Chapter 16 Liam
LIAM
Knock, knock, knock.
My entire body jolted, startling me awake. I blinked against the early morning light streaming through the hotel windows. I turned my head to the left and then started to turn it to the right when I was met with dark hair that tickled my nose.
Sabrina.
Memories from last night flooded my mind, grounding me in the present.
I was sitting on the couch in my hotel room with Sabrina fast asleep on my chest. I must have passed out while she was talking about different outfits that assistants normally wore, and instead of her getting up and heading to bed… she’d passed out on me as well.
My chest swelled at the realization as my arm tightened around her shoulders. It felt so good having her tucked in next to me. She was soft and warm and smelled like apples.
It had been so long since I’d snuggled with a woman. It had been so long since there’d been a woman I wanted to snuggle with. Being this close to Sabrina was doing things to me. She was a drug, and I feared I was now fully addicted.
This was dangerous.
Knock, knock, knock.
I paused and then glanced over my shoulder toward the door. The knocking came again, this time more insistent. Sabrina must have heard the knocking as well because she was starting to move.
“Samuel?” she asked as she slowly sat up.
She blinked a few times as she looked around.
When her gaze landed on me, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispered as her hand flew up to her face and she started wiping at her lips.
“I’m so sorry I fell asleep on you.” She scrambled to stand, her gaze remaining on me.
I watched in real time as panic set in and she whipped her gaze toward the bedroom.
“Samuel,” she exclaimed as she made her way over to the open door.
With Sabrina gone, I moved to stand. I stretched quickly before I walked over to the door. The knocking was constant now. Whoever was on the other side really wanted to get in.
I passed by the bedroom and saw Sabrina hugging Samuel. Our gazes met and she gave me a relieved smile.
“He slept through the night.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “First time,” she whispered.
I smiled at her. God, I loved that kid. And when I was ready to admit it to myself, I knew I was falling for that woman just as hard.
I shook my head as I unlocked the door. I needed to get those thoughts from my mind and focus on whomever was behind the door.
I hadn’t ordered breakfast yet, so it couldn’t be George with our food.
The only other person it could be was Bonnie, so I steeled my nerves for whatever she had for me this early in the morning.
I pulled open the door and froze.
There, standing next to a very apologetic Bonnie, was…Katie.
I frowned. “Wha—what are you doing here?” I asked, my brain struggling to process what I was seeing. I glanced over to Bonnie. She mouthed, I’m sorry, before I turned my attention back to my ex.
“Took you long enough to answer the door,” Katie said as she folded her arms and shifted her weight to one hip. “What were you doing?” She narrowed her eyes.
I cleared my throat, hating what her tone of voice did to me. I was suddenly thrown back into my past. Back when nothing I did was right and I was constantly disappointing her.
“I was sleeping,” I said. I racked my brain, but I still couldn’t come up with any good reason as to why she was here. Unless…
I glanced around the hall as panic set in. “Is it Ana?” I asked, bringing my attention back to Katie. Ana wasn’t here. Was she hurt?
Katie dropped her arms and a sickly smile spread across her lips. “No, silly, Ana’s fine. I’ve come to see you.”
I frowned as I glanced over to Bonnie. I needed someone to interpret what was going on. Bonnie seemed like my best choice. But she just shrugged.
“She insisted that I bring her to you,” Bonnie said.
“Am I not allowed to?” Katie was staring at Bonnie, who didn’t turn to acknowledge her.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You just…haven’t wanted to be on tour with me for a long time. I think your exact words were, ‘I’d rather sit naked on an ant hill, painted in honey than go on tour with you.’ ” I lowered my hand and met her gaze once more.
She let out a loud laugh as she swatted at my arm. “That was hyperbole,” she said as she stepped closer to me. She batted her long lashes, staring up at me. “Ana was just saying how much she missed you, so…” She blew out her breath. “I decided that we should try again.”
My entire body froze when my brain finally processed what my ears heard. I stared down at her. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the last part, so I pushed that to the back of my mind and decided to focus on the first part. The part that made my entire body ache.
“Ana misses me?” My heart swelled with love for that girl. I missed her so much, and I was frustrated that Katie didn’t bring her with so I could see her.
Katie bit her bottom lip and nodded. “She wants her mommy and daddy to be together.” She let out a sigh. “So I thought, what the hell. Let me go see what I can do.” She glanced up at me with wide eyes. “What do you think?”
My brain felt like it was short-circuiting.
I was still struggling with the fact that Katie was here.
I did not feel capable of sifting through her proposition.
Katie and I…we were like oil and water. The last thing I wanted to do was rekindle anything with her.
But I had Ana to think about. It felt disingenuous to just shut Katie’s offer down if this was truly what Ana wanted.
Before I could respond, Katie’s attention focused behind me, and for a split second, her smile faltered before it returned in full force. “You must be the girl the press is all in a tizzy about.”
Confused, I glanced over my shoulder to see Sabrina standing behind me, holding a very happy, very drooly Samuel against her hip. He had both of his fists shoved into his mouth and some very extreme bed hair.
Sabrina looked confused and then turned her attention to me for a second before it went back to Katie. “Um…yes?” Sabrina answered.
I moved away from the doorway so Katie could enter.
“I think I’ll head out,” Bonnie said. She turned away but then paused. “Don’t forget we have that charity gala tonight.” She met my gaze and nodded. She was gone before I could reply.
It didn’t matter how I felt about public events. Fading Atlas was expected to go, so I was going to be there. Bonnie didn’t have to wait for my confirmation, she already knew I would be there, schmoozing sponsors.
I turned my attention back to the women who were now standing together in the entryway of my hotel room. I was at a loss. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with what was transpiring in front of me.
Katie was staring at Sabrina, and Sabrina was not meeting her gaze. She held tightly onto Samuel while bouncing him. Samuel was the only one who seemed to be having a good time. He was scrunching up his little body and giggling like he didn’t have a care in the world.
I took in a deep breath and decided that I couldn’t just stand there, confused. I didn’t know why Katie was here, but I was the host to these two women, it was my responsibility to make sure they felt comfortable.
“Katie, this is Sabrina. She’s my assistant. This is her baby, Samuel.” Sabrina offered Katie a soft smile as she extended her hand. “Sabrina, this is my ex and Ana’s mom, Katie.”
Katie whipped her gaze over to me after the word ex left my lips. She kept her attention on me like she wanted me to know that she didn’t appreciate how I had introduced her.
She took Sabrina’s hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you…Sarah?”
Sabrina paused. “Sabrina,” she said.
“Sabrina, that’s right.” Katie dropped Sabrina’s hand and leaned in. “And this is Samuel?” she asked as her voice went up a few octaves.
“That’s right,” Sabrina said. Her gaze drifted to me, where she held it for a second before turning her focus back on Katie. “I should go,” she said, her voice soft and wobbly. “I have work to do.”
I parted my lips to tell her not to leave, but if Sabrina noticed that I was trying to stop her, she didn’t acknowledge it. She turned and hurried into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
I stared at the closed door, willing Sabrina to come back out.
I could only imagine what she was thinking.
I was not the only one who had felt something between us last night.
I saw the way she looked at me. I could feel the electricity in the air when I touched her.
And waking up with her in my arms this morning? Our relationship had changed.
“Your assistant?”
Katie’s words slammed into me, pulling me from my thoughts. I glanced over to see her staring at me with her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows were raised, and I could see the disapproval in her gaze.
“Is that why you are here?” I shut the hotel door and moved further into the room. The shock of seeing Katie had worn off, and now I was irritated. “You saw a story about me and Sabrina and had to rush here to see if it was true?”
I stood in front of the couch, staring down at the space that Sabrina and I had occupied earlier. Back when things felt simple. Back when it was just the two of us. Back before Katie had catapulted herself back into my life.
“Well, no.” Katie followed behind me.
I turned to look at her. Everything in my life was a mess because of this woman. My relationship with Ana was in shambles because of her. My money was on lockdown because of her. I could barely get the money that Frankie wanted scraped together and still have enough to pay my bills and staff.
She was nothing but a thorn in my side. And for her to show up and try to rock my relationship with Sabrina? That was just not going to fly.