Chapter 42: Black Ties and White Lies: Chapter 42

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” I announce, fighting a yawn as I push the knit blanket from my lap. Beck and I had settled in to watch some TV and relax after a busy day of getting back to Manhattan. Well, I relaxed, spacing off while sketching in my notebook while the TV played in the background. Beck however worked on his laptop and phone the entire time. I’d tried telling him he could go to his office to work, but he’d insisted on staying in the living room with me. Not that I’d put up much of an argument after that.

Beck’s thumb brushes over the inside of my ankle as his eyes stay scanning whatever is on his laptop. During one of his business calls he’d grabbed my feet that’d been resting against his thigh and began to rub them, all while his phone was on speaker and he talked business with one of his investors.

I don’t think he even realized how tender the moment was, how much it meant to me.

“I was wondering if you were going to doze off on me,” Beck responds, looking at me from over his laptop screen. I carefully set my sketchbook between us. For the last thirty minutes I hadn’t drawn a thing because the feeling of his strong thumbs pushing into the soles of my feet was enough to almost put me to sleep.

“I was definitely close.”

‘I’ll probably head to bed soon, too.” His laptop snaps shut as he stands up, stretching his arms above his head. A small amount of skin peeks out from above the waistband of his joggers, giving me a glimpse of his hardened oblique muscles I’m so damn turned on by.

I stand up, neatly folding the blanket I’d been using even though I know the house cleaning staff will redo it tomorrow. “Thank you for you know, hanging out,” I get out awkwardly.

Hanging out? What the hell is wrong with me? Beck isn’t the type of man to ever use the word hanging out.

I’m even more mortified by my words when he doesn’t respond at all. Sheepishly, cursing myself for my juvenile choice of words, I swipe my sketchbook from the kitchen and beeline for the stairs. “Goodnight!” I yell, not bothering to look behind me. All I want to do is go to sleep and pretend I didn’t thank the man for hanging out with me like we were making friendship bracelets or gossiping away like a group of teenage girls.

My feet barely hit the first stair when a strong arm snakes around my waist. Beck pulls me against his hard body, his lips right next to my ear. There’s a loud smacking sound as my sketchbook falls to the ground.

“And where do you think you’re going?” He nips at my neck angrily.

My mouth opens and shut as I try to form words. I’m still reeling from the embarrassment of my word choice earlier and now he’s taken me by surprise by locking me in an embrace.

“G-going to bed,” I stutter.

“Your bed is no longer upstairs.”

“It’s not?”

Beck’s large hands grab me by the waist as he spins me to face him. “You’re my fiancée,” he growls. “The only bed you’ll be sleeping in is the one in my room.”

I’m stunned, unable to think of a response to him. I hated the thought of going upstairs to an empty bed after having the luxury of feeling his warm body next to mine last night. But it didn’t stop me from accepting that was how it was going to be. At least that’s how I thought it’d be, but the angry look in Beck’s eyes tells me I must be mistaken.

“Get whatever you need upstairs right now and then meet me back here. I’ve had the taste of having you sleep next to me. As long as you’re under this roof, there’s no going back. I want to be able to reach across the mattress and run my fingers through your hair. I want to wake up and be surrounded by the smell of you. I want to wake you up with my mouth on your pussy, to see how close I am to getting you to come on my tongue before your eyes even open. There’s so much more I want to do with sleeping next to you every night, but it starts with you getting the stupid idea out of your head that your place is in any other bed but mine.”

I’ve never met someone who can say the sweetest yet dirtiest things all in one speech. It’s a talent, the way he can make me melt into a puddle at his feet with his lust-filled words.

“You have two seconds to turn around and get whatever the hell it is that you need before I say fuck it and throw you over my shoulder. I’m pissed at you for even thinking that you wouldn’t be joining me in bed tonight. If you don’t move fast baby, I’ll be pulling you back to my room and making you pay for it.”

I yelp, turning around and running up the stairs as fast as my legs will take me. My clit throbs at his words. His threats have never once actually felt like a threat. They’ve always felt like a promise. And for some twisted reason, I can’t wait to take my time up here. To make him wait. I want to see how long it takes for him to come looking for me, how solid his patience is.

“I’ll be a minute!” I yell as I run down the hallway to my room. I’ll be way longer than a minute. He doesn’t have to know how eager I am to climb into bed with him and feel his strong arms around me all night, but first, I want to tease him a little.

As soon as I’m in my room, I slam the door and turn the lock. I don’t know if he’ll come upstairs and look for me, but it’d be fun to see his reaction—his threats—if he were to come upstairs and find the door locked.

I’m tearing through my drawer of lingerie, when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see a video call coming in from Winnie. I’d tried calling both her and Emma earlier to tell them the news of the engagement, but neither had answered.

I swipe to answer the call immediately. The moment I see both my best friends’ heads jammed together to fit in the camera view, my heart swells. I can’t freaking wait for our engagement party if it means I get to see them.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Emma scolds, grabbing the phone from Winnie and holding it so she’s the only one in view.

I smile. God, I missed her.

“Well, Beck and I got stuck in the middle of nowhere Colorado in a snowstorm after a business meeting. I had spotty service there.”

Emma gives me a beaming smile. “Oh my god, did you guys have to bone to stay warm?”

I bite my lip, unsure how to even begin to tell them how much has changed. At least they’ll take it as a lot changing. They don’t know it’s been the plan all along.

“Holy shit. YOU FUCKED!” Emma shouts, the screen going blurry as she jumps up and down in excitement.

I’m fighting the urge to throw up from motion sickness with how much the phone is being thrown around when Winnie’s face pops into view once again. Her and Emma fight over the phone, the two of them both coming into view finally as the phone settles.

“Is Emma being her typical dramatic self or did you really sleep with Beckham Sinclair?”

“Well…” I begin, propping them on a shelf in my closet. Taking a deep breath, I lift my hand and wiggle my fingers at the camera.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!” Emma screams while Winnie lets out an audible gasp.

“Is that what I think it is?” Emma questions, her voice rushed as she leans so close to the camera all I can see is her eyeball.

“Mar, are you engaged?” Winnie asks, her voice full of disbelief.

I move my hand from the camera, smiling at the both of them. “Yes,” I answer smugly. “To both of your questions.”

They scream in unison, both of them taking turns to grab the phone to talk to me. “I’m going to fucking bow down to you queen,” Emma begins. “When one brother breaks your heart, fuck the other one and get engaged to him as payback. You’re a fucking icon.”

I shake my head. “It’s not like that, Em. It started out as us working together and then it just became…more.” Nothing of what I said is a lie. Beck and I did start working together, but now it does seem like more. I just don’t know if he sees it that way too.

“So this has nothing to do with Carter?” Emma’s question is innocent, but it catches me off guard. For the first time, I realize I could’ve taken this opportunity as a way to get back at Carter for everything he’s done to me, but never once since I moved in with Beck have I thought about it that way. It was always about Beck. It was never about Carter.

“Nothing,” I answer, lacing convention in my voice.

“Every heiress in Manhattan is going to be so pissed,” Winnie mutters, a sly smile on her face. “I think half of the Manhattan socialites have gone their entire adult life thinking they’d be the one he finally settled down with.”

They still might, I think sadly, knowing there will come a day where I won’t be his anymore.

Emma wraps her arm around Winnie’s shoulders, pulling her into her side. “Well they can all back off because of course it was our girl who got the playboy billionaire to settle.”

I laugh, wishing that would forever be the case. “Speaking of, Beck and I are going to have an engagement party soon and you both have to be there.”

“Obviously!” Winnie cheers, rolling her eyes at me. “Tell us when and where and we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

“Beck and I are still nailing down the details but it’ll be pretty soon, I think.”

“Good! I can’t wait to see that boulder on your finger in person,” Emma says proudly.

I spend another five minutes talking to them, coming up with a more acceptable story about how Beck and I ended up engaged. Eventually, I tell them I have to go, although I’d love to sit up and talk with them all night like we used to do when we lived together. Even though I’ve been engaged in a conversation with my best friends, I haven’t forgotten the reason I came up here in the first place.

I haven’t forgotten who I left waiting for me, undoubtedly getting angrier by each second that I make him wait.

After saying goodbye to my best friends and promising them I’ll tell them when the party will be, I hang up the phone and get busy getting ready for bed.

Even though we may be going to bed, it doesn’t mean I can’t look good doing it. If he’s going to make good on his threat, why not push his buttons even more?

I pull out a short lavender negligee. It leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, but that’s how I prefer it. He’s already seen it all, but it does the job and will surely tease him. I smile, pulling it on. The lavender color looks good against my olive skin tone. Twirling in front of the full-length mirror, I grin in anticipation on what Beck’s reaction will be to it.

Walking to my bathroom, I find a scrunchie and pull my hair up into a bun on top of my head. Beck seems to always be kissing and staring at the skin of my neck, with my hair now up, it brings attention to the small love bites he’s left over my skin.

I grab my toothbrush, phone charger, and a few other necessities before throwing them into a small bag. My stomach jumps eagerly as I confirm I have everything I’ll need to switch rooms for the night. If he’s serious about wanting me in there with him every night from now on, I’ll have to move some more things to his room, but these things will do for the time being.

I’m lost in the thrill of seeing him downstairs when I open my door, my face colliding with a hard chest. I look up, finding a scowling Beck waiting for me like a predator waiting for his prey. He grabs the top of my doorframe, a storm brewing in his eyes as he stares daggers at me.

“That was far more than five minutes.” His voice is rough, causing shivers to move down my spine. They could also be by the way he takes his time looking down my body, the longing in his eyes unable to hide even behind the anger as he takes in what I wear.

I pull at the sheer fabric that sits high on my thighs. “I had to get ready,” I explain, feigning innocence.

His hold tightens on the frame above my head, the wood making a straining sound under his viselike grip. “If that’s what you wear to bed every night then you’re only furthering the fact that there’s not a chance in hell that you’ll ever be sleeping anywhere but my bed.”

I take a step closer to him, running my hands over the soft fabric of his T-shirt. Even through the cotton I can feel how tense he is, how hard his muscles are underneath my fingertips. “It’s what I’ll wear from now on,” I say quietly. “For you.”

The growl that rumbles through his chest is visceral as he rips his body from the doorframe and pulls me against him. His lips have only been pressed to mine for a second when he heaves me up by my bottom, giving me a better position to kiss him.

He walks us into my room, not even bothering with taking us to his before he throws me down on the bed, his body following suit shortly after. With one easy motion, he rips his shirt off and throws it to the ground.

His eyes travel over my body as he appreciates the outfit he bought me. The one I put on just for him.

“I’d planned on just letting you sleep tonight,” he begins, taking my leg from the mattress and kissing the inside of my calf. His mouth is so far away from the spot that throbs between my legs, but yet it feels like he’s licking me right there with how I feel him everywhere as his wet mouth travels up my leg. “But then you had the nerve to act like we wouldn’t be waking up every morning with our limbs tangled together, and that just isn’t okay with me.”

“I didn’t realize it’d make you so upset.” I roll my hips, trying to produce some sort of friction as he plants a kiss to the inside of my knee.

Fire flashes in his eyes as he looks down at me from between my legs. “Of course it’d fucking make me upset. You think I’d have one night of you and that’d be enough?”

I’m hoping he’ll never have enough of me, but I don’t say it out loud. Instead, I feed into his anger a bit more, loving how he takes out his frustrations on me. “Maybe. I thought you grew tired of women after one time.”

In an instant, he’s on top of me, his face a few inches from mine. His fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me by it so our lips almost touch. “I never want you to compare yourself to other women again. You’re not like other women.”

I lean forward, catching his bottom lip between my teeth and tugging on it. “Prove it.”