CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
COLT
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“Colt. You’re crushing my lungs.” Riley mumbles against my chest.
Reluctantly, I relax my arms, letting her breathe.
Two fucking days I’ve had to wait for her. Commercial flying takes that much longer.
I take her chin between my fingers. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Coming,” I kiss her softly. “I know it was a big deal.”
“Well,” Riley playfully slaps my chest. “We will talk about the money in my account when we get home. For now, I need a real shower and bed. I don’t know if I’m hungry, tired, or want to go straight up the Empire State Building.”
I stifle my groan. I know she’ll want to see New York, but I can show her things no tourist has access to.
And I’m not talking about my dick.
I’m also not not talking about my dick.
“Let’s go, gorgeous,” I wrap my arm around her back and take the airport trolley in the other, leading her out to the red Lotus.
“Whoa, fancy.”
I smile, loving her response.
Any time I make her smile, my world is brighter.
I could have had my driver bring me, but imagining holding her hand as she sat in the passenger side of my vehicle just felt right.
This is it.
This is the week we get together.
One week.
Then, we say goodbye and keep these memories.
While she was traveling, I signed the contract, and I’m now officially Colt Winters, the next bachelor of The Final Rose – Manhattan.
I feel ambivalent about it.
The announcement happens next week, a few days after Riley leaves. I tried to have them push it out further as the show doesn’t air for three months.
After filming.
But they wouldn’t.
So I’ll tell her after we’ve had time to just focus on being together and enjoying what this is.
We deserve this time.
We need this time.
I want this time.
Guilt has tried to nudge its way into my consciousness, but the reality is, we both know this is one week. I was clear on the phone when I invited her over.
Yet the feelings I have for her are overwhelming, and I don’t fucking understand it.
Riley has never asked for more.
I get the feeling Riley thinks as I do, that this is simply two people on opposite sides of the planet enjoying one another.
Being pragmatic, this city isn’t exactly a hot spot for landscapers of her kind. Tailored to high rise living, sure, for the rich. I can’t see her enjoying that.
She wouldn’t be satisfied.
And I can’t leave America.
Does she even want to be a mom and get married? We’ve both shied away from those topics, and I suspect it's on purpose.
Fuck, what does it matter/
Not everything in life has to be forever, and we’re both on the same page.
After loading her two suitcases into the trunk, I open the door for her.
“What a gentleman.” She smiles at me like I’m perfect.
Far from it.
“What gave you the idea I wasn’t?” I wink.
“That part where you bent me over the sofa and—”
“Would you prefer a submissive man instead?”
When she makes a face, the corner of my mouth quirks and I pat her bottom playfully.
“Then get in the car, sexy, and I’ll fuck you in the shower once we are home.”
Right on cue, Riley’s cheeks blush, and she plonks down in the seat. I close the door, grinning and circle the car.
Ten minutes later, we’re speeding towards Manhattan and Riley’s face is up against the windows taking in all of New York City.
“It’s amazing!”
I focus on the traffic, which is heavy today, and change lanes so we can get off at the right place.
After convincing Riley to visit, I tried to focus on my own business. Making sure the renovations were on track and that my many investments were doing what they should.
The club runs itself for the most part. I have senior managers there, allowing me to come and go as I need.
Sebastian's wedding is a few days after Riley returns to Australia, then I have a couple of weeks before filming of The Final Rose begins.
There will be fittings and makeup, and all kinds of crap to contend with.
I’ll need to speak to my parents and tell the guys.
That will be fun.
For now, I want my mind on Riley.
At the end of the three-month filming schedule, I’ll have to keep quiet about who my wife is. We won’t be able to be seen in public together, and depending on where she lives, we may be in different states.
Will I wish I were with Riley at that point?
I’ve never committed to a woman to cheat, and do not see myself starting a marriage that way. Even if this is an unconventional way of meeting. But right here, as I pull up outside my building and turn into the garage with my little gardener with me, I can’t imagine not wanting her.
I can’t see a world where I desire another woman over her.
That’s a big fucking claim from a playboy who owns a goddamn sex club.
I turn off the engine and glance at Riley.
“Okay?” I take her hand.
“Yes. I just feel a bit wobbly. It might be vertigo.”
“Do you normally get vertigo?” I ask, concerned.
Riley shakes her head, and I can see she looks a little pale.
“It’s a long flight,” I squeeze her hand, knowing her flight was direct. “It was even in the jet and with a stopover in Hawaii.”
“Hawaii,” she grins. “Always wanted to go there.”
I open the glove box and tug out the gift I got her.
Dropping the keychain into her hand, she looks like I’ve given her the world.
“Thongs.”
“Flip flops.” I grin.
We both chuckle.
“Let’s get you upstairs so you can sit out on the balcony and get some fresh air.”
The moment the door of the elevator opens, Riley is speechless. She walks inside slowly and looks around my home like she’s in a museum.
“God, Colt. This place is enormous. Incredible.”
I place her bags down and spot my housekeeper out of the corner of my eye. “Can you take Ms. Scott’s bags to my room?”
“Yes, sir,” Marianna nods and glances at my guest.
Riley’s eyes widen when she sees her, and she says hello in the sweetest, most polite voice. Then looks to me for directions as Marianna departs with the bags.
“She won’t be here often. Two mornings a week.”
Riley glances around. “Vacuuming must take her ten hours. How big is this place?
“Big,” I guide her further in and pull open one of the sliding doors.
“Holy hell,” she wanders up to the railing, past the swimming pool and loungers. “I had no idea they had swimming pools up so high. Look at...oh, it’s Central Park. Wow, it’s huge.”
Big.
Huge.
A guy could get a complex.
“Would you like a drink?” I ask.
“Lemonade. Yeah, a nice cold lemonade would be amazing.”
When I turn, Marianna has returned. I order the drinks, telling her to make mine a lemonade also, but with vodka. Then I stride out onto the balcony and join Riley.
“I bet you never come out here,”
I wrap my body around her, leaning my arms on the rail either side of her, thinking its shame that kidnapping is illegal.
“I do, but the view today is spectacular.” I nuzzle her neck and she shivers, spinning around to kiss me. “Would you come out here every day if you lived here?”
Riley wraps her arms around me, nestles her face into my chest, and then flips to the side, staring out at Manhattan.
“I’m not sure. It’s an incredible place, but I’d miss the earth. The trees. The flowers.”
I hate that I was right.
I want to change her mind and convince her she’d love it here. But our paths are set in motion. She belongs in Australia and literally just told me in so many words.
Still, despite popular belief, Manhattan is not just a concrete jungle.
“Wait until you see more. There’s a lot of green space in New York.”
Marianna arrives with our drinks, and we sit outside sipping them. The fresh air seems to calm Riley as she gets her color back.
“God, that’s better,” she sighs.
I lay my arm behind her and stretch out my legs. “What do you feel like doing? I have cleared my schedule and unless something comes up, I am all yours.”
“Where do you normally hang out?”
At the club.
We aren’t going there.
“Um, with friends. Work. Here. The gym,” I shrug.
I have a gym here, but I go to one nearby because Drew and Zander also have a membership there. I do both, but I like bumping into them and having a catch up.
Riley lifts her face and smiles.
“You want to go to the gym?”
“God, no. But I do feel like going for a walk around after flying for so long. How about I take a shower, and we go to Central Park? I need to meet some squirrels.”
“You don’t have squirrels in Australia?”
She shakes her head.
“Damn.”
Riley stands and reaches out to place her drink on the table, and I spot the leather bracelet. My heart clenches. Giving her the most important thing I own—everything else is replaceable—is a reminder that she’s not some weeklong fling.
I know.
I just don’t know what to do about it.
It’s an incredible place, but I’d miss the earth. The trees. The flowers.
“Take me to your bedroom,”
Riley stands but I tug her down so that she lands on my lap. I know she’s referring to my shower, but I tip her back and kiss her with passion.
She squeals as I stand, kicking out her legs.
“Don’t drop me.”
“Never,” I stride inside. “Before we leave this apartment, I’m making you come. Twice.”