he’s going to make me come again, and I lean against him, breathing against him, breathing with him until I’m whimpering and thrusting myself down and it happens and it’s perfect and I want it to never, ever end.
“I want a vacation,” Colby says.
I’m staring up at the big white ceiling, not quite sure what I’m hearing. “You…what?”
He pushes himself up on his elbow and looks down at me. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve come today, but these sheets are definitely going to need changing, and I think I may be dehydrated.
“I have been working nonstop since Dad died,” he says. “My only breaks have been when I’ve been with you…and hell, even then, I’m getting a lot of work done. I’m tired, Finn. I need a break, I think.”
I kiss his nose. “You deserve one.”
“Is that okay? Can I just…not work for a while?”
“As you’re always telling me, what’s the point of being a billionaire if you can’t do what you want?”
“Not forever, I mean, I don’t want to quit—”
Another kiss. “Colby, stop. You are allowed to be human. You’re allowed to take a break. Remember how worried you were about me? Remember how you were going to call me a doctor and everything? Well, I feel better today, but you clearly need help. Call your brother. Tell him to get up here and take over for you.”
He grins down at me. “Should I explain why? Should I tell him who I’ll be spending my vacation with?”
“You’re going to have to tell him something eventually.”
“Aww, I was planning on keeping you a secret from the world.”
“Um…yeah, that won’t work. I already told Polly I was staying with you. He’s devastated. They’re going to have to get a new roommate to cover the rent.”
“This friend of yours…has he ever tried being CEO before? Maybe he’d like my job?”
I laugh and swat his shoulder. “Please. Polly’s too angry for a job like yours.”
“Are you kidding? Blinding rage is pretty much the one skill you need in business.”
An idea suddenly occurs to me. “You know…”
“Uh-oh. I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“I don’t want to take advantage of having a billionaire industrialist as a boyfriend. Really I don’t. But if you wanted to do me a favor, all joking aside, Polly could use a better job…maybe one in the company?”
“Ah, I see how it is. We’re together five minutes and you’re already infiltrating my company with your people. No, no, stop hitting me, good lord!” His laugh is so bright and happy. “I’m kidding. We’re a massive corporation, I’m sure we’ve got something he can do. Your other friends too, if they want. We’ll tell Barry in HR to give them the red carpet treatment.”
That was surprisingly easy. My friends were suddenly taken care of, just like that.
Colby has this trick of solving things that seem impossible.
I guess there are a couple things good about being a billionaire.
“Now, about this vacation,” I say, “tell me all the places you’re going to take me.”
“Well, is there anywhere you’ve always wanted to be?”
I snuggle against him. “Right here,” I said. “This is where I want to be.”
“Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Dubai—”
“I don’t care, as long as I’m with you.”
He looks into my eyes. “You mean that?”
A little nod. I feel vulnerable again, like I always do when he looks at me like this. Like he’s peering deep into my soul.
All he’s going to find there is the truth. I do mean it.
I never had high hopes for my life. I always kept my dreams in reserve, figuring I’d never be able to live them out.
It’s going to take some getting used to, this idea that dreams can come true.
But the main one, the crucial one, is unfolding right here.
I have someone who loves me.
Someone who thinks I’m beautiful.
I don’t care where we go. As long as I can see the world through his eyes, I’m going to be happy. We could stay in this bed the rest of my life, and I’d love it.
“I’m going to show you off,” he says. “And you’re going to have to get used to people loving you. Oohing and aahing over you. You think you can do that? You think you can accept the whole world loving you?”
I reach up and cup his face in my hands, and kiss him again. “There’s only one way to find out,” I tell him. “Let’s go.”
32
Colby and Finn (and friends)
The thing about vacations—even if you’re a billionaire