sierra
After stepping into the tub, I collapsed in Steven’s arms, completely exhausted from Radiant. I sank down in the water and blew some bubbles with my exhale, shoulders rolling forward and stress leaving my body from the temperature.
“How’re you feeling?” Steven asked, gently rubbing my thigh from behind, the water shifting as he did so.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Candles crackled around us.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Even with your ex …”
I giggled. “I can’t believe you said that to him.”
When Luke had walked into Radiant, I’d almost shit myself right there on the spot. I thought Luke would flip Steven off, not shake his hand and try to belittle me in front of him. And Steven?! Possessive Steven?! Warmth gushed between my thighs. I loved that side of him.
Loved with a capital L.
“What did you expect me to say to him?” he hummed. “He’d made you feel like shit.”
“Where did that even come from?” I said, grasping my belly in a fit of chuckles.
“Where did what come from?”
After lowering my voice to replicate his, I said, “ ‘I’d tell you to enjoy the night, but an immature brat like you won’t be able to keep up with half the women here.’ ” I leaned back against him, shoulders jolting back and forth. “Steven, that was golden.”
He chuckled. “Listen, if Michelle got her hands on him, he would be screaming his safeword within a minute and attempting to crawl out the back door.”
I wiped happy tears from my cheeks, picturing Michelle crushing Luke’s tiny balls with her pointed heel, him screaming in pain and limping toward the door as she chased after him with that mischievous grin she always had.
“He was looking for trouble when he walked into my club, and he found it.”
Another chuckle escaped my mouth. “My big, bad Steven Patton.”
I should’ve been more serious because Luke had been the bane of my existence for so long, but it had been so refreshing to see someone who wasn’t Heather stick up for me. And to see Steven this annoyed at a man he barely knew because of me …
Someone knocked on the door.
“Mr. Patton?” a woman said.
All the silliness seemed to evaporate from my body, and I stiffened. Who is this?
“Yes, Brigitta?”
“Mr. Thornton would like to know if you’d like anything before we leave.”
Maybe she was his staff. But this late at night?
Steven paused and glanced down at me. “Are you hungry?”
“A bit.”
“What would you like?”
I glanced over my shoulder and up at him. “Do you have smoothies?”
“Two smoothies,” Steven called to Brigitta.
“Yes, Mr. Patton.”
Thank goodness that she hadn’t called him sir, or I might’ve had a breakdown.
“Who’s Brigitta?” I asked, jealousy nipping at my insides.
“Thornton is my chef, and Brigitta cleans when I’m working. She must have stayed later tonight,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to his strong chest. He lowered his voice and chuckled. “They think that I don’t know they’re dating.”
“They’re dating?!” I exclaimed. “That’s so cute.”
“They’ve worked for me for ten years now, and the number of times I’ve caught them staring at each other …” He smiled softly to himself, his breath warm on my neck. “It almost makes me believe in love.”
“You don’t believe in love?” I whispered.
He stiffened behind me. “Do you?”
“I do.”
A long pause.
“What does it feel like?” he finally asked.
“A lot of people think love is being happy all the time with someone else, like a never-ending honeymoon phase,” I said, voice quieting. “But that’s not what love is to me. Love is being safe with someone, staying through the hard times, and wanting what’s best for them even if it hurts you in the end.”
Another long pause.
“Have you ever been in love before?” he said behind me.
“I’ve loved my family, but as for another person …” I swallowed hard and pressed my hand against my inner thigh under the bubbles because I didn’t want him to see how much I wanted to scream out, Yes! “I’m not sure. Have you?”
“No.”
A single word from his mouth squeezed at my heart.
“Oh.”
He stiffened even harder, a bunch of ums and uhs tumbling out of his mouth. “I mean—”
“Mr. Patton, should I bring them in?” Brigitta asked.
Silence washed over us once more, and I settled back against him, deciding to let it go.
“Can she bring them in?” Steven asked me.
“Steven”—I stifled a small laugh—“everyone has already seen me naked.”
“At Radiant,” he clarified. “And just because people have seen you naked once doesn’t give anyone the right to see you naked again or in any other circumstance. That’s how consent works, love. Tell me you understand that.”
I paused for a moment. “I never really thought of it that way.”
While I hadn’t done anything serious with Luke, I’d always felt like he expected me to do certain things or act a certain way just because I had done it before. But sometimes, I didn’t feel like it. Sometimes, I’d wanted to just be without having to offer my body up for him.
“I understand now,” I whispered.
He curled his lips into a small smile and pushed some wet hair off my forehead. “So?”
“She can come in,” I said. “It’s okay.”
Steven laid one arm over my nipples, which were peeking out just above the bubbles, as if to still provide me with some decency. “Brigitta, you can come in.”
The door opened, and a petite woman shuffled into the room with a wooden serving tray. She set it on the sink counter and grabbed both glasses filled to the top with, what looked to be, strawberry-mango smoothies. She handed me one.
“Thank you, Brigitta.”
She nodded and handed one to Steven. “Of course, Miss Monroe.”
“You can call me Sierra.”
“Well then, enjoy your bath, Sierra and Mr. Patton,” she said, shuffling to the door.
I smiled and sank down even more, excited to finally spend the holidays with someone who was just as lonely as I was, who didn’t have a family and wanted to spend time with me as much as I wanted to spend with them.
The holidays couldn’t come soon enough. While I couldn’t spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars on him for a gift, I had—what I think was—the best present for him that I had ever picked out for anyone. And I couldn’t wait to see his face on Christmas morning.