do, just remember, you’re never too old or
too young to take precautions.” She looked from Collins to me and back to
Collins again. Then she got up. “I have to go pick up Nydia from ballet class.
You two have fun!”
“Okay,
Mom,” I said walking slowly away from her and putting my hands on Collins’s
arms to edge him towards the front door. “If you have any problems with Nydia,
call me. I can always find my way to drive her, if you can’t.”
“I’m
fine. I’m fine,” Mom said. With that, she practically pushed us out the door
and slammed the door behind us.
Chapter 9
C ollins didn’t waste time driving me to the
first apartment, which was a beautiful suite in a luxury high-rise overlooking
the city that came complete with a security system and a doorman in the lobby.
“This,
um, is completely not what I was expecting,” I said to Collins and the leasing
agent standing next to him.
“No,
of course not,” Collins said, taking my hand and leading me around to look out
at the view, away from the eyes and ears of the agent. “It’s what I’d like to
see you in,” he said, glancing over at me.
“It’s
too much. I can’t afford to live here…”
Collins placed
his long index finger at my lips to silence me. “Before you protest too much,
Sam, hear me out. I checked out this building, its tenants, the security they
have here, and how reliable the service and maintenance was here before I even
considered this visit. This is a great apartment, with that view out there, the
size…one of the designers we work with can make this place look unbelievable.”
“I
bet the rent is unbelievable,” I said. “I can’t even make a dent on something
like this.”
Collins
pulled me in for a soft sweet kiss, cupping my face with his hands. It left me
breathless and a bit wobbly when I opened my eyes. “When you gave up going to
Stanford, when you gave up the million dollars and chose me instead, that’s
when ‘we’ began, Sam. This isn’t about you getting an apartment to move out of
your parents’ house and to live on your own as a college student, it’s about us
moving on, moving further into our relationship. It’s about us finding each
other, learning and discovering each other once again, and it’s about us being
there for each other. This, Sam, will be my apartment, too.”
I was
speechless for a while before I said, “but Gail…her rules about us living
together…”
“Oh,
I’m not going to be living here,” Collins said. “Still within Gail’s rules. I
will, however, visit very often…like a vacation home. It’s much closer to my
offices here in Newport Beach anyways.”
“So,
there isn’t another apartment to look at?” I asked.
Collins
frowned. “You mean you don’t like it?”
“I
didn’t say that,” I said. “I love it. It’s luxurious, glamorous, sexy, and
reminds me of some kind of James Bond movie in its modern design. I love the
view, too, and it seems to have a balcony that’s big enough for a pool and a
Jacuzzi. But it’s so rich, expensive, and so…”
“Baby,”
Collins pulled me to him. “Remember when we first began our liaison a while
back that I had some conditions? One of them was to have an appearance befitting
me for social events, as a companion…”
Hazily
the rules Collins had in order for us to start a relationship drafted for legal
reasons, began coming back to me, including his preferences. One of them did
mention about being presentable when accompanying Collins out to a social
function. “So me having an apartment like this is part of that?” I asked.
Collins
nodded. “Being with me will always be about this, Sam.” His icy blue eyes
stared into mine as he said, “It’s part of who I am, Sam. I’ve worked too damn
hard to get to this point where I can get a place like this for the woman I
love. If
too young to take precautions.” She looked from Collins to me and back to
Collins again. Then she got up. “I have to go pick up Nydia from ballet class.
You two have fun!”
“Okay,
Mom,” I said walking slowly away from her and putting my hands on Collins’s
arms to edge him towards the front door. “If you have any problems with Nydia,
call me. I can always find my way to drive her, if you can’t.”
“I’m
fine. I’m fine,” Mom said. With that, she practically pushed us out the door
and slammed the door behind us.
Chapter 9
C ollins didn’t waste time driving me to the
first apartment, which was a beautiful suite in a luxury high-rise overlooking
the city that came complete with a security system and a doorman in the lobby.
“This,
um, is completely not what I was expecting,” I said to Collins and the leasing
agent standing next to him.
“No,
of course not,” Collins said, taking my hand and leading me around to look out
at the view, away from the eyes and ears of the agent. “It’s what I’d like to
see you in,” he said, glancing over at me.
“It’s
too much. I can’t afford to live here…”
Collins placed
his long index finger at my lips to silence me. “Before you protest too much,
Sam, hear me out. I checked out this building, its tenants, the security they
have here, and how reliable the service and maintenance was here before I even
considered this visit. This is a great apartment, with that view out there, the
size…one of the designers we work with can make this place look unbelievable.”
“I
bet the rent is unbelievable,” I said. “I can’t even make a dent on something
like this.”
Collins
pulled me in for a soft sweet kiss, cupping my face with his hands. It left me
breathless and a bit wobbly when I opened my eyes. “When you gave up going to
Stanford, when you gave up the million dollars and chose me instead, that’s
when ‘we’ began, Sam. This isn’t about you getting an apartment to move out of
your parents’ house and to live on your own as a college student, it’s about us
moving on, moving further into our relationship. It’s about us finding each
other, learning and discovering each other once again, and it’s about us being
there for each other. This, Sam, will be my apartment, too.”
I was
speechless for a while before I said, “but Gail…her rules about us living
together…”
“Oh,
I’m not going to be living here,” Collins said. “Still within Gail’s rules. I
will, however, visit very often…like a vacation home. It’s much closer to my
offices here in Newport Beach anyways.”
“So,
there isn’t another apartment to look at?” I asked.
Collins
frowned. “You mean you don’t like it?”
“I
didn’t say that,” I said. “I love it. It’s luxurious, glamorous, sexy, and
reminds me of some kind of James Bond movie in its modern design. I love the
view, too, and it seems to have a balcony that’s big enough for a pool and a
Jacuzzi. But it’s so rich, expensive, and so…”
“Baby,”
Collins pulled me to him. “Remember when we first began our liaison a while
back that I had some conditions? One of them was to have an appearance befitting
me for social events, as a companion…”
Hazily
the rules Collins had in order for us to start a relationship drafted for legal
reasons, began coming back to me, including his preferences. One of them did
mention about being presentable when accompanying Collins out to a social
function. “So me having an apartment like this is part of that?” I asked.
Collins
nodded. “Being with me will always be about this, Sam.” His icy blue eyes
stared into mine as he said, “It’s part of who I am, Sam. I’ve worked too damn
hard to get to this point where I can get a place like this for the woman I
love. If
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