“Thanks.”
I end the call and toss my phone in my handbag, then glance up to see a woman with fiery red hair striding purposefully toward me, a smile on her face.
Fiona and I have walked in the same circles for years. We’re not strangers.
“London,” she says, leaning in for a hug. “It’s good to see you. I was excited when I got your call.”
“It’s good to see you too. Thanks for sending the script over to me. I had a chance to read it on the plane from L.A. the other day.”
She sits and fidgets in her seat. “What did you think?”
“I love it,” I reply honestly. “It’s beautiful. Heartbreaking. Funny. It hit me in all of the feels, and that’s not easy.”
“Thank you so much.”
“And I’d like to fund it.”
She stops cold, staring at me. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Her mouth opens and closes in surprise.
“I thought you’d asked to see it because you were interested in the lead part.”
I shake my head. “I think it’s a story that needs to be told. It’s important, and I think people will identify with it.” I bite my lip. “I can identify with it.”
She tips her head to the side, wanting me to explain more, but I don’t. I like Fiona, but she’s not my confidante.
“Are you telling me that you want to back the whole show? On your own.”
I nod.
“And do you also want to star in it?”
I sit back, considering it. It’s a beautiful role. “Honestly, no. I don’t have time right now to commit to it, and I think it hits a little too close to home for me. But I know that it’ll get cast wonderfully. This show is going to be a success, Fiona.”
We stay for another hour, talking about specifics, more contracts, timelines, and then Fiona checks the time and has to run. But we both leave the meeting feeling excited and optimistic.
It feels good to support something that my parents would also be proud of.
I stand and throw my trash away, and when I turn to walk home, a man walks down the intersecting block, and again, I’d swear it’s Kyle.
“It’s not,” I tell myself. “He’s just on your brain lately.”
I shrug it off and walk home, arriving just before the sun starts to set. I can tell that summer is beginning to wind down because it gets dark earlier every day. But I love fall, with the trees turning color. It’s beautiful here then.
But I’ll be in L.A. I don’t think the trees turn the way they do here. At least it’ll be warm.
Maybe I’ll rent a place with a pool so I can sit out and take advantage of being in the warm weather later into the year. That’ll be awesome.
“Hello, Miss Watson,” the doorman says with a smile. “You’ll want to check in at the desk. Something arrived for you earlier.”
“Thanks,” I reply, and walk up to the receptionist at the front desk. “I’m London Watson. Did something come for me?”
“These beauties,” she says with a smile, pointing to the huge bouquet of red roses on the desk. “They smell amazing.”
“I bet they do,” I murmur, and pick them up, surprised by how heavy they are. Once inside my condo, I pull the card out of them and open it.
L—
Just thinking about you today.
Love,
Finn
He might be the sweetest man ever conceived. He’s thoughtful, and protective, and those are things that I don’t have a lot of experience with. Sometimes I think he oversteps a bit, but I have a feeling that gift giving is his love language.
And who am I to say no?
The flowers are stunning, and they do smell divine. They make my place look happy.
I shoot Finn a text to thank him, and then walk into my bathroom to take a shower. I pause in the doorway, frowning.
I don’t think I left the blow-dryer on the vanity this morning. In fact, I know I didn’t because I didn’t wash my hair yet today.
But there it is, on the counter, plugged in.
I shrug and put it away. Maybe Finn used it?
Or maybe I’m going crazy.
I roll my eyes and start the shower, then walk into my closet to find some clean clothes. With the film, my relationship with Finn, and worrying about Kyle, I swear I’m losing my mind sometimes.
Chapter Sixteen
~Finn~
Someone is running their hands all over my sleepy body, making it come awake and want her.
Right now.
I open one eye and smile at the sight of London’s dark hair spread over my abdomen. Her white skin against my dark. Her lips pressing to my flesh, leaving openmouthed kisses down my body. Her small hand wraps around my dick, and I can’t pretend to be asleep anymore.
I rock my hips as she slowly pumps up and down, making me even harder than before. Her eyes glance up to mine, and she grins, before sinking that sexy-as-fuck mouth over the head of my cock.
Sweet mother of God, she’s good with that hot mouth of hers.
“Holy fuck,” I growl, shoving my fingers in her hair and holding on. Her lips pucker, gripping on to my sensitive skin, sucking just hard enough to make my damn eyes cross.
She licks down to my balls, down the crease of my thigh, and then, with the happiest smile on her gorgeous face, climbs over me, and sheathes me in her hot, wet pussy.
“Good morning,” she whispers, and leans down to kiss me. “I couldn’t wait any longer to wish you happy birthday.”
“Best birthday ever.”
I grip on to her hips and watch as she moves slowly, rocking back and forth. She plants her hands on my chest, leaning on me. Her breasts are firm and high. Nipples tight.
She bites her lip and lets her hair fall in messy waves.
I’ve never seen anything so fucking beautiful in all my life.
I start to move now, quickly pushing up, impaling her. She gasps, and opens her eyes to watch me.
“You’re amazing,” I murmur as I sit up, wrap my arms around her, and hold on tightly. “So damn beautiful.”
Her lips find mine, eagerly kissing and biting, loving me with everything in her. It’s overwhelming and humbling.
Sexy as I don’t know what.
She bears down, squeezing my cock like a vise, and I know that I’m not going to last much longer. She grips my face in her hands and says, “Do it. Come.”
I can’t help but follow her command, the orgasm moving through me powerfully.
I roll us over, putting London on her back, and lazily kiss her chest, her breasts, her shoulder.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you too,” she replies with a smile.
My phone begins to ping with text messages, so I roll over and reach for it.
“You let me sleep until nine?”
“It’s your birthday,” she replies with a shrug. “Everyone should sleep in on their birthday.”
I flip the phone to silent and rub my hand over my face. Forty.
How the fuck did I get to forty already?
“How are you?” she asks.
“Old.” I shake my head and climb out of bed, then saunter around the bed to take her hand and bring her with me. “Your man is old, baby.”
“Not that old,” she says with a laugh. “Where are we going?”
“To choose assisted living housing for me.”
“You don’t need that.” She kisses my shoulder. “I’ll take care of you.”
I laugh and boost her up onto the bathroom vanity, grinning when she yelps at the cold on her bare ass.
“That’s for calling me old.”
“You called you old,” she reminds me, and tugs me closer to stand between her spread thighs. “Besides, you didn’t fuck me like you’re an old man.”
“I made love to you.” I plant my hands on either side of her hips and lean in to kiss her. “Like a man who loves you.”
“Indeed.” She scoots closer, pres
sing her hot pussy against my dick, making it start to firm up again. “I don’t think you’re too old for round two.”
“No?”
She shakes her head no and reaches between us to wrap her small hand around me again.
“Feels like this agrees,” she whispers.
“You’re quite aggressive this morning.”
“You’re sexy,” she murmurs, kissing my chest. “And I want you.”
“I’m right here.”
She guides me inside her and we both gasp. I just had her not twenty minutes ago, and I want her more than ever.
I look into the mirror, enthralled with the way her back looks as she holds on to me. It flexes, her ass shifts, her hair falls like a curtain down her slim back.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Back at you,” she breathes. “Jesus, Finn, I’m going to come again.”
“Good. Do it.” I lick my thumb and press it to her hard clit. “Come apart for me, baby.”
She cries out, her pussy pulsing around me and hips pressing hard against me. I lean one hand on the mirror behind her, unable to stay upright on my own, and come hard inside her.
“You make me crazy,” I mutter, trying to catch my breath.
“Good.” She kisses my chin. “Because you do the same to me. Now we have to take a shower and get dressed because we’re headed to breakfast.”
“We are?”
She nods happily.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s your birthday,” she reminds me. “We’re going to your favorite spot.”
“This birthday thing isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
“Why did you think it would be bad?”
“Did you hear me when I mentioned that I’m old?”
She rolls her eyes and hops down from the vanity, saunters to the shower, and flips it on, letting the water run to warm up.
“You’re not old. You’re experienced. Life experience is sexy, Finn.”
“I have plenty of that,” I agree. “Do you plan to take that shower by yourself?”
“Hell no, I plan to bring you with me so I can clean you up.”
I cock an eyebrow and cross my arms over my chest, watching her.
“Is that so?”
“Oh, it’s so.” She returns to me and takes my hand in hers. She kisses it, then pulls me in the direction of the shower. “And you’re going to like it.”
“I have no doubt.”
“I need a nap,” I say six hours later. We’ve had a lot of sex today. Went out for breakfast and shopping, wandered the city, enjoying each other. I’m exhausted.
“No naps today, old man,” she says with a laugh, and I narrow my eyes at her.
“Do I need to remind you just how old I am?”
“Hey, you’ve been calling yourself old all day. You can’t sleep. I just remembered that I have to tell you something.”
“Okay, shoot.”
She grins and her eyes are dancing as she sits up on the bed, facing me. She’s excited about something.
“I’m going to fully fund a new show.” She talks quickly, explaining that it’s a show about addiction, written by someone she’s known for a long time. Her passion is palpable. “I know it’s going to be amazing, Finn. The script is stellar.”
“This is exciting,” I reply, nodding. “It sounds like an amazing opportunity if you want to return to the stage.”
“Not in this one.” She shakes her head. “I can’t. It’s too close to home.”
“I can see that.”
“It’s honestly enough for me to invest in it.”
“I’d like to invest in it as well.”
She scowls and sits back. “What? Why?”
“Because it’s important to you.”
“That’s right, it’s important to me.”
I frown back at her. “London, I want to support this with you.”
“I need this,” she replies, and takes my face in her hands. “I’m not shutting you out, I’m telling you that I need this for me. Without you.”
“Feels like you’re shutting me out.”
“Let me have this,” she says. “I don’t need you to come save the day.”
“Keep telling me you don’t need me, sweetheart, and I’ll learn to believe it.”
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean. I don’t need your money to help me fund this. Your support, excitement, and love are so huge to me, Finn. That’s what I need.”
“You have it.”
She leans in and kisses my jawline. “Thank you. Now, I have to give you something, and then we have to get ready to go to your party.”
“I’d rather skip the party.”
“No way.” She shakes her head adamantly. “Quinn and your mom put a lot of thought and time into planning this.”
“Isn’t that weird to you? My mommy planned my fortieth birthday?”
“It’s sweet.” She slaps my arm and I rub the spot, frowning at her.
“Are you always violent?”
She just rolls her eyes and laughs, then disappears in my closet. Seconds later, she returns with a wrapped box in her hands.
“I want to give you your present when we aren’t with the others.”
“All day today has been a gift,” I reply. “I’ve had a great time.”
“Good, that was my goal.” She leans in to press her lips to mine sweetly. “But I can’t let this day go by without giving the man I love a present. So please open it.”
“I wouldn’t want to be rude,” I reply, and tear into the red-and-black paper. I feel my eyes widen at the red Cartier box inside. “London.”
“You’re not done.”
Inside the leather box is a stunning watch. “This is the Flying Tourbillon.”
She nods happily. “I saw you checking it out a couple of times when we were shopping together.”
“London.” I swallow hard, unsure of what to say. This is a ninety-thousand-dollar watch. “I don’t think anyone has ever given me a more perfect, or more expensive, gift.”
“It’s not about the money,” she says with a shrug, and takes it out of the box so she can put it on my wrist. “You’ve had your eye on it. What do you get for a man who can and does buy himself whatever he wants?”
“A Cartier watch, apparently,” I reply, surprised that it fits perfectly.
“I took one of your other watches in so they could match the band size,” she explains. “I’m sneaky.”
“Yes. You are.” When it’s fastened, I check the time, and note that we have a little space before we have to leave for the party. “I absolutely love it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She wraps her arms around my shoulders and kisses me soundly, running her little pink tongue along the seam of my lips and pressing her body to mine.
Jesus, she makes me crazy.
“Is it inappropriate to ask for a gift?”
She frowns and leans back. “Of course not. What do you need?”
“You.” I kiss her forehead. “You, in every sense of the word. I would love it if you’d move in with me here, London.”
“Really?” She blinks and looks around the room.
“If you don’t like my condo, I’ll sell it and buy something else. I don’t really care where we live as long as we live together.”
She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out, then looks up at me with serious blue eyes. “This is a big deal.”
“The biggest deal of my life.”
She nods and looks down at her hand on my chest. I’m usually a patient man, but I want to beg her, to ask her to tell me what’s going on in that beautiful head of hers.
But I wait, because I don’t want to push her.
Finally, she nods again and smiles up at me.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.” She lays her cheek against my chest and hugs me tightly around the middle. “I think this might b
e moving a little fast, but I don’t want to say no.”
“Thank God, because I don’t want you to say no.” I urge her chin up so I can see her eyes. “I’d like to put your place on the market soon. And I want to show you something.”
“Wait, what?”
“Hold on. Stay here.”
I rush into my office and grab the file on my desk, then return to her.
“I want you to see this.” I pass her the folder and she opens it, frowning.
“What is this?”
“Properties in L.A. The one on top is my favorite, but there are three to choose from, just in case that one isn’t perfect for you.”
“We’re moving to L.A.?”
“No. Well, not full-time. But we need a home there because you’ll be working there.”
“Yeah, for a few months. I can rent a house for that time.”
“This is only the beginning,” I reply, and spread all of the properties out on the bed so she can see them side by side. “Your film career is about to explode, London. I can feel it. And I don’t want you to stay in hotels and part-time housing while you’re there. Besides, real estate, especially in Southern California, is never a bad investment.”
“But.” She presses her fingers to her eyes. “What does this have to do with my condo?”
I frown. “Well, nothing, really. I just figured that if you’re moving in here, there’s no need to have two condos in Manhattan. But if you’d rather keep it and rent it out as an investment property, that’s totally fine. You’ll make a lot of money on it either way.”
“Neither of us needs the money,” she whispers, and clenches her eyes shut.
“Why aren’t you more excited about this?”
She turns and paces away, crosses her arms over her chest, and then turns back to me.
“So, you did all of this without me.”
“Of course.” I shrug. “You’ve been swamped, and I did it so you wouldn’t have to worry about it. I’ll buy the house, and all you’ll have to bring is your toothbrush. Or don’t, I’m sure I can find you a new one.”
“Of course.” She nods and then lets out a humorless laugh. “So let me get this straight. You want me to move in here with you.”
“Yes.”
“Sell my condo, that I bought after I won my first Tony as a gift to myself, by the way, so you can buy a house in L.A. for a film career that I may or may not have?”