Chapter 34
MELODY
Iwoke to the feeling of Austin’s arm draped over my hip, his body warm and solid against my back.
We were naked. Completely, gloriously naked. The expensive Egyptian cotton sheets were soft against my skin, and the weight of Austin’s arm felt like an anchor. It grounded me in the moment.
I was naked in bed with Austin Bancroft.
Holy shit.
Cleo was going to lose her mind when I told her. And I would tell her because I told her everything and she would just know anyway.
I was comfortable in a way I’d never been with anyone else. No rushing to cover myself. No self-consciousness about my body. Just contentment. “Blissed out” was probably the right term.
I realized I was smiling. When I had ever woke up smiling?
The suite around us looked even more incredible in the morning light. Everything was cream and gold and understated luxury. The kind of place I would’ve scrolled past on Instagram thinking “must be nice” without ever imagining I’d actually be here.
Rain struck the windows of the balcony doors. It was a dreary spring day, all gray and icky, but I was tucked up close to the world’s sexiest man. It was like we were in our own little world, separated from shitty weather and judgmental people.
Somewhere in the room, I heard my phone buzzing. Probably still in my clutch from last night. The battery was probably dying. I should get it. Check messages. Make sure Cleo wasn’t panicking.
But I didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to break this spell.
Austin’s breathing was deep and even behind me. Still asleep. I turned my head slightly to look at his dark lashes against his cheeks and his hair mussed from sleep. Okay, the sleeping was not what mussed his hair. His face was relaxed in a way I rarely saw when he was awake.
He looked younger like this. Less guarded.
More at peace. I could get used to waking up like this.
To him. To this. The thought should have terrified me.
Three months ago, I would’ve run screaming from the idea of getting this attached to someone, especially someone with Austin Bancroft’s reputation.
But now? Now I just wanted to memorize this moment. Store it away for later when reality inevitably crashed back in.
Austin stirred, his arm tightening around me. His lips brushed my shoulder, soft and drowsy.
“Morning,” he murmured, his voice rough with sleep.
“Morning.”
“You sleep okay?”
“Better than okay.” I turned in his arms to face him. “You?”
“Best sleep I’ve had in years.” His eyes were still half-closed, but he was smiling. “Turns out excellent sex is great for insomnia.”
I laughed. “Is that your professional medical opinion?”
“Absolutely. I’m basically a doctor now.” He pulled me closer, nuzzling into my neck. “Prescription: more of last night. Taken regularly. Side effects include happiness and really good orgasms.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it.”
I did. God help me, I really did.
He kissed me slow and sweet. Morning breath be damned. When he pulled back, he was fully awake. “Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
“Good.” He reached for the phone on the nightstand. “Because I’m about to order us the most decadent breakfast room service has ever seen. And a truckload of coffee.”
He wasn’t kidding. He ordered what sounded like half the menu—eggs benedict, Belgian waffles, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, pastries, orange juice, coffee. When I tried to tell him it was too much, he just shrugged and said we’d eat what we wanted and leave the rest.
The food arrived twenty minutes later, wheeled in on a cart by a server who was very professionally trying not to notice that we were clearly naked under the sheets. Austin tipped him generously, and then we had a feast spread across the bed.
“This is obscene,” I said, biting into a croissant that was probably the best thing I’d ever tasted. “This whole situation is obscene.”
“Good obscene or bad obscene?”
“The best obscene.” I stole a piece of his bacon. “I could get used to this.”
“That’s the plan.” He poured us both coffee from the French press. “Get you so addicted to luxury hotel breakfasts that you can never leave me.”
“Diabolical.”
“I prefer strategic.”
We ate and talked, watching the rain slow through the windows. The sun started peeking through clouds. Manhattan was waking up. It was my Cinderella moment. Except it wasn’t midnight. It was seven in the morning and the magical night was over.
My life had gotten very weird. Very wonderful but very weird.
“So,” Austin said, setting down his coffee cup. “About that trip.”
“You were serious about that?”
“Completely serious. I’m going to make some calls, arrange everything.”
I didn’t even know what to say. I knew he was serious, but exactly what did he have in mind? A trip to the Hamptons? Maybe somewhere upstate?
He pointed toward the bathroom. “You should shower. Get ready. We’ll need to leave soon if we want to avoid too many prying eyes in the hotel.”
“Where exactly are you planning to take me?”
“It’s a surprise. But I promise you’ll love it. Excellent weather, complete privacy, and plenty of opportunities for content.” He grinned. “Give Cleo a week off. I’ll be your photographer and personal assistant.”
“You’re going to be my personal assistant?”
“I’m very qualified. I can carry bags. Take photos. Provide moral support and excellent commentary.”
“This is insane.”
“The best things usually are.” He kissed me quickly. “Trust me?”
I looked at him and the hope in his eyes. The vulnerability still lingering from last night.
“Okay,” I heard myself say. “Let’s do it.”
His smile could have powered the entire city. “Yes. Perfect. Go shower. I’ll handle everything.”
I headed to the bathroom. The tiles were heated beneath my feet, and there were about seventeen different bottles of expensive toiletries lined up on a shelf. I turned on the water, adjusting the temperature until it was perfect, and stepped under the spray.
Heaven.
“Wow,” I murmured aloud.
This was how the one percent lived. My townhouse was nice, but nothing like this. The previous owners had updated the kitchen and bathroom but now I knew I wanted to upgrade again. I would have to knock out a wall to get a shower this size into the bathroom, but it would be worth it.
I let the hot water work out the pleasant aches from last night, washing my hair with shampoo that probably cost more than my usual monthly beauty budget. I could hear Austin on the phone in the other room, his voice too low to make out words but the tone all commanding.
Typical Bancroft. Making things happen. Because that’s what Bancrofts did—they made things happen.
I was about to turn off the water when the bathroom door opened.
Austin stepped in, completely naked, wearing all that confidence like a shield with a wicked grin on his face.
“Room for one more?” he asked.
My brain short-circuited slightly because now, in the bright bathroom light, I could fully appreciate his body. All the lean muscle and broad shoulders and—other things that made my mouth go dry.
He stepped into the shower, closing the glass door behind him. Water streamed over both of us from the rainfall feature above us. He pulled me close.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
“This okay?”
“Very okay.”
He kissed me under the spray, water running between our lips. I felt heat that had nothing to do with the temperature of the shower building low in my belly. This was dangerous territory. The kind of territory where I could lose myself completely.
Because being with Austin felt too good. Too right. Too much like something I’d been missing my whole life without knowing it.
This was supposed to be a business deal. A mutually beneficial arrangement. A way for both of us to get what we needed and then move on. But what I needed was getting really muddy. Confused. All tangled up with what I wanted, which was apparently Austin Bancroft in every way possible.
Being with him like this, naked in an expensive shower in a penthouse suite, his hands on my body, his mouth on my neck? It felt too good to be true. But maybe that’s what love was supposed to feel like?
No. Not love. I immediately corrected myself. This was desire. Attraction. Really, really good sexual chemistry.
Not love. Definitely not love.
Even though my heart was doing that thing where it felt too big for my chest and the thought of being away from him made my stomach hurt. Even though I was already thinking about next week, next month, next year with him.
Nope. Not love.
Just really intense like. And chemistry. We had amazing chemistry. Like our bodies were put together specifically for one another. It went right down to our DNA.
Austin’s hands slid down my sides, gripping my hips. “What are you thinking about?” he murmured against my ear.
“Nothing.”
“Liar. You’re thinking very hard. I can tell.”
“How can you tell?”
“You get this little crease.”
“Between my eyebrows. I know.” I turned in his arms. “Maybe I’m just thinking about you.”
“Yeah?” His eyes darkened. “What about me?”
“About how you look really good wet.”
He laughed. “That’s it? Just that I look good?”
He kissed my neck.
“Really good.”
Kiss.
“Really fun.” My body ached with need.
Kiss.
“Stop thinking,” he whispered. “Just feel.”
So I did.
I let myself feel his hands on my body. They slid up my back. Hot water sluiced between us as he walked me backward until my shoulder blades hit cool tile. The contrast made me gasp, but Austin swallowed the sound.
It wasn’t the same kiss from the ballroom. This one was messy, greedy, morning-stubble rough. I clutched him tighter, half-afraid I would slip and fall and take him down with me. Although that might not be the worst thing in the world.
He groaned my name and tilted my head so he could deepen the kiss. I could feel the erection pushed against my belly. I could get used to mornings like this.
He kissed me until I was dizzy. Or maybe it was the heat in the shower. A second later, he pulled me out of the shower and directly to the bed. There was a box of condoms on the bed. I didn’t know where they had come from, but it was Austin. He could get anything he wanted.
Including me.