Grey’s hand moved from my chin to my head. His fingers brushed through my hair gently for just a second before he realized what he was doing. He yanked his hand away like it had been burned. “It is a lot,” he agreed. “And I’ve barely given you time to breathe. Why don’t we head home… ah, back to my place and order in. You can relax and do whatever you want.”
“No, it’s okay. We have that client dinner. You’ve been looking forward to it all week.”
He looked surprised I’d picked up on his excitement over the client visit. “It’s not a problem to reschedule,” he said. “They come to town once a month.”
“Why don’t you go and I’ll stay back? You’d have more fun without me there anyway.”
Grey looked like he wanted to argue with me, but he held his tongue for a beat. Finally, he said, “Why don’t you let me worry about the client, and you worry about getting your clothes back on while I finish up with Roni. She needs to get these things to the tailor if we want them delivered before our trip.”
I couldn’t even imagine how much they charged for Friday night alterations on designer clothes, but then again, I couldn’t imagine being a billionaire either. While I’d grown up in a very wealthy family, my family’s spending had remained in my father’s control. Still, it was easy to let that money stress go. If Grey wanted to pay for last-minute tailoring, let him.
He stood up and handed me the half-empty bottle of water. “Drink the rest of this before you get up.”
“You’re very bossy,” I said to his back. I could have sworn I heard a huff of laughter.
When I finally dressed, all the clothes and racks were gone, and Grey was back to his buttoned-up businessman persona. He led me out of the store with thanks from both of us to Roni and her team. Throughout the week, I’d noticed the way Grey treated service personnel. He was incredibly kind and gracious. It was clear the man hadn’t forgotten where he came from, and he did his best to make sure everyone who helped him in some way was personally thanked and fairly compensated.
I loved that about him. It didn’t surprise me at all, of course, but it was a refreshing change from my father and some of the other people I’d grown up around. I’d come dangerously close to becoming just like them, and I was still terrified of acting with the same kind of entitlement I’d been raised into.
As soon as we walked out of the building, I noticed Grey’s car and driver waiting at the curb. We quickly took our places in the back seat and let ourselves be rolled through the city traffic at a snail’s pace. Grey spent the time alternately tapping on his phone and talking to Marcel. I let the sounds fade into the background while I looked out at the people heading home from work for the weekend.
I loved the city. Gigi worried how I would assimilate to Vermont in the long term since I’d always loved living in New York. She was right to worry; I worried too. But I wanted the academy to succeed more than I wanted anything else, and I couldn’t afford a life in the city while supporting the school, so it wasn’t much of a sacrifice when I looked at it that way.
“You like pizza?” Grey asked. I glanced over at him.
“Is there anyone who doesn’t?” I asked, noticing the driver smile at my response.
“Emery, what do you think?” Grey asked the driver. “You know anyone who doesn’t like pizza?”
“My neighbor Ms. Petra. She says pizza is a no, but pica, pica is a yes.” He smiled in the rearview mirror.
“Ahh,” Grey said with one of his rare smiles. “Is she Croatian by any chance?”
“Just so, Mr. Blackwood. Just so. Pretty sure they’re the same damned thing, but who am I to judge?”
I wanted to know how Grey had known a Croatian term, but I didn’t ask. Instead, I let the light conversation between them fill the car. Hearing Grey talk to Emery without his businessman mask on or any of the corporate posturing was relaxing. It made me realize how little of his real self he’d allowed me to see all week. Usually, I only got these glimpses when he wasn’t aware of my presence.
They chatted most of the drive back uptown. Grey inquired about a nephew who he’d helped place in a job, and Emery chattered on about seemingly his entire family. At some point I must have dozed off because I awoke to Grey’s warm hand pressing against my forehead as if he was taking my temperature.
He quickly pulled his hand back when I moved. “You still with us?” he asked gently.
Emery stood holding the door open, so I scrambled out of the car. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”
When Grey stepped out behind me and dismissed Emery for the night, he put his hand on my lower back again. This time I allowed myself to relax into it by telling myself we might as well go ahead and pretend to be boyfriends. What was the harm?
“I arranged for you to be worked over,” he said as we entered the building. There was a noticeable smirk in his voice that nearly made me bark out a laugh in the quiet lobby. Instead, I closed my eyes for a second to enjoy the hush of the cool, quiet space after the noise of the street.
“Thank god. I could use a good working over,” I said back as seriously as I could.
“Mm. That’s what everyone at the office has been saying.”
I looked over at him in slack-jawed shock. “Mr. Blackwood, sir, did you just crack a joke? Is the world coming to an end?”
Even though he kept his eyes ahead on the elevator door, his smile was everything.
When we got to the apartment, Jenny was there with a beer bottle in each hand. “Ricky is set up in the office, and Ted is set up in the gym. I suggest you down these first and get the relaxation started. I’m going to order the pizza. Ellison, you seem like a supreme kind of guy. Am I right?”
“I’ll eat anything except Hawaiian. Thank you.”
Grey’s hand resumed its spot on my lower back as he urged me down the hallway to the left. I’d never been down this way. When we came to a dark, wood-paneled room, I realized he was giving me the preferred masseuse.
“Ricky, thanks for fitting us in this evening. This is Ellison.” After the introductions, he left us alone. Ricky proceeded to turn me into a thick puddle of goo over the next hour, and the best part was when he left and informed me I could stay in my melted-down state as long as I wanted to since the massage table belonged to Grey.
I fell asleep for a little while and woke up to the low tones of Grey’s voice as he walked past the door. After stretching and putting my clothes back on, I made my way to my room to shower and changed into sweats and a T-shirt.
When I got to the kitchen, Grey was there dressed in similarly comfortable clothes, pecking away at his laptop. Clearly he’d decided to cancel his client dinner, and he didn’t seem overly upset by it. I apologized anyway.
“Sorry about your dinner plans.”
“Don’t be. We have a long day tomorrow. That reminds me, I had your mother’s jewelry couriered to their apartment. You should check with her to make sure she got it.”
I’d completely forgotten he’d offered to carry it in his messenger bag for me after our visit to the bank. “Thank you. You didn’t need to do that.”
He waved a hand through the air. “One less thing for you to pack. There’s pizza in the oven keeping warm.”