Be careful.
Sound advice and difficult to ignore. In spite of her mystical loving ways, Macy was a practical woman. And for the sake of practicality, it was time for me to make a couple of career moves. I gave my notice at Casa del Sol and called Charlie the following morning to formally request him to negate my contract.
Charlie gasped over the phone. “You can’t quit. You signed your name on the dotted line.”
“So what? I don’t want the money. I’m not taking a check from you to be your dad’s fake boyfriend. It’s too smarmy. I just quit my job at the restaurant ’cause I don’t want to be an easy source of income for some lame tabloids.”
“Good decision. Especially since the whole purpose of the contract was to keep you out of the limelight. However, you can’t quit me. I need the write-off and you need the money.”
“I’m sure you have other write-offs, and I’ll be fine. I have decent savings and I invested the money you gave me and did okay there. And yeah, yeah…I’ll stay out of the limelight.”
“How? What will you do?”
“I’m gonna sign up for some acting classes and audition for a part in a regional theater production. They’re doing Macbeth at the Pasadena Playhouse.”
Charlie was uncharacteristically quiet on the line. “All right. Break a leg and all that, but…I’m still not breaking the contract. Give the money to charity if you want. That’s your call. But that contract is insurance for me. Don’t be offended. It’s just business. By the way, I’m heading out of town with Zero for a talk show, mini-desk concert appearance, and some radio gigs. We’ll be back in LA in a few weeks. I’d love for you to join us for a family dinner…either at our house or Dad’s or Gray and Justin’s.”
“So you can check in on me?” I snarked.
“Exactly,” Charlie replied brightly. “But in the nicest possible way. Dad seems happy, wedding plans are going smoothly, and the press has been mostly positive. I hate to jinx this, but at the moment, you seem like a godsend. Ta-ta for now.”
A godsend?
That sounded like the kind of compliment that could bite me in the ass later.
Or maybe not.
Life was pretty damn sweet right now. Geez, in some ways, I felt like a kid on summer break. I enrolled in an acting class, signed up for an online Shakespeare course, volunteered at an animal hospital twice a week, and read like a crazy person in my spare time. And yes, I spent at least four nights a week with Seb.
Sometimes we’d meet for lunch at his office. Trish would order for us and clandestinely retreat once the food was delivered. I insisted that she join us a couple of times so she didn’t get the wrong idea and assume we had sex behind closed doors whenever I was around. We did, but still…I wanted to make an effort to know the people Seb cared about. And Trish was probably the only one he trusted outside of his kids and Gray.
She was no dummy, though. She could probably tell we were on edge the second we saw each other. It was a mystery. I mean, I’d never felt this way about a girl. Not even Annie. When Seb walked into the room, it was like a fucking firestorm raged through my veins. Knowing the gorgeous body under that designer suit was mine was a heady thing.
The powerful man—who made interns blush with a simple hello and sent producers running for cover when details were overlooked—smiled at me as if we shared an inside joke. His eyes crinkled at the corners in greeting, then lowered in a sexy come-on that made my dick swell in my jeans. He made me feel…important. Necessary. Not just for sex, although the sex was amazing and got better every day.
I had him every way and in every position imaginable—over his desk, on his desk, on the sofa, in the shower, in bed…tied to the bed—you get the idea. It was never enough. I wanted his hands gliding over my chest, his fingers on my nipples, his lips wrapped around my cock. I wanted his smart mouth and idle conversation. I wanted it all.
I loved his many contrasts. Seb mingled easily with international rock stars, royalty, and fashion tastemakers. His name alone gained him entry to any restaurant, any show, any concert anywhere in the world. He loved all that shit. But he was equally happy at home, snuggled against me with his legs draped over mine as he fed me fries and ruined the plotline to the new Netflix series we’d started. And yeah, I didn’t mind at all.
“That guy is going to kill his brother and his business partner in the next episode,” Seb predicted around a french fry.