Indiscretion: Volume Four (19 page)

About Eight Months Later…

Chloe

“Max, where are we?” I asked, chuckling as he walked behind me, his hands still covering my eyes. We’d taken a private plane early this morning to God only knows where because he wouldn’t tell me. I’d tried to tickle it out of him, barter sexual favors for the information, but he wasn’t budging.

Always so stubborn.

Our flight hadn’t been that long, so I knew we must be in the United States still and had likely travelled south since the weather here was warmer, though not summer-like.

“Just a little farther, gorgeous. Patience.” I could hear the anticipation in his voice.

I giggled. Though I feigned irritation, I enjoyed the fact that he’d taken the time and effort to plan something nice for us. Finally, after a few more minutes of walking, he stopped us.

“Now stay right here and don’t open your eyes. Promise?” I felt him standing there, waiting for me to answer.

“Promise,” I responded and giggled again. I heard him walk away, murmuring something to someone, and then a few minutes later he was standing in front of me again.

He took my hands in his, then leaned into me. I took advantage of the proximity and inhaled his scent. The smell of him always did funny things to my insides.

“Open your eyes,” he whispered into my ear.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around. We were standing on the edge of a large pond or lake surrounded by trees that reached high into the sky. Lily pads floated calmly on the surface, and in the distance I saw a small bridge stretching across the water. A large row boat bobbed by the shore.

“Where are we?” I asked in wonder.

“Cypress Gardens in South Carolina,” Max answered with a huge smile. “I know how much you love being surrounded by nature—I thought we could enjoy a relaxing boat ride.”

My hand came up to my chest. “What a great idea.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him thoroughly to show my appreciation.

He laughed and gently pushed me away. “Okay, okay. Let’s get in the boat, otherwise we might not even make it there.” He smacked my butt as I walked past him toward the edge of the water.

Once we were in the boat and pushed off from the shore, Max began rowing at a leisurely pace. I looked from one side to the other, trying my best to take everything in. It was so peaceful and calm—only small ripples rolled through the water as we moved forward.

“Why isn’t there anyone else around?” I wondered aloud.

Max grinned at me and shrugged. “I may have paid to have the place to ourselves today.”

I grinned back at him, inwardly swooning. “You’re quite the romantic when you want to be.”

“I have my moments.” His blue eyes twinkled with love and something else. I couldn’t help wondering if Max was up to something.

We continued in silence, both content to absorb the atmosphere and beauty around us—the greenery reflecting off the still water, the warm breeze blowing my hair across my face from time to time, the sounds of the birds in the trees calling to each other.

The trees became thicker and rose up from the water. Swans swam calmly around us, so many of them that I couldn’t begin to count them all. It was a re-enactment of my favorite scene from the movie, The Notebook.

“Max,” I whispered.

He let go of the oars and moved closer to me. “I know this girl and she loves this movie. In it, they take a row boat through the water and miraculously there are all these swans swimming around, and she thinks it’s just the most beautiful thing ever. And because I love this girl, I wanted her to see it in the flesh.” He lovingly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers grazing along my jaw.

“She must be some girl,” I commented, gazing up into his eyes, so full of love for me.

“The absolute best,” he told me and smiled. “She’s so amazing, as is this place, that I could think of nowhere better to ask her to share my life with me.”

Was he serious?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelery box. I gasped, cupping my mouth with a shaky hand. This was really happening. Oh my God…

“Chloe, you are the best thing to ever happen to me,” he said with so much conviction. “Every time I look at you, it’s like the first time I saw you, and I thank my lucky stars all the time that we met. I can’t imagine being apart from you again. I want you beside me every day—forever. Hell, forever won’t be long enough.” He chuckled to himself before continuing. “Will you do me the privilege and the honor of becoming my wife?” The words alone would have undone me, but the love pouring out of his eyes put me over the edge.

A tear trickled down, and I nodded fiercely. “Yes. Yes, Max I’ll marry you.”

He let out a relieved breath and opened the box to display a stunning cushion-cut, canary yellow diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds.

“I tried to find something to match your beauty, but that proved impossible.” He grinned shamelessly, a hint of anxiety underneath. “If you don’t like it, we can return it and pick something else.”

I held out my hand excitedly, and he pushed the adornment onto my finger. He’d have to pry this thing off my cold, dead hand before he’d be getting it back.

“It’s lovely, Max,” I breathed. I held my hand out and gazed down at the twinkling rock, amazed and stupefied at the one-eighty my life had taken since last year when I’d been depressed and bewildered with Max’s absence. I glanced around again taking the entire scene in so I could replay it over and over again in my mind—the sun shining down, the swans floating alongside the boat, the calm water reflecting the blue sky above, and Max—my Max—grinning at me with love in his eyes.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” He pulled me toward him to straddle his lap, and he kissed me fiercely, all the love we had for each other pouring out between us.

The kiss continued for some time, neither one of us willing to let go of the other. He pawed at the hem of my dress, his hands kneading my ass as I ground myself into him.

Without a word he reached between us, undid his belt and unzipped his fly, setting himself free. I gave no thought to the fact that we were in the middle of a pond, in a rowboat surrounded by swans. With all the love I felt for him in that moment, I didn’t care. I wanted nothing more than to be close to him—the urge was so strong. It was like I wanted to crawl up inside him and fuse myself to him, become one.

Our mouths separated and he trailed kisses down my neck, then reached underneath my skirt and pulled my underwear to the side before fitting himself inside of me. I would never grow tired of that feeling. Being connected to him on such an intimate level was something I would always treasure.

I rocked up and down, and he pressed his forehead to mine. Our eyes connected as our bodies did—our hearts intertwined forever.

We made love in the rowboat while the world went on around us, and I knew it would always be like this. As long as we stuck together, there would only ever be him and me against the world.

10 Years Later…

Chloe

“Mommy, Weston just hit me.”

Payton came storming into our bedroom, stomping her feet in the way that only a six-year-old girl with attitude can. She came to a stop beside me, where I sat applying make-up, and she crossed her arms over her chest. I turned to face her.

We’d decided to name our first born a version of Max’s brother’s name. It had seemed like a positive way to keep his brother’s memory alive, rather the hush-hush topic it had been for so many years.

Brushing her golden hair from her face, I gave her a sympathetic look. “What happened, sweetie?”

“I told him he couldn’t feed my fish, and then he grabbed the food anyway, so I took it from him, and then he hit me.” She stomped a foot on the floor, the stubborn set of her face reminding me so much of her father.

At that, the three-year-old himself came barrelling into my room, denying all accusations. “Mama, I didn’t. Her stole the fish food from me.”

I tilted my head and observed them both, giving them the ‘mom’ look they’d come to know well. “Guys, mommy and daddy really need to get ready to go our tonight. Do you think you could both go play nicely together in Payton’s room until Auntie Jess gets here?”

Cheers erupted as Weston remembered who was due here soon. “Yay! Auntie Hess. Auntie Hess is coming!” He jumped up and down in his spot. The child had boundless energy. If it wasn’t for the huge baby blues he’d inherited from his father, I was sure he’d find himself in trouble far more often.

Begrudgingly, Payton agreed and led her brother out of the room. “Come on, buddy. Maybe we can set up my Barbie house before Auntie Jess gets here.”

“Yay! Barbie,” was the last thing I heard from Weston before they left the room.

I giggled. Those two were at each other’s throats often and the very best of friends in the next moment.

I leaned forward to continue putting on my make-up. Max and I were hosting an event tonight that I was very excited about. When we were first married, I hadn’t taken to being a society wife well, which had suited Max just fine. The only reason we were hosting any kind of event tonight was because it was the grand opening of another one of our projects.

I’d ended up going back to school, and I now worked as an architect. Though I didn’t build rich, palatial homes for people with more money than they knew what to do with. Nowadays, Max ran the charitable branch of Richfield Developments, and I worked alongside him, designing facilities that were homes away from home for people receiving cancer treatment.

Very often, cancer patients had to travel hours and hours to a hospital to receive their treatment. Our facilities allowed the patient and their immediate family to move in during the length of their regime. It was a small thing, but providing a healthy, family atmosphere, where they didn’t need to worry about the time and expense of getting to and from the hospital, was a cause we’d both become passionate about.

We lived most of the year in New York, but opted to spend our summers in Maine rather than the Hamptons, because it held such special memories for us. The Hamptons was full of stuck-up rich people trying to one-up each other, and neither of us had any time for that kind of nonsense in our lives.

I saw Max emerge from the bathroom in the mirror’s reflection, wearing only a towel around his waist. He was still as fuckable as ever, only he was a more distinguished-looking fuckable now. His temples had a bit of gray in them, and he was in the beginning stages of developing that salt and pepper look, though I’d never tell him that. I loved it. He worked hard to eat healthy and stay fit so his body was as chiselled as ever.

Spotting me eyeing him, he grinned and made his way over.

I counted my blessings every day that he was still healthy. His cancer had not returned, thus far, and God-willing it never would.

“Did I hear the kids?” he asked.

“You did. Payton wanted to let me know that her brother hit her.”

Max smiled and shook his head. “That boy is lucky he has his father’s charm. It’s going to get him out of trouble someday.”

I laughed. It was so true. I already saw how he had my sister and Max’s mother wrapped around his finger. That child was going to give me gray hair for sure.

Max leaned down to kiss the side of my neck, then looked up at me in the mirror. “How is my gorgeous wife this evening?” His eyes were practically eating me up, and I returned my gaze to the mirror.

“Your wife is wonderful.” I said with a smile and a seductive grin. “Excited for this evening.”

“Happy to hear it. Now close your eyes,” he said in a tone that meant he was up to no good.

“Max…”

“Close them, Chlo.”

I sighed and did as he said. There was no use arguing since I’d been through this before. Max was forever showering me with gifts whenever he deemed something a special occasion. I’d stopped fighting him on it long ago.

I sat patiently when I felt him place something around my neck.

“Open up,” he whispered into my ear from behind.

I slowly opened my eyes and glanced into the mirror in front of me. Hanging around my neck was a silver chain and on my collar bone sat an infinity symbol connecting both sides of the chain. The symbol was made wholly of diamonds, but on closer inspection I saw that four of the stones were different colors.