Little Black Book (10 page)

Ten

Rosslyn

The next morning I woke with the sun. A coffee in hand, I stood at the massive set of windows and watched the world come alive. Memories from the night before and how I’d spent it filing papers and doing secretary work in the smallest clothes known to man, made me laugh. I should have been mad, but I couldn’t help it. Sebastian really was a crazy freak, and I guess I was one, too, because I was kind of enjoying our little games.

An
hour later, I walked Kyle to the lobby where we were met by Mr. Martin. When I got back to the room, I cried in the shower. It was the strangest thing to cry when things were sort of looking up, but I cried for Kyle, for Gran, for my parents—I sobbed loudly over life in general, which was so unbalanced. Things could change at the drop of a hat. Thanks to Sebastian, life was getting easier—more confusing, but easier.

Then again, Sebastian
was just another thing in my life that wasn’t permanent. Not to mention, he was all over the place. I wasn’t sure I understood him, but I knew I’d gotten myself mixed into something crazy. After a life that was pretty boring and spent taking care of others, maybe crazy was what I needed.

When I was don
e, I turned off the shower, pulled back the curtain, only to find new clothes and a thick luxurious towel waiting in the bathroom for me.

Quickly, I dried my body and instead of dressing in the clothes, I threw the complimentary robe on. I didn’t know who was in the room with me, but I was
n’t going to sit around in the bathroom scared to find out.

I crept into the living space of the hotel and found Sebastian.
He’d forgone his typical suit for a pair of jeans and a collar shirt that clung to his thick chest and arms. He was standing in the middle of the room, slinging a set of keys around his finger. Staring at the view of the city, his hair was messy and held a pair of sunglasses. He looked delicious.

Once he realized I was staring at him, he turned his gorgeous blue eyes on me.

The air left my body. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

The side of his mouth lifted, showing off
his sexy set of dimples. “The room’s in my name and I paid for it.”

He stalked toward me and I was suddenly aware of how awful I must have looked. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe he wouldn’t want to have sex with me
at that exact moment.

I reached up and touched a strand of soaking wet hair.
“I know I must look…”

“Absolutely
fucking sexy.”

He ran his hand down my cheek and grinned down at me. “There
are droplets of water covering the skin I can see. I’d like to lick them from your body.”

I shivered and pulled the robe around me tighter.

“But first, I want to know why you’re crying.” He pinched my chin roughly like he had the day before, and exhilaration ran through me. “Sexy lips like these should never wear a frown.”

I wanted him to kiss me hard, but he pulled away
, releasing my chin.

He spoke
and looked at me like we’d known each other for years. It wasn’t terrible. It made me feel an odd sense of security that I hadn’t felt since Gran was alive.

“It’s nothing
,” I said.

“I think I know what’s bothering you.
Get dressed,” he said sternly. “I want to show you something.” He turned me toward the bathroom and patted my butt.

I
picked out my nicest bra and panty set, and dressed quickly in the clothes he brought for me. The tags were still on them and I almost died when I saw that the pants alone were more than two hundred dollars. I quit looking from that point on. The shirt he bought fit perfectly and the green color of it looked nice with my red hair.

I brushed my teeth,
ran a brush through my wet locks, and looked at myself in the stand-up mirror in the corner. Sebastian had really nice taste in clothing.

I went back into the living space and his eyes moved down my body like a seductive touch.

“You look amazing,” he pulled his shades down over his eyes and started toward me.

“Thanks
,” I responded.

He
held his hand out for me to proceed him onto the elevator, and then he got on, pushing the button to take us to the lobby.

His car was nice. No, it was beyond nice.
It was a black Jaguar—sleek and sexy, just like him. He opened the door for me and I slid in. The rich leather hugged my bottom with love, and I melted into the comfort. He went around the car, took the keys from the valet, and slid in next to me.

He drove like a madman, flying past cars on one-way streets and running yellow lights as if they were green. My fingers dug into the door grip
like it would keep me safe, and he chuckled at my side. He parked in front of a nice building. The brick outside was white and set with gold trimming.

There was
a gorgeous archway that went into the front and glass doors with a doorman parked out front nodding nicely to the people that passed.

“Come on, beautiful,” he said
, tossing his keys to the valet.

I followed behind him to an
elevator. We waited for the door to open and warmth moved up my spine when he placed a hand on the small of my back as we waited for the elevator.

The elevator opened into a room. It was furnished nicely with feminine décor and again had a wall of windows that showed New York
City outside.

He grinned
down at me before he stepped off of the elevator and pulled me along with him. I took the room in—a sleek condo with expensive furnishings that were definitely decorated by a professional. I tried to figure out where we were, and then I started to see familiar pieces placed around the room. Pictures from Gran’s living room were on the wall and frames full of Kyle’s smiles were sitting on a table to the side.

I gasped. “Is this…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“It’s yours.”

With a gapped mouth and eyes wide with shock, I
made a circle in the room. I could hardly believe my eyes.

“But my things. How did you…” I felt the tears sting the back of my eyes.

“Vick. She took care of everything. Apparently, your friend that works at the club will tell anything for a few bucks.”

I turned back to him wit
h wide eyes. No one had ever done anything so amazing for me before. Everything that I’d stored in Trish’s parents’ garage was there. 

There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but nothing felt good enough. Instead, I went to him and threw my arms around his neck.
He tensed and stood there without hugging me back.

“
Whoa,” he chuckled, setting me away from him.

I pulled back
and smiled up at him. “I have no words. Thank you, Sebastian. I’ll pay you back. I’ll…”

He
held his hand up to silence me. “No worries. I’ll collect payment very soon.”

His eyes devoured my mouth and I swallowed hard.

“Let’s take a look at the rest of the place,” he said, turning his back to me and walking away.

The place was magnificent—
no expense spared. It was huge, more than I knew what to do with, but I knew it wasn’t permanent. This thing that was happening with Sebastian was just starting, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think it would last forever. For Kyle, and secretly for me too, I’d do this. But I had to have a back-up plan.

Sebastian took me back to the hotel,
and didn’t stay. Business meetings were taking him away and the strange part was, I felt sad he was leaving. I was beginning to feel safe with him and that wasn’t good. He was the opposite of safe. He was dangerous. Especially since he made me feel things physically I’d never felt before.

I packed all
of our belongings, and went down to meet Kyle in the lobby after school.

“So we have a place now.” My smile hurt my cheeks it was so big.

Pulling him into my side as we walked back to the elevator, I ruffled his hair.

“That
’s great. When do we move in?” he asked.

“Right now. Everything’
s already in place. All of our things are there. It’s perfect, Kyle.”

“But how?”

“A friend of mine is helping us out until I get on my feet.”

“Pretty nice friend,” he shrugged.

Thankfully, the subject was dropped and once we got to our place and he saw how fabulous it was, I didn’t think he cared about the hows or whys.

That night I slept in my bed
, in a secure place, surrounded by all my things. My hair was damp from soaking in a hot bath all night and my body felt more relaxed than it had in years.

Eleven

Rosslyn

“Do these jeans make my ass look fat?” Trish asked. She was turning in the mirror, trying to see her back.

“No,” I said absently, staring out
of the store into the rest of the Manhattan mall.

Wome
n wrapped in expensive everything and carrying purses with pooches inside, chatted as they walked by.

A girl’s day with Trish was exactly what I needed. Anything that got my mind of
f of the crazy mess my life was becoming.

“Fuck. I guess I’ll get a small
er size then.”

She stripped down not caring who saw her in just
her panties. It was then I realized what she’d said.

“Wait. Are you saying you
want
a pair of jeans to make your ass look fat?” I asked confused.

“Yes. My ass is flat. I need something to perk it up.” She reached down, grabbing her bottom and lift
ed it.

“
Oh my God, Trish. You’re so deranged.”

Eleven pairs of jeans later, and she finally found a pair that she was happy with.

Next, we stopped at yet another clothing store, where I sat for another hour and watched her try on clothes. Anything was better than sitting at the condo watching TV all day.

“Oh my God, you should try this on.” Trish said from my side. “This would look amazing on your with your red hair.”

I looked over to find her holding up green top. It was beautiful with a scoop neckline.

“I don’t have the money to buy any new clothes right now,” I giggled.

“Oh come on. You have to at least try it on.” Shoving it into my arms, she pushed me into the dressing room.

I sighed loudly
, before pulling my T-shirt over my head and slipping the green shirt on. The fabric felt like butter and it fit perfectly. I turned in the mirror admiring how nice it looked on me. Grabbing the tag that was dangling from the arm, I looked down at the expensive price tag.

“Come out. Let me see what it looks like,” Trish called out on the other side of the door.

Opening the door, I stepped out and adjusted the shirt.

“See? I told you it would look amazing on you. Do you love it?”

I smiled and made a tiny turn. “I think I do.”

After promising Trish I’d save and buy the shirt another day, we finally left the store and headed to the food court.

“So what exactly happened at Clive’s?” she asked, sucking at her Starbucks cup.

The food court around us bustled with laughter and voices. I reached down and plucked at a fry on my tray.

“Nothing really,” I shrugged.

Trish tilted her head to the side and looked at me like I was full of it, which I totally was.

“Don’t give me that shit. Stacy, the pretty waitress with the nose ring, said she saw Sebastian talking to you personally. He never does that.” She took another sip. “So what did he say?”

I debated whether or not telling her was a good idea. I’d known Trish a while and never had she been one to tell secrets. But then again, I’d never really had any juicy secrets to tell. She worked at Clive’s and she was bound to let it slip at some point. The thought of it getting back
to Sebastian that I was talking about him didn’t scare me, but it wasn’t something I wanted to happen.

“Really. Nothing happened. He just told me nicely that the job wasn’t for me and sent me on my way.”
I was lying. I hated lying and it wasn’t something I did often, but it was necessary.

Trish didn’t know where I was staying. She was too caught up in her life to even ask, which was fine by me. Usually I’d be ticked off by her selfish ways, but this time, not so much.

“He’s fucking sexy isn’t he?”

“Who?” I asked.

“Sebastian, the owner of Clive’s.”

“Oh. Yeah I guess he’s okay,” I shrugged.

Another lie.

“You guess?” She reached out and playfully laid her hand on my forehead like she was checking my temperature. I laughed and smacked her hand away. “Seriously, Roz, you’re either
delirious from a burning fever, totally blind, or into sucking clit if you don’t see how unbelievably hot that man is.”

“Oh my God, you did not just say that?” I put my head down when I noticed the lady next to her looking at us with an appalled expression.

“Yes, I did. And just so you know, I’d love you if you were any of those.” She stole a fry from my tray and tossed it into her mouth. “Sexy or not, he’s a total knob slobber.”

“What’s a knob slobber?” I asked.

“Oh come on, Roz. As in, he slobs on knobs.” She made the motion with her hand and mouth like she was going down on a guy.

At th
at point, the lady next to us got up and moved. Poor lady.

However, Trish’s words did get my attention. “What makes you think he’s gay?”

“He has to be. He works at this club full of hot bitches, including myself, and never once has he even batted an eyelash at any of them.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s gay,” I defended.

She looked at me like I was crazy, then grabbed her breasts and shook them. “Seriously, look at these. In two years, he would have at least flirted with me once.”

I didn’t say anyt
hing else after that. I could have knocked her off her high horse by telling her I knew for a fact Sebastian wasn’t gay, but she was my friend and I’d rather she stay self-confident.

I waited un
til Trish was completely out of sight before I climbed into the back of the sleek black car that was waiting for me.

“Have a nice time shopping, Miss?” Mr. Martin asked
, pulling away from the curb.

“I sure did.
” I plastered on a fake smile and turned to watch the city go by.

I rode to pick up Kyle from school, and then Mr. Martin drove us home. After a quick dinner of Sloppy Joes, Kyle showered and went to bed
. I sat up and watched TV. The last thing I remembered was an episode of
Golden Girls
,
before falling asleep on the couch.

I briefly remembered waking in Sebastian’s arms, as he carried me to my bedroom. I’d been too tired to try and talk to him, and my eyes had fluttered shut. Then I think he laid me in my bed, and pulled the covers up to my chest.

Ther
e’d been a soft warmth on my cheek that I was sure was a kiss, but I couldn’t be bothered to open my eyes. I must have been dreaming though. Sebastian Black wasn’t the kind of man to do anything soft and sweet.

I woke the next morning to Kyle making himself breakfast. I’d overslept, which was something I didn’t do often. Climbing from the bed, I made my way to the bathroom and splashed
cold water on my face to help wake myself up.

After brushing my hair
and teeth, I went back into my room to get dressed for the day. I reached out to open my closet door when I saw the green shirt I’d admired the day before at the mall hanging on the door knob.

Picking it up, I saw that it was the perfect size a
nd everything. It was then, the night before came rushing back to me. Sebastian had definitely been there. It hadn’t been a dream like I’d thought it was.