Page 47 of Old Money

“I think this is the least amount I’ve…” His voice trails off as he opens the door to the Escalade, and we both freeze. I swallow.

“The least you’ve spent on a woman?” I ask.

“I’m sorry,” he says. I don’t say anything, just climb in. The ride through the city to his apartment is awkwardly quiet. He reaches for my hand, and I let him take it but keep my eyes out the window. I’m not sure what to make of his accidental comment.

I’m quiet until we get into the apartment, and Tyler leaves us to it. I walk inside, putting my purse down on the entryway table. Before I can make it farther into the penthouse, I feel his big hands on me, spinning me back into him.

“Hey,” he says, wrapping his body around mine. “Look at me, Sawyer. Please.” I swallow the lump in my throat. I’m confused. I don’t even know what’s upsetting me. It’s not like I didn’t know he’s been with other women. But thinking about it isn’t really all that fun. “Hey,” he whispers, tilting my head up to look at him. Finally, I do. “I’m sorry. That was a dumb thing for me to say.”

“It’s okay,” I say with a shrug and a very forced smile. But he shakes his head.

“It’s not,” he says. My eyes drop, but he gently grabs my chin again, forcing my eyes back. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just…I want you to understand how special you are to me, Sawyer. And I get that bringing up other women probably wasn’t exactly the smartest way to do that.”

I chuckle and shake my head, but his expression stays sincere.

“I’ve never been with someone who…who didn’t need anything from me. Who wasn’t in a rush to have our pictures all over the internet together. Who took their time with me like you have. I have the whole fucking world at my fingertips, but I never had a safe place to land…until you. All I meant tonight was that it was…it was like pulling teeth to get you to let me buy you anything, rather than you taking advantage of it or expecting it—which, ironically, just makes me want to spoil you more. But I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to compare, because the truth is, there is no comparison to you, Sawyer.”

I don’t even realize that my eyes are filled with tears until he reaches his thumbs up to swipe them away. It’s a funny coincidence, because he is also my safe place to land. He’s air when I can’t take a deep breath. He’s a solution when, before, I only had problems. He gives my mind a break and has a way of taking command when my brain is fried from too much life. And it breaks me that he’s never felt like that for someone. But I’m so glad that it gets to be me.

“Julian, you are so much more than your money or your last name,” I whisper. “I’m sorry no one has ever showed you that. But I’m going to.”

I swallow back another lump when I realize that his eyes are getting glassy. He smiles down at me, his thumbs stroking my cheeks.

He bends down and picks me up, carrying me like a child up to his suite. His tongue is in my mouth the whole way, and mine is returning the favor. He sets me down on the heated tiles of his massive bathroom and turns the water on in the gigantic soaking tub that sits at the back of the room next to the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The Empire State Building is lit up for Christmas, and the city looks breathtaking. He tests out the water temperature then walks back to me, unzipping my jeans and pulling my shirt up over my head. He unhooks my bra and pulls down my panties then picks me back up and carries me to the tub, setting me gently in the warm water. He dumps in some bubbles and some bath salts then takes off his own clothes and sinks in with me. We face each other, our heads resting on either edge, and I let myself draw in a deep breath.

“This isn’t right,” he says, then he leans forward, grabs my arm, and pulls me to him, spinning me around so that my back is to his chest. I giggle as we nestle back into the water, and I can’t remember a time in my life when I have ever felt this at ease. We lie in silence for a little bit, touching, rubbing, exploring. And while I know the night will inevitably end with him inside me, this moment feels beyond sexual. It’s sensual and intimate. Like our bodies are getting to know each other in another way.

But alas, I’m nosey as fuck.

And I’ve waited long enough to bring it up again.

“Julian?”

“Hmm?”

“What did you mean earlier, when you said ‘let me spoil you while I still can’?”

I feel his chest vibrate underneath me as a chuckle rolls out of him.

“I was wondering when this would come up again,” he says. I sit up, turning to look at him. I sit on top of him so I’m facing him, scooting closer so that my pussy is on top of his cock. I roll forward slightly, and I see his eyebrow raise.

“I’m serious,” I say.

A devious smile tugs at his lips.

“I’m sorry,” he laughs, “but do you expect me to have a serious conversation with you while you’re literally sitting on my cock?”

I roll forward and backward again, letting myself drag up and down his shaft.

“If you tell me, I’ll move a little farther south,” I say. My breasts bob between us, bubbles splayed around them.

His hands slide around my hips, cupping my ass, and he blows out a long breath.

“Alright, alright,” he says. “Let’s dry off. I can’t concentrate like this.”

In a few moments time, we’re dried off, naked, and in his bed.

“Okay,” he says as he pulls me into him, “well, I know you’ve done your homework. You’ve read about my father. And most of what you’ve read is probably true. The discrimination lawsuits, unlawful layoffs, all of it.”

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