Red, White and Beautiful (12 page)

“I’m hardly ever there, it’s not like we’re going to be sleeping next to each other, seriously, Sierra, you’re over thinking this.”

“I know it’s not a good idea Ben, I’ve known that since you offered it to me. I should have said no then. I won’t change my mind on this.”

“You’re making a mistake.”

“The only mistake I ever made, Benjamin, was falling for you.”

His face softens and he looks pained. “You loved me?”

“Whatever I felt, is in the past.”

“Answer me, Sierra. Did you love me?”

I growl and clench my fists. “Of course I loved you, Ben, trusted you with everything I had and you ruined that for me. You broke it apart and hurt me. I can never go back from that, not now, not ever.”

A pained look crosses his face, and he steps forward and reaches out.

I flinch when his palm rests against my cheek. I close my eyes, forcing myself to take a breath so I won’t punch him clean in the jaw. How dare he act nice and caring now after what he did? Does he honestly think I’m that weak little girl again? I hear the sound of a camera clicking, and I snap my eyes open and turn to see a man with a camera clicking photos. I open my mouth to snarl at him, when Ben is sent flying backwards. It takes me a moment to realize he’s been sent backwards by Marcus’ fist.

Ben leaps up, charging towards Marcus and ramming his head into his stomach. Marcus stumbles back into the fence and then launches forward. Before he hits Ben, I step in the way, stopping him. His eyes are wild with anger and jealousy, as he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling my back into his chest. I can hear the camera man clicking over and over as he tosses me behind him to lurch forward again. He’s stopped this time by guards, they pull him back and another two show up to grab Ben.

“Stay away from her!” Marcus barks. “She belongs to me now.”

“Just admit you’re jealous of me, Marcus Harrison. You know she used to love me, and it burns you that she considered, even for a second, taking a job with me.”

“She was being nice, but god only knows why. She should have told you right where to go after what you did to her.”

Ben chuckles. “Think what you like, Marcus, she just admit to me that she used to love me and you heard it, didn’t you?”

I flinch and wonder if Marcus did hear me admit I used to care for Ben. Honestly though, he used to care for Chayne and he doesn’t now, I don’t understand how it’s any different. The guards bark an order at Ben, and he throws his hands up, backing up towards his car.

“I know how much it must hurt, knowing your girlfriend just keeps coming back to me. By the way, she asked me to meet her here. Have a good day.”

Then he gets in his car and leaves. Marcus pulls my arm towards his SUV and shoves me harshly inside before slamming the door. When we’re on the road, he turns to me.

“Did you ask him to meet you there?”

“He kept calling me. I was waiting for you and he called me this last time. I told him he could meet me so I could tell him I wasn’t taking the job and to back off.”

“You couldn’t have told me, so I could deal with it? You went out of your way to meet him, Sierra!”

“No,” I cry. “I didn’t. It wasn’t like that.”

“I heard you tell him you used to love him. You let him touch your face.”

“Fuck, Marcus, I was letting him touch my cheek because if I moved, it was going to be to knock him out and I didn’t that would go down well.

Why don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not you I don’t trust,” he barks.

“Oh bull. You honestly believe I still have feelings for him. You of all people should understand how it feels, Marcus. You put me next to Chayne for a long time, and you’ve spent weeks trying to convince me she means nothing to you and yet you can’t possibly believe I’m over Ben. I was trying to do the right thing, I was trying to make him understand that it was never going to happen. Do you think if I wanted to see him for my own personal reasons, that I would have done it outside the White House?”

Marcus drops his head into his hands and his breathing becomes deep and ragged. I put my hand on his back, running my hands up and down.

“Marcus, I want you. How many times do we have to go through this possessive, jealous crap? I need your trust as much as you need mine.”

He looks up at me and his eyes are glassy and pained.

“I do trust you, sweetheart. But seeing you there…it hurt.”

“I know, but I was just trying to get rid of him. I have nothing left for Ben, not a god damned thing.”

“There was a photographer,” he sighs.

“I know.”

“That will be front page news tomorrow.”

“What are we going to do?”

He rubs his temples. “I honestly don’t know. If Chayne sees that, she might just have enough…”

“We didn’t do anything Marcus, we didn’t get caught kissing.”

“No, I suppose you’re right. It’s not hard evidence.”

“I’m sure it will be fine, let them throw it at us.”

He leans back in the chair. “I want you staying with me until this blows over.”

I nod, not bothering to argue. He’s not going to hear it, not today. We both fall silent and remain that way the entire drive to his place. When we get in, he walks inside and drops his briefcase and phone onto the kitchen bench. He turns to me, unfastening his tie. I feel my chest clench, the look in his eyes is that of exhaustion and pure confusion. Like he’s just had enough. Have I lead him to wonder why he’s bothering with me?

Have I ruined a good situation? Are Marcus and I just destroying each other slowly?

“I’m going to have a shower, order some dinner ok?” he says in a tired voice.

“Ok,” I whisper.

He pulls off his shirt and I catch a glimpse of his back as he disappears into the bathroom. With a sigh, I pull out the menus by the phone and look them over. I order some pasta and red wine, then I change out of my school clothes and get into some comfy cotton pants and a singlet top. When Marcus comes out with a towel wrapped around his waist, I can’t help my gaze. It travels over his damp, hard body. His hair is dripping down onto his cheeks and god, he looks so delicious. I make a mewling sound and want so badly to walk over and tear that towel clean off his body.

“Sierra,” he warns.

“Do you regret me, Marcus?” I whisper, meeting his eyes.

He narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “Do you think I regret you?”

“You’re looking at me right now, like you’re exhausted and tired of trying. Like maybe you regret getting involved with me because it has caused nothing but pain.”

He walks over, stopping in front of me. I can feel the heat from his body against my skin and I shiver. He grips my face, titling my chin up.

“I’ve felt a lot of things in my life, Sierra. I’ve felt pain, anger, disappointment and regret. I know them all too well. What I know, right here, right now, with you…is that I love you. It’s not easy, but I never expected it to be. I never…ever thought Chayne would go down without a fight and this would just be a walk in the park. I will fight until my last breath for you, Sierra Walters. You should know that by now.”

I look up into his eyes, and I do the one thing that will let him know I feel the same. That I’m willing to give myself to him completely. That I trust him and most of all, that I love him. I lower slowly to my knees.

When they hit the floor, I look up at him.

“Sir,” I whisper.

“Baby,” he murmurs.

“I trust you. I love you. I want all of you. I want it all, right now.”

He kneels down in front of me, taking my face in his hands. “You’re too beautiful to be on your knees, sweetheart. I thought once that was what I wanted from you, but you’ve taught me that control isn’t everything. That having a submissive isn’t everything. You giving yourself to me, it’s what I’ve always wanted from you, but baby, you don’t need to be on your knees for anyone, ever again.”

I feel tears fill my eyes and I grip his face. “I want to do this for you, I want you to do this for me.”

“Then we’ll do it, but you need to get off your knees. You’re not lower than me, Sierra. You’re right here, in perfect line.” He says, tapping his heart.

He helps me to my knees and together we stand. He grips my hips and lifts me, putting my bottom onto the counter.

“No more knees, but you can still call me ‘sir’.”

I smile and laugh softly. “You can take the male from the dom, but you can’t take the dom from the male.”

He laughs. “That made no sense.”

“It did in my head. I don’t want you to change for me, I kind of like your control.”

“Oh don’t you worry, you won’t escape my possessive control easily.

It’s just…I want you to know in the bedroom…it’s no longer about that to me. Making love with you, on the same level…baby…it doesn’t get better than that.”

I give him a half, lazy smile and stroke my fingers over the stubble on his cheek. Before we can say more, our pasta arrives. Marcus pays the delivery boy and then comes back in, placing it on the coffee table. We both sit on the ground and open the boxes. The smell of cheese, garlic, tomato and pasta fills my nose and I groan. My stomach agrees with me by rumbling loudly. Marcus chuckles and pours two wines and we both begin to dig into the food. Mid-way through, I decide to ask him something I have wanted to ask him for a while now.

“Do you think we’ll ever be able to do this without hiding?”

He places a forkful of pasta into his mouth and thinks a moment.

“Yes, I would like to think so.”

“Do you think Chayne will just get over this and move on?”

He frowns. “No, that much I know.”

I frown. “I wish she could just see it’s over and leave nicely.”

“She knows there’s a lot of money up for grabs.”

“Money, it’s an evil thing.”

He nods his head. “Right. Open your mouth.”

I do as he asks, and he pops his fork full of pasta into my mouth. I giggle as I slide it off and chew the delicious morsel.

“Did you just feed me, Marcus Harrison?”

He grins. “I did. Next we’re going to curl up on the couch and watch a movie. I may, or may not cop a feel when I pretend to yawn.”

I laugh. “Are we going to make out?”

He wiggles his brows. “I think we’re going to make out.”

“Second base?”

“If you’re lucky.”

“Are we going steady, Mr. Harrison?”

He grins and leans back against the chair, patting his full, but still firm, belly. “I think we’re going steady, Miss Walters.”

“Well, damn!”

With that, I crawl over and position myself in his lap. He wraps his arms around me and grins, pressing his lips to my head.

“What are we going to watch, sweetheart?”

“Oh you know, something totally scary so I can bury my face into your arm when I’m afraid.”

“Nice plan.”

“I’m full of them,” I say, snuggling closer.

“You wanna know something, sweet girl?”

“Always.”

“I love you.”

I feel my eyes burn with unshed tears at his words. I press my nose into his chest and breath him in, deeply.

“Wanna know something, sexy sweet?”

He chuckles. “Always.”

“I love you, too.”

“What the fuck? Get me the number of that fucking reporter right now, Candice.”

I jerk to the sound of Marcus yelling. I roll and groan, my body is pleasantly aching after one long, hot night of Marcus and me…well…

fucking. Well, it was more of a combination actually. Sex and making love. I sit up wearily, running my hands through my hair and trying to detangle the knots. I wish we could all wake up as sexy looking as the girls in the movies. Seriously, they wake up with perfect hair and makeup. It’s rude really.

“Find it, Candice, now! You tell them I am requesting it.”

I rub my eyes and turn my face to the door where Marcus is yelling at his poor assistant. What has she done now? I get out of the bed and pull on some light clothes, then I walk out into the lounge where Marcus is pacing, back and forward and clearly furious. When he turns to face me, I see something in his gaze that worries me. It’s pity and a look of sympathy. God what has happened?

“Find it, Candice and call me back. I need that article down.”

He slams the phone closed and walks over to me, carefully, as though he’s approaching someone who is about to break.

“Sit down, Sierra.”

I blink a few times, confused.

“What’s going on?”

“That reporter yesterday…he released an article this morning like I predicted.”

I frown. “He couldn’t have gotten anything too serious.”

“He didn’t…it’s…Sierra sit.”

“What is it?” I say, feeling my stomach clench with nerves.

“Please.”

I sit down on the couch and he grips a paper in his hand, I didn’t even notice it sitting on the table beside him. He walks over and sits in front of me on the opposite couch, meeting my gaze. God, Marcus is looking at me as if I’m not going to like what he’s about to show me. What did the reporter possibly catch to cause this reaction? A few punches? I mean honestly, how bad could it be?

“Remember when I told you Chayne would go to any lengths to bring me down?”

“Yes,” I whisper, my voice far too shaky to be used right now.

“Well, I thought maybe she would try to catch us out and try to say I was cheating. Clearly she hasn’t been able to do that, so she’s gone to the next best thing.”

“And that is?”

“You, Sierra. She threatened to use you, and I told her to stay away but…”

“What did she do?” I say, my voice a high, shriek.

“Sierra…I need you to understand I’m going to deal with this and…”

“Show me!” I scream.

He closes his eyes and hands me the paper with a murmured sorry. I flip it over and my world stops. It just ends right there. It takes me a moment to focus my eyes enough to even read what’s written under the pictures. There’s three of them. The first two are what I expected, the last one is not. I hear my own ragged, pained cry come from my lips as my eyes scan over the picture I never wanted anyone to have to see, ever again. I start with the top line of the paper, and read.