Chapter 40: : Chapter 40

“God, it’s been so long since I got to wake up with you in my arms,” Archer says, pulling me closer. “Your damn brother has really been getting on my nerves lately. Fucking cockblock. I’m so tempted to just acquire more foreign business purely so Ezra will leave us alone more frequently as he goes to implement our systems overseas. If it’s a new acquisition, he can’t leave it to Emma, he’ll have to go himself.”

I giggle as I press my lips to his neck. “We can’t do that,” I tell him, my voice weak. Archer kisses my forehead as his hands roam over my body eagerly, and I laugh and push off him, looking at him through narrowed eyes. “Arch,” I warn. “Didn’t you tell me that you had a cooking class with your mom soon?”

He groans as he sits up, the sheets bunching around his waist and revealing his body. “Would you like to join me for it?”

I stare at him wide-eyed, surprised by the offer. I know how important this time with his family is to him, so I’ve always made sure I wasn’t around during his weekly call with his mother and sister. I never wanted to intrude, and he has no idea how much it means to me that he’d want me there. “Maybe next time,” I tell him, looking down at the big T-shirt I’m wearing, one of his. “It starts in like ten minutes, right? I wouldn’t want…I mean, I know you’d just introduce me as Ezra’s little sister, but I still wouldn’t want to look like trash.”

He looks at me, his gaze searching. “What if I introduced you differently?”

My breath hitches, and he stares at me, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “I…um…”

He runs a hand through his hair as he slips out of bed. “Think about it,” he tells me, his voice soft. “I think you’d really like them, you know? And it’d be fun to have you in the kitchen with me on Sundays.”

I nod and watch him walk into the bathroom, my heart hammering in my chest. Did he mean what I think he did? I’m no longer sure if we’re on the same page, and it scares me to think that my feelings for him are unrequited.

I’m lost in thought as I walk into the kitchen, loving the feel of his large T-shirt on my body. There’s something about being enveloped in his scent that makes me oddly happy. It’s soothing in a way almost nothing else is.

My heart begins to race when I find cute heart-shaped donuts waiting for me on the kitchen island, and I lift one to my lips carefully, the butterflies in my stomach going wild. Recently, Archer has taken to cooking me all kinds of adorable foods on the weekends we stay in, and I’m not quite sure why. It feels like he’s trying harder, atoning for something, though I’m not sure what for.

I sigh as I take a sip of my coffee, my thoughts beginning to roam where I don’t want them to go. Does he feel guilty because of Tyra? Things between us aren’t exactly what we’d initially agreed on, and we both know it. Besides, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been struggling with the same guilt.

Each time I work on The Ballerina, I’m reminded that this thing between us wasn’t meant to last forever, that we’re supposed to be using each other to get over other people. Falling for each other was never part of the plan.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of Archer’s doorbell, and I frown in confusion. Did he order something? “Archer?” I shout, before realizing that he can’t hear me from the shower.

I glance down at my clothes and hesitate before heading to the front door. I pull it open to find a beautiful woman with long, dark hair standing in front of me, and she looks just as surprised to see me as I am to see her. For a few moments, we just stare at each other, jealousy slowly building deep in my tummy as I take her in. She looks like some kind of supermodel—exactly the kind that Archer was frequently photographed with before me.

“Hi,” I tell her, my tone conveying my uncertainty. “Can I help you?”

She pushes her hair behind her ear as she takes in my T-shirt, and I tense. “Um, is Archer home?”

Something that feels a lot like defeat rushes through me as I nod. “Yes,” I tell her, stepping back to let her in. It had never occurred to me that I’m not the only woman he’s been with in this way. I probably wasn’t his first attempt to forget Tyra, and I likely won’t be the last. It won’t take him long to realize that we’ve just gotten a bit too caught up in the moment, in this bubble that we exist in, and that we won’t work outside of it. “He’s…well, Archer is in the shower. He should be out shortly.”

“Right,” she murmurs as she walks into the foyer, clearly familiar with Archer’s home. It makes me deeply uncomfortable to know she’s been here before, and I try my best to push the feeling aside. “You look familiar,” she tells me. “Have we met before?”

She frowns as I sigh and walk into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. “No,” I tell her, crossing my arms. “I’d remember if we’d met.”

She raises a brow, and I just stare at her for a moment, surprised by her beauty. It seems ridiculous for Archer to even want me when almost every woman he’s ever been photographed with is as beautiful as the woman in front of me. She’s as beautiful as Tyra was.

“How so?”

I smile humorlessly, my jealousy cutting deep. “I remember every girl Archer has ever introduced me to, and you aren’t one of them.” I look away then. “Not yet, anyway.”

“How about I just introduce myself, then?” she says as I take a sip of my water. “I’m Celeste Windsor, and I’m incredibly curious who you are and why you’re wearing a limited-edition T-shirt I bought for my brother years ago.”

My eyes snap to hers, and shock rushes through me when I realize who she is. I glance down at my clothes, my cheeks heating in embarrassment. “You’re Archer’s younger sister,” I say, my voice trembling ever so slightly. Jealousy clouded my mind so much that it didn’t even occur to me that that’s who she must be. In recent years she’s been quite reclusive, so I’ve never met her before, but I should’ve known when I saw the color of her eyes. They’re exactly the same as Archer’s.

“I’m Serenity,” I tell her. “I’m Archer’s business partner’s younger sister. My brother just moved in next door a few months ago, but we’re just staying here for a little while because a pipe burst in his apartment, and I’m, well, I’m doing an internship at their firm, so I’m staying here too.”

I immediately feel like an idiot. Of course she knows Ezra only moved back in next door a year ago, even though he owns the place. She’s the one who’d been living in his home before then. Celeste smiles at me like she knows I’m not telling her the whole truth, but thankfully, she doesn’t pry. I’m so nervous that I’d tell her everything if she asks.

“Celeste?” Archer says as he walks into the kitchen wearing gray sweats and a white tee, a towel pressed to his hair. He freezes as he takes in his sister’s expression, and I watch as she forces a smile for him. “What happened?”

He sighs and holds his arms open for her, and her eyes fill with tears as she walks up to him. His arms wrap around her as a sob tears through her throat. He doesn’t say a thing as he holds her tightly with one arm, patting her back soothingly with the other. “What did he do?” Archer asks, his voice dripping with violence.

Celeste merely shakes her head and buries her face in his chest, soft sobs racking her body.

Our eyes lock, and I throw him an understanding smile as I walk away, giving the two of them privacy. I’m not sure what happened, but it’s clear she needs him, and the last thing I want to do is be intrusive when this is clearly a family moment.