31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (28 page)

‘And what now you’re the Dali Lama or Buddha?’ I
teased and put my arm around her and kissed her temple.

‘Get away with you, I’m married, laddie,’ she
laughed as she went red and slapped my hand. I chuckled and pulled out my
wallet, amazed at how much tiny baby stuff cost.

I dropped her off to have her hair and nails done
as a thank you for helping me, while I went to visit Moira, Theo and Florie,
then picked up some paint and all the gear on the way back through to get Mrs.
McAdams. Tucking another receipt in my wallet I shook my head. I’d never
thought having a kid involved so much stuff. It was lucky that I was loaded,
but Ellie and Oliver were going to want for nothing.

I set the roller down and stepped back to admire
my handy work. All of the walls had been painted in a pale blue, duck egg
according to the paint pot, just pale blue to my eye. I was surprised to see
that it was already one a.m. I’d started when I got back and was so determined
to get it done, I hadn’t realised how late it was. At least now I only had the
white gloss and clouds to do tomorrow, before the furniture arrived on Thursday.
I shoved my damp hair back from my forehead and wiped my face on my t-shirt,
feeling pleased with myself. I’d never done anything like this. I always
considered anything other than computer and business work a chore, that’s why I
paid other people to do things for me. This though, I’d enjoyed doing, I felt
it was important as a father to make the effort, for Ellie to see how invested
I was in this relationship and my son’s life. I felt my chest constrict at the
thought of them both. I’d meant to facetime her earlier, but I’d got so carried
away with my unexpected enthusiasm for my painting job, that it was too late
now. I set a reminder on my iPhone to call her tomorrow evening, just in case I
was engrossed in work.

I sat at my desk and hopped online at Pandora and
searched for another charm to add to her bracelet. Stuart I put in charge of
the expensive items, but personal items like this I wanted to do myself. I’d
purchased the heart and written her the note before we went our separate ways
last time. I’d steeled myself to give it to her and tell her that I was in love
with her, but when I realised she was going to stand her ground and ask me to
leave her alone, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Rejection wasn’t
something that I was used to, nor was putting my emotions out there and my
heart on the line. I’d spent a long time perfecting a hardened shell around it,
but she’d shattered that like she’d fired armour piercing rounds at me. I
wasn’t going to tell her that beneath my tough dominant exterior she’d rendered
me to the consistency of a damn marshmallow, I had my pride and reputation to
consider. Deep down though, I knew I’d pretty much do anything for them both.
Holding Oliver had finally freed me of the last fragments of self-protection,
and I found it hard to comprehend how much love I contained within me now. I
just knew that having them in my life would slowly heal the wounds of my former
losses, until all that remained were scars. Those scars would seal in the
memories, but they’d never be erased, nor should they. Scars were reminders of
our pasts, to never take things for granted, to remind us to take a different
path in future so as not be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over.
Losing Ellie and Oliver now, would just slice fresh deep cuts and release all
those former pains to merge with the new ones. I thought of myself as a strong
man, but I knew losing them now would be the final nail in my coffin. It would
cripple me, for good.

I ordered the passion, joy and happiness charms to
be delivered here, so I could give them to her to add to her bracelet. They
summed up my emotions at the moment perfectly. Passion was a given. I’d never
needed someone like I did Ellie, just thinking about her made me spring an
erection, but it was more than just her body and her face, I loved her mind as
well. I was passionate about every single thing about her, nothing turned me
off, not even her refusal to meet all of my requests and demands. Joy and
Happiness, well they were self-explanatory. I’d hoped to one day be in a
position to ask her to come back into my life, I never expected to have a child
included in that deal as well, but that phone call from Brooke had changed my
life. For the better. I stripped off, took a quick cold shower to try and
dampen the sexual urges flowing through my veins and lay back in my bed with my
hands behind my head, unable to get rid of this damn smile that seemed to be
painted onto my face lately. I barely recognised myself when I looked in the
mirror. I chuckled as I thought of my parents and Magda’s reaction to my news
on Saturday night when I’d called them. While shocked, they were ecstatic. I
hadn’t told them much about my relationship with Ellie, but they knew enough to
see how much more miserable I’d been without her. I wasn’t sure I could pick
out one of the three of them as the proudest that there was a new addition to
the family.

I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath and an
immediate picture of her came to mind. Those deep reflective green eyes, those
perfectly soft kissable lips, the swell of her breasts and those enlarged
nipples. I groaned and tensed my fingers behind my head, my cock was hard again
before I’d even thought about her soft pink moist centre and I was sick of
masturbating, I was going to get repetitive strain if I carried on at the rate
I’d been going, or break my cock from gripping it too tightly. I tried thinking
about anything that
wasn’t
sexy, but it was like six degrees of
separation, everything brought me back to steaming hot sheet clawing fucking
with her. Damn it, I needed to ease the tension. Again. My hand moved down,
sweeping over my taut stomach with the expertise of a homing missile, zeroing
straight in on my throbbing cock. I grunted and parted my thighs, as I cupped
and rolled my balls while I swiftly stroked myself to completion with a
triumphant grunt and had to go and clean up again. I climbed back into bed with
a sigh. Friday couldn’t come fast enough, just like my cock.

Friday 10
^th
July ~ Year Two

Ellie

I checked my handbag for
my passport again, not sure if I needed one on a private plane going to
Scotland, but was thankful I’d ordered one for Oliver as well. When I’d spoken
to Dan last night he’d told me I didn’t need any of my “baby gadgets” and that
I only needed clothes and nappies to cover me until I arrived. He’d just smiled
when I asked what he’d been up to, as he had a mysterious smug air about him. A
seriously sexy air, he’d been wearing a white t-shirt which just showed off his
natural bronzed tan. He took my breath away every time I looked at him and I
couldn’t believe that I could have possibly missed him more than I had in those
eleven months apart, but these last four and a bit days had been hell. Not to
mention the fact that he’d reignited my sexual appetite and now, other than
Oliver, sex was all I thought about. Thank God I had a man who was the same. My
confidence had taken such a nose dive after discovering Zac had preferred
prostitutes to me, but Dan had made me feel like the sexiest woman in the world.

I carried my suitcase downstairs and went and woke
Oliver from his nap and fed him, before making sure I had enough nappies, baby
wipes and a spare change of clothes for him. I was touched that Dan had
obviously gone to some trouble to buy him some clothes and nappies, but he
wasn’t exactly a baby expert and I dreaded to think what I was going to turn up
to find. I’d spent the last few days thinking about his request for us to move
in with him and had tried to consider every angle. I’d already spoken to John
about the possibility of working from Scotland, which he’d been fine about. As
usual, his only request was that I be available for the monthly partners
meetings and any entertaining or meetings with clients. That was one of the
three concerns I had about Dan’s suggestion to move, it might mean regular
trips back to London. The second was being away from Brooke, Molly, John and
Edward, as well as Dan’s family. Oliver needed family in his life, to be
surrounded by love, and there wasn’t many of us to give it to him, though I was
sure Dan and I wouldn’t let him lack for any. The last concern was that damn
water. I really wasn’t happy about taking that small wooden boat back and forth
across the loch. It was bad enough with my fear of drowning, but the anxiety
was amplified to know that Oliver would be with me as a baby, let alone when he
grew into a young uncontrollable child. I jumped up when I heard the door
knock, signalling James’s arrival and scooped Oliver off his play mat and gave
him a big kiss making him giggle, before heading downstairs.

‘How’s the young lad doing?’ asked James, as he
carried the case and baby bag to the car.

‘He’s just perfect thank you.’

‘Make the most of it before he finds his legs and
you can’t keep track of him. You’ll need to keep your fitness levels up.’

‘You sound as if you speak from experience,’ I
smiled as I carefully strapped Oliver’s baby seat in.

‘Yes, two grandchildren that my wife and I look
after for our eldest while she’s at work. They wear me out. I come to work for
a rest,’ he chuckled, as he closed the door and got into the driver’s seat as I
strapped myself in.

‘So have you driven for Dan for long?’

‘About six years, Miss Baxter,’ he advised, as he
started the engine and slowly moved away.

‘Do you enjoy what you do?’

‘He’s a very generous and kind man and I’ve grown
fond of him and his family. It’s a far less stressful job than being a Royal
Marine.’

‘Wow,’ I nodded. ‘ You must be super fit. You
don’t miss the adrenaline rush, action and drama?’

‘O, I still get that with Mr. Davenport and Mr.
Steele,’ he laughed.

‘Mr. Steele?’

‘Mr. Davenport’s best friend, Miss Baxter.’

‘What’s he like?’ I pushed forwards against my
seat belt to hear better. I knew so little about Dan, I’d never heard him
mention a best friend.

‘He’s a very polite well-mannered young gentleman,
Miss. Slightly younger than Mr. Davenport, but with all of his wit and charm. I
would say that the ladies think he rivals him in looks.’

‘Really?’ I exclaimed, trying to imagine anyone
could compete with Dan. ‘And what does this Mr. Steele do? Is he in the IT
business too?’

‘No, he’s …’ James cleared his throat and adjusted
his tie and I swore I saw a slight flush to his cheeks. ‘He’s a personal
trainer, a very good one. Ensures his clients get a very thorough work out.’

‘Maybe I need to look him up myself, if ever Jason
my current trainer can’t accommodate me.’

‘I’m not sure how Mr. Davenport would feel about
that.’

‘I would have thought he’d much prefer his best
friend looking after me than another man he doesn’t know. How long have they
been friends?’

‘I couldn’t say. I’ve probably said too much. I’m
paid to drive not to gossip.’

‘It’s hardly gossiping, chatting while you drive,’
I replied. ‘It’s not like you’re spilling all of Dan’s deep dark secrets by
telling me about his best friend.’

‘Maybe not but …’ He was cut off by Oliver
squealing and letting out a stream of gobbledegook and chuckled as I turned my
attention to him, waving his small circular rattle at him and kissing his soft
plump cheek.

‘I’m fine thank you,’ I smiled at Richard the air
steward, who came to check if I needed another drink. This was crazy, I was in
a seriously plush small plane, it only had eight luxurious white leather fully
reclining seats with shiny mahogany tables at their sides, then there was a
small area given over to a long mahogany desk with a large LCD monitor attached
to it and a keyboard below, with a white leather office chair that appeared to
have been secured to the cream carpeted floor. I assumed Dan sat there to work
while he was travelling. At the back of the plane was a beautiful modern
cloakroom. I’d never been in a private plane before, I had no idea they were so
stunningly appointed. Dan seriously had enough money to have one of these and
use it just to fly Oliver and I to Scotland,
as well
as his helicopter?
Oliver was asleep in his car seat, secured to the seat on the opposite side of
the aisle, so I took the opportunity to close my eyes as well. If I fell
asleep, the sooner I’d see Dan. And I couldn’t wait.

I must have drifted off, as I jumped to feel a
shudder and hear the squeal of brakes as we touched down. I put on some lip
gloss and quickly checked my hair, straightening my white vest top adorned with
little white daisies. I’d tried to go for casually sexy by pairing it with some
skinny bleached jeans, a pair of denim wedges and I’d teased my hair into
natural looking waves. I wiped Oliver’s face gently with a baby wipe, he’d
drooled in his sleep as was usual, then I planted a kiss on his forehead and he
let out a soft snore. Even a plane ride and landing didn’t wake him, I was so
lucky. He looked so cute in a little pair of denim dungarees with a navy and
white striped t-shirt underneath and some navy socks. I’d wanted him to look
nice for his dad.

‘Mr. Davenport’s waiting for you on the tarmac,
leave Master Oliver while I fetch the bags down for you. I’ll bring him in a
moment,’ smiled Richard.

‘That’s really kind, thank you.’ I headed to the
door, which had been lowered to leave me to walk down some integral steps into
the heady heat and I caught my breath as I saw Dan, dressed in dark navy jeans
with a white shirt rolled up at the sleeves, leaning back against some shiny
black vehicle with his arms and ankles crossed and a big smile on his face. I
forgot all about being cool and sexy and ran across the tarmac and met him
striding the other way. We collided in the middle as I launched myself into his
arms, wrapping my legs around his waist as I circled his neck and kissed him.
Fireworks exploded in my head as he clutched my bottom with one hand, the back
of my head with the other and forcefully inserted his tongue into my mouth,
leaving me giddy. I felt like I was drowning again and he was my anchor
steadying me. He controlled the pace of our kisses by slowing them down, but
losing none of the power behind the way he took my mouth and we only broke away
for a much needed gasp of oxygen.

‘Anyone would think you’d missed me, Miss Baxter,’
he smirked.

‘Not really. I’m so sex starved I promised myself
that I’d jump the first guy I saw as I got off the plane, you just struck
lucky,’ I smiled.

‘Damn lucky,’ he sighed and clasped my face as he
looked into my eyes while I clung to his muscular frame. ‘I missed you.’

‘You
are
getting good at this sharing your
emotions thing, I missed you too.’

‘Never have guessed,’ he chuckled.

‘No one could fail to guess given that erection
currently rubbing against me.’

‘What, that old thing? Don’t flatter yourself, I’m
so sex starved I promised myself that I’d have sex with the first person to get
off that plane.’

‘Then you’re damn lucky I beat Richard to it,’ I
laughed and kissed him again, more tenderly this time though, my lips still
felt swollen and bruised from our first melding of tongues. We finally parted
again and just gazed at each other. His deep green eyes were so much more
reflective than when I first met him, he looked happy, really happy.

‘Christ I want to fuck you,’ he growled. ‘Your
nipples are as stiff as the first day I met you.’

‘And I can’t even blame it on the cold this time.’

‘Sorry to interrupt Mr. Davenport, is your boot
open for me to put Miss Baxter’s case inside?’ came Richard’s voice.

‘Yes,’ Dan confirmed, without taking his eyes off
me. ‘Where’s Oliver?’

‘Asleep in his car seat. Speaking of cars, where’s
the death trap?’

‘At the loch. You had concerns, I fixed them. I
plan to make you ache all over tonight by fucking you repeatedly, I didn’t want
you sore before I even ripped your knickers off.’

‘So you just brought a new car, to get your leg
over?’ I laughed.

‘And to not rattle my son’s bones for the next
hour on the way home.’

‘Home? I’ve not agreed to move in yet,’ I reminded
him.

‘Yet,’ he grinned. ‘You’ve been thinking about it.
Come on then, the sooner we get back, the sooner I can get my cock inside that
ripe peach of yours.’ He kissed me quickly and slid me down his body, groaning
as I pressed against his solid erection. I was damp already, just the sight of
him, a few kisses and the promise of sex was more than enough. He took my hand
and laced his fingers between mine and squeezed tightly. ‘I really have missed
you, and the little fellow.’

‘Well the international world of IT must have kept
you busy making money, if you can pay for a new car and a super sexy plane like
that. I’ve never been in something so lovely.’

‘Wait until we use the large one.’

‘Large one? You have more than one plane?’ I
looked up at him stunned.

‘You think this can carry enough fuel to fly me to
America or China?’ he laughed.

‘How large are we talking?’

‘A 767. It has a number of en-suite bedrooms,
fully equipped kitchen, dining room, lounge, cinema room, gym, private office
and boardroom, so large,’ he shrugged like it was totally normal.

‘O my God,’ I uttered. ‘That must cost a fortune
to run.’

‘I earn a fortune, Ellie. By the time we’ll have
driven back to the loch in my new Range Rover, I’ll have earned enough to purchase
another.’

‘I’m not with you for that, you know that right,’
I whispered as I looked up at him. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear,
clasped my face and gently kissed my forehead.

‘Of course I do. You told me that you loved me
when you thought I was a drop out sponging off his rich friend. You could have
contacted me for money as soon as you realised you were pregnant. For some crazy
reason you fell in love with Stan, my complex alter ego.’

‘Because I could see a good man was under all that
crazy behaviour, plus once I glimpsed that cock,
hello!
No way was I
leaving that island without getting some action,’ I teased.

‘O baby, you have no idea just how much action
you’re going to get this time,’ he sighed and started to kiss me again. We
broke apart when we heard a gentle cough and looked around to see Richard
carrying Oliver in his seat, still fast asleep. I went to reach for him, but
Dan beat me to it. ‘Thanks Richard, I’ll let you know if Miss Baxter will need
a ride home in a couple of weeks.’

‘When Miss Baxter needs a ride home,’ I corrected
and got his sexy scowl in return. ‘Thank you for looking after us so well,
Richard.’

‘My pleasure, he’s as good as gold, not a peep.
Enjoy your vacation,’ he nodded and I smiled in return. I turned back to see
Dan holding up the car seat, inspecting inside, with a soft look on his face
and I smiled to see him so enraptured with our son.