One Night in London (25 page)

There was never a dull moment with her. “In this case, spit, Chloe.”

After she brushed her teeth, I wiped her mouth with the towel and gave her a soft kiss.

“Okay, now you can tell me.”

She rolled her eyes and climbed into bed. I climbed in next to her as she snuggled against me.

“I want to use the money to open up a homeless shelter in honor of him.”

“What? Really?”

She lifted her head and sat up. “Yeah. Don’t you like the idea?”

“I love the idea and I’ll help you with everything. But what about your job at the gallery?”

“I’ll still work at the gallery. We can hire someone to oversee it and enlist volunteers. I know for a fact that Ellery will help out. We can use the fifty thousand dollars to start it up and then you can ask your super rich corporate friends to make donations. In fact, we can hold a fundraiser.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out.” I tapped her on the nose. “What took you so long to decide?”

“I actually decided it the day we were at the bank, but with Mercury being in retrograde, it just wasn’t a good time to put the plan into action.”

“I see, and why didn’t you mention it to me then?”

“Because I didn’t want to jinx it or get into a conversation and throw some bad mojo on it. Are you mad I didn’t mention it?”

“No. I’m not mad. I just thought you told me everything.”

“Honey, I do tell you everything.” I placed my hand on his arm. “It was just an idea that had to wait. That’s all.”

“But that was an idea of importance. Something that meant a lot to you and you didn’t share it with me.”

“Aw, baby.” I snuggled into him. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I love you so much and I would never hurt you on purpose. You should know that. I just wanted to wait until the right time.”

I felt his chest rise as he sighed. “I do know that and I love you too.”

“I want you to be my partner in this. I want us to make decisions together, talk about ideas, and make magic happen for those less fortunate.”

“Get up here and give me those gorgeous lips of yours.”

Sitting up, I leaned over and he placed his hand on my cheek. Brushing his lips against mine, he spoke, “I’m so in love with you that I didn’t think it was possible to love you anymore. But every day I spend with you, I find new ways to love you even more.” He smiled.

“Sebastian.” I traced his lips with my finger. “I love you so much.”

“I know you do, baby. I know you do.” He rolled me on my back and we made passionate love.

Sebastian

“W
ell, what do you think, Sebastian?” Lenny asked.

“I think it’s perfect,” I spoke as I looked around.

“Excellent. So, you’re interested in buying the property?”

“I am, but I’ll let you know for sure in a few days.”

Taking the small blue velvet box from my pocket, I opened it up and stared at the two-carat, princess cut, diamond-encased ring I had purchased. It felt right. The ring, the townhouse, everything. I had known that I was in love with her from our one night in London. We had our ups and downs in the beginning thanks to my stupidity. But now, we were the perfect couple. My love for her was so strong that marriage was the only thing I could see. I wanted to take our relationship to the next level; the ultimate commitment. When I thought of my future, the only thing I saw was her, us, together forever. She would like it here. We could make it our own and the memories that we’d create in this very home would be ones we’d hold on to forever.

I took in a deep breath as I closed the lid to the box and slipped it back into my pocket. She’d say yes. I knew she would. She loved me just as much and every day she made me feel it. She wasn’t expecting this because we’d never talked about marriage. We were just happy to be with each other, and there wasn’t one day I took her for granted. Every moment spent with her was just as magical as the moment before. She changed me. Something I never thought could happen.

The homeless shelter, Willie’s Place, a shelter for the homeless, was now up and running. We held an elegant fundraiser at The Plaza Hotel where the elite of New York City were invited. I had pulled a few strings and made sure all the paperwork and licenses were expedited so we could get the shelter up and running as quickly as possible. We hired a director to oversee the day-to-day management of operations and hired a small staff to help. We enlisted the help of numerous volunteers including Chloe’s mom and dad, and Sienna and Sam. Since the weekdays were busy for us between our jobs and everything else we had going on, the weekends were the days we spent most of our time there.

“Baby, come on. We’re going to be late for dinner.” I poked my head in the bathroom and stared at the beauty that stood before me.

“I’m coming. I’m just touching up my hair, considering someone messed it up just a few minutes ago.” She smiled.

“Sorry. But you had me all horny and I couldn’t help myself.”

“I forgive you.” She grabbed my chin and kissed me. “So where are we going anyway? You never said.”

“It’s a new restaurant that just opened.”

“Cool. Where is it?”

“Not too far from here. You’ll see when we get there.”

Sliding into the limo next to her, my nerves were starting to get the best of me. I had no reason to be nervous, but it couldn’t be helped. All the “what ifs” were running through my mind. What if she hated the townhouse? What if she hated the ring? What if she said no? What if she said she liked things the way they were? Don’t get me wrong, I loved things the way they were, but I wanted and needed more.

“What are we doing here?” she asked as Eli pulled up to the curb on West 85
^th
Street.

“I forgot to tell you that I had to stop by here and check something out for a client.”

“Don’t you have people that do that for you?”

“Yes. But this client is very special and I promised that I would do it myself.”

“Oh cool. Can I come inside with you?” she asked with a grin.

“Of course you can.”

Climbing out of the limo, I took her hand and helped her out. Walking through the wrought-iron gate, we climbed up the steps to the front door.

“The outside of this building is so beautiful,” she spoke.

“Wait until you see the inside.”

Unlocking the door, I opened it and led her inside.

“Wow. This place is a mess.” She laughed.

“I know. But look at it beyond the mess.”

“It’s beautiful. So what do you have to check?” She turned and looked at me.

“It’s over here in the living room.”

Leading her into the living room by her hand, she looked at me with surprise.

“What is this?” she asked as she stared at the round, candlelit table draped with white linens, fine china, and a vase of gerbera daisies that was perfectly situated in front of the fireplace.

“This, my love, is where we’re having dinner.”

“Here? In an empty house?” She twisted her face.

“Yes. Here in this empty house.”

“Sebastian, I love you to pieces, but I’m really confused right now.”

I swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump in my throat. This was it. Hopefully, the night that would mark the beginning of us as an engaged couple and a life of happily ever after.

I took hold of both her hands and stared into her beautiful green eyes.

“Chloe, I never thought that I would ever be able to love someone. My heart was nothing but a rock solid stone. But then you came along and showed me that my life was lost without love. You hammered through all the stone until you reached my beating heart. A heart that wouldn’t beat if you weren’t in my life. You taught me things about life I never knew. You helped me to embrace my past and you took away the anger and bitterness that resided inside me for so many years.”

She stood there and listened to me as a tear fell from her eye. Taking my thumb and bringing it to her face, I gently wiped it away.

“You turned my dark and stormy life into one that is full of brightness and purpose. We were meant to meet that night at the bar in London, just like we were meant to meet again here in New York. It was all in the timing, baby. The universe had it planned out perfectly for us. I was brought into this world to love you.”

I reached in my pocket and pulled out the box, got down on one knee while I held her hand, and proposed to her.

“Chloe, I want nothing more in this life than for you to become my wife.” I flipped the lid open and revealed the ring. “Will you marry me?”

She cupped her right hand over her mouth as she stared into my eyes.

“Oh my God, Sebastian. Yes! Yes! Yes! I will marry you!”

I let out a sigh of relief as I took the ring from the box and placed it on her finger.

“Holy shit, that’s huge.” She smiled as she held her hand out in front of her.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. I adore it and I love you, Sebastian Bennett,” she spoke as the back of her hand ran down my cheek.

Standing up, I wrapped my arms around her and gently kissed her lips.

“I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.”

“I have a pretty good idea how much.” She grinned as another tear fell from her eye.

“No tears.” I wiped it away.

“They’re happy tears. I can’t believe you did all this. I can’t believe we’re engaged! But I do have one tiny little question.”

“What’s your question, baby?”

“What’s up with the house?”

I let out a chuckle. “Take a look around, Chloe, because I want us to make this our home.”

“Shut up!” she exclaimed. “Are you serious?”

“Very serious.” I smiled.

“I love it and it needs a lot of work.” She looked around.

“I know it does and me and you are going to do it together.”

“Huh?” She bit down on her bottom lip.

“We’re going to fix this place up together, and I’m going to teach you a few things in the carpentry world. We’re going to knock out walls together, saw wood together, and hammer nails. I’m going to go back to a time when I enjoyed doing those things, before I started Bennett Enterprises.”

“Wow. I think I just fell in love with you all over again.”

“Keep remembering that while we’re working on the house.” I smiled.

“Can we have a lot of sex while we’re knocking out walls and being all sweaty?” she asked with a wide grin.

“We can have all the sex you want.” I kissed her. “Now, if you’ll take a seat at the table, dinner will be served in a moment.”

I pulled out my phone and alerted the caterers to bring in the food. As dinner was being served, Chloe couldn’t stop looking at her ring.

“This ring is so beautiful, Sebastian. I love the cut of the diamond. It’s one of my favorites.”

“I thought the cut was fitting since it was for a princess.” The corners of my mouth curved upwards.

“Stop.” She looked up at the ceiling. “The tears are coming again.”

I grabbed her hand from across the table and brought her ring up to my lips.

“When are we going to make the announcement?” I asked.

“I can hardly contain myself right now. But we should wait at least until tomorrow. What do you think about having my parents, Sam, and Sienna over for dinner tomorrow night and we’ll tell them all at once?”

“I love the idea. I’ll let Karina know and have her make something special.”

“Great. Let me send a group message now. But I have to do it in a way where they won’t suspect. I’ll just tell them that we need to discuss something about the shelter.”

****

Chloe

O
pening my eyes, I held out my hand and looked at my ring. I was still in shock that Sebastian asked me to marry him since I thought that it would be years before he was ready. Even if it took that long, I was willing to wait because he was more than worth it.

“It still smells like sex in here,” Sebastian mumbled as he kissed my head.

“Well, considering we had sex when we came home last night and then again just a couple of hours ago, I would say it would.”

“Sorry, but I woke up and I was hard. I couldn’t let that go to waste.”

I smiled as I sat up and kissed him. “I’m not complaining. Trust me. We have to get up now. The alarm will be going off in about five minutes.”

“Do we have to?” He closed his eyes.

“Yes.” I softly stroked his chest.

After showering together and having sex again, we got dressed and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

“Good morning, Karina.” I smiled.

“Good morning, Chloe. Mr. Bennett,” she spoke as she handed us some coffee.

“Morning, Karina. We’re having dinner guests tonight, so can you cook something nice?”

“What would you like, sir?” she asked.

“Chloe?” Sebastian looked at me.

“I don’t know. Remember, my parents are vegetarians.”

“How about filet for us, Sam, and Sienna, and a vegetarian dish for your parents?”

“Sounds good to me.” I smiled.

“You know, how come your parents don’t mind that you eat meat?”

“I’m my own person and I make my own decisions. They never forced it on me. Although growing up, all I ate was vegetarian meals that she cooked, but then headed to nearest burger place and ate the biggest burger I could get my hands on.”

He chuckled. “You can prepare something vegetarian for Chloe’s parents?” he asked Karina.

“Yes, Mr. Bennett. I can do that.”

“Thank you, Karina.”

As I took a sip of my coffee, I looked at Karina, who was preparing omelets for us.

“You can call him Sebastian.” I smiled.

“Excuse me?” Sebastian raised his brow.

“What?” I raised my brow back. “There’s no need to be so formal. We’re adults, not children. Just because she works for you doesn’t mean she has to call you Mr. Bennett. She’s not on any different level than you are. We’re all the same human beings and should be treated as such. If she’s going to call you Mr. Bennett all the time, then you should be calling her Miss Young.”

“Okay, okay.” He grabbed my chin. “Can you please just be quiet? No more Mr. Bennett, Karina. From now on, you are to refer to me as Sebastian.” He went and took a seat at the table.