Covered, Part Three (6 page)

I called in sick the next day, and the day after that. Gavin cancelled an interview with a local fashion blog, and we ordered a lot of take out, anything that could be delivered and eaten in bed.

We watched movies, we cuddled, we fucked and we talked, we planned our future and we healed our past.

And we fucked. Again and again. I had completely forgotten how essential sex was to a relationship and to my life. Something I vowed to never take for granted again.

Marta was forgiving and greeted me with raised brows as I stumbled in on the third day wearing a grin the size of Texas.

“I do believe that is the expression the cat wears when it catches the canary,” she laughed as I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

“It might be,” I said, “it feels good to be happy again though.”

“You deserve it,” she replied.

I suddenly felt a blunt thud of guilt in the pit of my stomach. “How’s the house? How are the cats?” I felt guilty because I still felt as though I’d shirked my duties and shoved my problems into Marta’s lap. What would Auntie G think knowing that I’d abandoned the cats?

“It is fantastic,” she said with a grin of her own, “I love the house and the cats. Mister Perkins might be my favourite though, but Annie May has a big piece of my heart. Oh, and Tom Tom…he’s a sweetheart…but that Gracie, she’s a joy…and–”

“I get it,” I said with my hand up, laughing, “Wow I didn’t think anyone would love them as much as Auntie G.”

She blushed and said, “I do. I guess I’m just a crazy cat lady after all.”

“That’s good for them and me,” I replied, “just let me know if you aren’t comfortable with the situation at all. Promise?”

“Definitely. And I want you to promise you’ll let me live there even after I tell you my news.”

“What news is that?”

“I’m selling the store.”

“What? I mean I knew you wanted to, but why now?”

“I can’t keep up with the payments,” she said sadly, “sales have slowed down because everybody wants books on their computers now.”

I suddenly had an idea. I wanted a job, and Auntie G had left me a little money. “What would you be asking for it?” I asked.

“That depends on who’s buying it,” she replied with a grin, “I might give you a discount if you’re interested.”

“Let me talk to my lawyer and I’ll talk to you about it.”

We agreed, and I stalked the aisles imagining it as my little book store. I loved the place, and digital books could never take the place of a real book in my opinion. It just needed to be marketed better, to let people know it was there.

I worked the day feeling strangely lighter. I felt as though the pieces of my life were finally falling together.

***

“Surely you have a couple extra zeros on this figure,” I said and shoved the papers back to the lawyer.

“Nope, that’s the amount,” he said, “your Aunt had a sixth sense when it came to investing. She made herself quite the bundle over the years.”

“I’d say,” I replied, “This is all mine?”

“All yours, I just need to know where you want it deposited. Also, I need to know if you want to sell her Apple stock or keep it.”

“She had Apple stock? She didn’t even own an iPhone!”

“She had a friend who hit her up in the early eighties for a loan. Instead of paying her back, he gave her shares in the company. They’re worth an estimated eight million in today’s market.”

“On top of the five million you’re giving me?”

“Yes, plus the house, the properties in Oregon and the antiques and jewelry. The total estate is quite significant.”

“Yeah,” I replied, stunned. “What do I need to do?”

“Give me your banking information and I’ll have it deposited. I’ll have the property deeds transferred, and for the stock?”

“Keep it in the company,” I replied, feeling very rich all of a sudden. I didn’t know why Auntie G had lived such a frugal life if she had this kind of money. I almost felt guilty being excited about it.

I left the office and Gavin was waiting for me outside. We walked to his car before I told him what I’d just found out.

Between the two of us, we were quite the power couple when it came to finances.

“First things first, we’re buying you a brand new reliable car,” he said, “I can’t stand the thought of you breaking down by yourself somewhere.”

“Actually,” I said slowly, “I know the first thing I want to buy.”

“What is it, love?” he asked with a sly smile, “Something sexy for you to wear? Perfect, let’s go shopping now!”

I laughed and punched him playfully in the shoulder. “No, I want to buy Marta’s book store.”

“Really?” he replied, looking me up and down, “a business owner? That sounds like a great idea!”

“Do you think so? I mean, I know it’s risky. People love their digital books now, and I know real book sales are way down. But I’d hate to see the store close.”

“I could always help you out,” he said, “Bring in the sex crazed romance readers with my charming personality.”

“Yeah,” I said, deadpan, “I’m sure it’s your personality they’d all be checking out when they asked you to grab a book off the top shelf.”

He laughed and shook his hips, showing off his perfect ass. “Well, whatever gets them through the door making my girl’s shop a success.”

“So you’d whore yourself out for me? That’s so freaking adorable,” I laughed.

He hugged me, kissed my forehead and said, “As long as nobody touched your property, I’d do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” I giggled and threw my arms around him. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have Gavin in my life, and I never wanted to forget it.

He came with me to talk about it with Marta, and I was surprised when she gave me a price that I could more than afford with Auntie G’s money.

We decided to go ahead with it, and in a month’s time, I would be the owner.

“Does this mean I have to call you Miss Britton?” Sylvie complained.

“I’m the only one who calls her that, aren’t I?” Gavin jumped in and winked at me. I blushed furiously, he only called me that when we were fooling around.

“No, not much is going to change around here,” I said, trying to concentrate while Gavin was making eyes at me. He had such sultry eyes, deep set and glittering with lust every time he looked at me. “Marta is even going to stay working part time and I wanted to know if you’d be my manager.”

“What?” she asked, “Seriously? I would love that.”

“Excellent, then it’s done. Once I take over, we’ll hire somebody else and keep things rolling.”

Gavin grabbed my hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed it. I swore I could see Sylvie swoon when he did so and I laughed. “Shall we head home, love?” Gavin asked.

It was funny, I knew exactly what was on his mind even though he hadn’t done much more than kiss my hand. I knew he was thinking about taking me back to his place, getting me naked and fucking me silly.

And I was more than happy to oblige.

“Do you think I’ll make a good boss?” I asked Gavin on my first day as the store owner. I was nervous even though nothing much was changing. It just felt like so much more responsibility though, their jobs relied on me being good at running a store. I could understand why Marta thought it was a lot of work.

“I think you’ll be an excellent boss,” he said and nuzzled my neck. “If I didn’t have this stupid shoot today, I’d be there cheering you on.”

Gavin was shooting an underwear ad. There was still something strangely disconcerting about driving down the road, looking up and seeing your boyfriend’s junk on a billboard, ten feet high.

It always sent me into a fit of pride and lust, one time I thought I was going to drive off the road staring at that giant package.

“I wish I could come to the shoot, help you prep a little so you fill out the undies,” I giggled and grabbed him through his pants. He inhaled sharply, growled and kissed my neck.

“I would appreciate the help, love,” he said and slid his hand up my thigh under my skirt. I was instantly soaking wet and could crawl back into bed to fuck the day away.

Another weird thing about having a desperately hot boyfriend, I was horny all the damn time. It was ridiculous sometimes, but Marta always said to enjoy it while I still had it. Sylvie truly believed that being with a man like Gavin meant you’d be horny until the day you died.

I guess only time would tell.

“I should get going,” I said and looked at the time, “I don’t want to show up late on the first day.”

“I’ll swing by afterwards and pick you up if you want to take the car,” he told me. He had hired a car service to take me wherever I wanted to go until we found something I liked enough to buy.

It was hard giving up my old shitty car, but I knew it was for the best.

“Sounds good,” I replied, pulled him down and kissed his perfect soft lips. I ran my hand along his strong jawline and felt the prickly stubble. I thought about it brushing my inner thighs later tonight when Gavin was between my legs.

I shivered and pulled away. “Seriously,” I said with a moan, “I have to go.”

“Go, go,” he laughed and shoved me away playfully, “I have to leave any minute now too. Unless we just agree to cancel the day and climb back into bed.”

“You don’t know how tempted I am,” I said and finally got out the door.

As I was waiting for the elevator, our door opened again and Gavin poked his head out.

“Sarai,” he said.

“Yes?”

“I love you to the moon and back,” he told me with a lopsided grin.

“I love you too,” I replied and blew him a kiss.

The door slid open, I got on and was off to work.

I would miss him though, I always did.

Being in love was a delicious ache, but it was worth it for the times we were together.

***

The day went fast, there was actually a lot for me to do. I was counting the cash registers at the end of the day when I looked up and found Marta and Sylvie staring into my office. Well, it still felt like Marta’s office, but it really was mine now for real.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Check out TMZ,” Marta said, “Or any one of those news sites.”

“What’s going on?” I asked slowly.

“We wanted you to prepare for the reporters outside,” Sylvie told me.

“Reporters?” I asked as I typed in the first news gossip site I could think of.

As I read the first story my heart thudded dully in my chest and I felt sick to my stomach.

Gavin’s family was disowning him for coming back to me. They had officially cut him off from the family estate and have collectively turned their backs on him.

He hadn’t told me a thing about it. I thought I was going to throw up.

“There are reporters here?” I asked quietly.

“They want to get your reaction. Don’t give them one,” Marta said.

Just then I heard the loud rush of a crowd and the front door chime went off. I jumped up and saw Gavin enter my little store.

“Gavin,” I said with a broken voice, “I’m sorry.”

“So you’ve heard?” he asked and rushed towards me, “I don’t give a fuck about them, love. Don’t listen to a damn thing those wolves have to say.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I said with tears springing to my eyes, “I’m worried that you’ve been forced to choose. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What difference would it have made? I want you, Sarai, and no other. I don’t care if they approve or not, I would rather be alone in this world with you than surrounded by people without you. That’s the bottom line, I won’t ever leave you again, not now that you’ve given me a second chance.”

“I just…maybe if we talked to them…”

“It means nothing to us. We have our own lives and money, we don’t need my family for anything other than somewhere to stay when we visit the UK,” he smiled and brushed a strand of hair off my forehead. “Stop stressing over it, it’s just a little bump in the road. And who knows, they’ll probably come around when we have our first baby.”

“Our first?” I asked, “Baby?”

“Yeah,” he said, “I can’t wait to start a family of our own.”

“Oh,” I said and gulped.

“Don’t look so freaked out,” he laughed, “you know I want a houseful of kids.”

“We’ll talk about that another time,” I said with a little smile, “right now we need to go see your parents.”

“Let it cool down,” he said, “Madeline is on our side, by the way. She adores you.”

“Oh good,” I replied, “at least one of them doesn’t hate me.”

Gavin helped me pack the money in the safe and close up for the night. Marta and Sylvie snuck out the back door and I was about to follow when Gavin grabbed my arm and said, “Let’s go out the front. No more hiding.”

“They hate me,” I wailed and smoothed my hair down, trying to avoid looking like a troll doll in the papers.

“They’ll love you when they see how much I love you” he said and kissed my hand.

I took a deep breath and we left the store. Immediately we were surrounded by reporters asking questions and taking photos.

“How do you feel about your family’s decision?” one guy yelled with a mic in our faces.

“Are you going to leave Sarai now that you’ve been disowned?” a woman screamed in our faces with a cell phone held out in front of her like a cross in front of vampires.

I ducked down and locked the store. I slipped the key in my pocket and turned to Gavin. I thought we were going to take off but Gavin grabbed my hand and held me next to him.

“I do have something to say,” he told the assembled media. His handsome face was lit up and he was laying on the charm inches thick.

They all went quiet and listened though, he was a charismatic guy and knew how to hold their attention.

I pulled slightly and he squeezed my hand. I turned back towards him and looked up at his beautiful face. My breath caught in my throat as he continued to speak.

“My family’s decision is regrettable. I can’t speak for their motives, but I will say I am hurt by them. I refuse to be bullied though, I refuse to live my life in black and white without the woman I love. When I’m with her, my life is in full color, and once I had a glimpse of it, I couldn’t go back to my former existence.”

I was distinctly aware of my heart beating in my chest and the rest of the world falling back out of my vision. Gavin was in the center and his face was highlighted for me. It was the only thing I saw.

As if in slow motion, he continued to speak as he turned towards me. “I love Sarai and I can’t imagine my life without her now.”

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little velvet box. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move.

Tears sprung to my eyes, sharp and happy, as he dropped down in front of me, down on one knee. “I had hoped to do this in a more romantic fashion, but I think the world needs to see it now. Sarai Britton, you have changed me. You have made me a better man and you have helped me become whole. I came home when I found you and I want us to be joined together in love and in name. I want my family to understand how much you mean to me, I want the world to know how much you mean to me, but most of all I want you to know. Sarai, will you marry me?”

The crowd of reporters collectively gasped, waiting for my reply. My mind was racing a million miles a minute as I tried to find the words to tell him how I felt.

Nothing came to me.