Lie Next to Me Read online

  “So, sex is required as part of the job?”

  I could feel his teeth lightly scrape against my skin as he smiled. “No, there’s no sex involved. It’s purely business. Sex is for after business hours.”

  He was killing me, as every nerve in my body was on alert. The tingling sensation, the ache, his touch; all were sending me right over the edge. Ian stopped washing my back and looked at me. He positioned himself so he was in front of me. He held up the sponge and, with a smile, he said, “Put your knees down so I can wash the front of you.”

  “The deal was my back, Ian.”

  “Put your knees down,” he said in an authoritative voice. “Please.” He smiled.

  I slowly put my knees down into the water and sat there with my breasts fully exposed to him. He looked at them and then at me with a seductive look in his eye. He took the shower gel and poured some more onto the sponge. I took in a sharp breath when he began stroking my breasts with it.

  “Relax and enjoy it, Rory.”

  I turned my head and looked at the marble wall. I wanted to look at him, but I couldn’t. He took his other hand and, with the slightest touch of his finger on my chin, he turned my head so I was staring at him. He leaned in and softly brushed his lips against mine. His kiss was light, seductive, and I wanted to come right on the spot. I was so turned on that I wanted to pull him into the bathtub. He smiled as he licked my bottom lip and put the sponge down. He got up and grabbed the large towel that was sitting on the counter. Opening it up, he held it in front of me and told me to get out.

  “Just hand me the towel, Ian.”

  “No. Now, get out of the tub.”

  “No, I won’t. You give me the towel and leave.”

  “Rory, I’ll tell you one last time to get out of the tub. You’re being absolutely ridiculous. Now do as I ask!” he commanded in a sharp tone.

  I wasn’t liking his attitude and I didn’t appreciate him taking that tone with me. He kind of scared me when he spoke like that. I sighed as I stood up and stepped out of the tub. He walked over to me and wrapped the towel around me, holding it tightly around my body. He pulled me into him as he wrapped his arms around me. I could feel his erection.

  “Do you feel how hard you got me? I hate letting this hard-on go to waste and I know you want it inside you. Have you made your decision yet?”

  He had me in his hold. His whispering voice and hot breath in my ear hypnotized me.

  “Yes, I’ve made my decision, and I’ll do what you want.”

  I felt him let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you and I promise you won’t regret it,” he said as he kissed my neck. He broke our embrace and led me to the bedroom.

  “Why don’t you get into your pajamas and get some sleep. We need to get up early to go for a run before we head to the hospital, and I want you to think about my job proposal. Remember, I’m an impatient man and I want an answer ASAP,” he said as he moved to the door.

  “Just one more thing,” I said. Ian turned around and looked at me. “I won’t move back here.”

  His glare burned through me when I said that. He opened the door and left without saying a word.

  ****

  I was up all night, thinking and worrying about Stephen, but he wasn’t the only one on my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ian. Could this man be husband material? Could I change him? There was still so much I didn’t know about him and yet I told him my deepest secrets. I threw back the covers, put on my running clothes, and headed downstairs to meet Ian.

  “Good morning, Charles.” I smiled.

  “Good morning, Rory. It’s good to see you. I’ve missed your smiling face here in the mornings.”

  “Thanks, I’ve missed you too. Where’s Ian? We have a running date.”

  Charles looked at me in confusion. “Mr. Beckman is back from his trip and Ian went running with him. They left about ten minutes ago.”

  “Who is Mr. Beckman?” I asked in a pissed off tone.

  “Andrew Beckman, Ian’s best friend.”

  I took a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “That was nice of him to ditch me like that and not even tell me. I guess I’m not going running now, because I’ll just feel like an ass if I run into the two of them.”

  “You can always use the gym downstairs,” Charles said.

  I knitted my eyebrows as I looked at him. “There’s a gym downstairs?”

  “You didn’t know that?” he asked.

  “No. I didn’t know that.”

  “I’ll take you to it. Follow me.”

  I followed Charles down the stairs that were located to the side of the laundry room. I just assumed it was the basement. When I reached the final step, I gasped. It was a full-on gym.

  “Are you kidding me? Why didn’t Ian ever tell me about this?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe he just assumed you knew.”

  “Thank you, Charles. I’ll just do my workout here.” I smiled.

  I looked around at all the equipment. He had everything. Hanging in the middle of the room was a punching bag. Perfect. I found some cotton hand wraps and wrapped my hands before putting on the gloves. They were a little big, but I could manage them. Once my hands were wrapped and my gloves were on, I stepped in front of the punching bag and lightly tapped it. Moving from side to side, I started with several jabs and then cross punches. Jab. Jab. Cross punch. Side kick. Jab. Jab. Cross punch. Round kick.

  “Wow,” a male voice said.

  After my last round kick, I turned around and saw Ian and his friend, Andrew, staring at me. Andrew started clapping.

  “That was hot,” he said.

  “Rory, what the hell are you doing?” Ian asked with irritation.

  “I’m just doing a little workout since I was stood up for our run this morning,” I said as I removed the gloves.

  “I’m sorry. That was my fault. I stole Ian away. By the way, I’m Andrew.” He smiled as he walked up to me and held out his hand.

  I would’ve shook it, but my hands were so sweaty and still taped. I looked at him and smiled. “Hi, sorry, my hands are—”

  “Andrew, this is Rory Sinclair,” Ian interrupted. “You better go shower. We need to leave in a bit.”

  The tone of his voice had a hint of anger in it. What the hell did he have to be mad about? Am I not allowed to use his gym? I felt better anyways because I pretended that bag was him. I was still pissed at him for standing me up, though. I glared at him and then looked at Andrew and smiled.

  “It was nice to meet you,” I said as I walked up the stairs and took a shower.

  I wrapped the large white towel around me and opened the bathroom door. I jumped when I saw Ian sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “What the hell, Ian?” I said as I stood there and looked at him.

  “What the fuck were you doing and where did you learn that?”

  “I was working out. We had a date, remember?”

  “We didn’t have a date. We were going to run together. Don’t you dare get the two confused,” he snapped.

  Was he serious? “Okay, fine. You stood me up. I went downstairs to let you know I was ready and you were gone.”

  “So. Andrew called last night and he’d just gotten back from his month-long trip to Europe and he asked if I wanted to go running this morning so we could catch up.”

  “So? You think that it’s acceptable that you just leave me and don’t say a word?”

  “I don’t owe you any explanations, Rory. I hadn’t seen my friend in a month. I see you every day.”

  Can you say “fucking asshole”? “So, you don’t see anything wrong with what you did?”

  “No, I don’t. Now explain to me how you knew how to use that punching bag.”

  “Can I get dressed, please?” I asked with a raised voice.

  “Fine. I’ll meet you downstairs. You can explain it to me on the way to the hospital.”

  The hell I will. As soon as he walked out of the room, I grabbed my phone from the nightstan
d and called a cab. There was no way I was going anywhere with him. I quickly got dressed and threw my hair up. I quietly tiptoed down the stairs and looked around. I didn’t see Ian, but Charles was in the hallway. I brought my finger up to my mouth, signaling him to be quiet.

  “Where is he?” I whispered.

  “He’s out on the patio, waiting for you,” Charles whispered back.

  “Good, let him wait.”

  Charles smiled and gave me a wink as he walked back to the kitchen and I walked out the front door. The cab dropped me off in front of the hospital. Before I could open the door, someone opened it for me. I looked out and saw Ian standing there. Shit. Shit. Shit. I stepped out of the cab and walked straight towards the door.

  “STOP!” he exclaimed.

  I stopped and took in a deep breath. He closed the cab door and walked up behind me while clutching onto my hip with his hand. “Paybacks, Rory. Is that what this is?” he mumbled in my ear as his hot breath on my skin alerted every sense in my aching body.

  “It sucks to be kept waiting. Doesn’t it?” I said as I stared straight ahead and walked through the doors.

  “I did nothing wrong,” he spoke.

  “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I replied as I walked into Stephen’s room.

  “Rory!” Stephen said with excitement.

  “Hi, Stephen.” I smiled as I walked over and kissed his head. I took a hold of his hand and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Remember yesterday when I was here and we talked about you going to that special place where you’ll be taken care of?”

  “Yeah,” he said as he looked down.

  “I want you to tell me how you feel about that?”

  “I don’t want to go. I want to go home with you. I want to live with you like we used to.”

  Tears welled in my eyes at the sound of his pleading voice. I needed to stay strong. I needed to be strong; not for myself, but for Stephen.

  “I know you do, Stephen. Remember how we’d lie in the grass at night and look up at the stars? I’d tell you my dreams and you’d tell me yours?”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Do you remember what your dream was?”

  “To get better and get the voices out of my head.”

  “That’s right. And this place where you’re going to be living, they’re going to help you with that. I want you to think about this as the beginning of your dreams coming true.” I smiled softly. “The doctors are going to take away the voices and help you to get better.”

  “Okay, Rory. If you say so, then I’ll go.”

  I reached over and hugged him. Dr. Michaels walked in and asked us if were ready to go. Stephen sat down in the wheelchair and I held his hand as Ian pushed him out of the hospital. We met one of the nurses from Hudson Rock outside and she climbed into the limo with us. When we arrived at Hudson Rock, we were greeted by a group of people who introduced themselves to Stephen. They were trying to make him as comfortable as possible. It was time for me to say goodbye as I hugged him tight.

  “I’ll come visit you every Thursday, Stephen. You’ll be safe here.”

  “I’ll look forward to Thursdays.”

  “I’ll see you later, okay?” I said as tears started to fall.

  “No tears, Rory. My dreams are going to come true now.” He smiled.

  I kissed him on the cheek and turned away. I heard him call Ian’s name.

  “Take care of my sister while I’m in here. Okay, buddy? She needs taking care of.”

  I looked over at Ian as he smiled at Stephen and nodded his hand. “Don’t worry. Rory will be well taken care of.”

  I walked outside and climbed into the limo as I wiped the tears from my face. Ian opened the door and climbed in next to me. He took my hand and brought it up to his soft lips.

  “He’s going to be okay.”

  “I know and I just want to go home. I want to be alone for a while.”

  “Are you sure?” Ian asked. “You can stay with me and I’ll leave you alone for as long as you need.”

  “No, I want to go to my home.”

  Ian sighed and told Joshua to drive us there.

  Chapter 13

  I spent the next few days locked up in my tiny apartment. The only time I stepped out was when Adalynn took me to her OB/GYN so I could get on birth control. Ian called me a couple of times, but I didn’t answer. I sent him a text message that said when I was ready, I’d call him. My whole life had changed. Now that Stephen was safe at Hudson Rock, it was time to get my life together. For the first time in my life, I was no longer in charge of taking care of someone else. It was my turn to take care of me. I thought a lot about taking the job as Ian’s assistant. I needed the money and the health benefits, not to mention all the other little perks of being his assistant. I had already fallen for him and his charm knowing what kind of man he was and how he treated women. I missed him, even though it was my choice not to see him.

  I opened up my laptop and googled him. There was picture from two nights ago of him and some woman at a dinner party. He was smiling at her as she was at him. The caption above the picture read: ‘Could She Be the One?’ I felt sick and my heart started racing. He was obviously still seeing other women. I guess I was the stupid and naïve one who thought that he was only interested in me.

  I walked next door to Java Hut and had a long talk with Jordyn. I told her that I appreciated everything she’d done for me, and I explained to her about my life and what had happened with Stephen. We sat at the table for three hours and she listened intently to every word I said. I told her that I needed to start new and that Ian had offered me a job. She told me that I’d be fucking crazy if I didn’t accept it. I felt better knowing that she wasn’t mad at me for bailing on her. I left Java Hut and walked back to my apartment to find Ian sitting on the steps.

  “Ian? What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “I need an answer, Rory. I’m not playing any more games with you. Are you going to accept my job offer?”

  “I was actually just going to call you.”

  “Really? And why’s that?”

  “To tell you that I accept your offer.”

  A big smile graced his face as he stood up from the steps. “Rory, that’s great.”

  I walked by him on the step and unlocked the door to my apartment. “I have rules, Mr. Braxton.”

  “Is that so, Miss Sinclair?”

  I needed to use the bathroom, so I told him that I’d be right back. When I came out, I saw him looking at my computer. I’d left the article up. Shit.

  “Are you stalking me, Rory?”

  “No. Why would you ask that?”

  He looked at me with knitted eyebrows and turned my computer around, pointing to the picture.

  “Oh that. I was on the computer and I saw a blurb with your name, so I clicked it. No big deal.”

  “Are you jealous?”

  “No, not at all. Would you like to explain to me what that’s about?”

  “No. I don’t feel that I have to.”

  Oh boy. This was not going to be easy. “Do you want me to work for you, Ian? Yes or no?”

  “Of course I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked you in the first place.”

  My stomach was churning and my heart picked up a faster pace. “Then I will accept your offer under my terms.”

  “Okay, what are your terms?” he asked as the corners of his mouth curved up.

  “Our relationship is strictly business. There will be no flirting of any kind and no sex. I’m your business assistant. Not your personal assistant. There’s a difference, and if you don’t know what that difference is, then I suggest you look it up and become familiar with it.”

  He studied me as he stood there with a smirk on his face. He walked over to where I was standing and placed his finger on my chin. “You will have sex with me; that I can guarantee, Miss Sinclair.”

  Goddamnit. “Who is she, Ian? The woman in the picture.”

  “Like
I said before, I don’t need to explain myself to you,” he said as he kissed the tip of my nose. “Now, I’m happy you decided to accept the job. I have to go and arrange a couple of things. I’ll be back here later, so don’t go anywhere.” He smiled as he kissed me on the forehead, walked to the door, and stopped. “By the way, did you get on birth control yet?”

  “I believe that’s none of your business, Mr. Braxton.”

  His mouth curved up into that sexy smile that drove me insane. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He winked as he walked out the door.

  I shook my head and went and sat on the couch. I picked up my phone and dialed Adalynn.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “I took the job.”

  “Good for you. Now all you have to do is keep Ian on a tight leash.”

  “I have a feeling it’s going to be the other way around,” I said.

  “Only if you let it, Rory. Remember, you’re taking your life back. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing it.”

  “Thanks, Adalynn. I knew I could count on you.”

  “You’re welcome. We’ll talk later. I’m on my way to a meeting.”

  I lay down on the couch and closed my eyes. I must’ve fallen asleep because I was woken up by Ian running his hand down my face and his soft lips brushing against mine.

  “You looked so peaceful.”

  “I can’t believe I fell asleep,” I said as I sat up.

  “Come here. I want to show you something outside.” He smiled.

  Ian took my hand and helped me up from the couch. I put on my flip-flops and walked outside. Sitting at the curb was a white BMW convertible.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  “It’s beautiful, Ian. I didn’t take you for a white car kind of guy.”

  “It’s not for me. It’s for you.” He smiled. “This is your company car.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” I exclaimed.

  Ian chuckled. “I take it that means you like it?”

  “I can’t, Ian. I can’t drive this car.”

  “You do know how to drive, right?”