Chapter 19
“You don’t have to stay here and wait for me.” I lifted a couple of empty glass bottles. “I won’t be leaving for another hour or so.”
“It’s the middle of the night,” Elliott said. “There isn’t a chance in hell I’m leaving you here by yourself. It’s not safe.”
“The door is locked. I’ll be fine.”
“Locks can be broken. Windows can be smashed. If someone with bad intentions walks by and sees you in here alone, they won’t let a door stop them.”
“You’re being dramatic. I’ve done this hundreds of times,” I said matter-of-factly. “And when I am ready, I’ll call a cab to take me home.”
“Whenever you’re ready, I’ll drive you home.”
Ignoring the jolt rolling down my sternum and shooting straight for between my legs at his alpha-male protectiveness that was like something ripped out of one of my romance books, I rationalized that Elliott was simply being a gentleman.
It had nothing to do with me personally. I was pretty certain he’d do it for anyone. But my traitorous brain refused to listen to reason, especially when all I could do was think about our kiss.
My core refused to release the tension from before, begging for some relief. Though I severely doubted that my vibrator and dildo were going to be enough to take the edge off.
I crossed my arms and shot Elliott a look. “Are you always this stubborn?”
“Yes.” He mimicked me, crossing his own arms. “So, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me until you’re ready to leave.”
It was nearly two in the morning when the party finally ended.
Most event organizers would have left with the last guest, not me. I always remained behind after an event and started cleaning up, even though the cleaning team I’d hired were due to arrive in three hours.
In the silence, surrounded by the echoes of people having fun, the seed of pride and triumph of doing another good job fully bloomed.
“Fine, if you’re going to stay, then you’d better make yourself useful.”
“I’m yours to boss about.” The blush spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. “I meant, whatever you need done, tell me.”
Biting back my smirk, I pointed to the back of the gallery. “Can you grab the boxes in the back and start packing the center pieces away?”
He saluted awkwardly, pulling a smile from me. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ma’am?! Did you seriously just, ma’am me? Do I look like a little old abuela to you?”
“Well, now you’ve mentioned it….”
I gasped dramatically. “Don’t you dare.”
“You’re a very pretty one if that helps,” he teased with a boyish grin.
“It doesn’t.” I pointed to the back, fighting my own smile. “Boxes now, Dr. D, or this pretty abuela will have no issues taping that smart mouth of yours shut for the rest of the night.”
Chuckling, he vanished into the back, leaving me alone to collect empty glasses and bottles from the remaining tables.
Thankfully, the rest of Maya’s engagement party went by without any further issues. Both the future bride and groom were too busy with the other guests and photographers, meaning they left me the hell alone.
Even my mother was on her best behavior.
There were too many people watching her tonight for her mask to slip.
Elliott remained at my side the whole night, his hand a permanent feature on the small of my back.
It was crazy to watch the ease with which he acted. He didn’t hold back when it came to touching me, from stroking my arm or tucking my hair behind my ear or kissing the top of my head, which sent shudders down my spine every freaking time.
And don’t get me started on his ability to look at me as if I was the only woman in the room. The man deserved a fucking Oscar Award for tonight’s performance.
Honestly, I’d never be able to thank him enough.
Tonight was always going to be difficult. Between everyone talking behind my back and having to swallow my own pride and act as if none of this got beneath my skin, without Elliott, I wouldn’t have survived.
If any guests were unsure about my situation with my ex-boyfriend and sister, Elliott’s actions quickly put any concerns to rest.
“Do you always stay behind by yourself?” Elliott’s voice drifted in from the back. “Don’t you have anyone who could help you?”
“Most of the time, yeah. Kellie, my assistant, used to always stay with me, but not so much now.”
“How come?”
“She has a toddler at home. He’s just turned three years old, and she is raising him all by herself now.
It can be hard on her some days trying to balance work and being a single mom, but if you ask me?
She’s a freaking superhero.” I started to fold a tablecloth.
“I feel shitty asking her to stay after hours and help me. She has enough on her plate.”
“You’re a good boss.”
“If you keep complimenting me, Dr. D, I’m going to start developing a complex and expect every man in my life to do it.”
“Any man that doesn’t tell you how fucking amazing you are every day doesn’t deserve to even share the same breath as you.” His words left no room for argument.
The memory of our kiss came crashing to the forefront of my mind—again.
A delicious form of self-torture.
After how he acted all night, it would have been very easy to mistake this whole thing for something more.
Elliott appeared in my peripheral and all moisture evaporated from my mouth.
His suit jacket was long gone, his tie pulled from his neck, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up past his elbows.
My eyes were like magnets, unable to look away from his thick, strong, and veiny forearms on full display.
?Jesucristo! You’ve got to be kidding me. Seriously, it was like my own personal freaking porn show.
Running a hand through his hair, messing his dark locks, he lifted the crates full of empty glassware. His muscles strained, stoking the lit fire between my legs that no amount of squeezing them together could soothe.
“Oh, I forgot to mention, a BBQ fundraiser is coming up for the hospital in two weeks.” He carried the crates to the front door. “The whole thing is organized by Lorenzo, and it’ll be the perfect place to show her that we’re together.”
I couldn’t bring my attention away from his ass that was sculpted to perfection in those suit trousers.
“Livi?”
Blinking out of my trance, I nodded quickly. “Um, a BBQ. Yup. Sure thing.”
His brows creased. “Lorenzo isn’t going to be the easiest woman to fool.”
“You have nothing to worry about. I will be the most loving and doting girlfriend known to man, that your boss won’t even question it for a second.”
Elliott walked back to me and hummed unconvinced.
My eyes narrowed with feigned insult. “Are you doubting my acting abilities?”
“Of course not.”
“I’ll have you know that I was top of my class in Drama studies. My teacher used to say I had a natural way with the dramatics.”
A half-truth. The only reason she used to say that was that I could dramatize my headaches very well, allowing me a free period to sit and read in the library instead.
As much as I loved reading plays, I sure as hell didn’t want to act in one on the stage in front of the whole school.
“I don’t doubt that.” He smirked playfully. “Only that my boss is one of the most brutal and unforgiving people I’ve ever met. If we fumble this at all, she’ll get more joy out of firing me than she does an orgasm.”
Hearing him say the word orgasm was like adding gasoline to the raging fire between my legs. “Look, we managed to convince my family and everyone here tonight. One BBQ with your colleagues will be a piece of pie.”
A chuckle rumbled low in his throat.
I offered him a cheeky grin. “Unless you’re about to tell me that you work with your ex-girlfriend who is marrying your brother and the two of them are going to the fundraiser, I think we have this in the bag, and you’ll have your promotion in no time.”
“Thankfully, we are safe. My brothers have very different tastes in women from me.”
He may as well have doused me in ice-cold water and left me out in the Arctic Circle.
Flashes of a drunken night years ago tried to break free from a box of forgotten memories.
As much as I wanted to keep that blurry and embarrassing memory locked away, to pretend it never happened, my subconscious refused to cooperate.
Elliott deserved to know the truth.
After all, I meant what I said. I hated lairs. And to me, withholding the truth was no better than lying.
“I think you should know something.” I busied my hands folding another tablecloth. “Years ago, and I mean it was years ago, so long ago that it is ancient history. It’s so long ago that it’s basically prehistoric and not important at all.”
His brow scrunched. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“I sort of kissed your brother.”
“What brother?”
“Jaxon.”
“You kissed Jaxon,” he said slowly. “And you did that, because you had feelings for him?”
“Hell no!” I exclaimed. “Like I said, it was years ago. It was when I decided to start my own business, but I didn’t know how to do it without taking Fernando’s money.
My mother was being a new level of unbearable.
And then I discovered that the contract Fernando had me sign gave my mother the right to seventy percent of my company if she so desired.
They screwed me over, and I was so na?ve, so excited to start my own business that I didn’t see it coming.”
Elliott remained utterly silent.
“It wasn’t the best of times in my life if I am being brutally honest. I drank a lot for a couple months. It helped smooth out the rough edges, you know?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, hazel eyes softening behind his glasses.
“One of those times I got drunk and Jaxon was there, and truthfully? I was so freaking lonely. We were both lonely, I think. But I swear it didn’t mean anything.”
“I see.”
“Fuck, I probably should have told you way before we started this whole thing. If you want to stop now, I’d understand.”
His jaw set hard. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Oh, thank the freaking heavens!
He exhaled slowly. “Livi, it’s your past and you don’t have to explain a damn thing to me.” His gaze locked onto mine. “And honestly? I, of all people, have no right to judge anyone on their past.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a long story,” he replied, “but there’s a lot in my life that I am not proud of. A lot that I wish I’d change if given a second chance.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, to get him to open up to me, but I swallowed the words.
His shoulders sagged. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes that I need and don’t deserve forgiveness for.”
Reaching for him, the tips of my fingers made contact with his bare forearm. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, every nerve ending reacting to the heat of his skin. “Everyone makes mistakes in life, Elliott. How does the saying go, to err is human.”
Glassiness clouded his hues. “I am working on trying to be a better person, trying to be someone Adam could be proud of again.”
My heart ached. “I may not have known your friend, but I am sure he was proud of you, no matter what.”
“I’m not so sure. But I’m willing to do everything to be the man he refused to give up on.”
“That’s a lot to put on yourself. I hope you know you don’t have to do that all by yourself. The path ahead can be an awfully lonely road if you don’t ask for help.”
“Doing it by myself is all I’ve ever known.”
“Oh, Elliott…”
“It’s okay, really.” A sad smile pulled on his lips.
“All I am saying is, I understand more than anyone that our pasts do not define us. It’s what we do with our past to shape our future that’s important.
All the shit we endure, all that pain, it’s nothing more than the broken stepping stones to getting us to where we are meant to be. ”
“You truly believe that?”
Certainty and a fleeting glimpse of hopeful desperation lined his face. “At this point, I don’t have any other choice but to.”