Love and Other Champagne Problems

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

A fter word had spread that Nancy had taken a trip to the hospital, it seemed everyone was making their rounds to her house. Everyone but me, of course. I only knew the We Care About Nancy campaign when my mother had told me she was going to be taking over a fruit basket the next day, and had asked me if Nancy preferred strawberries or blueberries.

I’d told my mother blackberries. Nancy hated those.

The black cloud that’d fallen over me Sunday lingered beyond the walls of the hospital. Irritability had sunk its teeth into me, becoming hard to shake. My mother wanted me to go visit her, but she had others that could keep her company. I hope they all asked her if she’d finalized her will yet, just so it pissed her off.

Normally, when restlessness gripped me, I wandered around the grounds like a ghost. For the past two days, though, I didn’t leave my hotel room. I ordered room service and sat on the couch while housekeeping tidied up my room. And since I didn’t leave the hotel, I didn’t see Sumner.

Even though Sumner didn’t have any romantic feelings toward me, I couldn’t keep myself from craving his company. In the past few weeks, when my days had been filled with his companionship, I didn’t realize how much I’d begun to lean on it. And even if he didn’t like me, I wanted to just ask him to do something with me—go for a drive, go to Gilfman’s, watch a movie. But I couldn’t. I would not cross the lines of professionalism again.

I wouldn’t put him in an uncomfortable position again. I missed him, and I hated that I missed him, and then I hated that I was being like this to begin with.

Tuesday night, a little after nine o’clock, there was a soft knock on my hotel room door. When neither voice of my parents followed, my pulse jumped alive, and it was embarrassing how quickly I jumped up from the settee. I peered through the peephole, hoping for a certain someone, finding another instead.

I fought the urge to groan, hauling open the door to showcase Aaron Astor standing in the carpeted hall. “Hi, darling,” he greeted, and the first thing he did, as he always did, was allow his eyes to rake over my figure. “Ah, no suit today?”

The black long-sleeve shirt and loose dark green pants were far more casual than I ever would’ve left my room wearing, more casual than I would’ve wanted anyone other than Sumner seeing me in. They weren’t pajamas, but I felt so self-conscious in about relaxed I looked that they might as well have been. “Would you put on a five-piece if you weren’t going to leave your room?” I returned, keeping the door close to me to prevent him from getting a clear glance inside. “How did you know my room number? ”

“A little birdie,” he replied, and at the twist in my features, he quickly followed up with an amused, “Your mother. I asked her for your room number so I could call you.”

“So, you lied to her.”

He gave an awkward smile. “Ah, well, I decided why only hear your voice when I could see your face?”

“Where was that mindset when I wanted to videocall you weeks ago?”

His sheepishness only deepened as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “I did say that I preferred us to meet for the first time in person.”

“It’s getting late,” I told him, already backing up. “Let’s meet tomorrow.”

Aaron caught the door handle before I could close it. “It’s been two days since I’ve seen you. Are you really going to make me chase after your parents to make you meet me?”

Already, he knew of their hold over me. I wasn’t sure if he was perceptive or if their control was just so blatantly obvious. “You should’ve come earlier. It’s after nine, and I’ve already had my dinner.”

“Let’s get a drink, then. The hotel has a bar, doesn’t it? On the ground floor?”

I let out a little breath, knowing I didn’t have much of a choice. I glanced towards Sumner’s door, the one that always seemed to pull open when mine did, but it remained closed. I wondered if he was inside. “Fine. Give me a moment to change.”

Again, Aaron caught the door. “No, no, I like this look on you. Almost as much as your dress. This is very… informal .”

I debated on whether fighting him on it, but ultimately conceded. My lack of backbone with him was concerning, but it seemed better to give into than to fight. I grabbed my hotel key and begrudgingly followed him out into the hallway.

The hotel lounge wasn’t one I frequented too often, mostly because I wasn’t incredibly drawn to middle-aged men traveling on business looking for a pretty, young thing to take up to their hotel room. It’d happened three times before I started to order my wine to my room.

“Oh, it’s quite lovely in here, isn’t it?” Aaron asked as we stepped into the space.

It was empty for a weeknight, when the businessmen usually were on the prowl. That meant there wouldn’t be as many distractions.

Aaron ordered a whisky neat while I requested a cola—plain cola. He frowned at my choice before he started off the conversation with pleasantries—asking me how I was, asking how Nancy was, which I humored him with. I knew he didn’t really care. If he’d cared, he would’ve come to see me that night.

Eventually, though, the main reason Aaron had come knocking surfaced. “So,” he began languidly, tilting his head at me. “Have you thought more about my offer?”

I peered at my glass, using the tips of my fingers to stir the straw around the ice. “About marrying you?”

“Unless there was another offer on the table,” he said, and I couldn’t quite tell if he was intending to be flirty. His alcohol already seemed to be hitting. “I’ll be honest, Margot, I didn’t expect you to give me so much pushback.”

“You thought I’d fall to your feet at the idea of a proposal?”

“At the very least, I didn’t expect so much hesitation.”

“I live for nothing except knocking down egos,” I murmured, taking the straw between my lips. “I know you said I’d be hard to woo, but I didn’t expect you wouldn’t try at all. I at least thought you’d have a ring to offer me.”

Aaron began reaching for the pocket on the inside of his jacket.

“You have a ring?” I asked, startled.

“Of course.”

“ On you? ” He slipped his hand into the pocket, but I threw a hand toward him, catching his arm. “No, no, don’t pull it out.”

He seemed amused with me, but when he withdrew his hand, it was thankfully empty. “You don’t care for those trivial things.” Aaron swirled the whisky in his glass, but didn’t look at the amber liquid as he did so, trusting he wouldn’t let even a drop spill out. “Besides, it isn’t your heart I’m after, remember?”

I watched the bartender wipe down the bar and wondered if he was eavesdropping. He didn’t quite appear to be, but I was sure he must’ve mastered the art of secretively listening in by now. Trick of the trade. “I haven’t made my decision yet.”

Aaron let out a breath, one that was probably intended to be a chuckle, but the impatience bled through the sound. He laid his hand on the back of my bar stool’s seat, leaning in. “I’m needed home right after the wedding on Saturday. I was hoping I could bring you with me.”

“My, you do move fast.”

“Do you want me to woo you?” he asked, entering my personal space. In an instant, the scent of his cologne filled my nose, along with the smell of the whiskey on his breath. “Do you want to be wooed, Margot Massey? I can do that.”

His face was a foot from mine, and instead of pulling away, I met the stare and looked deep into his dark eyes. They were so vastly different from Sumner’s, nearly black compared to Sumner’s brilliant blue. Pretty, but like the way the scales on a snake could be pretty. The alcohol seemed to have made him bolder, given him the confidence he’d lacked sober.

His hand was still on the back of my seat, and he still leaned close enough that the whisky on his breath began to turn my stomach. “I know that it’s him. Your babysitter. You like him—that’s why you’re resisting me.”

I stared into his gaze, unflinching. “And if that was the case?”

He rested his elbow on the countertop and then resting his chin on his fist, peering at me with a light expression. “If it’s a lover you want, you can take one. I won’t mind.”

“You make it sound like we’re in a historical movie. I can take a lover . Who even says that?” I took a sip from my soda, wrinkling my nose. “I’m glad I have your permission, of course, to take another man to bed.”

“I’m nothing if not generous.”

Despite everything, I smirked around my straw. It was a dark sort of amusement as I pictured the life Aaron painted for me. He gave me permission to kiss Sumner in the closets of fundraisers all I wanted, so long as Aaron was the one to take me home.

The eloquently crafted life of the rich. History seemed doomed to repeat itself after all.

Aaron seemed to be lost in thought. “What do you like about him?”

“What I like about him isn’t anything you can be.”

“You say that as if you know me.”

“These past few days, I’ve learned plenty about you.”

Truth be told, while Aaron didn’t distinctly rub me the wrong way, there was something that held me back now. Perhaps because of all the negative quirks he’d accumulated since I first heard his name. Perhaps because he was unfortunately tied to my parents. Perhaps it was the alcohol bolstering him now. Perhaps it was just because he wasn’t Sumner. Whatever the reason, though, I’d crossed him out in my mind, leaving him on the side of do not touch .

“What do you even know about him, hmm?” Aaron asked me, his own impatience beginning to betray his voice. The muscles in his arm grew tense as he gripped my chair harder. “What was his childhood like? What are his parents like? His sister?”

I blinked. “How do you know if he has a sister?”

“The question is, do you know if he has a sister? Or a brother? Or is he an only child? It seems to me you hardly know him at all, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? If you’ve only known him for a month?” Aaron seemed encouraged by my silence. “He was hired to be close to you, darling. It wasn’t real . What you feel for him isn’t real.”

“And you?” I demanded, irritation biting down in me. “My parents might’ve hired Sumner, but how is why you’re here any different?”

“Because you and I are the same, Margot.” His own voice grew with passion. “You’re a selfish person, Margot. No, no, I don’t mean that as an insult. You’re very focused on what you like. I can see that about you just from what I’ve observed so far. But selfishness in a relationship… it’s the worst kind. Some people just aren’t meant for the love in movies, you know?”

I just stared at him, thinking of how much better it would’ve been if I’d ordered an alcoholic drink before he spoke. I was sober, but a witty comeback to his bluntness eluded me, and so did the ability to laugh off what he said. “You’re saying I don’t deserve love?”

“Not that you don’t deserve it, but I’m saying you’re better off letting it go.” Aaron gave me a sympathetic expression. “What happens when Sumner doesn’t make you feel good anymore? What happens when your disdain and unhappiness ebbs away at his charm? When it drains him? Will you grow to resent him? Will he grow to resent you ?”

You’re so draining. Words that had somewhat fallen into the never-ending roar of my mind came back in full force now, a repeating loop. This is why no one likes to talk to you, dear.

My lips parted, but there wasn’t any other thought in my head. You’re so draining .

“People like us… we are not meant to be the main le ads in rom-coms, Margot.” Aaron shook his head. “Not everyone is meant for love. You have to see that. You might not be meant for love, but that doesn’t mean you have to be alone. We can be?—”

Suddenly, Aaron jerked away from me, and it took me several moments to see that a hand had him by the shoulder, fisting in the loose material of his shirt. I traced the arm up to find Sumner there, his face shadowed in the low light of the bar. When he spoke, Sumner’s voice was low; lower than I’d ever heard it. He stared straight into Aaron’s eyes, into his soul. “You don’t talk to her like that.”

“I was wondering when you’d pop up,” Aaron said in a grand manner, not at all bothered by the hand at his collar. “Took you longer than I expected, I’ll admit.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Sumner demanded, the exasperation in his voice snapping in the bar. If there’d been any other patrons, they would’ve grumbled in complaint. But it was only me, and I stared on in shocked silence. “How could you say any of that to someone you care about?”

“Because he doesn’t care about me,” I murmured, twisting my straw between my fingers. “He cares about the company I’ll inherit.”

It seemed to take a moment for it to sink into Sumner, what my words meant. The hard anger that’d been in his gaze before seemed to melt into magma, blazing hot. “You… you were going to marry her just for their business ?” I’d never heard him sound more incredulous. “You never liked her? You were going to marry her , and you didn’t like her ?”

Aaron cast his gaze around the lounge, unwilling to look at Sumner. “She was about to do the same thing, wasn’t she?”

It was so clear that Sumner didn’t belong in this world, given the look of absolute horror on his face. I wondered what, specifically, about this situation left him so upset. He’d been the one to tell me to marry Aaron despite knowing how I felt—why did it matter if Aaron felt the same as me? Not invested romantically, but monetarily. Perhaps Sumner thought we were all insane, and only just then realized the true depths of our madness.

“That’s how you’re playing it, then?” Sumner demanded, fingers tightening in the fabric. “Manipulate her to think she doesn’t deserve love, so she’ll settle for you?”

“Is it manipulation when I’m just stating facts?” Aaron gestured aimlessly with his hand, though I could see his arm shake when he did so. “Margot’s like a pet that’s been ignored too long. She just likes the attention. If I’d met her first?—”

“You didn’t want to.” Sumner’s voice was ice. “Don’t forget that.”

While it was mostly the women at the country club who were catty, I was no stranger to male egos butting heads. Even the most civilized could lose their mind in the right circumstance, and with alcohol involved. My father was one example. Dr. Conan getting into a pissing match with Mr. Holland over investment strategies was another. If it was in a safe environment, it was always amusing to me to see a man who prided himself in maintaining an air of importance fall prey to childish temper tantrums.

But seeing Sumner, calm and patient Sumner whose eyes rarely lost their puppy dog shine, with his fingers twisted around Aaron’s collar and the muscles in his forearm flexing, I didn’t think it was amusing.

I thought it was hot.

Perhaps I was twisted.

“It’s funny,” Aaron murmured, only focusing on Sumner. “How this situation unfolded. Truly. Not quite how I’d been expecting.”

It was then that the delayed realization of this being a precarious situation hit me—Sumner gripping a multi-millionaire’s collar in a hotel bar. It didn’t fully shock me from my thoughts, but it pulled me to the present enough that I slid off the barstool. “Okay, caveman,” I said loftily, laying my hand on Sumner’s back. “Walk me back to my room?”

It was clear Sumner didn’t want to let go, that relaxing his grip took all his effort, but he did it. He dropped Aaron’s collar and took a step back, ready to follow me wherever I went, just like always.

“Tomorrow,” Aaron called after us. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

I regarded him for a moment, because there wasn’t really a way I could say no. Aaron had made it clear that if he couldn’t coax me from my room, he’d get my parents’ help. I’d been backed into a corner with him without realizing it.

Ultimately, without a word, I walked out of the lounge.

The hallway was so bright compared to the lounge that it almost was shocking stepping out into it, as if it’d been night but suddenly turned into day. I looked down at where Sumner’s hand balled into a fist at his side, wondering what it’d be like if I tried to pry his fingers apart. Comfort . He preoccupied with striding down the corridor, his focus internal. The elevator already rested on the ground level when he pressed the button, and we both stepped on.

There were so many things I could’ve asked him; how he knew to come down to the lounge, being one. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, though she looked different going back up to the eighth floor than she had coming down. She looked like a shell. In the reflection beside me, Sumner was the opposite—filled, but with clear agitation. I wanted to bask in Sumner’s anger, as it was my first time seeing the fuming side of him truly come out.

Except I couldn’t look at the frown on his face without thinking about what Aaron said— what happens when your disdain and unhappiness ebbs away at his charm? Sumner was already changing, right before my eyes.

In that moment, Sumner’s eyes met mine in the reflection, and he pivoted immediately. In a flash, he laid his palms on either side of my face and forced me to look at him. The blue eyes were filled with intensity, and the only place I could look. “Don’t.”

My heart stuttered in my chest at the sudden closeness, at the heat radiating from his palms. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t let a single word of what he said into your head.” While frustration radiated from him from every pore, his touch was gentle on me, the stark contrast making this moment stranger. “Don’t even think about it.”

The air stalled in my lungs. “Why… why did what he said make you so upset?”

“You’re not a human vacuum that sucks the happiness out of people. You do deserve love, and to be loved. This entire time, I’ve been trying to get that garbage out of your head, and that idiot ?—”

The elevator chimed as it stopped at our floor, and the sound broke Sumner from his train of thought, at least for a moment. His hands fell from my face, and he pressed his fingers into his eyes. I hesitated for only a moment watching him, but stepped off the elevator before the doors could close.

“Did you know?” Sumner demanded, coming up from behind me. “When you met him the other day, did he tell you he wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship?”

I fished my room key from my pocket. “Yes, I knew.”

“You didn’t tell me,” he murmured, half to himself. “God, Margot, why do you never tell me anything important?”

“I didn’t see why it would’ve mattered to you. Since you were only paid to be around me, anyway.”

“Jeez, you’re so—” He cut himself off with a sharp breath. “Because it’s one thing for me to let you go to a guy who called dibs first, it’s another when?—”

“Dibs.” I scoffed, pressing my hotel key to the lock. “What are we, twelve?” It unbolted with a click, but as I grabbed the handle, Sumner’s unfinished sentence registered. It’s one thing to let you go. I frowned up at him. “It’s another thing when what?”

Sumner let out a small breath through his parted lips, and when he spoke, his voice was low. “When he doesn’t like you like I do.”

I was certain I’d heard him wrong. I was certain that the words didn’t mean what I wanted them to. Sumner looked stunned at his own confession, lips parted, but earnestness in his eyes. The small, stupid part of me wanted to jump in excitement, but it was too far buried underneath the mountain of something darker.

“Oh, you like me now, do you?” I asked emphatically, and shoved in my hotel room door. It flung into the wall as I stalked in and slapped on the lights, but it didn’t swing shut; Sumner propped it open to follow in after me. “You didn’t like me before, but you like me now, when you know Aaron doesn’t?”

“That’s not?—”

“How Aaron feels is more important than how I feel, right? I told you that I liked you, but what Aaron wanted was more important?” I whirled around, staring at him as he stood in the entryway, the door to the hallway now closed. “Why? Why are you so loyal to him? Because he’s rich? Because?—”

“Him liking you was perfect .” The words were strained, almost as if they were painful as they were ripped from him. “Your parents wanted him, his parents loved you, and you could’ve gone the rest of your life living it exactly the way you have been, without ever wondering what something different looked like. It was my fault, coming here and introducing you to the what if. Aaron is the perfect pick. Me wanting you… is a disaster.”

His voice trailed off into a weak sound at the end, eyes wrought with ache. It caused something in me to twinge in tandem, the latter half of his words, his confession, bouncing around in my head. “I thought you were only hanging out with me because it was a part of your job description.” I tried to pack snark in my voice, but it came out off-kilter. “That you weren’t here because you wanted to be.”

“It was just a job at first, yes.” Sumner closed his eyes briefly, as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “After that first event, after what happened, after talking to you—it felt like I had to get to know you. I told you before that I know what it feels like to be in a room full of people, but to feel like you don’t even exist.” A serious shadow covered Sumner’s expression. “It was the first time I’d ever seen the exact way I felt reflected back at me. And I couldn’t walk away without getting to know you.”

The intensity in his stare was almost too much to stand under, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away, either. I could do nothing more than scarcely breathe. His confession took mine from a few days ago and blew it out of the water, his words each weighted with sincerity and seriousness. There was no wavering in his voice, no hesitance—after keeping the thoughts to himself, Sumner had no qualms about bringing it all to light.

“You’re snarky and pessimistic, and you don’t smile often, but when you do—when you do—” Sumner’s chest rose and fell once, as if just the image in his head was enough to take his breath away, and he took a step forward. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life. And the only thing I can think about after is how I’m going to make you smile again.”

Ten feet of space stretched between us, and it felt dangerous, like if either one of us crossed the distance, there’d be no turning back. I could picture each time he’d donned the awestruck expression when I smiled, each time it’d struck him speechless. Am I pretty when I smile?

You’re pretty when you don’t, Sumner had replied. You’re beautiful when you do.

“I didn’t push you away for Aaron’s sake, but for yours.” Sumner advanced a step, and then another, and patted his pockets, a helpless crease forming at his brow. “I’m not even close to the level of Aaron, Margot. You know that. I don’t own a multi-million-dollar business; I don’t have influential parents. I couldn’t tell you the difference between silk and satin, and the watch I wear is probably one you could find at the bottom of a cereal box. I am quite possibly the worst choice for you.”

When I spoke, I was surprised with how even I sounded despite how furiously I trembled on the inside. “And you’re asking me to choose you anyway?”

“If Aaron Astor is not going to treasure you like the gem you are, then I will.” Sumner took slow another step. “And I’ll do it gladly.”

The words unlocked something in me. I could feel them seep their way through my skin and burrow into my chest. Instead of the pain that normally came with words spoken to me from every other person in my life, Sumner’s words unwound something tight. Sumner had seen me in an undesirable light plenty of times, and yet, time and time again, he came to me.

Six feet now, close enough to imagine what it’d be like if his arms surrounded me.

“What if you were right before?” My voice was quiet. “What if I only like you because of the way you make me feel?”

“Like me selfishly. I’ll let you. Gladly. I’ve been liking you selfishly all along.”

His insistence caused me to simultaneously melt and freeze, mind playing tug-of-war on which emotion to feel. “I’ll have nothing,” I told him in more of a warning, because though I’d been the one to confess to him first, the one to open this door, it suddenly terrified me. The prospect of it all, the unknowns. It wasn’t a gilded road that I would take. There’d be no streetlights to guide me. “If I leave here, I’ll have nothing to offer you. No nice car to drive, no upscale penthouse to sleep in. I couldn’t even buy your beans on toast. I won’t be a gem anymore, but a commonplace stone. I’ll have nothing to offer you .”

“It’ll be my turn to take care of you.” A small smile lifted his lips as he stopped four feet from me. “I’ll work to put you through fashion school and then you can be our breadwinner, and then we can eat all the beans on toast we want. I don’t want what you have , Margot Massey. I want you . If you’ll have me.”

In the world of Addison high society, everyone was used to the world tipping in their favor. Besides, what did they have to resent besides taxes? Money brought good fortune to them like a magnet, multiplying the luck and growing it further. Grander houses, flashier cars, finer clothes. Everyone made bad investments from time to time, but with the devils they’d sold their souls to on their side, bouncing back from them was a given. Their difficulties were champagne problems, inconsequential and frivolous.

The world never tipped in my favor. My choices were never meaningless, never inconsequential, never frivolous. And in the eyes of everyone else, a bad investment stood before me, with blue eyes that were as enticing as the ocean after a hot day in the sun. One never knowingly walked into a bad investment. No one willingly decided to jump off a precipice without knowing what’d catch them underneath.

I once thought I was far too much of a coward to jump. That I’d rather be stuck in hell than jump. Now, though, I didn’t mind if I jumped, so long as I had Sumner’s hand in mine.

I crossed the remaining distance, standing before him with terror behind the weight of the choice. Up close, I could see everything about Sumner that I loved, from the freckles under his eyes to the curl of his golden hair. His kindness practically shined in his puppy dog eyes, creating a warmth that wrapped around me like a promise. “You’re not allowed to change your mind,” I whispered.

“Never.”

“You’d be stuck with me, with my snark and pessimism.”

“I will be a lucky man.” Like he had in the elevator, Sumner reached out and laid his palms on either side of my face, his fingers stretching back to delve into my thick hair. He held me gently, reverently, as if it were something precious in his palms. “And we’ll find out what that other life is like together.”

And with that, he leaned in and kissed me.

My eyes fluttered shut as Sumner’s soft lips pressed against mine, sealing the promise between us. My head swam as my heart raced. I lifted my own hands back up and rested on the tops of his shoulders, anchoring myself to him because otherwise, it felt as if I could float away.

His soft lips on mine turned from sweet and soft to something firmer, teasing, testing as if to see if it was okay. He was so firm , and I inched my fingers along the quiet muscle hidden beneath his cotton shirt, pressing closer, closer, until the firmness was everywhere, every inch of him against every inch of me. Sumner’s hand that wasn’t in my hair slipped down to the small of my back, long fingers spanning and urging me nearer. He kissed me deeply, claiming my mouth in a way I’d been aching for. I melted with the intensity of it, with the sureness of his mouth on mine.

It was a promise of a different sort. I will treasure you , his kiss said. I will treat you well. You are mine, and I am yours .

I’d always thought each moment in my life was inevitable, even if I’d never seen it coming. My parents deciding where I’d attend college. Their attempt at getting me to marry Aaron Astor. What I didn’t realize was that this moment was inevitable, too. I’d never known that kissing Sumner Pennington the night at the first fundraiser would lead to this, but it was like fate, if I believed in such a thing .

And maybe, when it came to Sumner, I did.

I matched him kiss for kiss, stroke for stroke, digging my fingers into his skin as if to burrow my own sincerity deep. I will treat you well , I thought.

My mouth opened underneath his, my heart pounding harder. I will treasure you .

Sumner gasped against my lips, a beautifully low sound stuck in his throat and stuck in my chest. You are mine .

Despite the weight of the decision, in that moment and in Sumner’s arms, I’d never felt freer in my life. And I am yours .