She pulled her phone from her purse. “It’s dead. That’s why I didn’t get anything from you. See for yourself.” She held up her phone.
She took it into the kitchen and plugged the charger into it. Then, she turned and narrowed her eyes at me.
“Just ignore that last text,” I said. “Why are you going to Whole Foods so late? Do you know how dangerous that is?”
She started removing the groceries from the bag and set them on the counter.
“I needed a few things and on my way home, I stopped and talked to Willie. We had a nice conversation and then I gave him some apples. Actually, I gave him all the apples I bought, so I guess I’ll have to go back tomorrow and get some more.”
“Who the hell is Willie?” I stood there in confusion at the fact that she gave him apples.
“The nice homeless man that resides on the next block. During the day, he camps out in front of Barnes and Nobles, and at night, he moves to the alley. But he was still at Barnes and Noble when I walked by.”
“May I ask why you talk to him?”
“Why wouldn’t I talk to him? He’s an interesting person. He served in the military for thirty years and fought in two wars and received the Medal of Honor.”
“Then why is he homeless?”
“When his kids grew up, his wife left him. He started drinking heavily, lost his job, couldn’t afford his house, so the bank took it and now he’s on the street. It’s sad that he’s been living like that for five years.”
“It’s his own fault. He could do something, but he chooses not to. So he has no one to blame but himself.”
“Wow, Sebastian, that’s really cold-hearted.”
“It’s the truth, Chloe. You know it, and the fact that you even talk to him.”
She sighed. “He’s a human being just like you and me. Is there a reason you came over, because I’m really tired and would like to go to bed?”
“I think we need to talk about tonight.”
“What about it?”
“I wanted to explain about Serena.”
“I don’t care about her. You obviously had your reasons for going to dinner with her. It’s none of my business.” She placed her hands on the counter.
“It was just dinner. If there were more, I wouldn’t be standing here in your apartment.”
“Like I said, it’s none of my business.”
Walking over to her, I placed my hand on her cheek.
“Good night, Sebastian,” she spoke as she stared into my eyes.
“Do you really want me to leave, Chloe?”
“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate to answer.
Removing my hand from her cheek, I lightly kissed her forehead.
“I’ll be in touch,” I spoke as I began to walk away.
“Please don’t,” she said in a low voice.
With my back turned to her, I stopped and looked down. Taking in a deep breath, I walked out of her apartment and hailed a cab back home. The pain I had buried so long ago was back. I felt it in my chest. I felt it when I looked at her. She claimed she didn’t care, but she did. Her eyes, which were always full of light, were now filled with sadness.
Chapter 21
Chloe
Placing the last piece of art on the wall, I stood back and studied the display we all helped organize.
“It’s truly a beautiful sight.” Gregory sighed.
“It sure is.”
“Everyone that we sent invites to has responded that they will be attending. This is going to be huge.” He smiled.
“What about Mr. Bennett?” I asked as I looked at Gregory.
“He responded with a no.”
“That’s good. It’s probably for the best. I’m going to finish up some work and take the rest of the day off. I think I’ll go see my dad.”
When I walked into my office, my phone rang. It was Sienna.
“Hey.” I hit the answer button and set my phone on the metal stand on my desk.
“So I have a bit of a problem.”
“What’s wrong?”
She rested her cheek in her hand. “I hate that Sam went back to England.”
“Aw, Sienna. I can honestly say I’m shocked.”
“I know, right? Me too. I miss the big goofball already and he’s only been gone a couple of hours.”
“I think someone is in love.” I smiled.
“Maybe. Who knows. He cried at the airport.”
“He did?”
“Yeah.” I could see her eyes start to fill with tears.
“He told me that he loved me and if I loved him, he’d stay.”
“I’m assuming you didn’t tell him.”
“I told him that I’d have to get back to him on that.”
“OMG! Sienna.”
“He freaked me out. I panicked. Listen, I have to go. My pain in the ass client is standing at the door looking at me.”
“Okay. Call me later or come over. We can do a girls’ night and sit on the couch with our gallon of ice cream and watch depressing movies.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Shaking my head, I cleaned up my desk, grabbed my purse, and headed out the door to see my dad. As I approached East 42nd Street, I saw him sitting on the ground Indian style with his guitar in his hand.
“Hey, Dad.” I smiled as I sat down next to him.
“Hey, pumpkin. You’re going to get your fancy pants all dirty.”
“They can be washed. How’s business?” I asked, looking over at his guitar case, which was filled with green.
“It’s a good day. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a beautiful May day and everyone is in a good mood. Here.” He handed me his guitar. “Drum up some more business for your old man.”
With a grin, I took the guitar from him. This was something we did on occasion. I began playing and singing Tomorrow Is a Long Time by Nickel Creek. Before long, people stopped to listen as they threw dollar bills into the guitar case. My heart started racing as I was singing and looked up to see Sebastian standing amongst the crowd of people staring at me. When I finished the song, He walked over with his hands tucked into his pockets.
“Why, hello there, Sebastian.” My dad smiled.
“Hello, Larry. Chloe.” He nodded.
Handing my dad back his guitar, I gave him a kiss on his cheek.
“I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”
“Yeah. Okay. Enjoy the rest of your day, pumpkin.”
I began to walk away and Sebastian walked with me.
“You were really good,” he spoke.
“Thanks.” I stared straight ahead.
“So how have you been?”
I swallowed hard. “Fine. Busy. You?”
“Okay. I guess. Busy as well.”
“Good.” I turned the corner.
“Chloe, listen. I want to see you.”
“You’re seeing me.”
He lightly grabbed hold of my arm and forced me to stop walking.
“I want to see you. Let’s have dinner together tonight at my place.”
As I stood there and stared into his pleading eyes, a part of me wanted to slap him.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“You can’t or you won’t?” He cocked his head.
“I can’t. Sienna is coming over tonight. Sam went back to England today and she’s really sad, so we’re going to have a girls’ night in.”
“I see. How about tomorrow?”
“Sorry. I have an exhibition tomorrow.”
“That’s right. How about after the exhibition? We can have a late dinner.”
“I don’t know.” I began walking. Why was the thought of possibly having dinner with him going through my head?
“Just dinner. Nothing else. I promise.”
“Dinner at your place and you expect me to believe you won’t try to have sex?”
“I promise. I’ll be on my best behavior. Please, Chloe, just have dinner with me.”
/>
His begging was pathetic. I stopped.
“Fine. I’ll have dinner with you after the exhibition. Gregory told me that you responded no on the invite.”
“Now that you’ve agreed to have dinner with me, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll be there.” The corners of his mouth curved upwards.
“Were you going somewhere before you saw me with my dad?”
“Oh shit. I was meeting Damien. I’ll see you tomorrow night at the gallery.”
“Okay.”
As I walked away, Sebastian called my name.
“Chloe.”
“Yeah?” I turned around.
“Have a fun girls’ night tonight.” He smiled.
“Thanks.”
I was nothing but the poster child for being a glutton for punishment.
****
Sebastian
I barely slept a wink all night. Not only was I thinking about Chloe, but also about this big deal I was signing today. This had been in the making for months, and it was one of the biggest deals I’d made in a long time.
Sitting in the conference room alone, I had an unsettling feeling. I didn’t know where it came from or why, but something was really bothering me. Ed and John walked in and Damien followed behind.
“Hello, Sebastian. Do you have your signing pen ready?” Ed smiled as he set the contracts in front of me.
“You’ve made the right decision to become a capital investor in our company,” John spoke as he took a seat.
Looking over the contracts, my unsettled feeling didn’t diminish. What the fuck was going on? “Gentlemen, excuse me for a moment.” Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent a text message to Chloe.
“Good morning. Are we still in that Venus thing?”
“You mean a Venus retrograde? Yes. For about another four weeks. Why?”
“Just wondering. So now wouldn’t be a good time to make a major business investment?”
“No. Not a good time at all.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you later.”
“You’re welcome. Do you want to tell me what all this is about?”
“Later.”
Walking back into the conference room, I took a seat across from Ed and John.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I’m not signing any contracts at this time.”
“WHAT?!” Ed shouted.
“Sebastian,” Damien spoke.
“I’ll look this over again in about a month. Until then, I won’t be investing in your company. I’m sorry. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other work to do.”
Getting up from my chair, I buttoned my suit coat and walked out. Fuck. I prayed to God that I made the right decision. Damien followed me into my office.
“What the fuck, Sebastian? What the hell are you thinking? We worked months on that deal. Do you know how much money you just cost us?”
Taking a seat at my desk, I arched my brow at him.
“Us? This is my company and I make every damn decision about it. Don’t you ever forget that.” I pointed at him. “Right now isn’t the right time to invest in that company.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I’m going with my instincts. You need to trust me on this, Damien. Have I ever steered off course where this company is concerned?”
He sat there shaking his head with a look of anger on his face. Getting up from his seat, he pointed at me before walking out the door.
“You better hope your instincts are right. You’ve been off ever since that girl walked into your life.”
Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in my chair. He was right where Chloe was concerned. I had been off. It seemed like my whole life had been turned upside down ever since that one night in London.
Chapter 22
Chloe
I nervously walked around the gallery, watching, staring, and hearing the whispers of the people who came to the exhibition. Connor and Ellery were standing in front of the sculptures talking to Oliver and Liam Wyatt. There was no reason to be nervous, but I was. I think I was more nervous for Caden. Looking at my watch, I wondered where Sienna was. Suddenly, I felt two arms wrap around my waist from behind.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
Turning my head, I gasped when I saw Sam staring at me.
“Oh my God. What are you doing here?”
“When I landed in Boston, I couldn’t get on that next plane. I just couldn’t do it. I already missed her too much.”
“Aw. Where is Sienna?”
“She’s in the bathroom. She told me to come up and surprise you.”
“Well, I’m glad you did.” I placed my hand on his chest.
“SURPRISE!” Sienna smiled as she held out her arms.
Hugging her tightly, I could tell she was happy that Sam was back.
“This is a great surprise, right?” I whispered in her ear.
“Yes. It sure is. I’ll fill you in on all the details later. For now, I’m going to check out that sexy artwork over there.”
She hooked her arm in Sam’s and the two of them walked over to the display.
“I thought he went back to England.” I heard Sebastian’s voice behind me.
When I turned around, the butterflies awoke in my belly as if they were happy to see him.
“He never made it out of Boston. He came back.”
“I see. How are you?” He smiled.
“Nervous, but good.”
Placing his hand on my shoulder, he spoke, “Don’t be nervous. It looks like everyone is enjoying the exhibition. I will admit that I am curious to see what the artist has done.”
“Then follow me.” I smiled as I held out my arm to him and led him over to the display. “Well?” I asked.
“It definitely is erotic, that’s for sure.
“You like it, though, right?”
“Yes. It’s very expressive.”
“Exactly!” I smiled.
“He does photography too?” Sebastian asked as he stared at the beautiful naked girl in the stiletto heels with the pouty mouth.
“Yes.” I laughed. “Do you like her?” I nudged his shoulder.
“Who me? She’s not my type.” He winked.
I wanted to ask him what his type was, but I refrained for fear he’d get angry.
“Hello, Sebastian.” Ellery smiled.
“Hello, Ellery. You’re looking as lovely as ever.” He kissed her cheek.
“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’m going to steal Chloe away for a moment.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
When I walked away with Ellery, she led me downstairs.
“Richard Borne is very interested in purchasing almost half the display. He wants a couple paintings, five photographs, and two sculptures.”
“What’s he going to do with all that?”
“Apparently, he has a,” she held her fingers up, “room that they would be perfect in.”
“Ah. I bet it’s a very special room.” I smiled.
“Ew!” she shrieked. “Him and that room. The thought.” She laughed. “Go ahead and talk to Mr. Borne and find out exactly which pieces he wants and put sold stickers on them.”
“I’m on it. Caden will be very happy.”
“So will Connor.”
Walking back up the stairs, I went into my office and pulled the sold stickers from my desk and found Mr. Borne. The exhibition was well received and Caden sold almost every piece of artwork. Standing there staring at the wall that was devoid of all but three paintings, I felt a hand softly touch my back.
“The exhibition went well,” Sebastian spoke. “I told you that you had nothing to worry about.”
“It did. Didn’t it? I’m really happy for Caden.”
“If you’re ready, we can head to my penthouse for dinner.”
“I’m more than ready. I’m starving. Just let me grab my purse.”
Grabbing my purse from my office, I left the gallery in the hands of Gregory to close up and Sebastian and I headed to his penthouse.<
br />
****
“Wow,” I spoke in awe as I looked around his forty-five-hundred-square-foot penthouse. The light beige walls and light oak flooring made the space look even bigger.
“So what do you think of my stuffy penthouse?” The corners of his mouth curved upwards.
“Okay. So I was wrong. It’s very light and airy. No dark wood floors, no dark trim, but I was right about the beige walls.”
“Everyone has beige walls.” He chuckled.
“Mr. Bennett, dinner is ready.”
“Thank you, Karina.”
It was apparent that Sebastian wasn’t going to introduce me to the hired help. So I introduced myself.
“Hi.” I smiled as I held out my hand. “I’m Chloe.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Karina.”
“Nice to meet you too, Karina.” I narrowed my eye at Sebastian.
I followed him out onto the patio, where a table, next to an outdoor fireplace sat.
“I thought it would be nice to dine out here. Of course, if you get cold, we can move inside.”
“No. This is fine.” I smiled.
We took our seats and Sebastian picked up the bottle of wine and poured some into our glasses.
“So, are you going to tell me what that text was about earlier today?”
He sighed as he brought the glass up to his lips.
“I was supposed to sign the contracts to become a capital investor in a company I had been dealing with for the past several months. It was a multi-million-dollar deal and I got to thinking about how much I lost in Vegas.”
“Go on.” I smiled.
“It’s not a big deal, Chloe. I just thought that maybe this deal wasn’t supposed to happen right now, so I didn’t sign the contracts. Needless to say, they were not happy.”
“That’s too bad for them. You did the right thing.” I winked before sipping my wine.
We talked mostly about the exhibition, my job, Sienna and Sam, and nothing personally about him. So I decided to turn it into a game.
“I want to play a game.”
“Oh.” His eyebrow arched. “What kind of game?”
“A personal game. It’s a great way to get to know each other. I’ll start.”
I could tell by the expression on his face that he was on the fence about it.
“My favorite color is yellow.” I pointed at him.
“Black.”