Finally (9 page)

I watched the streets of Chicago go by out my cab window, a total bundle of nerves. Lauren’s disappointment when I told her I couldn’t make it to her party was like a knife in the heart. I hated lying to her, but Amanda and I wanted to surprise her. I’d flown in Friday afternoon and hid out at Amanda’s until it was time to go to the party. It killed me the whole time I couldn’t text or call Lauren to let her know I was in town. Being so close to her without her knowing was torture. I wished the cab driver would go faster; I couldn’t wait much longer to see my woman.

I leaned forward and reached into the back pocket of my jeans, pulling out a piece of paper that was my birthday present for Lauren. On that piece of paper was an email saying my job was moving me to Chicago. When I got back to Denver, I got the wheels in motion to get transferred by her. There was no doubt in my mind I needed to be with her and I didn’t want to wait any longer. I hoped she was as excited about it as I was.

The cab stopped in front of the bar and I threw out some money at the cab driver – probably more than enough, but I didn’t care. I wanted to get inside. The party had started over an hour ago according to Amanda. She’d sent me a text, telling me Lauren had no clue I was coming. I wiped my hands on my jeans and pulled open the door.

The bar was hopping when I walked in. There was some old 80’s hair band music blasting and I grinned, knowing Lauren had a thing for 80’s music. It didn’t take me long for me to find her on the dance floor with Charity, Madison, and Amanda.

I stood off to the side, watching her sing and dance with her drink in her hand. She looked totally amazing in her black strapless dress. My heart swelled in my chest, full of the crazy mix of emotions I felt for this fabulous woman. It’d been too long since I’d seen her and I couldn’t wait to get her into my arms. There were a few weeks of missing her I had to make up for.

The song ended and she started to come off the dance floor, laughing with her friends. I managed only a few steps forward when another guy was there in front of her, wrapping her up in his massive arms to give her a hug.
Who was that guy?
He was as tall as me, with dark brown, buzzed hair. A skin tight t-shirt and jeans completed his look and his physique told me he probably spent too much time at the gym.

I stopped and watched the scene unfold in front of me. He loomed over Lauren as they talked. Was
this
Kyle? What was he doing at her birthday party? I had an overwhelming urge to drag her out of the club away from that asshole and claim her as my woman.

My heart sunk to my stomach. Maybe she wouldn’t even be happy to see me and this whole thing was a terrible idea. Unsure of what to do now, I hung back and got out my phone to text Amanda. I quickly typed to her.

Who’s that?

I glanced up and watched her pull her phone from her pocket. Looking around, she finally spotted me. She managed to slip away from the bar and came over to me.

“Hey,” she said as she pulled me to a storage closet in the bar before Lauren or her other friends could see me.

“Who’s that with Lauren?” I asked her.

She sighed and played with her necklace. “It’s Kyle,” she answered finally.

“What the –“I asked, starting to feel like I’d been played by both Lauren and Amanda.

She held up her hand. “Whoa, wait a minute. She didn’t know he was coming; no one knew he was coming. He sort of just showed up,” she quickly said. “Don’t be mad at Lauren.”

“How did he know about the party?” I asked, feeling a muscle in my neck twitch as I waited for her answer.

She threw her hands up and started to pace the tiny closet. “They were together for a long time. He knows I always throw parties here for my girls,” she said. She chewed on her lip and looked at me warily. “And I might have run into him this morning and accidentally mentioned the party was tonight.”

“Nice,” I said slightly annoyed with Amanda and folded my arms over my chest. “So she didn’t want him here?”

“No!” she said emphatically. “She told me he had been calling her but she didn’t talk to him. When I told her I had run into him, she was slightly pissed I’d let the party slip. She has no desire to be with Kyle, even if it wasn’t for you.” She walked over to me and put her hand on my arm. “You know she’s crazy about you, right?”

I couldn’t help but smile then. “She is?” I asked.

Amanda laughed. “Um, yeah,” she said. “You are the only thing she ever talks about. She was so sad that you weren’t coming tonight. I almost had to tell her the truth because I couldn’t stand the look on her face. I hate to see my girl upset.”

“Well, I’m crazy about her too. And I’m going to go get her,” I said with determination and stormed out of the storage closet. I was about to go get my woman.

Chapter Seventeen – Lauren

I couldn’t even believe it when I saw Kyle there by the exit to the dance floor.
What the fuck?
I was less than thrilled.

“Happy birthday, babe,” he said, grabbing my arm as I walked by and engulfing me into his huge arms.

I pulled away from him quickly. “What are you doing here Kyle?” I asked, frowning at him.

“I wanted to talk to you. You wouldn’t answer my calls. I ran into Amanda this morning and she told me your party was tonight. I figured I’d stop by so I could finally talk to you,” he said, leaning in close.

I took a step back and looked at over at Amanda, glaring at her for a second. She mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ and shrugged before I turned back to Kyle.

“I don’t really want to talk to you, Kyle. I think we’ve said all there is to say to each other.” I took a sip of my drink. There wasn’t enough alcohol in this bar to make me forget this horrible night.

“Don’t be like that, babe,” he said and I thought I was going to throw up. There once was a time I melted when he called me that, but that time was long gone. “Listen, I’m sorry, Lauren. I know I shouldn’t have slept with my secretary, but we weren’t happy and I didn’t know what to do. You were shutting me out,” he said pleadingly. “I love you and want to spend forever making it up to you if you’ll just let me.”

I glared at him. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to blame
me
for his indiscretion. “Don’t ‘babe’ me, Kyle.” I jabbed my finger into his hard chest, pointing at him. “You lost that right a long time ago.” I looked around the room, wondering where all of my friends suddenly went. Amanda seemed to have disappeared and everyone else was sitting over at the bar. I tried to plan my escape from Kyle.

“And you’ve got to be crazy to think that I’m going to take the blame for you fucking around. You’re the one that stuck your dick in her, not me,” I said, seething at him. “Now leave before I have Amanda get security and kick your ass out.”

I turned my back to him and started walking towards my friends. “Lauren,” Kyle said with an edge to his voice. “Don’t walk away from me.” He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back towards him.

I couldn’t believe he just said that! I yanked my arm from his grasp and turned back to him, throwing what was left of my drink in his face. “Don’t tell me what to do, Kyle! You no longer have any say over me at all. And that was your choice. You chose to fuck someone else and throw away all those years we had together. You have no right to be here and no right to make any demands of me.”

He wiped his face, his eyes darkening as he stood there. He opened his mouth to speak and I held up my hand. “I suggest you get the fuck out of here and don’t ever contact me again, Kyle. We are so over.”

With that I spun on my heel and walked over to Madison who was watching me from the bar.

“Are you ok, girl?” she said, hooking my arm with hers.

I nodded, but I was shaking a little. It felt good to stand up to Kyle. “Yes. Is he leaving?” I asked her, not wanting to turn back around.

She leaned back to check. “Yep, he’s gone,” she said. “You really made a fool out of him. He looked pissed.”

“Good,” I said, motioning for the bartender to come over.
Where was Amanda?
“I need a shot of something,” I told the bartender, motioning to the bottles of liquor behind the bar. “Give me something strong. Whatever.”

I turned around, leaning back against the bar as I scanned the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone familiar, someone that looked like Marcus. As he got closer, I realized it was Marcus! He looked furious and was stomping through the bar like a man on a mission. I don’t know why he looked so mad, but I couldn’t have been happier to see him.

I ran over to him and jumped into his arms, wrapping myself around him. “You asshole,” I whispered with a laugh in his ear. I noticed Amanda behind him. I peeled myself from him, keeping an arm wrapped tight around his waist. “And you,” I pointed at her. “You were behind this weren’t you?” I asked her accusingly.

She laughed and nodded her head. “Yep,” she said. “Happy Birthday, Lauren,” she said as she hugged me and walked back to the bar, leaving Marcus alone with me.

“Where is he?” he asked, looking around, a muscle in his neck pulsing.

“Who?” I asked, confused by his question.

“Kyle,” he spat out, still looking around.

I laughed. “Oh, you knew he was here?” I asked.

“Yeah, I was about to let you know I was here when he got to you first,” he said, pulling me close against him.

“I set him straight,” I said. “He won’t be bothering me anymore.”

Marcus suddenly relaxed against me and let out a chuckle. “I should’ve known you could take care of yourself,” he said, leaning down and pressing his forehead against mine.

I smiled up at him. “Yeah, I can,” I said, “But it’s nice to have you take care of me too.”

He kissed me hard then, his tongue teasing mine as he pressed his erection against my thigh. Would it be wrong to leave my own party already?

“Hey birthday girl, time for presents and cake,” Amanda said from behind me. “You two will have to keep your hands off of each other just a bit longer.”

We broke from our kiss with a groan. “Seriously, Mandy, why you gotta be like that? Can’t you see I’m busy?” I asked her with a glare.

Marcus laughed, sliding his arm down to squeeze my ass. Amanda went back to the group but before we joined them, Marcus leaned down, his lips on my ear. “Later, I’m going to take you home and fuck you until you scream my name. And then I’m going to fuck you some more until you scream it again.”

Thank goodness he was holding me up because my knees suddenly felt weak after that threat. I was speechless as he led me over to my friends.

I managed to pull myself together despite my wet panties as I opened up gifts from everyone. My friends were generous as always with bottles of wine and other fun treats.

When I was done, Marcus stood up. “I have something special for you, Lauren,” he said with that mischievous grin I now knew meant he was up to no good. He reached into his jeans pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Happy birthday, baby,” he said softly.

I looked at him curiously as I opened the folded piece of paper.
What could this be?
I noticed it was a company email. This was my birthday present? Maybe he had a few things to learn about giving women gifts.

I read further down when I realized exactly what he was showing me. He’d taken a job here in Chicago! My hand went up to my open mouth and my eyes filled with tears. I looked up at him and he smiled and nodded. I dropped the piece of paper and flew into his arms. “You’re moving to Chicago?” I asked disbelievingly has he held me tight.

“Yes I am, Lauren. I figured it was time for an adventure,” he said. “And there’s no one else I’d rather have that adventure with.”

“Excuse me,” Amanda called out. “What’s so exciting here? What was that?” she asked, coming up next to us. She looked around for the piece of paper I’d dropped.

Marcus released me and I bent down to pick it up from the floor. “Basically, this email says he’s getting a job in Chicago, so he’ll be moving here,” I said as I waved it around, giddy with excitement. What started out as a totally shitty night was shaping up to be one of my best birthdays ever.

“So we’ll be seeing a lot more of you then, huh?” Amanda asked Marcus with a wry smile.

“Yup, lots more,” he said with a grin so big I thought his face might break.

“I think it’s time to get this party going again,” Amanda said, motioning for all of us to get out on the dance floor. The whole group of us made our way out to the dance floor. We took up almost the entire thing with our crazy dancing and silly antics.

After a few songs, Marcus snuck up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and started grinding his hips into me. “Can we go now? Please,” he pleaded softly.

I reached my arm up behind his neck and nodded. He kissed my temple and I turned to take his hand. We waved at everyone before heading off the dance floor. We gathered up my presents and headed out of the bar. When we got out into the warm Chicago night, Marcus hailed us a cab.

“Hurry up Lauren, we have to get back to your place before I fuck you here in the cab,” he said as I started to climb in the taxi, my arms full of stuff. My jaw dropped and I stared at him as he climbed in next to me with a grin.

This was definitely going to be an adventure with Marcus and I, for one, was up for it. I couldn’t wait now that we could finally be together.

Can Marcus and Lauren make their relationship work?

Read more about them in

Here With Me

A Windy City Novel

Coming August 2013

THE END

Acknowledgements

As always, I have tons of people to thank.

My sexy husband for supporting me and listening to me ramble on.

My girls, thanks for having patience with Mom while I wrote this.

My Mom, thank you for supporting me always, no matter what.

My sister, for proofreading and bouncing ideas off of. Love you, Nerd!

My beta readers, thanks for loving Marcus and Lauren like I did and for all of your awesome input.