Tell Me Something (The "Something" Series Book 1) (29 page)

“Right now?”

“Remember, we have plans for a weekend in Charlotte. We’re going early.”

“I haven’t heard from you all week long, and suddenly we have plans for tomorrow?”

“It’s not sudden, we discussed it in Vegas. Look, it’s been a lousy week, and I thought I’d be worthless company.” He paused and then closed the distance between us. “I didn’t realize I was making you have a shitty week, too, when you should be nothing but smiles.”

“You’re making the wrong excuses Josh. You shut me out completely, I want you to tell me why.”

He sighed and hugged me closer. “I know I did. Can we talk about it tomorrow? We can fly down tonight, and we will have the whole weekend, just the two of us, okay?”

I thought about insisting on hashing it out here. But between my drinking and the lateness of the hour, I agreed to wait. “All right. But we’ll talk about it tonight, when we get there,” I compromised.

He looked instantly relieved and kissed my forehead. “We’ll leave in fifteen minutes. Do you need help, or are you all right to pack?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” I went inside my apartment, and got ready for the trip.

***

The car ride to the airport was quiet, but I was grateful when Josh handed me a large bottle of water. His hand curled around mine and I let my mind let go of my anger for now. The flight gave me the opportunity for a couple hours of sleep. I barely registered when we left the plane for the drive to the house, but woke as the driver pulled up to Josh’s beautiful mansion.

“Home sweet home. Come on, sleepyhead.”

He led me into his spacious foyer and then straight up the spiral staircase to what must be the master bedroom. “Let’s get you in bed. It’s really late. I’ll give you a tour in the morning.” He undressed me slowly and then crawled in beside me.

I sighed, loving the feel of him naked beside me.

“You seemed emotional when we were leaving the bar. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about the fact that Brian went out of his way to ensure I had a good night. That Sasha, Will, and Mark all dropped their plans because of me. I’ve never had that before,” I whispered, feeling his arms come around me.

“They all adore you, Haylee. I just wish I would have checked in this week. You should get some sleep, baby. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

“I’m not tired yet,” I whispered.

“Hmm, I’m sure I can think of something to pass the time.”

I felt his hips cradle my back side and the start of his erection.

“You promised we could discuss your week tonight,” I insisted.

“Not what I had in mind,” he protested, kissing my neck.

“I can’t keep sharing with you, Josh, and get nothing in return.” I turned and faced him.

“I didn’t want to pile my shit on top of yours. You have enough on your plate without dealing with my crap,” he muttered, unprepared for me to scramble out of the bed.

I stood there just outside of his reach. “Try again Josh. Was it what I said to you that first night?”

“Haylee, it wasn’t that.” He ran a hand through his hair sitting up in the bed. I tried not to let the fact that he had an erection distract me.

“Was it telling your brother about us? You wondered why I was awkward about that whole scene and I’ll tell you it’s because I knew it was going to affect us going forward. That you’d get weird.”

“Would you please get back into bed? Just let me hold you and I’ll figure out how to say this.”

I reluctantly got back into bed and let him snuggle me into his arms, my back to his chest, and waited him out.

Finally, he sighed. “I’ll just start with my week since that is easier. I received the call on Sunday night while we were in Vegas that my driver from when I was a kid had passed away. He was with me up until three years ago when he retired. I left for the Keys on Monday night. The viewing was Tuesday and the funeral on Wednesday. My mom and Colby came, too. It was expected, but still rough. And then my ex showed up. That was unforeseen.”

I had to bite my tongue and measure my response carefully. “When was the last time you’d seen her?”

“Three years ago, and I hadn’t expected her there at all.”

I had a million questions I wanted to ask, starting with why she would have been there in the first place. I could only handle one issue at a time however so I chose to leave that alone for now. “Tell me about your friend.”

He spent the next few minutes telling me about his family driver of many years and then was quiet. “I wish he’d had more time to enjoy his retirement.”

“Sounds like an amazing guy. So after the funeral you went back up to Virginia with your mom?”

“Yeah, where I met her new boyfriend.”

“That must of have been tough.” I kept my comment simple, letting him choose what he wanted to tell me.

“He was all right. My brother had met him before. It’s strange to see her with someone. I mean he’s the first guy she has dated and it’s been ten years, so I don’t know why I let it bother me.”

“It would be hard at any point of time to see your parent with someone new. You’re entitled to your feelings.” I yawned and felt his kiss on my hairline.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Not asking questions about my ex.”

“Mm, you know that I really want to ask why she was there.”

He sighed. “She once told me that she spent more time with him than me during our marriage. I think she had a fondness for him. I really couldn’t say and I didn’t ask her.”

I was grateful that he shared this fact with me. Flipping around to face him, I kissed his neck. “Sounds like a rough week,” I commented lightly, waiting for more.

He reached out, stroking my face. “It was and I feel terrible that I was the last to know that you got into all of the Ivy League schools you applied to.”

“I would have told you had you called.”

“I thought about it multiple times,” he said lamely.

“It hurt my feelings that you would go from not being able to spend a night away from me to going to a funeral for someone you cared about and not even tell me. I know this is short term Josh, I’ve accepted that, but the 180 degree turn was really abrupt and I’d like to know why.”

“I’ll admit that it was weird after Colby found out. Maybe I panicked a little. The rest really comes down to self-preservation. I know this is short term too which is why not being able to be away from you for a night isn’t the direction we should be taking things. I’m not looking forward to ending things Haylee,” he admitted.

I let out a breath. “Okay, I can understand that.” And I did. We both didn’t want to change one another or our long term goals and yet the thought of breaking things off in just a few months hurt like hell. “So you needed some distance to put things back into perspective?”

“Yeah and now that you’ve received your letters, it’s sinking in that you’re really leaving soon.”

I hugged him tightly and realized that he may be developing feelings he hadn’t planned on either.

***

I was twenty three years old today and had assumed that Josh had forgotten my birthday. Actually, I wasn’t sure he even knew when it was. I had told him it was in March but had never revealed the actual day. I stretched out like a cat in his massive king sized bed, enjoying the fact that we had nothing on the agenda for the day but each other. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my birthday than having sex and enjoying some downtime with my man, even if he didn’t know what day it was.

We had slept in after our late talk last night and Josh had been overly attentive with our lovemaking first thing this morning. He had brought me breakfast in bed and now I was contemplating a shower while he insisted on doing the dishes. I was pretty sure all this attention was his way of making up for the last week.

Padding into the adjoining master bathroom, I marveled at the size of it. Marble tile was everywhere, and the sunken Jacuzzi tub looked like something I would definitely need to try later on. For now I was going to enjoy his oversized glass shower with jet sprays from all angles. It dawned on me that I’d really only seen just the bedroom and bathroom and I looked forward to a tour of his home later.

Turning around while rinsing my hair, I saw him walk into the bathroom. He put a silk robe on the door’s hook and watched me.

“You could join me,” I offered suggestively.

“I’m finishing up downstairs in the living room. Take your time, brush your hair out and blow dry, and do whatever. I have this robe for you. Make sure you have nothing on under it.”

“You don’t want me to come downstairs?” I was intrigued.

He only smiled and shook his head. “Nope, not until I come in and get you. Don’t you like surprises, birthday girl?”

I yelped when he pinched my backside after I had turned around. “I can’t believe you knew it was my birthday.”

He gave me a look as if to say
is there anything I don’t know
. “Mm, yes I do, and I need you to stay in here, okay?”

Smiling, I was genuinely excited for my surprise.

I finished up my shower, and saw that Josh had brought my suitcase in for me. He must really not have wanted me to come out to the living room. I took my time, blew out my hair, and carefully put on my makeup, ensuring that I was all done up for my birthday surprise. Donning my new silk robe in a beautiful lavender color, I smiled at the feel of it against my bare skin. In the bedroom, I busied myself with making his bed and then sat in the middle of it, checking my phone while I waited.

“Hi.” He peeked in and then walked towards me with wrapped boxes in his hands. “You look exquisite.”

I blushed and look towards the gifts that were wrapped beautifully with big bows.

“So, birthday girl, these are for you.”

“Which one can I open first?” There were four wrapped boxes, and I was eager to find out what was inside each of them.

“Doesn’t matter. Pick one.”

I could tell he was amused. I grabbed the smallest box, shaking it like a little kid and enjoying Josh’s smile. I ripped through the paper while he laughed.

“You are definitely not the sort to carefully open the tape and save the paper, are you?”

I shrugged and then laughed. “Nope, life is too short,” I quipped, opening the lid and smiling. There sat ten pairs of the prettiest lace and silk thong underwear.

“That’s probably more of a replacement
I’m sorry
gift for ripping some of your other pairs, but I do rather like the thought of you wearing lacy thongs that I picked out.”

I did, too, and gave him a sexy little kiss before starting on another box. “Ha, yoga pants.” I started giggling and loved the fact that he was making each gift so personal. I pulled out the pairs, one in black, one in navy, and the last in dark gray. When I glanced at the size, I was impressed. “I thought you said these torture you.”

“Mm, such sweet torture, though. It seemed like you only had the one pair.”

“You’re right, I do just have the one. Very thoughtful of you since I love them. Running, long flights, torturing my boyfriend—they are very versatile.”

He smiled.

I ripped into another package and squealed as it revealed new running shoes, the best rated shoes on the market and far out of my price range.

“I love these, all of it.” I went for the last package, which revealed three pairs of designer jeans. “Josh, this is too much. You went overboard, but thank you, truly.” I held up the jeans and watched a funny expression cross his face.

“It wasn’t too much and probably kind of practical gifts, but I thought you’d use all of them.”

My lips kissed his softly. “The best gifts are the ones that will be actually used. Considering I’ve been living in the one pair of jeans Catherine got me and my one pair of yoga pants, I feel like I’ve just been given a whole new wardrobe of the things I love. So, thank you.”

He smiled. I was undone because Josh Singer smiling made me one very happy girl.

“Come on, I have another surprise.”

He walked me downstairs and into the sunken living room, which looked like a romantic movie set. In front of the large gas fireplace aglow with flames was a makeshift mattress with satin sheets and beautiful cashmere blankets. There was champagne on ice and white roses on both the coffee and end tables.

“I’ve never seen your house before, does it always look like this?”

He laughed. “Uh no, it had a bit of a makeover in honor of our weekend. I’ll give you a tour of the rest of the house later. But for now…” he hedged.

I turned, tipping my face up for a kiss. He did not disappoint, tasting me leisurely, savoring my lips and mouth, and then making love to me slowly and thoroughly.

***

“Have you thought about your school choices?” Josh was toying with my breasts as I lay in post coital bliss in front of the fireplace, still completely naked and having a hard time concentrating on his question.

“Hmm, not really. I’ve been otherwise occupied.”

“Gloriously so, but you still have a big decision to make. Here, this should help.” He lay the cashmere blanket over me, and I giggled.