Romance: Military Romance: Protected by the SEAL (Contemporary Hero Bad Boy Navy SEAL Romance) (New Adult BBW Alpha Male Virgin Protector Short Stories) (39 page)

Chapter 5

After Cody had thrown the condom in the garbage and wiped down his dick, he came back to bed. I snuggled up right beside him and he put an arm around my shoulders. I reached my head towards him and kissed him on the lips. It was a slow, soft kiss. It was the kind of kiss that I hoped to enjoy for the rest of the summer.

We stayed in the bed kissing and chatting for another hour or so before falling asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I reached out towards his side of the bed. It was empty. I sat straight up and looked around. Where could he have gone? I got out of bed and looked out the bedroom window.

His car was gone. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. If he’d left and gone back to the city, I would be heart broken. I wanted to go downstairs to see if maybe he’d left note for me or something, but I was too afraid.

I checked my phone. He hadn’t left me any messages. I paced around the room for a few more minutes before deciding to get into the shower. I figured the warm, running water would help take my mind off things.

Before I could make it into the bathroom, I heard a car pull into the driveway. I hurried to the window. It was Cody’s black Mustang.

I hurried downstairs to meet him. I couldn’t wait to wrap my arms around him.

I ran outside bare foot. He had two shopping bags in his hands. He smiled as he saw me coming towards him. I jumped into his arms and almost knocked him over.

“Wow!” he said with big smile. “What did I do to deserve this greeting?”

“Everything,” I said, pulling him towards me. I gave him soft pecks on his lips.

“I thought we might need food to recuperate from last night,” he said.

We stared into each other’s eyes in silence. Then we smiled, kissed, and headed inside.

Before we got through the door, Cody turned towards me.

“Wait a second, Charlotte,” he said. “I need to ask you something.”

The way he looked at me made me nervous. I was afraid of what he was going to ask.

“I just wanted you to know that I don’t regret anything we did last night, and I”

I pressed my fingers to his lips and gazed deeply into his eyes.

“Neither do I,” I said. “I don’t regret anything we did.”

We stayed on the porch for the next few minutes kissing and hugging, before finally going inside.

We spent the entire weekend wrapped in each other’s arms, talking, kissing, cuddling, and making love. When Sunday came, it was hard to say goodbye, but we knew that it wouldn’t be long before we saw each other again. And it wasn’t. We began spending more and more time together in Manhattan. Almost every weekend we left the city and headed to our family’s lakeside home.

THE END

Bonus Story 8 of 17

I stood at my desk, looking down at the pink slip and not believing my eyes. There had to be some kind of mistake. But in a way it made sense. We had some new managers recently who’d begun to make changes. They promised that nobody would lose their jobs, but it was now clear that they had only said that to save face. I wasn’t the only one to receive a pink slip that morning, and I could see that there were others stunned into silence.

“I can’t believe it, Angela and this has to be a mistake. They know your contribution to this company and for them to turn you out is reprehensible,” said Casey. She was one of my colleagues and lunch companions, and was always trying to come to my rescue and make me see that things were not as bad as they seemed. “If I were you, I would march right in there and tell them where this job could go.” I was actually tempted to go in there and beg them for another chance, but I saw that plea falling on deaf ears.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Casey, and this whole thing has taken me quite by surprise. I have my other job at the diner, but that’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life. It’s not even going to be enough to pay the bills. Damn it, I have my rent due tomorrow and I was depending on a bump in pay to get me through it! I thought for sure that I was in line for a promotion or at least a raise.” I was wearing a plaid skirt, a blue blouse and I felt like somebody had just punched me in the kidneys. My hair was naturally curly blond and I had a bit of a weight issue, where I fluctuated between 150 and 120 pounds at any given time. Thankfully, I was at that 120 range and of late I had no reason to delve into the sweets in the middle of the night. But now, maybe I would.

It would be shame if I did, because I seriously liked what I was looking at in the mirror in the morning inside the bathroom. I saw definition of my taut stomach; my breasts were firm and easily a C cup. It was more than a mouthful or a handful for most.

“I can lend you about $50.00, but that’s all I can afford, until next payday,” said Casey. It was nice that she would offer, but there was no way that I was going to borrow money from a friend. That can lead into bad feelings, and friendships have a way of breaking under the strain of money issues. “I’m sorry, I wish that I could do more and I would even offer to have you stay with me, but I don’t think my boyfriend would go along with that. He already allowed his cousin the musician to stay in the basement and you can imagine the arguments that we have over that particular subject.” I’ve heard her talk of it often and I couldn’t blame her for being upset, because he really didn’t ask her for permission.

“I’m glad that you offered, but I also understand the position that you’re in, Casey.” She was a dish and for her to get caught up in a deadbeat relationship was beyond me. She always seemed like she had a level head, but sometimes you just don’t see the forest for the trees. “I think that I’m going to need some time to think about where my life is going.” I’d never been lucky and being here for over a year made me think that things were turning around. I was even considering talking to my brother after five years of being out of touch. I’d heard through the family grapevine that he was living in Australia, as a personal guide in the outback. Fake accent and all.

We’d never been very close, and when our parents died at such a young age, we found ourselves on opposite ends of the globe. We separated. We should’ve stayed together, but that was not a possibility. Our uncle Jimmy in Australia took Thomas in, while my grandmother took care of me. I loved her, but she was a hard woman to live with, so when I was old enough, I ran away. I was free, but it wasn’t long before I was living from hand to mouth. Life was hard for a while, but I survived.

“Angela, don’t do anything rash! You know what they say about one door closing and another one opening. This is God’s master plan, and even if you don’t understand it, it doesn’t mean that everything’s not going to work out the way that it’s supposed to.” She was always a little too religious and maybe that was the reason why she was staying in that relationship. She probably thought that she had some kind of Christian duty to save him from himself. If it had been me, I would have tossed him to the curb long ago, but I was in no position to say anything. I was single and my love life was completely stalled. My last boyfriend stole from me, and it wasn’t until I caught him in the act that he finally admitted that he was a drug user.

“I just need some time to clear my head. I think I’m going to go for a walk and actually have time to smell the roses,” I said. “The one thing I’m not going to miss is being penned here like an animal or walking home with the rest of the sheep. No offense, but I really did think that I was destined for more than just temp work. I have a few hours until my shift at the diner, so I might just splurge and buy myself something fun.” I was lying through my teeth. I had no interest in buying anything, especially when my credit cards were overdrawn, as it is.

“Meet me tomorrow for coffee and we’ll talk about things and see if we can’t make a plan for your future,” said Casey. “Have your resume in hand, because I may know a few places that are looking for people with your unique skill set.” What she meant to say was ‘people with no skills whatsoever’. A monkey could have done my job and probably half of the jobs in this company, though I admit that the pay had been fairly good, and the benefits better than I expected.

“Thanks. I really appreciate you being my friend, Casey,” I said. “And hey, if I don’t find another job, I could always sling it on the streets.” I was joking, but I did have a pretty nice body, and it wasn’t lost on me the lingering glances that I got from the men on the street. It didn’t matter if I was wearing something tasteful or provocative; they always found a reason to undress me with their eyes.

“Just promise me that you’ll meet me for coffee tomorrow and we’ll go over things together. You’re my friend and you’re one of my best friends and I don’t say that lightly.” I didn’t want her to feel sorry for me, but I wasn’t about to turn down any kind of help that she could give me. I promised her that I would show up at the coffee shop tomorrow at exactly 7:30 AM, but I seriously doubted that I would even make the meeting. I was probably going to hide under the covers and hope that this was some giant mistake or nightmare that I was going to wake up from.

I grabbed my brown leather coat, something that I had for quite some time that I found at one of those secondhand shops. I knew what I liked and I knew what looked good on me and this ticked all the boxes. It made me feel special to wear it and it gave me a sense of confidence that I didn’t have without it.

Even carrying the pink slip, I felt immediately better when I put on that coat. It was like this newfound strength came over me and I walked out of there thinking that the future was bright.

Wouldn’t you know it, but I was mugged right at that very moment and they took my watch, my handbag and the very thing that made me feel like I was powerful. The leather coat was gone and in that moment, I felt lower than I could possibly feel in my life.

I wandered the streets, not really caring that I was cold to my very bones and the only thing that I had on me of value that the mugger didn’t find was my cell phone. I looked at it, but was not surprised to see that there were no messages. There was a text message from Casey, but mostly it was reiterating the fact that things could get worse. If she only knew that I’d just been mugged! I wanted to cry.

I found myself in the park at night, kind of hoping that somebody would put me out of my misery. It wasn’t like anybody would miss me and then I heard this odd sound. I looked up to see something blotting out the Moon. It had these gigantic wings, dark and foreboding. I grabbed my phone and turned on the video. I watched it in awe. My mouth was slightly open with the shock of seeing something that couldn’t be real.

At first I thought that I was imagining things, but then it snorted fire and lit up the sky like the 4
th
of July. In the light of the fire I saw red scales, and that was enough to make me realize that what I was looking at was a true and live dragon! I began to think that maybe this was my way out and that somebody would pay dearly for footage of something like this. This whole thing was a mind-blowing experience. I could not stop myself from staring at this spectacle in the sky.

I thought for a moment that the dragon had seen me, but then it dispelled that idea by flying out of sight and away from the prying eye of my camera. I stared at it flying away for some time, and then I began to smile. I thought about the exorbitant amount of cash that was surely going to fall into my lap. This was something that had to be seen by the public, but I wasn’t going to do it out of the goodness of my heart. Nobody, except for Casey had gone out of their way for me, so I saw no reason to do anything good for anybody else.

The first thing that I had to do was verify that this was real and not a hoax that would make a fool out of me. But how would I do that?

*****

I didn’t get a chance to think about it much more, because I had a shift at the diner to complete. If I hadn’t needed the money, I would’ve marched in and told them what they could do with their job. I was just glad that after tonight, I may not have to work ever again. I could live in the lap of luxury, travel and see the world and become well-known for living my life to the fullest. I might even be able to bring my brother back from Australia. Maybe he could restart his life, too. I was getting ahead of myself, and even as I watched the video over and over again, it seemed almost too real to be true.

If it wasn’t for the fact that it had spewed fire, I wouldn’t have gotten a clear shot of what it was. In fact, it probably would’ve come out as just a huge shadow. People would believe that it was a bird and I would not be able to prove otherwise.

“Ms. Spencer, if you are finished with what you’re doing, we require your assistance.” My boss, Jimmy, was not exactly a patient kind of man.

“I’m sorry, but I guess I’ve been a little distracted. It won’t happen again.” As I walked by him, he slapped my ass lightly. He did that sometimes. He thought it was ‘cute’ and ‘charming’.  It didn’t help that our uniforms were barely there. We could all swear that he took it upon himself to shrink the fabric to make it even tighter on our frames.

My thoughts turned to my figure. I didn’t want to go back to the days when I was 150 pounds, but if I continued on the same path that I was currently on, then I was destined to take on that extra poundage. I knew that Jimmy wouldn’t mind and he always had this salacious stare any time that I had extra weight. I guess he liked his women a bit larger.

I went to get coffee for one of the regulars and then I heard the door opening and the clack of a man’s shoes coming towards the counter. I turned and I thought for sure that I was in the presence of a giant. He was over 6 feet and solid, 200-plus pounds, lean and muscular. He wore a tailored charcoal, suit and a dark red tie. He was handsome and dark-haired, with a thin mustache and neat goatee. He sat down and put his hands over each other on the counter. I saw on his left wrist a gold watch that must have cost a fortune.

“Waitress,” he said, looking at me. There was a hush amongst the locals and they were now staring at him like they couldn’t believe that he was actually deeming them worthy enough to sit beside them. His gaze did not leave me. “I’m gathering from the expression on these people’s faces that they know who I am. But I would say that you’re a little bit different and you probably have no idea what kind of power you are currently standing in front of. I’m Regis Sunning.” I’d heard the name in passing, some kid of big-shot businessman, but I’d never paid much attention to the movers and shakers.

“What makes you so damn important?” I replied. It was a good thing Jimmy wasn’t around just then, because he would have hated me talking to a customer like that. But I’d been having a pretty bad day, the only bright spot being the video footage that I had captured quite by chance. And here was this arrogant guy walking in and holding his nose up over everybody else. “Do you not put your pants on one leg at a time?” I said. “Do you not bleed if I cut you? If the answer is yes to those two questions, then you are no different than any of us.”

“You really don’t know who I am,” said Regis. “You’re right, I may have a sense of regal bearing and I do like the finer things in life, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy the simpler things. I’ve heard that this place makes the best hamburger and I haven’t had a good one in some time. My tastes are a bit more refined and I sometimes find myself wondering what I’m missing. Anyway, I make it my mission to help others in need and I have given scholarships to those that couldn’t go to college otherwise.” If he thought that he was going to impress me with his list of good deeds, then he was going to find himself waiting a long time.

“Most of you billionaires tend to come down to our level, just for perception purposes. You sit here with blue collar workers, wearing an Italian suit that probably cost more than they make in a week or maybe even a month. You wear that Rolex with no regard for your own safety. Why you haven’t been mugged on the way here is beyond me.”

“I believe that you have the wrong opinion of me, Angela Spencer,” he said. Somehow he knew my name, but I didn’t think about it at the time. “The Sunning name is very recognizable and we chair several charities. I myself travel abroad to do my part in getting rid of famine. I’ve built orphanages, and I don’t do it because of public opinion. I do it because I know it’s the right thing to do and it reminds me of where I came from. I was never rich and I grew up fighting for everything I had. I could easily be in your shoes; although I don’t think high heels suit me.” Despite my misgivings, I found myself smiling at his attempt at humor. My opinion of him had improved. I poured him cup of coffee, and took out my order pad and pen.