“Sara, he’s a different guy than then. If you ask me. I don’t think you’re gonna be going away from this wedding and having him ghost you. I’ve known Adrien for a long time and yeah he’s been a man-whore the last couple of years. But Sara, I have never once seen him the way he is with you.”
Catherine really does like Adrien. I’m shocked it's taken her this long to try to set us up.
“I was worried he was going to go through life and not get some sort of happy ever after. He’s a smart, kind guy. I always knew his dick would get him into trouble. I just didn’t know he’d already lost his perfect other half. He hurt you. I remember the tears, but hell Sara, I wish I’d have known you were talking about Adrien. I could have saved you both some misery.”
I look up at her, really look at her, and see she obviously cares. A lot. About both of us.
“You’ve both been missing each other, and you didn’t even know it. Why the hell do you think me and Bryan wanted to set you two up? I’d have locked you two up in a room five years ago if I’d have known. Please give him a chance. Maybe it’s time for a change. I know you’re not happy. Maybe this second chance is what you’ve been waiting for.”
Well fuck me. I didn’t know I was being such a sour puss. I thought I was doing a good job hiding how I really felt.
“It's why we wanted you to come down before the wedding, and why Bryan persuaded Adrien to come down. We think you two are pretty fucking perfect for each other. We didn’t really need help with the wedding stuff, but we were hoping you two were going to hit it off. We got worried though the other night at the restaurant. Bryan was ready to give him the big brother treatment.”
“Thanks.”
Ady and Bryan walk into the apartment and give us both a look. I’m not sure if it’s worry, hope or a mixture of the two.
I grab my bag, walk over to Ady and kiss him on the lips. Ady grabs hold of my ass and pulls me to him. He’s hard already. It makes me feel good that a man like Ady is that turned on by me, and all I’ve done is kiss him.
“Get a room, you two,” Bryan whispers, walking away.
I can’t help but burst out laughing. Ady looks me in the eye, our foreheads touching, and just with that one look, I know I’m fucking screwed.
This man has managed to sink his claws into me, and he’s never going to let me go again. And more to the point, I never want him to.
It scares and excites me in equal measure.
“I need to unpack,” I say, smiling at him.
We leave not long after, and Catherine and Bryan seem pretty chuffed with themselves, I must admit. I’m not sure I like how much credit they give themselves. Who the hell am I kidding? They’ll expect us to name our firstborn after them. Woah! Where the hell did that come from?
Despite both meand Adrien wanting to go back to Ady’s and unpack, he believed we needed to talk, lay out all our cards. That’s how we end up sitting on the beach looking out at the sea.
Somewhere he said ‘we wouldn’t end up fucking,’ and I agreed and somewhere there was no alcohol, I suggested. This needed to be a completely sober and sexless conversation.
We’re also not stupid, though. This section of the beach also is outside Ady’s hotel.
“Sara I want you in my life and I know you’re probably gonna fight me on this, but hear me out, ok?”
I nod at him, and he gets all serious again.
“I know I’m asking a lot. You have a life. I know nothing about New York, a job, friends, but Sara, please move to Los Angeles with me.”
I sit in complete silence while he tells me everything I want to hear.
”I need to be there. It’s where the base of operations is and everything is still new. I don’t want either of us spending half our weekends flying from one side of the county to the other. I don’t want a part-time girlfriend. We were on the road to something pretty serious once, and I know we're not going to get there straight away, certainly not over one weekend. I know I hurt you last time. But Sara, please, I need you back in my life.”
WOW. It’s like he could read my mind.
“Ok,” I whisper, looking up at him.
It’s then I see the pleading look in his eyes that changes to the biggest smile. I think he was expecting a little pushback.
I arranged for you to work with our in-house marketing department. That’s an executive position that, I might add, you should already hold. You deserve a spanking for not seeing your value. Don’t fight me on this. He’s really getting some momentum now and is just running away with his thoughts.
“Ok,” I say again, smiling at him.
He doesn’t realize I’m agreeing to everything he’s saying, as he feels he still needs to sell me on the idea, or he’s worried I’m not gonna accept the job offer.