One Night in London (26 page)
Read One Night in London Online
Authors: Sandi Lynn
Tags: #New Adult & College, #Contemporary, #Romance
“Yes, sir.”
“No ‘sir,’ Karina.” I winked. “Just Sebastian.”
Chloe
I
finally finished hanging the last of Caden’s newest artwork and took a step back. He was such a good artist and one that was on the rise, thanks to us. His artwork was selling faster than he could paint it. Just as I was walking into my office, I heard Connor and Ellery coming up the stairs.
“Hello, Chloe,” Connor spoke.
“Hey, Connor. Ellery. What brings you by?”
“We just wanted to let you know that we’re heading to California to check on things at the other gallery and we’ll be out there for a couple of weeks at the beach house.”
“Great. Have fun. Enjoy that warm Cali sun.” I smiled.
As they followed me into my office, Ellery spoke, “You seem different.”
“I do?”
“Yes. You’re glowing. You know we woman can tell when something wonderful happened. Are you pregnant?” she asked with a wide grin.
I was dying. I needed to tell someone about our engagement and I knew Connor and Ellery would keep it to themselves.
“No. I’m not pregnant. But,” I reached into my purse and put on my ring, “Sebastian asked me to marry him!” I exclaimed in a soft voice.
Ellery cupped her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God. That’s wonderful.”
“Congratulations, Chloe. That makes me very happy,” Connor spoke.
“You and me both. He proposed last night in the townhouse that he’s buying for us.”
“Oh. So you’re moving again?” He laughed.
“Yeah. But it won’t be for a while. The house needs some fixing up and Sebastian said that the two of us are doing it together.”
Connor frowned as he looked at me. “You mean you’ll plan it out and hire a company to renovate it for you.”
“No. We’re doing the work ourselves.” I grinned.
“But why?” he asked with a perplexed look.
“I think it’s wonderful that Sebastian wants to the do the work himself,” Ellery chimed in as she lightly smacked Connor on his chest.
“You know he fixed up houses himself before he started his company,” I spoke.
“Well, yes, but I thought now he wouldn’t want to do that anymore,” Connor frowned again.
“He’s very excited about it.”
“Well, if you need Connor’s help, just call. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind getting his hands dirty to help some friends.” Ellery grinned. “Right, Connor?”
“Of course.”
Ellery walked over and gave me a hug. “We have a flight to catch. Congratulations to you and Sebastian. That ring is gorgeous.”
“Thank you, Ellery. Have a safe flight.”
As Ellery was walking out the door, Connor gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, “Do me a favor and don’t call. If you need any help at all, I can arrange it for you.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on it.”
****
“Y
ou almost ready, babe?” Sebastian shouted from the closet. “They’re going to be here in a few minutes. Well, make that now because I just heard the doorbell.”
“You go. I’ll be there in a few.”
I took off my ring and placed it in my pocket. Checking myself one last time in the mirror, I headed towards the living room where my mom and dad had just sat down.
“Where’s Chloe?” my dad asked.
“She’s in the bathroom.”
“Aw, did you two just finish having sex?” my mom spoke.
“We sure did.” I walked in with a smile and gave them each a hug, then took Arlo from her arms.
I heard Sebastian mumble under his breath as he walked over to the bar with my dad for a drink. The doorbell rang again and Karina answered it, letting in Sienna and Sam.
“Hello, darling.” Sienna smiled as she hugged me. “Oh, hello there, you sweet little man.”
“Hi. You’re late. Were you two having sex?” I grinned.
“We sure were, beautiful,” Sam answered as he hugged me and then kissed Arlo on the head.
I could hear Sebastian sigh all the way across the room and I silently giggled.
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, so why don’t we go into the dining room and sit down?”
Setting Arlo down in his bouncy seat, I took my seat next to Sebastian and discreetly slipped on my ring. Taking hold of my hand from under the table, he lightly gave it a squeeze.
“So what’s going on with the shelter?” my mom asked.
“Nothing. The shelter is doing really well,” I replied. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”
“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE PREGNANT!” Sienna shouted from across the table.
I held up my left hand. “Sebastian and I are getting married!” I exclaimed.
“Holy shit, look at that ring!” Sienna squealed. “Congratulations!”
“Oh, sweetheart, congratulations,” my mom spoke as she wiped her eye.
“Wow. My daughter is getting married.” My dad stood up from his chair.
“Way to go, you two.” Sam smiled.
Sebastian and I got up from our seats and made our rounds of hugs.
“So are you pregnant?” Sienna asked.
“No. I’m not pregnant. Just engaged.”
“Have you set a date yet?” my mom asked.
“No. It just happened last night. We wanted you to be the first to know.” There was no way I was telling them that I already told Connor and Ellery.
“There’s something else,” Sebastian spoke. “I am purchasing a townhouse on West 85
th
Street for the two of us.”
“An engagement and a new house. How exciting.” My mom grinned. “I’m so happy for the both of you.” She hugged us again.
It was a wonderful evening spent with family. We drank, laughed, and had great conversations. Every time I looked at Sebastian, his face displayed a mouthwatering smile. He fit in with us perfectly and he knew it.
“Well, we better get going and get Arlo home to bed,” my mom spoke.
“Yeah. I’m sure the two of them want to go have sex again to celebrate this night.” My dad winked.
“We sure do!” I grinned as I patted Sebastian’s ass.
“Chloe!” He shot me a look.
“Get used to it, babe. You’re part of this sex-crazed family now.” I smiled.
He slowly shook his head as we walked to the door and hugged each of them goodbye. After brushing my teeth, I climbed into bed and blew in Sebastian’s face.
“I’m all fresh for you now and my mouth isn’t the only thing.” I smiled.
He let out a growl as he pulled me on top of him. “Good to know because your mouth won’t be the only thing I’ll be spending a lot of time on.”
“Bring it on, fiancé.” I brushed my lips against his.
Sebastian
“W
e really should set a date,” I spoke as she lay wrapped tightly in my arms.
“It should definitely be in the summer or early fall.” Her fingers ran up and down my arm.
“Whenever you want, but I don’t want to wait too long. I want you as Mrs. Chloe Bennett as soon as possible.”
“I like the sound of that. We need to decide where we’re going to get married.”
“I know where we’re going on our honeymoon,” I spoke.
“You do?”
“Yep.”
“Where?”
“We will be spending our honeymoon in London, at the same hotel where we first met. The place that led us to where we are today.”
“You mean where we had sex, because we technically didn’t meet. I mean, we didn’t know each other’s names, so we really never officially met. We just had sex and more sex without knowing each other. We were still strangers when we saw each other at the gallery.”
“Chloe, shush.” I smiled as I kissed her head. “Wait a minute. When we saw each other at the gallery, Connor introduced us, so we weren’t strangers.”
“We were when I saw you and ran to the bathroom so you didn’t see me. And also that time outside the restaurant when you were talking to Damien.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Shit.” She sat up and bit down on her bottom lip.
“Shit what? Are you telling me that you saw me before I saw you again at the gallery and you didn’t say something to me?” I asked with irritation.
“Uh huh?”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe you would do that. Especially since we slept together.”
“I’m sorry.” She pouted. “I thought about you every single day after that night. When I woke up, you were gone and it took me a long time to try to forget you. When I saw you, I freaked out. Like, I put on sunglasses at night and pulled the hood over my head.”
“Jesus, Chloe. I remember that night. That was you?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember looking at you and thinking you were strange.”
She shrugged. “Nothing new there. After that night in London, I was pretty sure I fell in love with you, even though I didn’t know you. I felt this connection that I had never felt before. A pull towards a total stranger. Then all of a sudden, there you were; here in New York City. The same city that I just moved back to. God, seeing you again, Sebastian, took me back to that night and I got scared. Scared that if you saw me again, you wouldn’t even remember or just totally blow me off, and I wasn’t sure if I could handle the rejection.”
“Baby.” I placed my hand on her cheek. “I want to show you something.” I reached for my phone and pulled up the picture of her I took in London.
Her brow raised. “You took this of me while I was sleeping?”
“Yeah. I took it before I left.”
“Why?”
“Because, baby, like you, I felt something that I had never felt before. I wanted something to always remember that night and I looked at that picture every single day after. You, Chloe, were on my mind at all times. So if you would have approached me that night outside the restaurant, I would have welcomed you with open arms and brought you back here for another night of amazing sex.” I smiled.
“Wow. I’m sorry.”
I swept my hand across her cheek and pushed her hair behind her ear. “Maybe the time wasn’t right yet for us to reconnect that night.”
A beautiful smile crossed her lips. “I guess it wasn’t.”
“But wait a minute.” I shook my head. “After that night we officially met at the gallery, you ran from me and pretended you didn’t know me. Why?”
“Because.” She looked down. “I was honestly afraid of what you thought about me because of what happened in London and I really liked you, even though I didn’t know you, and it bothered me that maybe you thought I was nothing but some sex-crazed girl.”
“But you are.” I grinned.
“Sebastian.” She lightly smacked my chest.
“Come here.” I pulled her into me and kissed the top of her head. “It doesn’t matter, baby. All that matters is that we’re here now, we’re getting married, and starting a beautiful future together. I love you.”
“I love you too. Can we have makeup sex now?”
“Makeup sex? We didn’t have a fight.”
She lifted her head. “I sensed a little hostility and anger in your voice, so technically, you were mad at me. Because if you weren’t, you wouldn’t have used the tone you did.”
Placing my finger over her lips, I spoke, “Shush. We’re going to have makeup sex now and I don’t want you telling your parents about it.”
“Aw, you’re no fun.” She grinned.
This crazy girl, who I loved more than life itself, made me the happiest man in the world. She loved me for who I was and I loved her just as much for who she was. Yes, she tried my patience at times, but life without her would be boring and predictable. Two things I would never experience again with her by my side. She was the girl who stole my heart, all thanks to that One Night in London. A night that was planned out all along by a thing we called fate.
S
andi Lynn is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who spends all of her days writing. She published her first novel, Forever Black, in February 2013 and hasn’t stopped writing since. Her addictions are shopping, going to the gym, romance novels, coffee, chocolate, margaritas, and giving readers an escape to another world.
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