Love Me (Trust Series #2) (46 page)

It’s spring break, and Sam will be traveling to New Mexico to sign a new player tomorrow. We are in the den as Damien hands over a file folder.

I grab a small sandwich from the tray on the coffee table. “So, who’s the mark?” I love calling the people Damien and Sam target marks. It seems so secret agent. I receive a raised eyebrow from Sam.

Damien gives me an endearing smile as he speaks to Sam, ignoring my quip. “Sam, all the teams are gunning for Todd Stewart. We’ve got to have him.”

I put on my best secret agent voice as I say, “So, Sam, your mission, if you so choose to accept it, is to find and tame the Todd Stewart.”

I barely get my sentence out as a pillow comes flying toward my head. I duck into Damien and giggle.

Sam snaps the folder and looks through it. “Consider it done. Todd Stewart is about to move to North Carolina. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

For some reason, I feel bad for the unsuspecting Mr. Stewart.

Since the event with Ben on Tybee Island, Sam still hasn’t told me what happened to her in school, but I sense that she’s getting closer to confiding in me. I hope I can help her deal with whatever she’s been suppressing all these years, like she’s helped me so many times. She’ll come out stronger for it, like she always does.

Like I did.

Damien and I bought a house in both California and North Carolina to use when we travel. Damien acted as if he just snagged him a bunch of Super Bowl titles with how excited he was to buy real estate with me. The homes really can’t be classified as homes with how large they are. It’s ridiculous really, but life is all about compromises. I still feel like I need a
you-are-here map in our house in California with all the levels and different rooms.

Our home in Atlanta is in the process of finishing the remodels. The only room left is Damien’s office. He wanted to save that until the end for whatever reason. It feels good to get rid of all the old after everything we dealt with, so we can truly start our lives over in a sense.

My photography keeps me busy when we travel. I’m actually starting to build a name for myself among the athletes, and anytime we travel, the times I allot to work are double-booked. I think back on the night at a sports benefit.

A tall blond man approaches Damien and me as we sip our champagne.

“Mrs. Wales, it’s a pleasure. Your reputation precedes you. I’m Charles Hannigon, a fellow team owner, like your husband.”

I extend my hand as Damien’s hand tightens infinitesimally on my hip. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hannigon.”

“Charlie, please, Mrs. Wales. I’ve seen your work and would love for you to take some photos for my team as well, if you’re available.”

Damien tenses beside me. I look at his face, and he seems proud of me, which makes me smile. It’s kind of funny that another team owner is asking me to take pictures of their team.

“Thank you for asking, but I shoot exclusively for our team.”

Charlie looks at me with his hazel eyes and gives me a smile. “Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know.”

Personal security overall has lightened up immensely. It will never go away, and I’ll always have someone with me if Damien’s not around. I can deal with that if it eases the tension for Damien in the slightest. I’ve gotten used to them and can now even remember that they’re around.

Geez, I’ve had some embarrassing moments with them over the last few months
.

Bane, of course, remains head of security and lives in the guest residence adjoined to the house. I once asked him if he had someone special in his life. His response was that attachments don’t work well in his specialty. I’m sure there’s a story there, but I didn’t press. He’s the most closed-off person I have ever met, but he would die for me if he needed to. It’s such a weird combination.

Since the Ben incident, Damien and I are doing really well. We continued to see Dr. Reynolds for a few months, making sure that our communication pathways stayed open and didn’t close up because of stress. We did have some difficult times, dealing with it all and finding a new balance after it was all over. It’s amazing how much time, effort, and worry ran our lives. I didn’t realize all that until after the fact, and then we have had to relearn some of the basics. Of course, we gladly embraced it, but it’s hard to let go and replace that emotion with something of love when we’ve basically been living in fear for most of our relationship. As my mom always said,
Allison, trust and love are all you really need in any relationship. If you have that, you can weather any storm.

Martin and Damien continue to build upon their friendship. They are even planning a guys’ weekend trip this summer.

After having just bought our new house in North Carolina, we are in the car, driving to the sports complex for Damien to sign some documents.

His phone rings. “Hey, Martin. Yes, I’m still going to Colorado. No, I’m not backing out. I was thinking that instead of a two-night trip, we could do just an overnight stay.”

I lightly slap Damien’s stomach, and I raise my eyebrow.

He continues, “Yes, she’s bringing Sam.”

Martin says something that causes a mischievous look to pass over Damien’s face.

Damien chuckles into the phone. “That’s an empty threat my friend. I’m not promising shit. Your new girlfriend, Nina, may want to know about that time you dressed up like a drag queen just to go see your favorite band at that club. Oh, yes, I would.”

Damien hangs up the phone, obviously pleased with himself.

“What was that about?” I ask.

He stores his phone as he answers, “Martin was going to draft Sam to give me shit about the trip, so she could get you to make sure I go for two nights.”

I swear that Martin and Sam have become the terrible twosome that I dread putting together because of their constant scheming. It’s surprising how close Martin and Sam have gotten. They’re practically like brother and sister.

I’m aimlessly walking toward the horse paddock behind the barn. I love coming out here to see Gingersnap run freely as she is still a part of my life. Damien and I go for rides often, and I love it.

She’s home, we’re both home now.

During all of the chaos at the house on Tybee Island after Ben was killed, Damien made arrangements for her to be delivered to the house that day. It, of course, caused me to sob at the extreme gesture and knowledge that we really had survived this awful storm.

I make a clicking noise as I approach her, and Gingersnap’s nostrils flare. She’s already on to me that I have a special treat for her. She comes running up to me as I coo her and give her some of her favorite cookies.

“You’re such a good girl.”

A growling noise sounds from the barn. Our new black Labrador puppy, Katie, is attacking one of her toys like it’s a mortal enemy. At three months old, she’s not so much a puppy anymore in size. She still thinks she’s only fifteen pounds when, in fact, she’s more than double that.

Martin and Sam brought the dog over as a joint gift from them to us after the football season ended. It was done so ceremoniously that it had me laughing until I cried. Thinking back on it makes me still laugh.

The doorbell rings. It had been a while since we had seen Sam and Martin due to our busy schedule. Our team had made it to the playoffs, so we spent a majority of our time giving support to the players in North Carolina. Damien was thrilled with the success.

Sports enthusiasts are already predicting a potential Super Bowl win next year with the new additions Sam has signed and is in the process of signing. Mark is considered Quarterback of the Year.

I bound up to the door with Damien in tow, excited to see my friends. The terrible twosome is standing there with their lips mashed together, barely able to hold in their laughter. Martin is holding something behind is back.

Oh geez, what have they done?

Martin speaks first, “Sam and I wanted to get Wales a gift. A practice gift of sorts. We had thought about one of those babies that cries and shit, but we found something much more fitting.”

Sam starts giggling as Martin pulls the cutest little black lab puppy from behind his back. Her little pink tongue is going ninety miles an hour.

I love her instantly.

Our new little puppy has a big red bow on her neck with a card on it. Martin hands the puppy to Damien. Damien is practically scowling at Martin and Sam. I take the card off her neck.

Opening the note, I read it aloud.

I started laughing hysterically as Damien holds Katie, not knowing what to do with her, completely at a loss.

Oh, the jokes that have taken place since then—like when the dog so much as has a cough—are pretty funny.

We’ve fallen in love with Katie, and she loves it here. She’s starting some intense doggie-training school this coming week. She’s going to remain outside, and in the end, I know she prefers that herself.

Bending down, I pat her head as she sniffs me. “Good girl.” Being full of puppy energy has her right back at it attacking the toy again.

I can hear Damien on the phone, and I stand up and make my way to his office door. Since we are in the process of remodeling Damien’s office, he’s moved his office temporarily out here until it’s done. Why he chose out here when he has so many rooms to choose from in the main house is a mystery to me, but hey, he’s the one who has to walk back and forth all day.

Men.

I lean against the door, watching my beautiful husband interview someone for some kind of management position. His eyes snap up to mine, and his demeanor instantly changes. His voice is still stern with whomever he’s speaking with, but his posture becomes lax. I love what my presence does to him. He scoots back, inviting me to sit in his lap, but I have better plans.

He continues talking, “Monica will get you the information.”

I close the office door and lock it.

He continues to answer questions, “Yes, that would be one of my expectations for this position.”

I’m in a green wraparound dress. I untie it and slip it off my body. His eyes grow savage as he realizes my intent for coming down here since I have nothing on underneath my clothes.

He continues on with only the mildest change in his voice that’s only discernable to me, “That part is nonnegotiable.”

He gives me the just-one-minute signal with his finger, obviously trying to wrap up his phone call. “Why don’t you put that together and send it to me?”

Whoever is on the other line is not letting him off, which causes me to smirk.

However, I have needs that need to be met right now. My body is screaming for some relief. I march over to him and straddle him on his chair. He gives me a warning look, but I’m not stopping. If he knew how bad my need was right now, he wouldn’t even question my motives. I reach down and slowly unzip him, freeing him underneath me, as I start to kiss his neck. I can hear multiple people on the phone, and they all seem to be asking him some sort of question.

He continues to answer, “I think that should be tabled for the time being until we come to a resolution.”

There’s definitely more of a strain to his voice as I start to stroke him into a harder state. I lift myself up and lower myself onto his length slowly.

Ah, the relief is incredible.

I sit back as he’s watching me intently. He is partly shocked at my rash behavior but incredibly aroused. He puts his fingers up to his mouth, reminding me to be quiet. He knows I am normally the opposite when we make love, but if it gets me what I need right in this instance, I won’t make a peep.

I lean back and start to slowly ride him—up and down, up and down, up and down. The friction feels fantastic as I start riding faster and harder. I bite down on my lip to keep from crying out. I’m so close to the edge.

Damien’s hand moves out and applies just the right amount of pressure on my clit, and it sends me over the edge to euphoria land. His hand comes up around my back to catch me as I relax from the intense orgasm.

Oh, I needed that.
I finally open my eyes and dopily grin at him.

“I’ll be in touch. Thank you for everyone’s time.” He clicks off the phone, and any business that was there, keeping him tethered to the phone call, completely vanishes. “Did you miss me, baby?”

“Mmhmm.”

His lips descend on my breast, and I arch at the contact.

Please let’s do this again and again and again.

“You’ve become quite insatiable over these last few days.”

I just moan as he continues to prime me again. His length is pulsing inside me.

“Please…” Even to my own ears, I sound as if I haven’t had an orgasm in days.

He stands us up with him still inside me and takes me over to the couch where he makes love to me gently. He pumps his hips slowly, hitting every nerve ending, until I’m to the point of a nuclear meltdown. He moves his hips slowly in a different direction that has me spiraling, and this time, I scream his name. I clench down on him and feel his heat pulsating into me.