Chapter 38
“I need a facial,” I say, leaning closer to the mirror to look at my face, noting my dry skin.
Grant steps out of the shower and wraps a towel around his hips. Water droplets cling to his skin and I want to lick them off despite thoroughly enjoying a shower together minutes ago. I’ve been insatiable since our romp in the office the other day.
“I’ll give you a facial, just get on your knees.”
I level him with a glare in the mirror. “I do love that kind, but you don’t have salmon sperm.”
“Pretty sure mine would work better.” He crowds me against the countertop, licking a stripe up my neck and nibbling at my ear. “What is this salmon sperm facial and why would you want that on your face?”
“It’s not the actual sperm. They extract the DNA into polynucleotides and combine it with other ingredients, but it’s good for anti-aging, boosts collagen, which helps with skin elasticity, and hydration.”
“You’re aging beautifully.” Grant wraps arms around me from behind and kisses back down to my shoulder.
“If you can tell I’m aging then it’s not working.”
He rolls his eyes. “You look the exact same as the first day I met you.”
“Much better.”
“How do you feel about a date on Friday night?”
I shiver at the way his breath feathers across my neck. “I feel very good about that.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. Friday night date night with my man? Sounds amazing.” I tilt my head back for a kiss, then extract myself to start getting ready for the day.
“Any requests?”
“Nothing fancy.”
My period should start any day now, but thankfully, my cramping is mild considering how it usually feels.
The thing that sucks most about endometriosis is that it’s never the same month to month.
Sometimes I’m in excruciating pain like I was last month, other times the cramps are manageable.
Then there are the months it tricks me into thinking it will be a mild cycle and then it knocks me on my ass. I’m hoping it’s not the latter.
As if he can read my inner thoughts, Grant asks, “How are you feeling today?”
“What do you mean?”
“You should be getting your period soon, and after last month, I wanted to be sure you were okay.”
This man.
“Do you know how swoony it is that you’re tracking my cycle?” I wind my arms around his back and prop my chin on his chest to look up at him.
He dips his head, kissing my nose. “Of course I’m tracking. I take my vow for ‘in sickness and in health’ seriously. You’re not doing this alone anymore.”
“I know we said no more apologies, but I am still sorry that we’ve missed out on this all these years. I forgot what it felt like to be taken care of. It’s nice.” I rub my hand over his facial hair, reveling in the slight scratch of it against my palm and then pull him down for another kiss.
“To answer your question, I’m feeling okay right now. I have a doctor’s appointment soon to talk about next steps and treatment options. Since the IUD came out, my periods are a little more irregular, but I’ll still start this week probably.”
Getting serious, he says, “Speaking of, we haven’t exactly been careful.”
“It’s not my fault you can’t keep your dick in your pants.” I rub over the growing erection beneath his towel.
“Actually, I think it is one hundred percent your fault.”
Quirking a brow at him, I ask, “Have you seen yourself in the mirror?”
“Are you saying I’m hot, Tay baby?”
I squeeze his ass and he rocks into me with a groan. “Inferno level hot, hubby.”
He doesn’t let me off the hook that easily, instead redirecting us back to the discussion on how much unprotected sex we’ve been having. “So how do you feel about not using protection?”
“How do you feel about it?” I turn the question back to him, wanting to know his initial reaction before weighing in on the topic.
“I asked you first. I love the feel of you with no barriers, but you’re the one it impacts the most. I want to do whatever is best for you.”
Sensing his need for words of affirmation right now more than anything, I speak from the heart.
“I see forever with you. Whatever that forever entails. The likelihood of getting pregnant is low, and having kids is honestly not something I’ve considered for a very long time, but surprisingly the idea doesn’t scare me as much as I thought it would.
We may be tempting fate, but we have a lot of time to make up for, and I don’t want to stop what we’re doing. ”
He lets out a breath I didn’t realize he was holding and visibly relaxes, the corners of his eyes crinkling and showing me the crows feet that aren’t as noticeable unless I’m truly studying his face the way I am now.
“You’ll let me know if that changes?”
“Promise.”
Grant cradles my head and brings it to his chest, holding me close as we both absorb the moment. His heart beats a steady rhythm under my ear and it feels like we’re finding our way. We stay locked like that for a few minutes before he releases me and steps back.
“What do you have going on today?” he asks.
“I have a meeting with Gabriel Sullivan.”
He looks gobsmacked. “Gabriel Sullivan? As in the inventor of the most famous phone in all the world?”
“That’s the one. Why do you sound so shocked?”
“Not shocked. Awed. My wife is a badass.” The pride is evident in his voice and makes me smile.
“And don’t you forget it.” I tap his chest as I walk back into the room to get out of the towel still wrapped around my body from my shower.
“How do you know him?” he calls after me, watching as the towel falls to the floor and I take a bra and panty from my newly acquired drawer in his dresser.
“We go way back. Remember that brand deal I was working on for my client when we separated?” He nods. “It was with his company. They were newer on the market, but already a massive success. We’ve had a working relationship ever since.”
“So what are you working on with him now?” He props himself against the vanity when I walk back into the bathroom, watching as I put on my makeup, fully invested in wanting to know.
“Remember the client meeting I asked to host in your box for a game?”
“I’m an ass. I never asked about it. I’m sorry. Tell me all about it.”
I’ve missed this. It hits me that it can always be like this now. That it will always be like this. Waking up together. Making love, and also having hot nasty sex. Cooking breakfast and dinners, showers together, talking about our days openly and supportively.
Sharing my life with a true partner.
“What?” Grant asks when I only stare at him.
“I love that you really want to know.”
“Of course I want to know.”
Smiling, I go back to what I was doing and fill him in on the broad strokes of my meeting with Landon.
“The meeting was with a celebrity I’ve been wanting to work with for a while, but he was a client of my former firm.
The guy that replaced me at the PR firm was his agent—lazy, entitled, one of those dick swingers. ”
He chuckles. “And the actor?”
“Why do you assume it’s a man?” I pause with my mascara wand halfway to my eye.
“I didn’t. Actor—a person who acts. Gender neutral.”
“Very good,” I praise him.
“I’m all about equality, Tay baby. What can I say?”
“A man after my own heart.”
“You bet your hot little ass I am.” He smacks my ass with a goofy grin. “So the deal?”
“So the actor was ready to leave the agency, and I’d run into him recently—he’s one of the leads in Ivory’s newest production—so he called to set up a meeting. The movie comes out Christmas weekend, so we’re working on holiday partnerships.”
“Thus, a meeting with Redwood,” he surmises.
“Yep. It’s going to be great. Gabriel doesn’t work for Redwood anymore, but he consults sometimes on the higher profile deals and as I said, we go way back.”
I’m so excited to dive into managing Landon’s career as he embarks on the next chapter. This movie is going to catapult him to the next level, and my mind is spinning with all the great collaborations we can do to take him that much further.
“Wow, you’re, like, really cool.”
I brush off my shoulder playfully, then finish getting ready for the day.
Grant leaves for the Troubadours office, and I set up in the office in the penthouse, checking in with Allie, sending emails and touching base with my other clients before a very successful catch up and deal is made with Gabriel for Landon to be the new face of Redwood’s holiday campaign.
These are the days I live for. It’s with that in mind that I consider all the changes I’ll need to make to make Nashville my permanent home instead of splitting time between New York and LA.