Equity (Balance Sheet #3) (22 page)

A thunderous downpour grounded Kalen’s plane. He was still hoping for takeoff, but as the lightning struck more and more, I began to wonder if he’d make it. He said he may not get to contact me if they were cleared suddenly.

My mood had grown murky. I needed Kalen in the worst way. According to the famous book for expecting mother’s my libido was supercharged now that I was pregnant. The damn picture of the imprint of his cock through his pants had me thinking very bad thoughts.

I’d shooed out my security detail into the hall after they’d ensured no one could get to me. Cranky, I sat on the couch in a robe covering sexy lingerie waiting on my guy.

Thoughts traveled to home and how I needed to pay a visit to my family before I began to show. As much as my father loved me, I was certain I wouldn’t be allowed home as an unwed mother. I would be the bad example to all the impressionable kids. And if nothing else of my kidnapping experience, I valued life more. I needed my family as much as I needed to live outside of the community.

Of course, thinking about them, my thoughts drifted to Turner. I’d sent another letter after my doctor’s appointment explaining that it was most likely Kalen who was the father. I apologized for not being able to tell him all of this in person. I also told him again I was sorry he didn’t receive the letter I’d left him at the airpark in Scotland.

When my phone rang out, obliterating the silence, I jumped. The security team knocked on the door after my yelp, asking if I was okay. I assured them I was but didn’t open the door. I had a robe on, but I wanted Kalen to be the first and only person to see me tonight.

“Vi,” I said into the phone. “Bored?”

“Actually, yes. Kind of.”

“Where’s Lizzy?”

“Out,” she sighed. “She offered to take me along, but I wanted to stay here tonight.”

“I hope she’s breaking the news to Hans.”

“That’s if she’s decided to do that.”

I wasn’t sure where my friend’s head was concerning that. So I changed the topic. “How’s school?”

She told me all about the latest antics that happened in her culinary classes. These stories always had humor about those whose cooking skills were less than desirable. She was learning more than baking and loving it. However, she thought in the end, she would still end up working in a bakery.

We let silence fill the space after her last words until I finally said, “You should really give Matt a chance.” I wasn’t sure why I was pushing Matt on her. Was it because I was happy and wanted her happy? Probably, and more because she was my sister. And then there was guilt that things didn’t work out between Matt and me and I wanted him happy too.

“Who’s to say I haven’t?” she said slyly.

“Shut up,” I said getting her meaning. “You and Matt bumped uglies?”

“What’s that?”

“Had sex, did the horizontal happy dance?”

She didn’t answer, which was answer enough. “No way,” I yelled. Then I called out to the door after the team just outside the door questioned my safety. “I’m fine, just chatting with my sister.”

When she still didn’t say anything I couldn’t help my curiosity. “How was it? I guess it wasn’t good if you decided you just wanted to be friends. And what’s his dick like? Is it pretty?”

I’d forgotten who I was talking to. If this had been Lizzy, I wouldn’t have had to ask. She would have told me all these details. And although Violet and I had been close, we’d never really talked much about sex growing up, at least not like this.

“It was good. And if Lizzy’s descriptions are accurate, he’s got a whole lot more than what Hans has in that department.”

Her statement wasn’t filled with life. It was like she was rattling off facts. “You don’t sound very excited about it.”

At that moment, the lights went off in my apartment. A knock sounded at the door. “Vi, I just lost power and with any luck, that’s Kalen knocking at my door. I’ll call you later.”

I put my phone down and opened the door. The hallway was dark, but I could see that the guards were blocking an intruder from entering.

“This guy says he knows you.”

Dripping wet with a feral glare for the two guys blocking his way to me, he stood straight and waited for me to say something.

The ache in my balls had me surly at anyone who crossed my path. I knew once I was buried to the hilt deep in Bailey, the raging bull in me would subside. It was preposterous how I’d gone months without being with a woman and I wasn’t this hard up. It was as if my cock knew we were back together.

After nearly opting to drive in order to get to her, my plane had been cleared for takeoff. The threat of wind shears had been removed by the National Weather Service.

By the time I made it to her door hours late, I placed my head on it to check myself. The guards had explained that power to the apartment building had been lost for a short time. I really didn’t care as long as it was back on. The two guards looked on in confusion as I tried to master patience.

Finally I waved them off, not wanting to know her every move. They traded looks while I opened the door, not bothering to knock. Bailey would be asleep and none of that mattered. I just needed to be close to her. We’d been video chatting every night and by request she’d leave her phone on while she fell asleep.

This distance was tearing me apart. I had to convince her to move back to New York. The thought of her and my unborn child consumed me every waking moment. After stepping into her apartment trying to persuade myself that lying next to her would be enough until morning, she stepped out of her room.

It was like an electric jolt hit me. Its magnetism attached to her too. Suddenly we were moving in each other’s direction without words. She wore a fluffy white robe that covered far too much of her skin. The flimsy tie that held it closed was no match for my hands. I had it undone before her mouth parted.

Stopped with my kiss, she wasn’t able to say a thing while I allowed my hands to explore what I hadn’t yet seen because I needed her taste in my mouth.

“Kalen,” she pleaded pulling back. Her voice was breathy, and damn if that didn’t send another jolt to my cock.

One of my hands overflowed with her breast clad in what felt like a silky bra. As promised by pregnancy, her tits were getting bigger than the perfect handful they’d been before. My other hand trailed a path to what promised to be a matching bottom to the top.

Two things happened that stopped everything.

“Kalen wait,” Bailey cried.

A figure emerged from her bedroom. The guy, because it was a male, had a towel pressed to his head. It looked as though he was drying his hair from a shower. However, the bathroom was down the hall and Bailey had also come from that room.

I stepped back and got a view of what lay underneath her robe. She was clad in a blue underwear set. It was sexy as all hell. I stared at her, then I glanced at him. He’d stopped and I gripped the fabric of her robe closed.

“Kalen,” she begged.

Fury was an ugly whisper in my head. Yet it wasn’t anger that fueled it, it was fear. I couldn’t articulate that. And why would I? Never show fear, especially around another man.

“It isn’t what it looks like,” Bailey said calmly.

A dark almost wicked chuckle escaped me. “And what does it look like?” I pointed at the other guy, who held his hands in a pleading fashion, the white towel crumbled in one of them. “It looks like you came out of your room dressed like that.” I gave her an appraisal over her now covered body. “It looks like he came out of your room after having showered. But the shower is that way. That’s what it looks like.”

One step back and Bailey was out of my reach. She fastened her tie quickly, assessing me. Then her face scrunched up and she spoke. “You don’t trust me.”

I was two seconds from saying the obvious. But that wouldn’t have been the truth. The truth was I did trust her. I didn’t think she’d cheated on me as much as my temper outwardly said otherwise. I was more afraid that he’d come back to convince her to be with him.

“What am I supposed to think?” I uttered because I couldn’t come up with the right words.

“You’re not supposed to think I’m cheating on you. I never cheated on you.” There was a lot of conviction in the last few words she said. It was technically true. She’d never cheated on me or him that I know of. So what was the problem?

“I don’t think you cheated. What I think is the two of you have history. And I don’t think he’s here to congratulate you on us being together.”

“Why don’t you just ask me why I’m here,” Turner suggested.

“Fine, why are you here?” It was a dumb question. I knew why. He’d heard the news and most likely he wasn’t up to date.

“I’m here because I got a letter from Bailey that she was pregnant.” Bingo. I knew that.

It was my turn. “And now you know that the Lass is carrying my wee bairn.”

Turner boldly stepped forward, having dropped his hands to his side. “That’s yet to be seen.”

“She is ten weeks pregnant and it was eight weeks ago when you two…” I couldn’t say it. I didn’t need to though. We all knew of the event to which I was referring.

“It still could be—,” he began.

I cut him off. I had to get this straight. And I wanted to set the stage to let him know I wouldn’t be walking away from my kid like my father did me. “Fine. When the babe is born, we’ll do a test. That will put all our minds at ease. And when it’s mine, you can count on me being there every day.” I said this as much to him as I did to her because I knew it was mine.

Bailey stood there with her mouth hanging open.

“And that’s it,” Turner said with a wave of his hand then let his eyes glance between us.

“That’s it.” I said. When he made no move to go or leave, I continued. “Let’s face it. You want her to be the one. You want it so bad you can taste it. But she isn’t the one. And not because of me. You had a chance. When she left for college no matter that she didn’t tell you. You could have gone to her, fought for her. You didn’t. In Scotland, I tried to tell you where she was. You’d won. But you didn’t go. I’ll give you that she ran. But if you felt it like I did, and it was within your grasp, you would have reached for it.”

I couldn’t say where all that relationship advice came from. Yet it was the truth.

“So you went to Dublin after her?” He cocked a brow at me, calling bullshite.

“No. But only because she had chosen you. If I’d been in your shoes, I would have been there.”

Turner deflated. His shoulders sagged. I wasn’t exactly sure if it was travel fatigue or if he’d accepted what I said. “So now what?”

I sighed. “Since I actually like you, I won’t kick your arse. However, you do have to go. Three is a crowd. I can set you up in a hotel?” I offered.

He shook his head. “Fine,” I said. “Bailey, go put that trench coat on.” I flashed her a wicked grin. She had to know I was talking about the one she wore to my office the other day. “You stay here and we’ll go to a hotel. We have things to work out.” My eyes were all for her when I spoke.

“You two behave,” she said before heading to her bedroom. I was actually surprised she didn’t put up a fight since she was angry earlier.

Once the door to her bedroom closed, Turner sank onto the sofa. “What if the kid’s mine?” he asked, staring me straight in the eye.

“I would never come between you and your bairn. Just as I would expect the same from you if the situation was reversed. It doesn’t matter if Bailey and I are together or not, neither heaven nor hell could keep me from my wee ken.”

His expression changed to one of respect. “You know when I got her letter, I left. I headed for the nearest airport. Once I was able to retrieve my e-mails, I had one from an architectural firm that had been recruiting me. They were hoping I was still available. At seemed like it was meant you know. They had a deadline that connected with the day I got the message. I blindly accepted. I knew they worked a lot with Habitat for Humanity. I accepted because I wanted to be able to provide for my kid. Now…”

“When do you start?” I asked, cutting him off. He needed a purpose. This would keep his mind off my girl.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I start in two weeks. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go home. I can’t stay here… Is Griff still around?”

“Looking for a bromance?” I baited with a laugh, thinking about Griff and his use of international slang.

Turner chuckled. “I’m running short of friends these days.”

A thought hit me. “What about Matt?”

He glanced my way as I pulled out my phone. It seemed my friends were ever expanding with Bailey’s friends. Plus it was late and waking up Matt just might make up for my crappy day. Rousing him from slumber became as our thing when I visited Bailey late at night. Each time I showed up, he had to get up from sleeping on the sofa to open the door for me. He’d never been pleased to see me, especially when he admitted to hearing what we were up to.

That solidified our weird friendship. Matt was cool, easygoing, and so was Turner. After Matt’s growl for the late call, a plan was formed. Turner would head to Chicago in the morning and help Matt search for Mike, Violet’s ex. Matt was looking through case files and doing Internet searches during his free time. Turner would help while Matt was working.

Bailey came out, surprised and suspicious we weren’t at each other’s throats.

When we were ready to go, she turned to me. “Can you give us a minute?”

I nodded. I stepped inside the kitchen and poured myself a glass of juice. I tried not to pay attention to how close they were. They were friends, I told myself before the glass could break in my hand.

“You take care of yourself,” she said softly. “I wish… I wish things could be different. You know I’ll always love you. I just hope you find a girl who gives you a total mind fuck.”

They smiled at each other in a way that showed how much they cared for each other. Lucky her, I didn’t go all Hulk jealous. The look she gave him was different than the one she normally gave me. His hand moved up and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. The glass, slick from the cold juice and heat of warm air, nearly slipped from my hand. I fumbled and managed to maintain hold before it shattered on the ground.

“I want what you two have. I want someone to look at me how you look at him. And he was right. I wanted that girl to be you.” He pursed his lips. “I wish you both well. And if he fucks up, you call me and I’ll come running.”

“I heard that,” I muttered, unable to contain the words.

He laughed, a full belly one. “I know you did. So don’t fuck up. She’s the best thing you’ll ever have.”

“I know.” My words were flat. The ache of almost losing her wasn’t quite gone.

By the time we got to the hotel, I didn’t waste time.

“I have to have you Lass. I need to be inside you before…” My words drifted off, because there was only a coat and a slip of fabric between her and me. That didn’t take long to overcome. I’d slid inside her with no fanfare. She’d teased my cock, stroking me through my pants on the ride over there. I’d had my fingers buried in her, only to taste them when we arrived.

“Fuck me, Kalen,” she cried out as I pushed her back on the bed. Her hair fanned out around her. I watched my dick slide in and out of her, coated with her wetness.

“How do you want it?”

“Hard, fuck me hard.”

I pulled out and flipped her over. She barely had time to squeal when I sank back inside her. I thrust with as much force as I could. The bed took the brunt. I squeezed her hips and leaned down from where I stood on the edge of the bed.

Still inside her and not moving, I said, “Do you want to come?”

“Yes,” she panted. “Please.”

Unable to resist, I bit her shoulder lightly as I gave her a few shallow thrust. “And what do I get?” I asked, trying to ward off the explosion that wanted release. I wasn’t ready to come yet.

“You can have anything you want,” she begged.

“Anything,” I said darkly.

“Anything, please…”

I pushed my thumb slowly in her arse. “Can I have this?”

“It’s already yours.”

It was true. I had it before. Still, I didn’t want to assume.

“Yes, yes, yes you can, please.”

Her begging was enough. I moved my other hand from her hip in between her folds to the nub that would push her over. I wasn’t sure she needed that extra help, but there was no stopping me.

I lost my rhythm when my balls tightened. I came with a jerk and a grunt. I slammed home a few more times until I lay on top of her, panting as her release continued to milk me. I lay there for a second longer before I rolled off of her. The sensitive head of my cock caused another wave of sensation when I slid out of her.

I pulled her on top of me, enjoying the connection between us. “Move in with me, Lass.”

“Kalen, we’ve talked about this.”

My fingers make lazy circles on her back as I spoke into the crook of her neck. “It’s not just me being a shite. When I walked in and saw Turner, I thought maybe I’d lost you again. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I thought I might only see my kid every other weekend. I don’t want to be a weekend da.”

“I would never stop you from seeing our child.”

“I know. But if you’re here and I’m in New York. How is that going to work?” She looked away. “There’s something else,” I added.