The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) (25 page)

“Goodbye!” she replied quietly. He moved past her and made his way out of her house. When he got to the car, he pulled his cellphone from his pocket. He dialed up the hotel number. The desk attendant answered the call.

“Paradise Ridge Hotel.”

“Hello, this is Derek Worthington…will you, please ring up my room?”

“Sure! Just one moment.”

He started up the car and backed up into the street. He headed towards the hotel when the desk attendant came back on the line. “I’m sorry, but there’s no answer in your hotel room. Do you want to leave a message, or perhaps I can ring it up again.”

“No…that’s okay. I’ll be there, soon. Thanks!”

“Goodbye!” The desk attendant hung up his call. He slid his phone back into his pocket. She was angry, and there was no doubt why she didn’t answer. When he turned onto the street with their hotel, he noticed the large store. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, but it was the first time it seemed to beckon him into the parking lot. He smiled as he made a turn. He needed something to show her that he listened to her and show her that he cared. She’d gone twenty-four hours without a phone, and he wanted her to stay another day, so he would find her a phone charger and hope she would find a reason not to be mad at him.

The store advertised that it sold everything from food to electronics, and he figured they would have the charger. He got out of his car and hurried up to the door. He wanted to get his purchase and get back to her. A woman greeted him at the door. He smiled and started to pass her, then stopped himself. “Do you have phone chargers?”

She pointed to the back of the store. “You’ll see a sign for Electronics.”

“Thank you!” His steps picked up, and he made his way to the Electronics department.

“How may I help you?” An employee greeted him.

“I’m looking for a cell phone charger.”

“Do you have a smart phone?” The man asked.

He thought about her phone and nodded. The man pointed to an aisle and Derek followed him to the destination. After the man had shown him the variety of cell phone chargers, he settled on one that wasn’t for an IPhone and one that said it fit ninety percent of cell phones. He hoped it would work for hers. He grabbed it and headed back up to the cash register. When he got there, he paused, and his eyes skimmed over the rack by the registers. The boxes of condoms were staring him in the face and even though at the moment it didn’t seem like Charity would want to do anything with him, let alone sex, he couldn’t turn away. He reached his hand up and picked up a box. He casually looked around to see if anyone was watching him. They weren’t. Torn between buying them and not, he put them down and picked them back up several times. It didn’t make any sense. Charity was the first woman he even considered the option, and now it was his choice to make. Buy the condoms or forget he ever saw them.

***

Charity stared at the fireplace, another tear threatened to fall down, and she quickly wiped it away. She hated this feeling, and it needed to change. She picked up the hotel phone numerous times to call Ana. Then she quickly hung up and reminded herself that she couldn’t talk to Ana about this when Ana was living with Derek’s best friend. She then contemplated calling Damian, but she didn’t have his number memorized, and her phone had been dead for ages, it seemed.

The red glow of the fireplace continued on, and she got lost in the flames. At the edge of the fireplace, her bag was all packed. She called the airport and changed her flight from Tuesday to Monday morning, and she even made sure to credit Derek’s account for a change from First Class to Economy seating. She would pay him back as soon as she could. She glanced at her watch. It was going on ten o’clock. She didn’t know why she expected him back earlier, but it was clear he was having an amazing time with his ex and Charity was no longer in the picture.

She continued to watch the flames for what seemed like hours, then heard the key in the door. She kept still, careful not to make any noise, hoping that he would just go to his bedroom and not try to talk to her. She wasn’t lucky for that to happen because a minute later he was in her background.

“Hello!”

She kept her eyes on the fire. “Hello!”

He didn’t turn around. Instead, he approached her. The hair on her arms stood up, but she didn’t waver. “I bought you something. I hope it works.” He held out a bag to her.

She looked up at him, disgusted that he thought he could buy her off. “I don’t want anything you bought,” she replied in her stiff voice.

He frowned. “Excuse me?”

She looked away from him. “Whatever it is…take it back.”

He kept pushing forward. “I’m not going to take it back.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him reach into the bag and remove something from the enclosure. “It’s a cell phone charger,” he proudly exclaimed.

She looked at his hand as he held out the charger. It was a nice gesture and even though she wasn’t pleased with him at the moment, she had to give him credit for even thinking about it. “What do I need a charger for? I’m going back tomorrow. I surely can wait one more day.”

He tilted his head. “Tomorrow?” he asked. He then noticed the bag by the fireplace. “Wow!” he replied, giving an exasperated sigh. “You don’t have to go back tomorrow. We changed the flight.”

She looked up at him. “I’m not staying here any longer than I have to.” She got up from the couch and started to push past him. He reached out and grabbed her arm, then pulled her back to him. She fell into him and their eyes connected. “Let. Me. Go.” she said between clenched teeth.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly. “I know I said we could approach this subject at a later date, but this is later. I want to know why you changed your feelings so quickly? We were getting along so well.”

She dropped her eyes to the point where she no longer looked at him. “That was until…” her words fell off, and he kept staring at her.

“Until, what?” he asked. His hand remained on her arm, and she lost that fight to get away from him. They were inches from one another and she didn’t even try to pull back. His calming tone seemed to lock her in place.
Don’t give in!
She silently argued with herself.

She brushed her hand against his and firmly pushed it off of her. “I saw you.”

“You saw me? What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes. “You kissed her in the lobby. I saw you. Then you gallivant off to her place and do God knows what and you leave me hanging.”

He sighed, stepping back from her. He held up the envelope in his hand. “For starters…you know I had business with her.”

“Does that business require you making out with your ex? I’m sorry I didn’t know the rules.”

He shook his head. “She. Kissed. Me. There’s a difference, and if you would’ve stayed an extra minute, you would’ve seen I pushed her away. I told her that nothing would happen between us because I was already interested in someone else.

She stared at him, and she didn’t know if she should or could believe that. “You went to her place, and you stayed hours…not minutes, as you said.”

“She made dinner, and she wouldn’t give me the papers until I sat down and ate.” He paused and then continued with his story. “She tried again to change my mind, and I immediately left. I promise you that there’s nothing going on between Jenna and myself.” He looked away from Charity’s stare. Wheels seemed to rampantly turn in her head. When he looked back at her, he had more to say. “At one time did I think that something could still be between us? Yes…I did. Then this weekend, I realized that I’ve been holding onto a memory, and I need to start looking towards the future.” He moved closer to her and their eyes locked in a heated reunion. “You have nothing to be jealous about.” His smirk infuriated her, and she pushed him away.

“I’m not jealous!” she argued. She looked down at the floor, and his finger slowly traced her chin. She sighed, relishing in the feel, but then cursing him for having that effect on her.

“I think it’s cute,” he quietly stated.

She exhaled a breath of air and brushed his hand from her face. “I don’t want to be cute. This is serious.”

He nodded, but the lust in his eyes remained. “I know it is, but there’s nothing going on between us and I want to prove that to you.”

“How?” she whispered.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. His erection pressed against his pants, and she felt his strong arousal. His lips went to hers and instead of pushing him away, she surrendered to his advances. His tongue pushed his way in and methodically massaged hers. Her arms slowly snaked around his neck and the heated connection continued. He walked her backward, leading her to the couch and they smoothly lowered themselves to the piece of furniture. She laid down her head on the sofa and slowly lowered him down with her. Their hips gyrated against one another, transitioning to the position, where they just explored one another. It was sensual and romantic, with no abrupt movements to take it further.

Her hands wandered all over his body, from his back to his arms, back to his back, and then trailing down to his ass. His mouth left hers, and he sucked lightly on her neck. She arched her back and groaned as his teeth trailed along her skin. She couldn’t take much more of this. She was already wet and dangerously close to an orgasm before the clothes even came off. She needed more…she craved more.

“Make love to me!” she breathlessly blurted out. Her body tingled with pleasure from his mouth on her skin, and she needed him to advance his actions and show her that she was the only woman on his mind. It didn’t take any coercing on her part as he lifted her shirt off of her and dropped it to the floor. His mouth replaced areas of her skin that had once been hidden. She grabbed onto his shirt and lifted it up over him, then flung it to the ground, hungrily trailing her hands around his back and over muscles that she’d never seen before. His tongue fluently ran over her cleavage, and she moaned with devilish delight.

Her hands fumbled with his jeans until she finally removed them off of him. Working the magic on the couch wasn’t an easy task, but as piece after piece of their clothing fell to the floor, they could enjoy various parts of one another’s body, without having to be bothered with texture. When they were naked and gasping for air, he parted from her and his eyes devoured her. He grinned. “Damn, you’re sexy,” he replied with a sappy smile on his face.

She beamed with pride by his loving words, and she wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him back down to her. Their lips collided with heated depth. His cock rested against her thigh, and his swelling head was close to entering her. As he inched his girth towards her and they eagerly fondled one another, she was forced to break the hold.

She sighed, gasping for breath, as she covered her mouth. “Dammit…dammit…” she groaned.

“What?” he asked, curiously looking at her.

“I’m not on the pill,” she replied, feeling an overwhelming amount of disappointment well up inside of her. She didn’t feel he would have a condom, because as he pointed out he never anticipated getting this close to a woman. The thought of stopping it so abruptly didn’t seem like an option, but one she’d have to consider.

However, he didn’t seem fazed. He just got up off the couch, and she propped herself up on her elbows, staring at him and wondering where he was going. He disappeared from the room, and she looked down at the fireplace. The glow was overpowering the room. When he returned, he had a box with him. Her mouth dropped.

“Condoms?” she asked.

He shrugged. “The charger wasn’t the only thing I bought.” He winked at her, and she smiled at his confidence.

“Wow…are you cocky or confident?” she asked, laughing.

He tore the package open and sheathed himself, then moved towards. “Maybe a little bit of both.” He crawled back on top of her and lowered himself down to kiss her. She took in his lips and sighed against the tenderness he exhumed. She was glad he picked them up, because she didn’t want to stop.

He plunged into her and instantly they started rocking against one another. As their bodies moved in rhythmic motion, she found herself being pulled off the couch. They laughed as they repositioned themselves on the plush carpet and the crackle of the fireplace played as their background noise. His cock pressed deeper, and an orgasm welled up inside of her. She cried out his name as her juices surrounded his cock and his mouth continued to kiss her aching body. This was everything a woman would want and more.

Derek wrapped his arm around Charity’s waist as she snuggled up against his body. They’d taken the entire night to sexually explore one another, and he felt a connection he’d been missing in his life. They’d moved to the heart shaped bed during the night, and the comfortable sheets were a wonderful feeling on his skin. He brushed a soft kiss against the top of her head. “I love you!” he whispered. He said the words because he believed them, but for the first time, he wasn’t scared by those words. She wiggled against him, and her eyes fluttered open. She didn’t appear like she’d heard him, but she smiled at him, and his heart swelled.

“Good morning,” she whispered.

“Good morning!” He kissed her softly and gently her bottom lip pulled from his teeth.

She sighed. “I thought maybe last night was a dream.” She grinned, closing her eyes. “A dream I never wanted to wake up from,” she continued.

He was thankful to hear her say the words. He had thoroughly enjoyed every touch…every move…every kiss, but he worried that she would wake up and regret the way things went down. It happened so suddenly, but it felt right and by the smile on her lips, he wasn’t alone. Her hand ran up his chest, and when she reached the top of his chest, he latched onto each finger and slowly teased each digit in his mouth. She giggled as he traced his tongue along on her fingers. She opened her eyes and rolled on top of him. Her eyes connected with his, as she propped herself up on her hands and stared into his eyes. His hands rested on her lower back.

“’Does this mean you’ll stay another night with me?” he asked, laughing slightly.

She nodded eagerly. “I’d stay a whole week if we could.” She leaned down and brushed a kiss on his lips. Her tongue gently ran against his, and he groaned through the familiarity. He would love to say they could stay the rest of the week, but he had things to do back in Maine, and they could continue their fairytale just as much as they could in California.

She parted from the kiss. “I have an idea,” he replied with hope in his chest. “I’ll go warm up the shower and make it inviting, and you come join me.” He winked at her.

“I like the way you think.” She rolled off of him, and he got out of the bed. “I’ll be in there in a minute. I’m going to plug my phone in, thanks to your generous gift.”

He laughed, kissing her on the lips. “Glad to do it.” He turned from her and disappeared into the bathroom that adjoined her bedroom. He turned the shower on and felt for the warm water to take place. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, and he felt himself changing. Charity did that to him, and he couldn’t wait for it to continue.

***

Charity heard him humming in the bathroom as she plugged her phone in. She smiled to herself. It did seem fast in hindsight. She was mad at him and then suddenly forgiving, but she could sense his heart, and it was clear that he meant the words. Jenna wasn’t still in the picture, but then another thought crossed Charity’s mind. Even if Jenna was in the picture, having sex with Derek didn’t have to mean anything. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time she had meaningless sex that was great, but done with someone she would never have sex with again. Then that mere thought disappointed her, so Charity was confused as hell but excited about the prospect of what could happen.

She realized when her phone had powered back on because several messages started filtering through. She laughed as she grabbed her phone and spotted several text messages coming through. There were several, but only from two different people. She ignored the ones from Damian and instead of reading the ones from Ana, she decided to call her. She even had two missed calls from her and it made Charity question what could be so important. “I get the drift,” she said to the phone, as she dialed up Ana’s number.

It only rang once, before Ana answered. “Charity? Where the hell you been?”

Charity frowned at the phone. “Well, hello to you, too, my friend.” Charity laughed as she settled against the headboard of the bed. “I’m in California.”

“California? What are you doing there?”

Charity opened her mouth to respond, but the bathroom door opened and out popped Derek. “Babe, the shower won’t stay warm forever.” He grinned at her.

She held up her finger. She covered the mouthpiece of her phone. “Give me one second.”

He nodded and disappeared back into the bathroom. “Who is that? Are you in California with a man? What’s going on, Charity?”

Charity giggled. “Since you’re so noisy, I’ll tell you. Derek and I came to California on a business trip. We’re coming home tomorrow.”

“Did you sleep with him?” Ana asked, shrieking as she asked the question.

Charity laughed. Ana should be overly ecstatic about that, but there did seem something different in her voice. “It happened,” Charity nonchalantly replied.

“Oh no…” Ana gasped on the other end.

“What’s wrong? I thought you’d be jumping for joy.”

“Charity there’s something you need to know.” Charity listened to her friend rattle off the story. “Jesse was drunk Saturday night, and he confessed everything. He told me that yesterday was the year anniversary of his father’s death. In the will, his father specified that to receive the full inheritance, he has to get married and be on the way to starting his own family. He has two years to make this happen and if he doesn’t…he’s giving up over ten billion dollars.

Charity nearly dropped the phone from her palm. “Yesterday was a year since he passed?” Charity asked.

“I’m sorry, Charity, but Jesse was adamant that Derek has no intention of marrying for love, and Jesse has numerous times talked to Derek about getting together with you and Derek pretty much always blew it off.”

“So, you think he slept with me because he’s getting close to losing out on the money?”

“It appears that way, Charity. I’m so sorry!”

Not as much as I am!
Charity thought about saying. She didn’t want her friend to hear her disappointment, so she immediately shrugged it off. “You know…that’s fine, because last night didn’t mean anything. We had some casual sex. I’ve been through it often, and I’ll just move on. No biggie.” Deep down she was mad and hurt that the previous night meant nothing to him, and he fooled her yet again.

“I tried calling you Saturday night! I went to my parent’s house and stayed the last two nights. I couldn’t even face Jesse for the part he played in it.”

“You shouldn’t do that!” Charity argued. “It’s fine…really!” She got up from the bed and started gathering up her clothes. “I better go, so I can get my things around. I guess I will be coming home today.”

“Why?” Ana asked. “If it didn’t mean anything, then you might as well stay.”

Charity laughed, fighting back tears. “You know me…that’s not going to happen. It’s best I just come home now. I’m a one-nighter type of girl. I’ll call you later, Ana. Goodbye.” She disconnected the call as she fumed with anger, she started to get dressed in the same clothes she wore the previous day. After she had finished getting dressed, she heard the shower turning off and the door opened. She heard his footsteps draw closer and he reached her door. He wore only a towel.

“Hey…we’re going to have to wait until…” his words fell off as he spotted her in her bedroom. “You’re dressed?”

She nodded, looking up to him. “I decided I’m going back today.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, moving closer to her.

She stepped back away from him. “It’s just better this way,” she answered.

She reached down and grabbed her suitcase. She was relieved she had packed the day before while he was at Jenna’s house. This saved time, and she wouldn’t be forced to awkwardly pack while he was still in the hotel room. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “Tell me the truth, Derek. Did your father set up an inheritance where you would only get it if you married within two years?”

His face turned pale. “What does that have to do with—.”

She quickly cut him off. “Was yesterday a year since your father passed away?”

“Yes, but—.”

She held up her hands to keep him from coming closer. “You can’t seem to tell the truth about anything, can you?”

“There was nothing to tell,” he argued. “The money means nothing to me.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe that.”

“Charity, don’t push me away just because you’re scared.”

She glared at him. “I’m not scared, Derek. Last night was amazing, but I thought you were different. I’m not interested in hooking up with you, just so we can get married, have a kid, and you gain your father’s ten billion dollars.”

His jaw dropped. “First of all…who said marriage? Second of all if I proposed to you, it’d be because I want to spend the rest of life with you. Screw the inheritance.”

She tilted her head and snickered. “You don’t mean that because you’d be a damn fool. Ten billion dollars?” She picked up her suitcase and started to leave the room. Derek quickly went around her and blocked the door from her leaving. “You can’t keep me here against my will.”

“You can’t leave without hearing my side of the story.”

She looked away from him. She wasn’t staying no matter how much he begged her. “I’ve already heard your side numerous times, and I’m done.” She unlocked the door and grabbed onto the door handle. She opened it up, forcing him to get out of her way. She left the hotel room and didn’t look back.

***

Derek couldn’t have gotten dressed any faster. He had to get to the airport and explain everything to her. He couldn’t lose her, not when it was his father’s stupid rules that were causing the issue. He grabbed the two room keys and quickly made sure he didn’t forget anything, including the phone charger she left behind.

He stood at the elevator and waited and waited. The elevator took longer than expected, so he ran through the door of the stairwell and took the flights of stairs to the lobby. He hurried up to the desk and checked out, thanked them, and left the hotel. He hoped she wasn’t able to get a shuttle so quickly, then he would be lucky enough to make it to the airport about the same time she did. Driving the half hour to the airport seemed slower than he remembered, but eventually, he did arrive.

He parked the car in the rent-a-car lot and ran into the airport. He made his way to the desk and dropped off the keys to the car. They marked it as returned and he then went to gate where the flight was to leave. “I need to cancel my flight for tomorrow and reschedule it for the next one to go out. The names Derek Worthington.”

The woman typed on her computer, and she finally shook her head. “I’m sorry, that flight has finished boarding, and they’re getting ready to take off.”

“Can’t you stop it? I have to get back to Maine,” he argued.

“I’m sorry, but once the doors have closed…there’s nothing I can do.”

He sighed. “Can you tell me if Charity Parker got on the flight?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, personal information can’t be released, but I can tell you that she credited your credit card for going from first class to economy seating. You’ll get a credit of two hundred dollars.” She smiled, but he still felt a pit in his stomach.

He hit the counter and nodded. “Thanks anyway.” He stepped away from the counter and went over to the window, where a plane’s propellers were twirling and slowly the plane lifted off the runway. He stared at it. If she was on the plane, she was flying away from him, and he couldn’t do anything to stop her.

Hello fans!  Thank you for reading my debut novel.  I look forward to hearing what each and every one of you have to say and believe me…YOU have a voice.  I have grown attached to these characters and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about how you want them to evolve.  Nothing is set in stone and maybe your ideas and thoughts will be the next plot.  Do you have a preference between Damian or Derek?  Also, if you click
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The Proposal will be available August 30, 2016

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