Chapter 46 – Sydney
SYDNEY
“Divorced.” It’s not even a question the way Jade says the word around a mouthful of pancakes the next morning.
“That’s the implication,” I answer with a sigh. House cleaning delivered a fresh stack of plushy white robes last night, and I’m very seriously considering stealing one when I finally leave. I’m getting far too used to this level of comfort, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to give it up.
“I swear, I need a TV-style recap at the beginning of every day to remember everything that happened in the last episode of Sydney and Her Mysterious Men,” Jade chuckles.
I throw a pillow at her, nearly toppling her pancakes over onto the bedspread.
“You should have woken me up,” she scolds, pointing a syrup-coated fork at me accusingly.
“Oh please.” I snatch the syrup away from her and pour it over my own pancakes.
After a moment’s hesitation, I pour some over my eggs as well.
“You were knocked out when I left. There was no way I was getting you down to that bar short of dragging you there. And nothing even happened. She just kind of…warned me about them.”
There’s a veritable buffet’s worth of breakfast spread across the bed between us. Jade scowls and leans over to pluck a piece of bacon off my plate.
“Still,” she says. “I don’t like that she managed to get to you, here. Isn’t the whole point of this”—she gestures at the suite around us with her bacon strip—“to keep you safe? How the hell did she just waltz in to meet you at the bar?”
“She had a key card,” I explain. “So she must be staying here. And the staff was watching out for me. I just don’t think… I don’t think they saw her as a potential threat. I don’t either, honestly. She was…well, ‘nice’ isn’t the right word, but I really think she was trying to look out for me.”
Bea hops up on the bed for the hundredth time since room service delivered our food, determined to steal something.
I pause midbite to scoop her up and place her gently back on the floor.
I should probably call down and ask for another portion of food for her.
Whatever it was the kitchen prepared—which they assured me was kitten safe—she ate it up like she was starving.
There’s a soft knock on the door, and Jade stops chewing, mid slice of bacon.
“It’s Vicky!” a bright voice calls from the hall. “You have a package!”
My stomach drops. Jade and I exchange a nervous look, before I climb off the bed and hurry to the door.
Maybe she was right to be worried. If Annika could get to me here…
Could Chase? Could one of his gifts?
But the box Vicky is holding when I open the door to let her in isn’t the cheap gray cardboard I’ve come to expect from Chase’s deliveries. It’s black velvet, topped with an elegant silver ribbon.
Expensive.
“Mr. Mason Sterling dropped this off for you at the front.” Vicky grins, showing off the box. “Where do you want it?”
“Put it on the cuck chair,” Jade says, pointing to the armchair in the corner, awkwardly facing the bed.
“That’s not what it’s called,” I protest, but Vicky giggles.
“We call it that, too,” she confides, shooting Jade a wink.
And Jade…
My Jade blushes.
For a moment, I’m sure I must be seeing things. My Jade doesn’t blush. She’s unflappable. A shameless flirt, sure, but she does it with a swagger that’s all confidence.
But right now, her cheeks are a rosy pink, and a half-eaten strip of bacon hangs out of her mouth as she tracks Vicky across the room, watching as she sets the box down.
That’s…different. New.
Choosing to ignore it for now and making a mental note to follow up on this later, I cross the room to Alec’s gift. The box is even prettier up close.
“I’ve been asked to deliver a message with it,” Vicky informs me, grin widening.
I nod, urging her to continue.
“He requests you wear it tonight. If you find it acceptable.” Bea circles her ankles, mewing for attention, until Vicky reaches down to scoop her up, rubbing their noses together. “Hi, little baby! Aren’t you just the cutest?”
Bea purrs as if it say, yes, yes I am.
“If it’s more sex toys, you might want to tell him to cool it,” Jade advises me as I untie the ribbon. “You’re going to run out of room for them in your apartment if he keeps this up.”
Vicky giggles again, and the pink on Jade’s cheeks spreads up to the tips of her ears.
Okay, she and I are going to need to have a serious talk later about whatever is happening between her and Vicky. I shoot her a befuddled look before I lift the lid, pushing tissue paper away to reveal the contents of the box.
It’s a dress. Jade draws in a quick breath as I pull it out and hold it up in front of me.
A designer dress, I realize, peaking at the delicately embroidered label inside.
“It’s gorgeous,” I breathe, running my fingers over the midnight black silk.
It’s short, barely long enough to reach past the top of my thighs.
The shockingly high neckline comes up to clasp almost like a collar.
And the back? I turn the dress in my hands.
Nearly nonexistent, dipping all the way down to the hips.
“This must have cost a fortune,” Jade murmurs, getting up and stepping closer to rub the fabric between her fingers. “Oh my God, Sydney, I think he had this custom made.”
I don’t doubt it. It’s beautiful, like a work of art.
“Are you going to wear it?” she asks, as though there were any question at all.
“Of course,” I say. “I may be pissed off, but I’m not stupid.”
“Looks like there are shoes, too.” Jade rummages through the box and pulls them out, holding them out for me to take. Sleek high heels, with ankle straps that mimic the collar of the dress.
“You’re going to look stunning,” Vicky says warmly. She sets Bea down, giving her one last stroke, all the way down her spine. Bea makes a happy chirping noise, and Vicky laughs. “Not you, baby. You already look stunning.”
“She likes you,” Jade tells Vicky.
“Of course she does. I’m very good with pussy,” she replies with a smirk.
Jade’s face turns scarlet. I think she’s stopped breathing.
Holy shit, what is happening to my Jade?
I cough pointedly. “Have the two of you officially met yet?” I ask. “Vicky, this is my best friend, Jade. Jade, this is Vicky.”
Jade holds out her hand to shake. “Charmed.”
“Likewise,” Vicky answers, ignoring the hand and pulling Jade into a hug instead. I guess that’s her signature greeting. Jade looks like she might be short-circuiting, her eyes too wide.
Mid-hug, her phone chimes, and she pulls away.
“Oh crap,” Jade murmurs, checking it. “That’s Alec’s driver.
He’s taking me to the shop today, and he’s already downstairs.
” She stuffs another piece of bacon in her mouth as she gathers up her things.
“You want me to take custody of our child for the day?” she asks me, pointing at Bea.
“No, that’s okay. I’ve got her.” Bea has become a minor celebrity, according to the plethora of comments flooding our bookstapix account.
Apparently, having a bookstore cat is all the rage, even if she does spend half her time hiding from people, and the other half actively tormenting them.
“I think I could use the company today.”
“Looks like you’re living large today, you little menace,” Jade tells Bea, booping her on the nose. Then she points at me. “You! Text me. And send me a photo of that dress before your date, okay? And you!” She faces Vicky, flustered but smiling. “It was a genuine pleasure.”
“Don’t be a stranger,” Vicky purrs.
The dress fits perfectly, almost like it was tailored to my exact measurements.
Are designers really that good? Or does Alec know me so well, all my curves and swells, that he could tell them my exact measurement, down to the centimeter?
Somehow, I wouldn’t put it past him.
I spend most of the day waiting for my date, and by the time it rolls around, I’m nervous.
Anxious to see him, to know what he has planned to show me.
I leave my hotel room a little early, giving Bea a kiss on her fuzzy little forehead and reminding her that she’s not allowed to scratch the furniture. She ignores me, of course.
Even though I’m early, Alec is already waiting outside the hotel. I spot him immediately, leaning against the door to his town car, staring down at his phone.
His eyes come up the moment I step outside, drawn straight to me. It’s like he could feel it, could sense I was near.
It’s magnetic, this pull between the two of us.
Those dark eyes flare when he sees me, his gaze heating. But he doesn’t move. He slides his phone into his pocket and waits for me to come to him. Patiently.
Like he’s waited for me this whole time. His whole life.
I’m still apprehensive as I take a step towards him. But it’s hard to hold onto my anger when he’s in front of me like this. His perfect chiseled jaw, his deep brown eyes beckoning me.
He’s dangerous. In so many ways.
I take another step.
His lips curve into a smile. I’m wearing the dress—the perfect, beautiful dress he had made for me—but he doesn’t even look at it. His eyes are locked on mine, and I feel like we’re the only two people in the world.
I take another step, and he finally moves forward to meet me, pulling me into a kiss that steals away every coherent thought in my head.
It’s everything, whatever this is that exists between us. And I hate that it’s so delicate right now, that I’m still not sure if I can trust him.
When he breaks our kiss, he pulls back just enough to meet my eyes.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he tells me in a deep voice. His finger strokes my cheek, gliding across my face to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.
I can’t say it back. But I know he can see it, in my eyes.
“Come,” he says, opening the car door and gesturing me inside. His hand rests on the small of my back, warm and steady as I climb inside. “I have a surprise for you tonight.”