Fighting Desire (Bay State Series Book 2) (11 page)

“Do I even want to know?” Braydon asks, with a grin.

“A shotgun, of course. Your gonna need it if she looks anything like her mother.” I feel absolutely no jealousy at his statement. I have to agree, Ilyanna's a knock out.

“Oh trust me I know, it's already on my things to buy list.” We all laugh before saying our goodbyes and I'm totally burnt out from this weekend. All I can think about right now is taking a nice hot shower and slipping under my covers for a good night sleep.

As if reading my mind, Brent takes my hand and pulls me behind him to the bathroom. “Come on, you look exhausted. Let's get you clean and into bed. Tomorrow's gonna be long day.”

Completely forgetting about her until just now since I haven't seen her the entire time we've been home, I ask, “Hey, have you seen Fenway?” Suddenly panicked, it's not like her to not greet me when I get home.

“Wow, your more tired than I thought. She was curled up on the couch when we walked in. She must have partied while mommy was away. Either that or you share feelings and she's just as wiped out as you are. We passed her again on our way in here, she hasn't moved.” And just like that as sensing we're talking about her, she makes her way to us while meowing to get our attention.

“Hey baby girl, mommy's missed you. Did you miss me too?” I bend down, cooing at her while I rub her favorite spot behind her ear, making her purr. Brent's behind me starting the shower and I decide to check her food and water. Picking her up, I carry her into the kitchen to feed her before returning to the bathroom and finding Brent looking sexy in all of his naked glory.

“Like what you see?” He winks at me and I can't help but laugh at his favorite line.

“You know I do.” I answer as I shamelessly look over his muscular chest, down his toned stomach, to the inviting v lining his hips that leads to my favorite part of his anatomy. I lick my lips, provoking a smoldering look from him.

“Oh no you don't. As much as I enjoy making love to you, your exhausted and we need to get some sleep, you my little sex fiend are insatiable. Believe me I'm not complaining, but I don't want you to be a zombie at work tomorrow from being over sexed.” I pout and stalk towards him as I undress. Seduction it is. As soon as I'm standing directly in front of him, I take hold of his manhood and start working it in my fist, eliciting a moan from his soft mouth. I lean up on my tiptoes and lick the seam of his lips and take advantage of his sharp inhale of breath and plunge my tongue inside. He instantly hardens in my hands and I know I've won.

Laying in bed with my back to his front, he holds me as I fall asleep. The last thing I remember before deep sleep takes me is Fenway being chased by a fair haired little boy, giggling as he runs after her.

                                   *****

Sitting at my desk, I can't help think about how much I enjoy having Brent at my place. Mornings are so much easier than I ever envisioned them being living with a man. He even helps with menial tasks. I wonder how I'm going to broach the subject of him moving in? Would he want to live at my place or his? Can he have pets? Fenway's a deal breaker. If I can't take her, it will have to be mine.

My phone rings, tearing me away from my thoughts. “Hello, Sarah Price, B.C.O financials. How can I help you?” I ask the caller.

“Hey Sarah, it's Rachel. Do you have a few minutes?”

“Absolutely! I'm so happy you called. I was gonna text you later and see if you wanted to meet today for lunch. How was your honeymoon?” I ask, I'm sure she's more than willing to indulge me in the details.

“It was beautiful, I'll tell you more about it at lunch. Where do you want to meet? Our deli's about midway, that would work for me.”

“That sounds great. Is noon good for you? A steak and cheese sounds wicked good right about now.” That would have been my choice for dinner last night, I'll just have it today instead.

“Noon works for me, I'll see ya later.”

“I'll see ya in a little bit, I can't wait to hear about your honeymoon and you better have pictures.”

She laughs over the phone. “Come on, you know I do, probably way too many.”

We hang up and I go back to work, counting down the hours until lunch. We'd just finished up our meeting and I'm back in HR with Brent. Braydon said he'll call on me if anything comes up that can't be handled by Ilyanna at home. It's a welcome relief, I was feeling out of my element and just a little overwhelmed.

                                *****

“I'm so extremely jealous of your tan.” I frown mockingly at Rachel from across the table. “Na, you look awesome. Now show me the pictures.” I demand and stretch my arms toward her clenching and unclenching my fists like a child.

“Damn girl, calm down.” She tells me, laughing while taking her phone from her clutch. She takes a minute to get to the album and hands it over.

There are a few of them together on the beach, but the rest are of the scenery. Breathtaking, crystal blue water, cabanas lining the long expanse of glistening beach. “It looks beautiful.” I say as I hand the phone back to her. “You look great. Have you seen Ilyanna since you've been back?”

“No not yet, we got back kinda late last night and I had work first thing this morning. John and I are going over tonight to visit.” I smile and start to giggle. “What?” she asks and I just shake my head.

“Let's just say she looks like a stuffed duck.” I start to laugh at the look on her face. “You'll see what I'm talking about tonight, she's adorable.” That gives me an idea. “That has to be our theme for her shower, ducks, it'll be perfect.”

“A stuffed duck, huh? Oh boy, I can't wait to see what you mean. I can only imagine. Alright, where are we gonna do this? I think if we go with a hall it will be a dead givaway, so it will have to be your place or mine.” I can tell from the huge smile on her face that she's excited for her best friend.

“I think your place would be better, we could use a ruse of a girl's day. We can smuggle the guests in.” The ideas we could pull off at her house would work much better than at mine. “Not to mention you have a lot more space to accommodate people and it's better for parking too.” We talk about our plans for far too long, making us rush to get back to work.

Ilyanna is going to flip if we can pull everything off. I hope she let's Rachel know about having a girl soon. I was close to slipping a couple of times, but caught myself before revealing the secret.

It was seven o'clock by the time we pulled into my driveway. Brent wanted to stop at his place to grab another suit, some shorts and a tank top, wanting to go for a run tonight. I've decided I'm going to broach the subject of moving in together. To say I'm nervous is an understatement.

His phone signaled an incoming text message next to me on the counter and I wanted to faint from the image on the screen. I pair of naked breasts, flat stomach and powder blue panties were staring up at me, mockingly. I stand frozen on the spot as Brent comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He was just in my room changing for our run and I was grabbing a couple waters from the fridge.

“Ready to go, baby?” He asks, oblivious to what I've just seen on his phone. I stand stock still, slightly shaking in anger. I refuse to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't look good for him at this point. “Baby?” He asks again and turns me to face him. “Why are you crying?”  I can't answer him, my eyes cast towards the floor, I can't even look at him. What can I say? I'm speechless. I silently gesture to his phone as I drop it on the counter after illuminating the screen and flee from the room, locking myself in the bathroom.

Fists pound on the door. “Sarah, baby, please talk to me? It's not what you think. Please don't let her win. This is what she wants. Please Sarah? Let me in?” He pleads through the door. I can hear the sadness and anger in his voice and I decide to indulge him. After all I had already decided not to jump to conclusions and that's exactly what I'm doing, isn't it? He thrusts his phone in my face to show me the thread. The offending photo already deleted. “Please look? It's Trisha. I blocked her number from my phone. She must have gotten another one. This is the number that's been calling, making sure it was me before she sent a text. When I finally answered yesterday it was her confirmation. She sent the first last night as you can see, I didn't see it until this morning.”

I take the phone from him and scan the messages. In the one from him to her, he tells her to leave him alone. That he wants nothing to do with her. The ones from her saying she'd made a huge mistake in signing the papers and she misses him. It's obvious he's ignored every one. This bitch is pissing me off. She's already broken us up once, she won't succeed again, that's for damn sure.

I finally look up from his phone into the most heartbroken eyes I have ever seen. They mirror mine and I reach up to wipe his tears away. “She's not going to win this time. She's going to wish she never met you.” He pulls my head in to rest on his chest, completely trusting in what I'm about to do.

Almost forgotten

I couldn't believe the audacity when I opened the text from the same unknown number that's been calling me. It's Trisha, claiming she wants me back. Has she lost her fucking mind? I stare down at her text as I think of a response that will hopefully make my thoughts on the matter perfectly clear. Thinking she could get me back after I spent so much time trying to get rid of her.

I'm teetering on the edge of telling Sarah, or not telling her. I really don't need this mind fuck today, or any other day for that matter. Things are finally getting back to normal now that John's come back to work. I don't want or need any bullshit from my ex.

I'm finally secure again in my relationship with Sarah, feeling like we're moving in the right direction. There's no way I want to go back to the way things were. Those were the absolute worst months of my life.

With anger fresh in my mind I type out a reply.

{ I don't know what kind of game your trying to play, but it stops now. There is no way in hell I would ever take you back. You sealed your fate when it comes to me with your actions while we were married. I suggest you lose this number. I can guarantee it will be changed by tomorrow morning. }

My finger hovers over send, as I read over my words and I make my decision to tell Sarah. The consequences from telling her seem far better than not. If I sound like an asshole, good, I'm trying to. Tapping my screen to send the message, I stare at the phone, seeing it's been delivered. Time will tell if she replies or takes my advice.

I have a meeting to get to and I don't need to be distracted by my psycho ex. Leaving the phone on my desk, I make my way to the conference room. All kinds of reactions from Sarah filter through my mind as I imagine telling her about Trish's last stunt. She's already succeeded in tearing us apart once, I refuse to let it happen again. I just have to get through the rest of the work day with my game face on, worrying about how I'm going to broach the subject. I don't need to seem stressed all day and make her worry when we don't have time to discuss it until tonight.

I must be doing a horrible job of controlling my emotions. The look of concern on John's face as we bump into each other as he's leaving his office tells me exactly what I already know. It's going to be a long seven hours trying to mask my dread.

Slapping me on my shoulder, he stops me in my tracks and I turn to face him. “Hey, are you okay? You look miserable.”

“Well thanks for confirming it. I've had a pretty shit morning. I'm anxious about a conversation I need to have with Sarah later. And no, before you ask, I'm not breaking up with her.” I internally debate asking for advice and it's a short mental argument. “If someone was trying to break you and Rachel up, what would you do? Let's say they send you something in hopes that she sees it, would you tell her and get it over with? Give the other person satisfaction in what they want, or keep it from her  and just ignore it?”

I watch as recognition dawns on his face. “Holy shit. Not Trisha? What the fuck's she done this time?” He keeps his voice as low as possible, but I can easily detect the annoyance in his tone. I quickly fill him in as we walk side by side down the hallway.

Seeing Sarah sitting at the table in her usual seat next to mine, smiling at me as I enter the room gives me some comfort. Her eyebrows raise at the expression on my face and I lose it real fast to paste a smile in it's place, hoping she chalks it up to being work related.

The meeting was as uneventful as I thought it would be and all thoughts of Trisha were absent from my mind until returning to my office and finding another text from her on my phone. She has to be delusional. This time pleading with me about how much she misses me, how much she loves me. What she did to me was the worst decision she's ever made and it's enough to send me running to the bathroom to lose my breakfast.

Why? Why? Why?

Why now? Does she have some sick radar that tells her the perfect time to strike?

All I know is having Sarah home alone is not going to get here fast enough. I need to get this off my chest before it eats me alive.

                                  *****

When we get to Sarah's house later than expected, I head straight for her room to change.  She decided she wants to go for our run before dinner.

Finding her in the kitchen, standing at the counter, I take her in my arms, her back to my front and can hear her almost silent sobbing. Looking at her hands I notice she's holding my phone. The screen's black but I can only imagine what was on it  before I came into the room. Cursing myself for my stupidity, I scream in my head. What the fuck was I thinking, leaving my phone on the counter? I was planning on telling her at dinner. I sure as hell didn't want her to see it on her own and think I'm keeping things from her.

Acting like I can't tell that she's crying, I ask if she's ready to go. I need to see if she's going to say anything. I ask again, this time asking for an explanation. No need to jump the gun. It could be something else right? I must be even stupider than I thought to think that, her eyes cast downward and she flashes them towards my phone and presses the home button lighting up the screen and showing me my worst fear. She tosses it on the counter before bolting from the room. I hear a door slam and can't help but think that this is going to be a long, long night of groveling on my knees. With my head in my hands, I go in search of my sad, hurt girl.

I pound on the bathroom door when I find it locked. “Sarah, baby, please talk to me? It's not what you think. Please don't let her win. This is what she wants. Please Sarah? Let me in.” I beg, I need her to let me explain. She opens the door and I shove the phone in her face, forcing her to look. I've already deleted the photo. “Please look?” I ask and go on to explain about the anonymous caller. She takes the phone and scrolls through it. I know exactly what she's seeing. One text from me and another four from Trisha, all but one have gone unanswered.

I'm holding my breath as I wait for her to finish. She finally looks up from my phone, eyes that resemble mine swim in shallow pools of tears and she says the one thing I never imagined would, in this situation, come from her lips. “She's not going to win this time. She's going to wish she never met you.” Trying hard to hide my shock at her words, I grab her head and lay it on my chest, holding her. She never ceases to amaze me. My beautiful girl.

We stand in a silent embrace for several minutes before she pulls away and walks to her bedroom to change. Coming into the kitchen and grabbing the waters from the counter, she turns and gestures towards the door. “Come on, let's go for that run. We can grab something for dinner on the way back. It will give me a chance to think about how I want to respond to her. I need to make myself crystal clear. Your mine and if she thinks otherwise she needs to know I'm prepared to do whatever's needed to make sure she understands.” I give her a sly grin. I love it when she's feisty.

“Sounds good to me. Lead the way tiger.” She laughs at my nickname for her and I follow her out of the apartment for some much needed fresh air.

We run in silence for ten blocks before turning around and making a detour a few streets over for some pizza. Tony's is our go to place when we're in the mood for some gooey goodness. The man can make a mean pie.

He spots us as we walk in, looking like a couple of hot messes not doubt. It's still pretty cool at this time of night but we're sweaty regardless. He has to be used to it. We've been in here plenty of times after a run. It's nothing he hasn't seen before. He greets us with a friendly smile. “You two want your usual?” He asks as he comes around the counter to seat us.

I look to Sarah and she turns to him and answers. “I don't know about this guy but you have me hooked on your rusty pizza. I'm so hungry I'll take a large.” She smiles back at him and he turns expectantly towards me.

Taking a quick look at Sarah, I raise an eyebrow before turning to Tony. “I think her brain is bigger than her stomach. I'll just share her's. There's no way she's gonna finish it all.” Laughing at the expression on her face for being called out, I laugh and add, “We'll take an order of mozzarella sticks too.”

“Smart boy, coming right up. What would you like to drink? Wine perhaps?” Again I turn to Sarah to let her decide.

“Sure, wine sounds good. Do you have a moscato? I'm not in the mood for anything too strong tonight.” She waits patiently while he holds up a finger and walks to the back to check.

It doesn't take him long and he's back at the table. “We have Elektra, a very popular orange mosacato.”

“Yay!” She says excitedly while bouncing in her seat. “That's my favorite.” She looks so beautiful in this moment. I'm one lucky son of a bitch. I stare at her little celebration until Tony clears his throat, obviously trying to get my attention.

“And you sir?” He asks seeming rather pleased with himself for having Sarah's drink of choice.

“Boston Lager, please. No glass.”

“No problem. I'll be back with your drinks shortly.” He tells us and walks behind the bar to pour our drinks.

It's rather slow in here tonight and for that I'm thankful. We can have some sort of privacy for what I'm about to ask her. I have to admit that I'm a nervous wreck, especially now. Trisha seems to find the most pinnacle points in our relationship and tries to knock them down. And to think I'd almost forgotten all about her. I hadn't even had the smallest idea that it was her trying to call me. To say that I was shocked to see her text message is a huge understatement.

“So I've been thinking.” She looks away from her hands that she's been staring at since Tony left the table. No doubt the same thoughts are crossing her mind. We'll deal with that later. Right now I'm solely focused on us.

She's staring into my eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. “That your going to give me back your phone and let me do what I wanted to do earlier? I've got some good stuff stored up here for that bitch.” She winks at me while tapping her temple with her index finger.

“No baby, although I'm going to let you have at it, this is about us. About our future.” This seems to put a more serious expression on her face. Oh shit, I hope she doesn't think I'm proposing in this little pizza shop. Fuck that, she'll never see it coming that's for sure. And it will definitely be a hell of a lot more romantic than waiting for pizza in our gym clothes.

“Wh.. wh.. what about our future?” She stammers out the question before swallowing hard.

I've thought long and hard on how I wanted to word this. I've also come to the decision that I want to buy Latasha's place from her and rent it out once we buy a house. That is if she accepts all my plans for us. I'm hopeful and optimistic, but there's truly only one way to find out so I just blurt the words from my mouth before I pussy out. “I want to move in with you, if you'll have me.” She blinks a few times, just staring at me, mouth hanging open as she starts to belly laugh.

“I have to admit,” she tells me between giggles, once her laughing has mellowed some, “you had me worried there for a minute. Even though I have no doubt how you feel about me, the look on your face was worrisome.” She pauses to wipe stray tears from her eyes. “I would love to have you. Honestly I've been thinking about it for some time now but couldn't think of a way to bring it up. So thank you. You did it for me.”

Tony chooses that moment to bring our drinks. “Your food should be out shortly, just give me a shout if you need anything.”

“Thanks, we will.” Sensing his dismissal he heads over to another couple that just walked in.

“I'm going to sell my apartment and buy yours from Latasha if she'll let me.” I'll have to put some of my things in storage. There's no way we'll fit nine rooms into four. On the bright side, there'll be plenty to fill our house when we reach that point.

She jumps out of her seat, and practically climbs on top of the table to wrap her arms around my neck, planting a long lingering kiss on my lips, making quite the spectacle for the other patrons in the restaurant. I couldn't give a shit. This is now the best day of my life. The day she took me back, a close second.

We keep up constant chatter as we eat our dinner. Sarah seems genuinely happy about the move and my feelings mirror hers. I sit and watch her talk animatedly about her day at the office. So glad to be in a much better place than a few hours ago.

We walk back to her place hand in hand and discuss our plans for my move. Since we're practically living together already, there's really no rush. Although I want it to all be final as soon as possible. I'll call about a truck and storage tomorrow.

As soon as we walk in and she closes the door behind us, she holds her hand out, curling her fingers inwardly, beckoning. I know what she wants and I hand it to her without hesitation. She takes my phone, a wicked look of determination on her face. I watch her as I follow, she walks into the bedroom and sits on the foot of the bed.

She hands the phone back to me and I give her a puzzled look. “I need you to unlock it.” She tells me as she takes her hair from its elastic and runs her fingers through it, making my cock twitch. Mostly from the thought of it being my fingers grasping her gorgeous tresses as she sucks on my cock, but also from what she's about to do. It's fucking hot. I can't wait to see what she replies with.

I hand it back to her after typing in my password. “Do your worst, baby. Show her who's boss.” She winks at me and I leave the room in search of something to drink. Preferably another beer after the day I've had. When I walk back into the room I can hear as well as see her fingers typing frantically against the screen. I sit on the bed next to her and wrap my arm around the small of her back, trailing my index finger up and down her side and I feel her shiver.