Page 85 of The Arrangement

We walked quickly inside, the biting wind howling around us as the snow pelleted our faces and clung to our hair.

"Hi, Abbey!" I exclaimed, showing Sebastian where to sign in and where the hand sanitizer was. I urged him to hurry in my head as he signed his name and looked around the facility entrance before I grabbed his hand. Abbey waved at us, her eyes narrowing at the bag over my shoulder that began to move suddenly.

Her eyes caught mine for a moment as Hannah's black and white head poked out curiously from the opening, her whiskers moving as she sniffed the new environment. Abbey just shook her head andsmothered a smile as she turned back to her computer. We took our opportunity and walked down the hall while I made quiet, soothing noises to the cat in the bag.

I barely knocked, Sebastian covering my side as another orderly walked down the hall with meal trays for the residents who were room-bound or just wanted their meals delivered that day.

"Come in!" came Mary's bright and very coherent voice from the other side. I sighed in relief as we walked in. The scent of the day was cinnamon apple, and the windows were open to let in the daylight, even as snow clung to the frame.

"Hi, Grandma!" I greeted her, turning to make sure Sebastian was inside and had locked the door behind him. Morning View had a strict no pet policy, and it was the only measure that my grandmother had bemoaned when she moved in.

However, Sebastian had made a very generous, very public donation to the facility, and suddenly, they were reviewing their pet policy for the whole building when he brought up how disappointed he was with the rule, bringing up some random evidence about how pets were good for healing. "I brought a surprise—well, two."

Mary looked over Sebastian's tall frame and muscular body with the appreciation of any person with working eyes; I had told her I would be bringing him to meet her, but I was still nervous. Hannah was the buffer. Without preamble, I lifted the plump cat out of her enclosure and set her on my grandmother's lap.

"Oh!" She cried all her attention on her furry friend, who immediately began purring at rubbing her head on the older woman's chin. "You snuck her in!"

I nodded before Sebastian brought over his bag, full of cat toys, a bed, and her food, and set it down next to her chair before sitting down beside the older woman and reaching out his hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Mary. I'm Sebastian, Georgia's boyfriend."

My grandmother's grey eyebrows raised as she looked at him and shook his hand, his large tan one engulfing her pale, wrinkled palm.

"Oh, it is very nice to meet you, Sebastian." Mary looked at me, her eyes sparkling as she looked between us all while Hannah busiedherself with making herself comfortable on the old woman's lap. "And you brought me my cat, so you have two good strikes in my book. The first one is for having extremely good taste in women."

Sebastian smiled and stood, allowing me to sit next to my grandmother and give her the good news. "Grandma, Hannah gets to stay here with you as long as you'd like." I didn't think my grandmother's face could show more surprise than it did at that moment.

We stayed and talked for hours; Sebastian insisted on ordering food and going to pick it up to give us some time to talk one-on-one. I set the table for the three of us while Mary got busy making sure Hannah was at home in her new environment.

“It makes me so glad to see you so happy, Georgia.” My grandmother said as she patted my shoulder. “It gives me peace knowing you have someone taking care of you.”

I looked down, smiling. “I think we’re taking care of each other now.” She smiled and poured some food into the cat bowl we brought before straightening and entering the tiny kitchen with me.

"So, how did you two meet?" Mary asked, pouring a few glasses of water to set on the table.

A smile softened my face, "He was my neighbor."

Epilogue - Georgia

"Turn around! You can't peek!" I cried, pulling my phone back behind me as Sebastian tried once again to look at the screen. "It's a surprise, now turn around!"

Sebastian groaned but complied. We had both driven home after closing up Hemingway's for the evening, and the warm spring evening was a balm from the brutally cold winter. I pressed a couple of buttons on my phone, making sure the screen would stay active.

"Okay, turn around."

He turned obediently, taking the offered phone from me. I was silent, my hands covering my mouth as I watched him read the words from the email, his eyes widening with realization.

"You got an offer?" He didn't sound surprised; Sebastian sounded proud. I was still nodding as he gathered me in his arms, spinning me around the tiny parking lot.

"We need to celebrate," Sebastian murmured hotly into my neck, causing goosebumps to appear over my skin despite the warm night. As he let me down, I bit my lip and replied suggestively, "I did have an idea." Sebastian didn't wait for me to explain. He just took my hand and dragged me to the apartment, not even bothering to drop me off at my unit.

Our lips were already crashing together before the door shut. The thin shirt he wore ripped over his head as my fingers traced the dips of his muscles as Sebastian moaned against my mouth, clashing it once again with mine. His clothing trailed behind us as we made our way to his bedroom, the red lights taken down a month ago after we’d filmed our last video.

"What are you thinking?" Sebastian murmured against my skin as he kissed his way down my throat, nipping at my collarbone.

I smiled indecently as I picked up one of the smaller, more compact cameras that still sat on his nightstand. Sebastian looked confused as I turned on the device. "I thought we decided to give it up?"

I set the camera against a pile of books I had left on the desk, aiming it directly at the bed. "It's not for them," I explained, slowly and deliberately removing the last layer of clothing that divided us. Sebastian's amber eyes watched as the entirety of my scandalous green lingerie made its full appearance. When his gaze finally found my eyes I nearly gasped at the way his pupils were blown so obviously in desire. "For us. Just us."

It took a moment for realization to dawn on his face, and a slow grin tugged at the side of his mouth. We hadn't filmed in months, and Sebastian was slowly shutting down his account. It was bittersweet for both of us; for him, it had been a way of living for well over six years and a more-than-steady income.

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