Chapter 15 Bailey
Bailey
Iwake to the softest light filtering through hotel curtains, wrapped in warmth and the steady rhythm of Daniel’s heartbeat beneath my ear.
For a moment, I just lie there. Daniel’s arm is draped across my waist, holding me close even in sleep. Our legs are tangled together under expensive sheets, and I can feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath.
This is what peace feels like, I think. After all the chaos, this quiet morning feels like paradise. Daniel stirs beneath me, his hand slowly sliding up my bare back. “You’re awake.”
“So are you.”
“I’ve been awake for a while.” His voice is rough with sleep. “Watching you.”
I lift my head to look at him. His dark hair is messed up from my fingers, and there’s a softness in his expression I’ve never seen before.
“That’s not creepy at all, Mr. Williams.”
His mouth curves into a genuine smile. “I wanted to memorize this.”
“Memorize what?”
“You. Here. Like this.” His hand comes up to trace the line of my jaw.
I shift, propping myself up on one elbow so I can see him properly. In the morning light, I notice the faint scar near his jaw. It’s a thin white line I’ve glimpsed before but never asked about.
My fingers find it, tracing the mark with gentle curiosity. He flinches slightly, then forces himself still.
“You don’t have to hide anymore,” I whisper.
His eyes search mine for a long moment, then I feel his muscles relax.
“I don’t want to.” Daniel takes my hand, threading our fingers together like he’s learning how to hold someone for the first time. “I’ve spent so long hiding every scar, every weakness, every part of me that wasn’t perfect. But with you…”
“With me, what?”
“With you, I don’t want to hide anymore.”
I lean down and press a kiss to the scar, feeling him shudder beneath me. Then his mouth finds mine again. His hands slide into my hair, cradling my head as he deepens the kiss. I feel his body responding beneath me, and heat pools low in my stomach.
“Bailey.” My name on his lips sounds like a prayer.
“I’m right here,” I whisper against his mouth.
He rolls us gently, settling his weight over me.
His eyes lock with mine moments before he kisses me again, and this time there’s no hesitation.
I gasp as his mouth trails down my neck, across my collarbone, and lower to my belly button.
Every touch is reverent, like he’s worshipping rather than taking.
My back arches as his lips find the middle of my thighs. My fingers dig into his shoulders, feeling his tongue explore every inch of me, sucking, licking, biting.
“Daniel,” I breathe, and he lifts his head.
“What do you need?”
“You. All of you. No more holding back.”
Daniel’s control fractures as his hands map my body with purpose now. When his fingers replace his tongue, I cry out. He watches my face as he touches me, studying every reaction like he’s proud of himself for making me come undone.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs.
I reach for him, wrapping my hand around his length. He groans, hips bucking into my touch. “Bailey—”
“I want to feel you.” I guide him closer. “Please.”
He reaches for the nightstand, finds protection, and rolls it on with shaking hands. Then he’s there, right there, and we both hold our breath as he slides inside.
The connection is overwhelming, but not in the way I feared it would be. Yes, the physical part knocks the breath out of me, but it’s the emotional rush that nearly floors me. It feels like every wall we’ve kept between us just… slips.
He moves slowly at first, giving us both time to adjust. His forehead rests against mine, our breath mingling, our eyes locked.
“Is this okay?” he asks, voice strained.
“It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
“I’m not—”
“You are. Right now, with me, you’re perfect.”
Daniel kisses me as he starts to move with more purpose, hitting that spot inside me that makes stars burst behind my eyes.
My legs wrap around his waist, pulling him deeper. He groans my name, and I feel it reverberate through my entire body.
“Look at me,” he says roughly. “Don’t close your eyes. I want to see you.”
So I keep my eyes open, locked with his, as pleasure builds between us. There’s nowhere to hide now. Daniel’s rhythm quickens. My nails rake down his back as tension coils tighter and tighter inside me.
“I can’t—” I gasp. “Daniel, I can’t hold on—”
“Then let go.” His hand slides between us, fingers finding that bundle of nerves. “Let go, Bailey. I’ve got you.”
The orgasm crashes through me like a wave. I cry out his name, body arching beneath him as pleasure washes over me in rolling pulses.
He follows seconds later, my name breaking from his lips. His body shudders, and I hold him through it, feeling every tremor.
We stay locked together for a long moment, both breathing hard, hearts racing in sync.
Finally, he shifts, rolling to the side but keeping me pulled against him. I settle with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat gradually slow.
“You make it quiet,” he murmurs into my hair.
I smile against his skin. “Maybe you finally stopped fighting it.”
His chest moves with silent laughter. “Maybe I did.”
We lie there in comfortable silence, fingers tracing lazy patterns on each other’s skin. For the first time since this whole arrangement started, I let myself imagine this could last, that the man holding me might actually be mine.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
“That I could get used to this.”
“Good.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Because I don’t plan on letting you go.”
The words settle into my heart. I close my eyes as exhaustion and contentment pull me back toward sleep.
This is what I’ve been afraid to want. And now, wrapped in Daniel’s arms with London waking up outside our window, everything finally makes sense.
***
I don’t know how long we sleep, but I wake to the sound of Daniel’s phone buzzing insistently on the nightstand.
He reaches for it, body still warm against mine, and I feel him tense the moment he reads the screen.
“Fuck.”
The single word is enough to make my stomach drop.
Daniel sits up, taking the warmth with him, and answers. “What is it?”
I watch as his expression hardens with each passing second. His jaw clenches, his free hand forming a fist on his thigh.
“When?” Pause. “How bad?” Another pause. “Completely?”
My heart starts racing.
Daniel listens for another minute, his face becoming more closed off with each second. With a disappointed sigh, I realize we may be heading back to factory settings.
“Handle the press. I’ll call the board when I land.” He hangs up without saying goodbye.
For a moment, he sits there, back to me, phone clutched in his white-knuckled grip.
“Daniel?” My voice sounds small. “What’s wrong?”
He turns, and the look on his face makes my blood run cold. Gone is the soft, vulnerable man from moments ago. In his place is someone I recognize too well.
“There is a problem.” His voice is clipped. “Cassidy went to the press. She’s running a story questioning our relationship and my ethics.”
I sit up, pulling the sheet around me. “Well? Isn’t that what she has been doing anyway?”
“Yeah, except now, she’s claiming that I’m sleeping with staff to manipulate deals, and Whitmore—” His voice catches. “Whitmore is backing her. He pulled out of the London deal entirely.”
“Richard Whitmore? The investor who—”
“Who I threatened yesterday. Yes.” Daniel laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Turns out telling major investors to back off your girlfriend has consequences.”
“Daniel—”
“The deal is dead. Twenty million dollars gone because I couldn’t keep my fucking mouth shut.”
I slip out of bed, wrapping the sheet around myself as I move toward him. “You were defending me.”
“And now it’s cost me everything.” He won’t look at me. “They’re calling you a distraction, saying all kinds of bullshit about how I’ve lost focus and making decisions based on emotion. And Cassidy is feeding them evidence with the outburst yesterday. But that’s not all …”
“What else?”
“They found pictures from the bar … the night we met. Now, they’re saying I hired you because of … our relationship.”
My throat tightens. “Tell me it’s not true.”
“Of course it’s not true.” He spins to face me, eyes blazing. “I didn’t hire you because we slept together. Everything I’ve done has been—”
“I didn’t mean the company,” I interrupt. “I meant… tell me this is just a story to you and you won’t push me away again.”
He freezes. In that moment of silence, I see everything.
“Bailey—”
“Just tell me.” My voice cracks. “Tell me that last night meant something. That this—” I gesture between us, “—is real.”
He opens his mouth, then closes. And in his silence, I have my answer.
“Oh my God.” I take a step back. “You’re already pulling away.”
“I’m trying to think—”
“No, you’re shutting down again!” Tears burn my eyes. “How many times do we have to go through this?!”
“This isn’t—Bailey, you don’t understand the position we’re in—”
“I understand perfectly.” I move past him, gathering my clothes from where they’re scattered across the floor. “The moment things get hard, you run!”
“I’m trying to protect us!”
“By pushing me away?” I pull on my underwear, then his shirt. “No, you’re just a fucking coward!”
“You don’t get to call me a coward.”
“Then stop acting like one!” My voice breaks. “You stood in front of cameras yesterday and told everyone I was the only person who’d ever seen the real you. Was that even true?”
“It was true—”
“Then prove it.” I’m crying now, tears streaming down my face. “Just tell me that this—us—matters more than everything else.”
He stares at me, and I watch the war between the boy who lost everything fighting against the man who’s spent twenty years making sure it never happens again play out across his face.
“I can’t,” he finally whispers.
“You can’t, or you won’t?”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters to me!” I grab the rest of my clothes, clutching them to my chest. “I thought I saw the real you last night. I thought you finally let me in.”
“You did—”
“Then why are you shutting me out now?” I move toward the door connecting our rooms. “Why are you already treating this like a mistake?”
“Because it might be!” The words explode out of him. “Everything I touch, I destroy. Everyone I let close to me gets hurt. And you—” His voice breaks. “You’re too important to destroy.”
I stop at the door, hand on the handle. “So you’re destroying us instead.”
“I’m trying to save you from the wreckage.”
“I don’t want to be saved.” I look back at him, this broken, beautiful man standing in the morning light. “I want to be chosen.”
His eyes glisten with unshed tears. “Bailey—”
“Goodbye, Daniel.”
I slip through the door before he can respond.
In my room, I sink to the floor, clothes still clutched to my chest, and let the sobs come.
Last night, I thought I’d found something worth fighting for. This morning, I’m learning that sometimes the person you’re fighting for won’t fight back. And that hurts more than anything.