“Because everyone here tonight probably thinks I’m just another one of the billionaire’s acquisitions, handpicked to live on his property and share the bed in his hotel suite!” The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“No.” Sebastian’s response was stone hard. And utterly unyielding. “Everyone here tonight thinks you’re a brilliant artist. Everyone here tonight thinks I’m a lucky son of a bitch for even getting to be near you. The only person who could possibly think you’re nothing but a billionaire’s toy is you. If you think I’d pay you for what we did tonight, that the two things even have anything to do with each other, then you’ve lost your freaking mind. We’re a hell of a lot more than that, Charlie.” The look on his face wasn’t mere pain. It was devastation. “I thought you felt the same way.”

His words hit her like a heavy rock right to her belly. With a hard jolt of pain. One that either knocked you down...or woke you up.

She swallowed hard, as though that same rock were being shoved down her throat. Her eyes had already filled with tears as she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

So much had changed so fast. In the wake of their incredible lovemaking, her walls had come down...and she’d been unable to stop herself from freaking out over just about every single thing. The pressure from all those possible future commissions so that she’d have money to pay for her mother’s care beyond the first year. Wondering if she could actually fit into his glittering world—and if living in it would ever get easier. Worrying that Sebastian preferred the dolled-up version of her over the woman in boots and jeans. But she hadn’t meant to take out her fears on him, or to spin his very kind offer into something dark and twisted.

“I’m not usually this emotional. At least,” she said with a shaky little laugh, “I can usually control it better.”

He slid his hands down her arms, gathered her fingers in his, and pulled her close to rest his forehead against hers. “I’ve never felt like this either. You’ve become the most important person in the world to me, Charlie. I never want to hurt you.”

“I know you don’t.” Her voice, her body—everything—felt soft and rubbery with her tears. “And I promise you that I didn’t think the dress was payment for anything. I just couldn’t see spending that kind of money on clothes. Not when I could pay for six months at Magnolia Gardens for that amount.”

“I’m sorry too, Charlie. I should have understood about the dress. But when it comes to your mom?” He shook his head. “I just want to see her as comfortable as she can be, and in a good place, without either of you having to worry over how long you can keep it up, or that she’ll have to go back to Shady Lane.”

He was so sweet that she felt another trickle of tears down her face. He kissed them away even as she beat herself up for calling his generosity into question. All because she was scared. About pretty much everything.

She cupped his cheek in her palm. “In a few months, if I have trouble making payments, I will come to you, I promise.”

“Thank you.” He wrapped his arms around her as if she’d just given him a gift simply by agreeing to accept his help if she ever needed it.

She pressed her mouth against his, stroking the rippling muscles of his chest. She could fix this. She needed to fix it, needed to show him how sorry she was.

“Come with me,” she whispered, holding out her hands and leading him back to the bedroom. Wrapping her body around his, she pulled him down to the bed. The delicious scent of their loving still lingered on the sheets. And she wanted more, needed it, had to erase the words that had come between them.

“Charlie.” Her name was a whisper of pleasure over her skin as he covered her in kisses.

He pushed aside the robe, baring her body to his lips, his touch. “Your skin is so sweet, so soft.” He licked, tasted, and kissed his way over her breasts, finally taking a nipple between his lips, teasing her.

“Sebastian.” She cried out his name, arched up, pressing her body hard against him. Begging. She’d never felt so cherished or so possessed. Sebastian didn’t just kiss, he savored. He absorbed himself in her pleasure, in every inch of her skin, in her textures and curves, as if she were the only thing that mattered in the world.

How could she have doubted him?

Trailing his hand down her stomach, slipping his fingers over her sensitive flesh, he made her forget all her fears, her worries. Made her forget that she always felt she needed to do everything herself.

“Sebastian, please.” She writhed beneath him, his leg thrown over hers to open her body fully to him.

“We have all night,” he murmured, sliding a teasing finger inside her. “And I’m going to enjoy every second.”

Her desire rose so fast, she couldn’t wait. It wasn’t enough that he pleasured her. She needed to feel his body connected to hers, completely—inside her, filling her, riding the wave with her.

“Now,” she whispered. “I want it all now.”

He kissed her hard, consuming her for all-too-brief seconds. “I love it when you’re greedy.” He arched, retrieved the protection. They hadn’t even fully removed the robes, the soft terry caressing her skin along with all his hard muscles.

Then he gave her what she wanted, what she craved, filling her deeply.

And nothing else mattered, not the money, not the things they’d said. There was just this—his beautiful touch, his loving murmurs, and then his mouth on hers as they touched the sky together.

* * *

Sebastian relished every single second with Charlie spooned into his body, her breathing gentle and even. The moment was made even more sublime because he’d almost ruined everything, coming close to losing her by doing the most asinine thing imaginable—talking about money after they’d made love for the first time.

He should have heeded Susan’s warning not to push, especially with an independent woman like Charlie...

It was just that making love seemed to tear down all the barriers between them. He couldn’t hold back his desire to do everything possible to make her happy and to care for her mother. No formal promises had been made, but they already felt like his family. He had no expectations and wanted no payback for anything he did, and he’d believed Charlie would finally understand that he wanted to help because she meant everything to him.

But he’d proven he was as big an idiot when it came to love as any fool had ever been. All night long he’d wanted to say the words, wanted her to know he was crazy in love with her. But he’d been afraid she’d see it as just another ploy to get his way.

I love you, Charlie.

Soon. He’d tell her soon.

And hopefully, he prayed as he pulled her closer in the dark, breathing in her scent, she’d fall in love with him too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The weekend with Sebastian had been beautiful. If she closed her eyes, Charlie could still almost feel his touch on her skin, and his scent seemed to linger all over her body. When she breathed, she breathed in Sebastian.

But then there was real life, and the Monday after the gala was not only moving day for Charlie’s mother, but Sebastian had also arranged for a new doctor to meet with her. Charlie was thrilled her mother would finally live in a nice home with a garden again, but she was more than a little worried about Sebastian. If his hopes for her mother’s health were smashed, would he take it as badly as he had his failure to help his own parents?

Dr. Bengali had kind brown eyes and dark skin that showed nary a wrinkle. In his mid-thirties, he was an eminent surgeon who specialized in ankles. Sebastian had researched the man’s career, and though he was relatively young, he was considered brilliant in his field. It still blew Charlie away that Sebastian could convince these prominent surgeons to make house calls. Despite her doubts that anything could be done, she still couldn’t help the whisper of an internal mantra: Please help her. Please.