Chapter 31

One week later in Seattle

My friends stare at me.

"Alistair Devereaux?" Ari mouths the words, her tone hushed. Even though we're in her apartment on the top floor, it's as if someone may overhear her.

I giggle. "Ari, it's okay. You don't have to whisper. It's just us."

Imogen's eyes are slightly round. "And you're telling us this now?"

I take a deep breath. I was waiting for this. "I didn't want to message something like this or FaceTime you guys. I wanted to tell you in person. When Alistair surprised me with the trip, it was the perfect opportunity to come clean."

I've told them everything. How we met. What I did. What he did. And I have to hand it to my friends, they've been supportive but also cautious about my relationship with Alistair.

Ari rests one hand on mine, giving it a squeeze. "I wish you"d told us about London and how expensive it is. I thought you were doing so well I didn't think to ask if money was tight."

"That isn't your burden," I say. "And I was doing okay."

They each give me the same pointed look. "Charli, you were an escort for twenty-four hours, not that I'm judging you." Imogen holds up both her hands. "But we would've helped."

I smile at her. "I know that, but you know I've always been independent. I never like taking charity or owing people…"

"You wouldn't owe anything." Her tone is soft. "The fact you thought you had to do that to get money fast, I'll be honest, it shocked me at first."

"I know. And to be honest, when I was with Alistair, I knew I really didn't want to be an escort. I'm sure Neve has great clients and all, but that wasn't for me." I told them all about Neve and my friendship with her. "But then me and Alistair made an agreement; I'd be his sugar baby if I agreed not to go work back at élégance."

"Holy shit," Ari whispers. "So he didn't want you sleeping with other men from the get-go."

I shake my head. "Definitely not. He's been protective and possessive ever since. At first, it was about spending his money and feeling good. He liked it. He insisted on it and got mad at me when I didn't spend enough. It's like it turned him on to spoil myself. Don't get me wrong, I love beautiful things. It was amazing to go into designer stores and buy anything I wanted, but after a few weeks, I realised I was falling in love with him and it became less about the money and more about him."

"It is kind of romantic." Ari swings her gaze to Imogen who seems on the fence about it all. She might have her own Russian billionaire, but she's still the most conservative out of all of us.

"And you know he feels the same way?" she queries.

"Yes. He confessed his love first. Right after we had that fight." I told them all about the fight we had and they agreed he shouldn't have smashed the phone or tricked me like that, but it did show he cared about me. I know Alistair would never hurt me.

I know he has tried relationships before and they've failed. Nobody really wanted to ever get to know the real man under the suit. That's where all the good stuff is. The stuff I want more of. The stuff I'm begging for.

"So what's next?" Ariana asks. "You love him and he loves you, but he lives in London."

I nod. "I know. My life has been in Seattle for so long that I barely remember what it's like to live anywhere else. We discussed it and I'd love to come back frequently, if we were to make a life in the UK, and commute back once a month. We"ll get an apartment here."

"I think that's a great idea." Imi beams. "Then we'd get to see you often."

"Ideally, we'd like to spend half our time in England and half our time here, but that may take a little bit to sort out. Alistair is always looking to expand the business."

"I'm happy for you," Ari says. "If it's what you want."

I smile giddily. "It's what I've always wanted. It just so happens that he's my ex-stepdad. The press will have a field day."

"What does he say about that?" Imogen looks sympathetic.

I shrug. "He doesn't care. I haven't met his parents yet, so that'll be an interesting conversation. But he's more than willing to weather the storm."

"That speaks volumes." Imogen's gaze softens. "We just want to be sure you're making the right decisions."

"He looks after me. I can't say that we haven't had our ups and downs. I'm sure we've got plenty of hurdles to jump over, but I want to do it with him. I've never felt this way before."

Ari claps her hands together. "I never thought I'd ever see the day you settled down."

"Me either," Imi admits. "But I'm really happy for you. You seem so… different. You have this glow about you, this spring in your step. I like it."

I feel my chest expand with so much love for these girls. They're my tribe. "We talked a lot. About my mum and all the shit that went down. And stuff with Grandma that I've not been able to ever talk about. It's cleared a lot of things that were blocking me from ever thinking I was worthy of being loved." Tears well in my eyes. "It's taken me this long to really realise that I am someone special and I'm lovable, even if I talk weirdly and always say the wrong thing at the wrong time."

"Oh, Charli!" Ari pulls me into a hug. "Don't ever think that you're not special or lovable. We've been loving you since we met when you were that lanky, skinny, hot as fuck bitch from Australia who all the guys wanted."

I laugh, wiping my tears. "They wanted me for the volleyball team, because I'm tall."

Imogen laughs. "You keep telling yourself that."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys the whole truth. To be honest, I was a little ashamed to confess I started at élégance. I had no idea it would be the most empowering thing I've ever done."

"Hey, everything happens for a reason," Ari says, pulling back to push my hair off my face. "We love you and always have, don't ever forget that."

I nod.

"She's right, and we will always support you, as long as we like the guy, of course," Imi adds.

"I think you're going to love him. He makes me happy, and he did get down on his knees and beg."

They both pretend to faint, falling back with one hand to their foreheads.

I know I need their approval, and if they don't like Alistair, it'll be a problem. But that's a bridge I'll cross tonight at Ariana's party.

"Now we're done with all that crying," Ari also wipes her eyes, "We need to find something hot to wear."

I smile. "And I have Mr. Devereaux's Amex. He'll be annoyed if we don't go shopping."

"I think I love this guy already," Imi laughs. "I think we need to find you something that'll blow his socks off."

I feel the swell of my heart in my chest when I get to be with my friends. I'm so happy I could bask in this forever. "I think that can be arranged."

"If everything works out, then we could be here for a few months at a time while the weather is good," Alistair tells my friends. "And when I can't come, Charli could commute to see you once a month until we get our own place. You're also both welcome to come to our place anytime. I have a jet."

Charli?

He's never really called me Charli too many times in his life. And our place? This man makes my heart twist and my blood pressure rise.

My friends look up at him, hanging on every word he says. It makes me smile.

"You have your own jet?" Ariana's mouth hangs open.

"I travel a lot for work."

I know Khristian, Imogen's boyfriend, has a jet too. So it seems we may just join the mile high club after all.

"England is so pretty in the summertime," I tell them. "And France and Spain are so close. We could have a girls weekend."

I know I'm going to miss my friends, but if I can see them often, then it won't be as bad as I thought. The idea that I could ever move and never see them again breaks my heart. I couldn't do that. But if Alistair can move business to Seattle part-time, I think that's a good compromise.

Alistair smiles, looking over at me. "Whatever you want, my darling."

I smile back at him and I know we look so goofy, but I can't help it.

"You two are so disgustingly in love," Imi whispers, giggling. "I know how that feels, and I'm so happy for both of you." She turns to Alistair. "Just don't break our friend's heart. She's an amazing person. So giving. Loyal. Smart. Her sense of humour leaves little to be desired, but we'll forgive her for that."

"Hey!" I laugh.

"Imi's right," Ariana says. "We care about her so much, we don"t want to see her hurt. When Charli loves, she loves hard. So if she picked you, there has to be something very special about you."

I smile at my friends words. "You guys, you're going to make my makeup run!"

Alistair pulls me into his arms and kisses me on the top of the head, then the nose, then my lips briefly, then he looks up at my friends. "I promise I will love and protect her. She's an amazing woman. She changed how I feel about everything in a short space of time and I can't thank her enough."

"How will you handle the fallout when people find out about… you know." Ari winces slightly.

I move so my back is to his front and he wraps his arms around me. "It'll die down after a while. In all honesty, nobody really has to know. Charlize's grandmother is the last person who knew who we were to each other back then — aside from you guys — and my family, but they won't say anything. If it happens, it happens." He squeezes me around the middle. "I won't let anything keep us apart."

"Aww," Imi croons. "That's so sweet! We've never seen Charli like this, have we Ari?"

Ariana shakes her head. "Nope, I can't say I have. She's speechless for once."

Everyone laughs.

"Very funny." I turn to look up at my man. "We're really going to make a go of this."

He bends down to kiss me and the girls sigh. I know our PDA is gross, but we can't keep our hands to ourselves.

"We really are." He kisses me back.

"God, you guys, get a room!" Ariana laughs.

I think I have the seal of approval from my friends. The fact they like Alistair is a relief. And he thinks they're hilarious. My friends mean the world to me, and the fact he's made this huge effort and has been attentive the entire time we've been in Seattle, makes my heart melt.

"Oh, we will be spending a lot of time in that room," he mutters against my lips.

"Oh, we will?" I smile.

"I'm sure your friends can spare you for one evening?"

I shake my head. "I need to make you work for it."

"That's a little hard when you can't resist me."

"Oh, cocky much?"

He pushes his hips into me from behind as my friends go to replenish our drinks. The cocktail party is amazing. Lukas and Kristian are chatting by the bar, and I'm going to send Alistair over there to join them so me and the girls can chat some more. It's a small gathering, but it's intimate and the food going around is to die for.

"I can feel that," I groan, pushing back against him.

"I should hope so. You did call it a monster dick."

"Careful, you'll get excited if I praise him too much."

He chuckles against my neck. "I love how you refer to my dick like it's a third party."

"Well, it could have its own zip code."

He mutters incoherently against my pulse. "I know what zip code I'd like to be in."

The dress I got is kinda racy. A red ensemble with cut outs at the side and mesh panels. It's not too low cut, leaving just a small amount of skin with a round neckline. I paired it with heels, not that I need the extra height, but I'm still not as tall as Alistair.

"Hold your horses. If you're a good boy, Daddy, then I might ride you reverse cowgirl when we get back to the hotel."

He chuckles. "That isn't a vision my cock needs while I'm this hard."

"I spent a fortune on this dress."

"And it looks beautiful. Pity you won't be in it long enough."

"You're just trying to make me eat and run."

He pulls me around so I'm facing him. My arms slide around his shoulders. His eyes are so full of love when he says, "I'm going to enjoy eating you later, but I won't be running anywhere."

I purse my lips. "Such a charmer."

He leans in for a kiss. "Only for you."

"Always?"

"Always, Princess. I'll never grow tired of this."

"I'm so glad we found each other. Or we made our way back to each other, at the right time." Whichever way you look at it, it's a win.

"Me too, and I know I'm going to spend the rest of my life making you believe that every single day."

My heart swells once more. "I already do. I love you."

"Not as much as I love you." He leans toward my ear. "Just know all the dirty things I'm going to do to you when we get back."

I press my body into his. "Game on, Mr. Devereaux. Game on."