheeks. “My sewing machine is so old, I can’t even make half the things I want to make because it keeps breaking the needles.”
“Well, this one will be able to handle anything you throw at it. It’s got extra heavy-duty needles and all the latest technology. It can do anything you want it to. ”
She wipes her tears. “I didn’t tell you this, Cole, but as of this morning, I have 1,283 new orders.”
I play along, pretending to be surprised, but the door was open. I overheard her telling Sloane about it. I also heard her tell Sloane that what we’re doing here is only about the sex. Which is the other reason I’m in a mood.
I should be fucking glad . It’s a dream scenario. The gorgeous little virgin on the pill wanted to cash in her V-card before getting on with her life. I can get my fill of her and then I can get back to normality.
My problem is, I don’t want fucking normality if she’s not in it. “Fuck, baby. That’s impressive.”
“I have no idea how I’m going to do it.”
I push her a little further on the subject, because it’s a big deal and she’s been holding out on me. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because I’m nervous I won’t be able to do it. What if I can’t? Even if I hire people, it would take months. I just never expected it to blow up like this and I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m going to make it work.”
“How long does it take you to sew one piece of clothing?”
“At least two days. Sometimes more.”
“How long would it take with the new sewing machine?”
She considers this. “A day. I could do most of them in a day, if I work all night.”
“You’re going to want to get all the orders filled within a month, to keep the momentum going so they can post on Instagram or wherever, which will lead to more orders. That’s how you’ll grow the business. So, if you have 1,283 orders, that means you need 43 workers. At least. Let’s say 50. You teach them and you give them the blueprints for the designs. The machines will take the guesswork out of it. You’ll hire ten more people to package, send, track the items and deal with billing, social media and so on.”
She tilts her head. “ Fifty dressmakers? And each would need their own sewing machine? Plus ten more employees?” Like I’ve just suggested she fly to the moon in her new astronaut suit.
“Good thing you know a guy who’s always looking for promising small businesses to invest in.”
A little furrow appears between her lightning-bright eyes. “ You want to invest in my business?”
“Of course I do.” I don’t deserve her. But I want her more than I know what to do with. Suddenly everything makes sense to me. My years of operating business logistics have led me to this moment. This is something I can do for her better than anyone else can. “If you want me to.”
“But, Cole…”
I hold a finger to her lips. I know what she’s going to say: we’re temporary. What I’m proposing isn’t. “I can help you. But it’ll be on your terms. You call the shots, and I make sure those shots hit their targets. You can start setting things up and looking for the right people as soon as we get back to New York.” She doesn’t immediately protest the New York detail—or the we detail—so I keep going. “Eleanor Jaeger might even have some ideas. If you get the job, that is, which you will. They must have studios or factories or something, right? They might let us rent some space or utilize some of their resources. We can present them with a business plan and show them we’re not fucking around. They might even consider a collaboration with you, if that’s something you would consider. She owes me a favor, so I’m sure she’ll at least give us a meeting.”
“What…favor?” Her jealousy is so fucking cute.
“I made her a lot of money this year. Like, a lot of money.”
Lila’s expression is so hopeful and her face is so stunning, it’s physically painful to stare at her. I have never, ever seen anything so beautiful as this girl.
Am I fucking in love with her? Is that what this is?
She blinks up at me. “Do you really think it could work?”
“It will work. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Thank you, Cole,” she whispers. “For believing in me.”
“Of course I believe in you. You’re the only thing I do believe in.”
I don’t even mean to say that, but it’s true. When it comes to falling in love—which I never, ever thought I was capable of—she’s the only one who’s ever made me believe it’s possible.
Not just possible.
I am. I’m madly, deeply, head over fucking heels in love with her.
So this is what this feels like .
I kiss her and she opens to me, her tongue gliding silkily along mine. My soul feels like it’s on fire and my cock thickens hotly, but if I take her to bed now we’ll never get out of it. And we have things to see.
“Oh no you don’t,” I murmur. “You’re not luring me into bed again, you dirty girl. We’re going snowmobiling. You wanted to see Aspen, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
She’s already wearing her other gifts so I put on her hat, her scarf and her gloves. Then I lift her into my arms and carry her out the door.