Daylight

Chapter Twenty-Four

It was Ava's first time back in Los Angeles since she and Luca had moved in with Sebastian and it felt very different being there now. Now, she was staying in the fanciest of places instead of working in them. She was being brought drinks rather than making them. It felt surreal still to be sitting in the makeup chair all over again as the team around her readied her for the Emmy red carpet. A gorgeous pink dress with a plunging V-neck hung behind her but she wasn't staring at that. Instead, she was watching Sebastian's reflection as he mouthed the words to the potential acceptance comments, she'd practically had to force him to scrawl the night before. He was cute when he was nervous.

Sebastian stood in his suit, his tie still undone as he paced back and forth with note cards in his hand. "This is... ugh... I'm going to fall on my face."

Her head dropped to the side before she turned more fully toward him. "Why do you think that?" she asked tenderly, pausing the woman working on finishing her hair. It looked done to her anyway and Sebastian needed her.

She got up out of her chair, the robe she wore flowing elegantly as she moved into his path to stop him. "Stop. Take a deep breath."

"Babe," he protested, only to see the look on her face. Sebastian sighed. "This is the biggest thing I've ever done."

"So far," she pointed out hopefully, reaching up to rest her hand on the side of his face tenderly. "And before now, there was something else that was the biggest thing and you made it through that."

Sebastian couldn't help but smile as he reached up to rest his hand on top of hers. "You always know what to say, you know that?"

Ava's expression warmed and she laughed gently. "It sounds even better in Spanish," she said, smiling. She pushed herself up onto her toes and pressed a soft kiss against his cheek, careful not to leave lipstick there. "Do you need help with your tie?" she asked gently.

"Sure," he answered, inviting her to tie it for him. "The honor is yours."

Reaching up, she went through the motions of tying his tie before she laid it gently against him and smoothed her hand over it. "Finished," she said sweetly, smiling up at him. "I just need to get my dress on, and we'll be ready. Do you want to help me?" She hoped it could keep his mind busy.

"I can... but I'd be prepared for me to cop a feel," he chuckled.

"I'd be a little disappointed if you didn't," she replied with a soft laugh of her own. Taking his hand, she led him over to behind the changing barrier where her dress was hanging. "Can you get it off of the hanger?" she asked of him as she dropped the robe from her body.

Sebastian momentarily looked over Ava's body before turning and retrieving the dress. "Of course."

Maybe a few months ago standing in front of Sebastian nearly naked might have made her nervous, but these days it didn't faze her. She waited patiently and as he brought it over. She carefully stepped into it before pulling it up her body and it laid beautifully against her supple skin. She felt like the beautiful Marilyn Monroe in her pink gown as she smoothed her hands over it. "Your stylists do a great job..."

"You look ravishing," he murmured, placing a kiss to the side of her neck as he slowly zipped up the dress for her.

A soft giggle floated out of her at the sensation of his lips. "Later on, you can show me just how much," she replied to him quietly, wanting to keep it between the two of them.

"Oh, in this dress, I damn well plan to," he growled. "I would love to show you and worship every inch."

"You can do it in front of your Emmy," she murmured in a sultry reply, her accent thicker on purpose as she rolled her r's. She turned to kiss him then, just barely careful with her lipstick.