was already thinking about how things would end. I wished that they didn’t have to, because so far things were going very well. He listened, he was considerate and kind, and he was amazing in bed. More than that, he was someone who I looked up to a whole lot.
But things would have to end. It was clear from the way he talked about it that he had no intentions of allowing this to continue long-term. That especially sucked, because I had never had someone treat me this way, with such care and consideration, and I didn’t know if I would find anyone like him ever again.
Chapter Ten
Grayson
When I woke up and saw Serenity sleeping next to me, so absolutely beautiful, so perfect in the way that her hair fell in front of her face and her breathing made her chest rise up and down, I knew that this was no good.
I was falling for her. Hard.
I couldn’t do that to either of us. I needed to live my own life and she needed to live hers. This was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement to keep us both entertained for the holidays and nothing more.
I supposed then that I would have to cut things off early and return our relationship to one of professionalism and friendship. I couldn’t afford to have it any other way.
“Wake up,” I said, gently shaking her shoulder.
“Hmmmm?” Serenity turned over and slowly opened her eyes, blinking back at me. God, she was so perfect, even all mussed up from sleep.
She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. “Is it time to get up already?”
“Yes. Did you get enough sleep last night? Or do you need to stay home?” I asked, unable to resist pushing back a lock of her hair.
She shook her head. “I should be able to make it. I didn’t have much trouble falling asleep with you there.” She smiled up at me, and I knew then that this was going to be hard to end. How was I going to manage to do it?”
“Alright, well, you should get back to your room and get ready then.”
“Of course.” She smiled, then slid out of my bed and walked to the door. I watched as her hips swayed, and then at the doorway she turned to look back at me and blow a kiss over her shoulder before leaving.
I groaned, falling back into bed. God, this was going to be difficult to end, especially because I felt like I could definitely get used to having her in my bed and watching her hips sway that way every morning. It made me want to grab her and kiss her and tell her that the two of us should just stay in and make out all day.
She was definitely a big distraction, and one that I didn’t know if I could afford at the moment. But what was I supposed to do when she gave me that kind of a look?
Come on, Grayson, you can fight it. You have to. You don’t want to ruin things with Sebastian and you definitely don’t want to make his kid sister cry when this inevitably blows up in your face. The longer you put this off, the worse it’s going to be for all of you.
I forced myself up and out of bed, heading into the bathroom to splash some water on my face. I was hoping it would wake me up and shake this silly idea out of my head, but it only succeeded in the first thing. Sighing, I took a quick shower and then got dressed before heading downstairs to grab myself a cup of coffee and take some time to read the paper. It had become my morning ritual, the few moments of the day I took and kept for myself.
Serenity came down several minutes before we were supposed to leave, looking like an absolute dream. She had showered and styled her hair, and was wearing a cute but professional outfit—a pencil skirt that came down to her knees along with a yellow blouse and some practical black flats. She had on a bit of makeup and her face looked like it was glowing from within.
I smiled up at her. “You ready to leave?”
She nodded. “I’m hungry, too.”
“Well, I promised we’d get you some baked goods and I intend to follow through on that.” I offered her my arm and she took it, letting me lead her out to the car.
It wasn’t a very