One More Chance, page 19
“I felt the same way,” she admitted, watching him walk over to the railing before facing her. “I couldn’t wait for Jason and Bree to leave, because there was so much I wanted to say to you and I knew I was going to have to be bold or you’d push me away again.”
Raking a hand through his hair, Mick growled with frustration. “There was a reason for that!”
Now she stood. “I know and I understand that now, but at dinner that night, I didn’t want to take any chances!” She let out her own huff of annoyance. “None of this is new information. We need to talk about what happens now. I’m getting on a plane tomorrow night. What happens after that?”
“What do you want to happen after that?”
Mimicking his words from Anaheim, she asked, “Answering a question with a question, Michael?”
She knew the instant he realized what she was doing. “Fine, I want it all, Sienna. I don’t want this to end. I realize you need to go back to North Carolina and that you have a life and a job there, but I want you here with me, too. There’s a lot to work out and I know that, but whatever it takes to make that happen, I’ll do it.” Slowly, he walked over to her, and those strong, warm hands cupped her face. “I fell in love with you when you were too young for me, and I’ve been in love with you ever since. I never stopped.”
Tears stung her eyes, and she realized that was the greatest thing anyone had ever said to her. Reaching up, she placed her hands over his. “I fell in love with you when I was too young to really know what love was,” she admitted shyly. “I thought you forgot about me. When I saw you that night at Carmine’s, I was afraid you would confirm that—that all the things we’d shared would be a distant memory.”
He shook his head. “Never. I never forgot you.” Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. “How could I? You’re my other half. You complete me, Sienna. I feel like now I can finally live—finally breathe—because you’re here with me.”
Then he was kissing her in the most magical moment of her life. It was soft and sweet before turning into their typical wet and needy kisses that she craved like she craved air. His hands moved from her face, down her arms, before wrapping around her waist to hold her close. Sienna wanted nothing more than to pull him back down onto the chaise and make love.
Or maybe I’m turning into some kind of sex crazed lunatic...
That was always a possibility, but that was only because making love with Mick was so much better than she could have imagined. It was amazing the difference love made when making love. Her scientist brain wanted to examine that more, but... later.
As if reading her mind, Mick maneuvered them over to the chaise and sat down before pulling her into his lap. Then he was kissing her again, and it was perfect.
Although...
Slowly, Sienna broke the kiss and looked at the man she loved. Licking her lips, she took a moment to catch her breath. “Okay, so we know that we love each other, but... it still doesn’t erase the 2,500 miles separating us.”
“I know, I know...” Leaning back against the chaise, he frowned. “I hate the thought of doing the long-distance thing, but I think it’s something we’re going to have to deal with for a while. I can do a lot of my work from Durham, but there are times I’m going to have to either be here or New York or... wherever else in the world I have clients I need to be with.”
Wait... he wasn’t talking about her leaving her job or moving.
He was the one offering to sacrifice... everything.
“Mick, I...”
“I’ll keep this place or maybe sell it and keep the condo in the city for when I have to be in town,” he went on. “I’d like to keep the place in Manhattan because it’s spectacular and now it holds some really great memories.” Leaning in, he kissed her again. “You haven’t told me much about your place in Durham, so we can either live there or find a place of our own that we pick out together.”
“Um, yeah... my place essentially sucks compared to this,” she said with a small laugh. “I’m almost embarrassed just thinking of you seeing it.”
He cupped her face again. “It’s doesn’t matter, Sienna. All this stuff—the houses and all the things I’ve accumulated? That was me filling a void I didn’t realize I had. For years, I just kept buying things I thought would make me happy, but they didn’t. After spending these last two weeks with you, I realized I found more joy in the simple day-to-day stuff—having someone to talk to and laugh with—and going to all of those silly tourist attractions and just hanging out like a regular couple...”
“Regular couples do not stay in $10,000 a night hotel rooms,” she reminded him.
Rolling his eyes, he laughed. “You know what I’m saying! You showed me that I don’t need all of this shit. Sure, it’s nice, and it impresses the hell out of people, but it’s not what makes me happy. You. You make me happy, and I want to feel like this for the rest of my life. With you.”
“Mick, I...”
“Michael,” he said.
“Um, what?”
“Michael,” he repeated. “Let everyone else in this business call me Mick. But you, my sweet Sienna, I love how you’re the only one to call me Michael.”
A slow smile tugged at her lips. “I kind of love that, too.”
“Say you’ll be mine, Sienna,” he urged. “Say that we can finally have the lives we’ve been missing and that we can grow old together and fill every damn day with great conversations, tons of laughter, and make love any time we want.”
She rubbed herself against him. “I really like the sound of all of that. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“Is that a yes?”
Nodding, she smiled so hard her face hurt. “That is most definitely a yes!”
Then they were kissing again.
Several minutes later, when they were both breathless, Sienna realized there was one last thing they needed to clarify. “Um... I hate that I have to head home tomorrow, but I am needed back at the lab. I’ll be off again from Thanksgiving through the New Year. Do you think we can handle being apart for the next two weeks?”
“As long as I know it’s the last time we’ll be apart, I think we’ll be fine.”
And it only seemed right that they sealed it with a kiss.
He’d never felt so alone in his life.
Even those early years in L.A. when he lived in that shitty apartment and spent almost every hour of every day by himself, it didn’t feel like this.
He missed Sienna.
It had only been two days, but it felt like two years.
He’d kept himself busy, had worked twelve-hour days in the office and made sure he had something going on to fill the time, but it wasn’t working because as soon as he got home, she wasn’t there. Things like this never bothered him before; he’d been single his entire adult life, always lived alone, and never even entertained the thought of a roommate. And yet somehow in the last two weeks he’d gotten so used to having someone with him that he was essentially ruined for living alone.
“Am I just pathetic or dramatic?” he wondered.
Pouring himself a glass of wine, he stepped out onto the back deck and stared out at the ocean. It wasn’t until he caught himself sighing for the third time that he concluded, “Pathetic.”
The time difference also wasn’t helping. When Sienna got home from work, he was in meetings, and by the time he got home, she was going to bed. None of this was working as smoothly as he thought it would, and he was seriously considering packing a bag, chartering a plane, and finding a way to work from North Carolina.
He was about to go back into the house and make arrangements when he remembered...he couldn’t.
Sitting down on one of the lounges, Mick thought about the conversation he and Sienna had about this exact topic before he dropped her off at the airport.
“Two weeks, right?”
She nodded. “Technically, it’s sixteen days, but...we can do it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that long. And I’m sure we’re both going to be busy catching up on work from our time away.”
“Well, I feel like I didn’t exactly get to truly be away. You know I’ve taken calls and met with clients, and...”
“Michael?”
“Hmm?”
“We both know that you normally work much more than that and you essentially stepped away from your job on short notice. I’m sure there is a pile of messages and contracts and emails just waiting for you.” She smiled at him as she squeezed his hand. “We survived being apart for over twenty years. Surely we can survive two weeks.”
“Sixteen days,” he murmured before kissing her hand. The sigh was out before he could stop it. “I really wish you would have let me charter a plane for you. I could have flown with you and then come right back.”
This time when she said his name, he could tell she was mildly annoyed.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said. “I’m being a little too clingy. I know.”
“Michael, I love you, but we have to be able to do something like this. We know it’s temporary and we both knew this was going to happen. Whining about it and wishing things were different isn’t going to help. This was why I was so hesitant for the last few weeks. But we talked about it and you told me...”
“I know,” he cut her off. “I know, and you’re right.” There were so many things he wanted to say, but it was all the same things he’d been saying and none of it was going to make this separation any easier.
Sienna looked at her phone and frowned. “I really need to get going. Security is going to be a beast to get through, even at this hour.”
All he could do was nod.
Silently, they both climbed from the car and walked around to the trunk. Mick pulled her luggage out and got it up on the sidewalk before cupping her face and kissing her senseless. It bordered on brutal—like he was trying to put his stamp on her and brand her as his. It was ridiculous and yet...he’d never been so desperate and needy before.
Only for her.
When they broke apart, she was breathless and her smile was sad. “We’re going to be fine. We’re both going to be so busy, the time is going to fly.”
Part of him knew that was possible, but he wasn’t holding out much hope.
“Text me when you board,” he told her, kissing her softly this time.
“I will.”
“And then text me when you land. I don’t care what time it is. Just...”
Cupping his jaw, she said, “I will.”
Then he stood back and watched her roll her suitcases through the doors of LAX and it was like watching a piece of his heart leave.
He’d never been an emotional guy; not like this.
As he’d pulled away from the airport, he swore he was going to be fine.
And dammit, he hated how he wasn’t.
Now, as he stared up at the star filled sky, he knew he had to do something to get out of this funk before he did something stupid.
“I am not going to charter a plane...I am not going to charter a plane...I am not going to charter a plane...”
Fortunately, the universe was on his side and his phone rang. Seeing Riley’s name on the screen, Mick practically sagged with relief.
“Hey, Riley, what’s up?”
“Hey, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Just a pity party,” he said with a small laugh.
“Uh-oh...”
And because Riley was a good friend, he knew he could share what was going on—including how pathetic he was feeling.
“Okay, for starters, not pathetic. You had an intense few weeks and you’re eager to start the next phase of your lives.”
“Exactly!”
“What you need is a distraction.”
“I thought work would be a distraction, but so far, no such luck.”
“Well, I’m hoping to change that.”
“Ry, if you and the guys started working on new music...”
“Nope,” Riley quickly interrupted. “This isn’t about me or the band.”
“O-kay...”
“I’m going to forward you a link to some videos. Savannah saw them first over on TikTok, some guitarist. At first I wasn’t sure what the big deal was, but the kid’s got hundreds of thousands of views and I think you should check him out.”
“You know I never mind looking, but...I’m really not interested in new talent right now. I met with Simon and all, but that was a favor.”
“Mick, trust me. Watch the videos and tell me he doesn’t remind you of a young Jett Henley. It’s wild. I swear, when I watched the video, it was like watching Jett when he was younger. The kid’s really captured his look and sound.”
“Cover bands really aren’t my thing...”
Riley sighed loudly. “No one’s asking you to do anything other than watch the videos, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” It wasn’t like he had anything else to do tonight.
“Anyway, are you going to be okay? Want to come for dinner tomorrow night and hang out?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. It just all feels a little weird, you know?” Then he laughed quietly again. “Who would’ve thought, huh? Me of all people, feeling this way.”
“It happens to the best of us,” Riley said with a laugh of his own. “And remember, if you get tired of your own company, we’re here for you. The kids would love to see you. They love their Uncle Mick.”
“Thanks, Ry. Tell them I’ll see them soon.”
After they hung up, Mick forced himself to get up and go back into the house. He was hungry and now his curiosity was piqued about these videos.
First, he ordered some Thai food to be delivered, and then sat down on the sofa with his phone and pulled up the links Riley had sent. He was about to click on the first one when a text from Sienna popped up.
Sienna: Hey, are you free to talk?
As if he’d let anything keep him from doing that.
Rather than texting a reply, he simply called.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said as soon as she answered. “I figured you’d be in bed by now.”
And that’s when he heard it; the sniffle.
“Sienna? What’s going on?”
She sniffed again before responding. “It was just a bad day. Eleanor’s taken a turn for the worse and...and...I’m not handling it well.”
Dammit! He knew he should have chartered the plane so she wouldn’t have to be by herself.
“I can be there by lunch tomorrow,” he said fiercely. “Tell me what you need and I’ll take care of it.”
“I need a miracle,” she said quietly. “I need a cure for my friend. You’re incredibly talented, Michael, but...I don’t think you can do that.”
“Sienna...”
He knew she was crying; he could hear it and picture her so clearly in his mind that it broke his heart.
“I’ll be there as fast as I can. I’ll...”
“No.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to come. It’s unnecessary,” she told him, softly but firmly.
Was she for real?
“You’re upset and you shouldn’t be alone right now. Let me be there for you.”
“You’re here for me right now. This is what I need,” she reasoned. “I appreciate that you want to come here, but...this isn’t something that you need to be involved in. It’s private, Michael. Can you understand that?”
Actually, he couldn’t.
“Eleanor doesn’t need more people coming in and gawking at her.” She let out a small huff. “I was shocked by how many people just kept coming and going from her room. There’s zero privacy and it was just...it was awful. And if you were here, it would just be another person in the room. It wouldn’t be right for me to do that to her.”
That took some of the fight out of him.
Some.
“Then I won’t go to the hospital. I’ll stay at your place and just be there for you when you get home. I’m not asking you to entertain me or to cut your time with your friend short. I can work from your place and whenever you get home, I’ll be there.”
Silence.
He didn’t take it as a bad sign; if anything, it meant she was thinking about it.
“We said we weren’t going to do this. We said we could get through the two weeks without finding excuses to see each other.”
“These are special circumstances,” he reminded her. “I’ll only stay for a couple of days.” Mentally, he went over his calendar and knew he had a few appointments that he shouldn’t reschedule, but he could definitely work around them. “Please.”
“I want to say no...”
“No, you don’t,” he replied softly. “Go and I’ll text you what time I’ll be getting in. I’ll come to your office and get the key to your house and then you won’t see me again until you get home, okay?”
“Mick...”
“Michael.”
That made her laugh. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, beautiful. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
****
She hadn’t slept.
Not that it was anything new, she hadn’t slept well since she got back home. But last night—between her emotions over her friend and then worrying about Mick coming—had kept her awake.
Studying her reflection in the mirror, she groaned. “I don’t think there’s enough concealer to cover these dark circles.”
Still, she did the best she could.
After making the bed, Sienna went through the rest of her boring routine and had a cup of yogurt, put her coffee in a travel mug, and left for work. According to the last text she got from Mick, he was scheduled to land around ten and then had a car picking him up to take him to her office. She had argued that she would come and pick him up and how getting a car wasn’t necessary, but he had insisted that he wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Right now, she wished he was being a little more obtrusive.
Hell, she wanted that bossy, control-taking part of him to swoop in and make everything alright.
But, just as she had told him last night, in this situation, there wasn’t anything he could do.
