by L. D. Davis
“So, you bought it just so you could evict her?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said in a tone that said, “duh.”
“Oh, this is grand,” Vivian said, getting to her feet. “Either way, Iris has a case.”
Grudgingly, I nodded in agreement. Emmy looked irritated. She crossed her arms.
“I’m not backing down from this,” she said to Vivian. “Besides, the building is a perfect location to move the firm into. So either way, that old muffin bitch has to go.”
“Oh, I’m glad you’re not backing down, Emmy,” Vivian grinned. “I like a good fight, and I am guessing Luke is going to fight extra hard this time. Get all catty and show me his claws!” She growled and made a pawing motion in the air. I wanted to slap her, but I don’t hit women.
“Get out,” I told her sharply.
“Oh, I love it when you get bossy,” Viv said, collecting her purse. She turned to Emmy and said, “I wish we could have met under better circumstances, Emmy. Honestly, I rather like you so far.”
Emmy nodded as she regarded Vivian with deep thought. I didn’t know what she was thinking. I imagined she was thinking about what a bitch Viv was and how fitting it was that she was representing Iris. Iris knew what she was doing by choosing my archenemy as her lawyer. Well played.
“Did you sleep with my husband?” Emmy asked Vivian.
My jaw fell to the floor, but Vivian seemed unfazed.
“Yes,” she said with a smile. “But that was a long time ago. Luke and I had a very nice no strings attached agreement, but he realized very early on that he was in love with you and broke it off so that he could do the honorable thing. What gave it away?”
Emmy shrugged. “Woman’s intuition. I feel like I should hate you, Vivian, but I rather like you also.”
“Oh, come on!” I cried out. “You are forbidden to befriend her!”
Emmy looked at me dismissively and turned back to Vivian. “See you in court, Vivian.”
“Oh, yes you will,” she grinned. “But Emmy don’t think that because I like you that I will go easy on you.”
“I’d expect nothing less from a heart eating bitch,” Emmy said.
Vivian winked at me and walked out of my office. I looked at Emmy and resumed my pursuit of her. She began to move again, also.
“You are in so much trouble,” I told her. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“I was only protecting what belongs to me,” she said with a shrug. “I told Iris I would fight to the death rather than let someone destroy my family.”
“Really.”
“Really,” she responded.
“Why are you running away, Emmy? You know I can catch you whenever I want.”
“I would at least like to have the illusion that I can get away,” she said.
I locked the door and looked at her. “You may as well forget all about that illusion.”
I stalked towards her. She tried to move away again, but I caught her easily right in front of my desk. I pushed her against it. I put my hands flat on the surface on either side of her, trapping her. She swallowed audibly.
“You’re in so much trouble,” I told her again, my lips close to hers.
“I’d do it again if I was given the choice,” she said. “That muffin bitch is lucky I didn’t just kick her ass. Making her move out is easy.”
I chuckled and pressed my erection against her. “You did all of that for me,” I said.
“It was a lot of work,” she admitted. “The owners did not want to sell.”
“I’ll bet you dipped deeply into your money,” I murmured as I inhaled the skin on her neck.
“Deep enough,” she sighed with pleasure and tilted her head to give me better access.
My hands were on her thighs, hiking up her skirt. “How can I trust you not to dip into your money like that again, Emmy?”
“As long as there are no more Irises, I won’t have a reason to,” she said flatly.
“Touché, Mrs. Kessler.”
“Iris and her old, dry vagina,” Emmy muttered. “Hitting that dry piece of ass would have been hazardous to your dick. Lord Jesus it’s a fire,” she said it like the infamous woman on YouTube.
I laughed as I rested my forehead on hers. “Do you mind not talking about Iris and her dry vagina? I’m trying to punish you for your actions. You’re killing my hard-on.”
She began to release the button and zipper on my pants as she looked up at me with a more somber expression.
“Are you really mad?” she asked quietly.
“I am livid,” I said and I wasn’t lying. I was very pissed that Emmy had spent probably a huge chunk of change on anything without discussing it with me. I am the first to admit that I can be very prideful. I am the man, the husband, the father, and the head of my household and it is primarily my responsibility to care for my family on all levels, especially financially.
“I am angry,” I said after I felt her body slump and she looked up at me with apologetic eyes. “But you did it to protect our family.” I pushed a hand into her brown waves. “We are so lucky to have you, Emmy.”
She smiled and drew me in for a soft, delicious kiss. I reached under her skirt and began to pull her panties down. She lifted her ass long enough for me to pull the fabric over her perfectly round cheeks. I pulled away from her mouth to remove the lacey scrap completely and then stepped between her open legs. I kissed her again.
“And,” I said, smiling and speaking against her lips. “Imagining you walking into that shop, pissed off, protective and possessive and giving Iris her walking papers along with a piece of your mind is a major fucking turn on.”
I kissed her without mercy, pouring all of my love and desire for her into the kiss. Her sassy tongue challenged mine. Her saucy lips battled to dominate the kiss. Her smart-alecky mouth attempted to devour mine, but soon she submitted and blissfully drowned in my kiss.
***
We walked into the house, singing a rock version of The Wheels on the Bus. Lucas could really belt it out, but my air guitar solo was untouchable, and Kaitlyn’s clapping blew other babies’ clapping out of the water, because my kids are more awesome than other kids.
“Hello, wife,” I said cheerfully and planted a wet and loud kiss on her cheek.
“Hello, husband and children,” Emmy said, wiping away the moisture on her cheek.
“You don’t wipe away the moisture when I—”
Emmy cut me off, placing her hand over my mouth. “Hey! There are children in the room.”
“They don’t know what I’m talking about,” I said and wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at her.
Emmy rolled her eyes, but did nothing to hide the smile on her face before turning back to the dinner she was preparing.
“So, I’m Super Dad, and it’s okay if you admit it out loud,” I told her as I put a shopping bag on the table. “Not only did I take both kids out alone to the mall and the grocery store, but I didn’t lose any of them or maim them. And I got all of the groceries you put on the list and didn’t give in to Lucas’s breakdown in the checkout lane because he couldn’t get candy.”
Em turned back around and looked at me for a moment before looking at Lucas who was busy running one of his cars over a kitchen chair.
“Lucas, baby, come here,” Em said sweetly.
Lucas gave his car wings and made a ‘vawooom’ sound as he flew over to his mother. She smiled down at him, gently touched his face, swiping a finger under his bottom lip. She held the finger up for me to see. There was a dark smear on it. Em popped the finger in her mouth as she watched me through narrowed eyes.
“Chocolate,” she said, putting her hand on her hip.
“I love you,” I said, hoping that would sidetrack her. It didn’t.
“You’re such a sucker,” she accused. “You give him everything he wants. Kaitlyn is going to have you wrapped around her finger.”
I looked into my daughter’s face and grinned.
“I’m alr
eady wrapped around her finger,” I said and kissed her smiling face.
Em shook her head and started going through the grocery bag as she no doubt mentally checked off the items that had been on her list. She balled the bag up looking satisfied.
“Good job, husband unit,” she said smiling. “I’ll let the chocolate incident slide this time. You may reclaim your Super Dad title.”
“Oh, but there is more,” I said dramatically as I took Kaitlyn out of her coat.
“Oh?” Em looked intrigued.
“Oh, yes, my dear, perfect wife.” I reached into the diaper bag and produced an envelope. “I also stopped by the office to get secret mail.”
“Secret mail?”
“Secret mail,” I repeated. “I had it sent there so that there would be less of a chance of you getting to it before me.”
“Getting to what exactly?” Emmy asked and crossed her arms.
“Why the secret mail, of course, my darling blossom.”
She tried not to smile, but I could see it pulling on the edges of her pretty mouth.
“What is the secret mail, my handsome beau?” she played along.
“Why it is mail that is a great secret, my slightly dense beauty.”
“You’re killing me here,” she sighed.
I handed her the large envelope. She cocked an eyebrow at me. She seemed reluctant to open it.
“You may proceed, my luscious pumpkin,” I grinned.
“Your mood is downright giddy today,” she murmured with a smile as she began to pull open the envelope.
“You make me giddy,” I replied and kissed the top of her head.
“Okay, let’s see what this secret mail is,” she breathed and reached into the envelope. She pulled out a folder. Her eyebrow rose again as she threw a glance at me. “A travel agency? This must be some kind of trick, because no one uses those anymore.”
“Well, baby, you know I’m old fashioned. Open the folder.”
Emmy laid the folder on the kitchen table and slowly opened it. I heard a light gasp. She glanced quickly at me before looking back to the contents of the folder.
“These are airline tickets,” she whispered. “And villa reservations…for the Caribbean?” She looked up at me with wide eyes.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “I thought it was about time we had our honeymoon—even though it’s still a couple of months away. I know it’s not even the most exotic place you have ever been, and you have been to more exciting places, but since we’ll be leaving the kids in Louisiana with your parents I thought we should be a little closer to home.”
Emmy looked down at the tickets and the other traveling information. When she looked back up at me, she had tears in her eyes.
“Um,” I said, feeling uneasy. I shifted Kaitlyn into my other arm. “I promise I’ll take you anywhere else you’d like to go when the kids are older.”
“This is…this is perfect, Luke,” she smiled. “Anywhere you take me will be perfect as long as you’re there.”
She stood on her toes and kissed me slowly and sensually. If I didn’t have one child in my arms and the other a couple of feet away, I would have done wicked things to her.
“There are children in the room, Mrs. Kessler,” I admonished when she pulled away.
“The children will be napping soon, Mr. Kessler,” she said in a sultry tone that made me almost drop the baby.
“Lucas, nap time!”
***
“I want to see you in this,” I insisted to Emmy. I gave the hanger a shake for emphasis.
“I’m not wearing a bikini until my body is bikini ready,” she said and shook her hanger for emphasis.
“Your body is more than ready for a bikini. In fact, I’d prefer no clothes at all on your body.” I winked.
Emmy rolled her eyes. “You’re the only person who would consider stuffing my muffin top into a bikini.”
I possessively put my hand on her waist and firmly smoothed it over her hip and upper thigh before ending on her ass.
I leaned in close to her, my lips only centimeters from her lips, and said, “Every part of you is perfect and I want you on display for my pleasure.”
She shivered, touched her lips to mine for the briefest of seconds and then she said in a soft, velvety voice “I’m not wearing the bikini.”
A grin slowly spread on my face. “So, you won’t be wearing anything?”
She laughed softly. It sent fire up my spine and made my erection twitch in my jeans.
“I’ll be wearing this tankini,” she said flatly and then there was a hanger in my face.
I sighed and hung the bikini back up on the rack. “You’re really mean,” I pouted.
Emmy laughed again and to my surprise, reached past me and plucked the bikini off of the rack.
“You’re so cute when you pout. I’ll buy both, okay?”
I grinned and kissed her. “Thank you.”
“Cwacka!” Lucas shouted from the double stroller. I fished into the diaper bag and produced a couple of graham crackers for him. “Danku.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, ruffling his hair.
“Don’t forget, we’re getting Diana a gift card so she can shop for her spring break clothes,” Emmy said to me.
I nodded, acknowledging that I heard her. We gifted Diana a trip to Miami Beach for spring break so that she could join her friends and escape the brisk Chicago weather. As expected, she tried to reject the gift, but my wife had been very convincing.
We were at the mall, shopping for our honeymoon trip. When Emmy first opened the envelope, it felt like the trip was too far away, but before we knew it, weeks had flown by and we would be leaving in a few days.
I took off most of January. Emmy and I were married for almost a year already. Considering all we had gone through before getting married and then the struggles afterward, I wanted to give her and the kids my undivided attention for a little while. We were dropping the kids off with Emmy’s parents and then flying to our honeymoon destination. After five days alone, the plan was to go back to Louisiana and spend a week with Emmy’s family. If we weren’t snowed out of Chicago by then, we would return home. I had some small projects to do around the house during my time off, and I was going to spend a lot of time with my kids and drool after my wife until she got tired of me. It was going to be a great month. As long as Vivian didn’t show up.
Vivian did something so utterly terrifying, that it still brings fear into my heart when I think about it. She convinced Iris to drop her case against Emmy and called it a no strings attached favor. I commanded Emmy not to take it, reminding her that the beast bites when one least expects it, but my wife simply rolled her eyes and then had the nerve to make lunch plans with Vivian. If she got bit, I was not licking her wounds for her. Well. Maybe I’d lick her.
Emmy and Vivian formed an unlikely friendship. I often made remarks regarding Viv’s evilness, but secretly I really didn’t mind the alliance. Vivian was a hardcore family woman after her divorce, taking on the smaller cases often so that she wouldn’t have to spend too much time away from her children. I appreciated that about her. She was more than capable of handling enormous, noteworthy cases, but she humbly took on only what would keep her schedule open for her family. She and Em had a lot in common. Emmy really appreciated Vivian’s blunt honesty. She said she would never have to worry about Vivian turning into an Iris because Vivian was so very straight forward, and it helped that we openly hated each other.
Two months after Emmy sneakily bought the building that housed Iris’s muffin shop, renovations began in the building to accommodate Kessler and Keane. There were a few other smaller businesses inside the building, but they were mostly unaffected by our move. An accountant was asked to move his office to where Iris’s shop had been, and he readily agreed. He got a bigger space for the same money and in a prime position for foot traffic. By the time I went back to work, the renovations would be nearly complete and we would be able to start moving everything
over. I felt bad leaving Steve and the staff to pack up, but Steve reminded me that he would soon be going away for several weeks himself and he wasn’t going to feel bad about it.
“Luke?” a soft, feminine voice that wasn’t Emmy’s called my name, shaking me from my thoughts.
As I said, were in the mall just after Christmas. We could have run into any number of people that we knew—my own family, neighbors, clients, and friends. But she wasn’t any of those people, though she used to be a friend.
I looked to my left and met Claire’s eyes.
“Claire,” I said coolly and took a moment to look at the child in her arms. Though the DNA results had ruled me out as the baby girl’s father, I still had to look her over to make sure there were no identifying resemblances. There weren’t. Red hair and green eyes.
“Hello,” Emmy said in a friendly tone. She looked at Claire with a smile.
“Hi,” Claire said, blushing. She looked down at the kids. “I heard you had another baby. She’s gorgeous, and Lucas has gotten so big.”
“What is your baby’s name?” Emmy asked.
I tried not to groan. I still hadn’t forgiven Claire for basically trying to trap me, and for screwing some other guy unprotected and not telling me about it. Emmy was talking to her casually and I didn’t want to talk to her at all.
“Carrie,” Claire answered, smiling adoringly at the girl for a moment before looking back at us. She smiled sadly and said, “You have a very nice family.”
“Thank you,” Emmy said, but I said nothing.
Claire looked at me, waiting for me to say something, but I had nothing to say.
“We were friends once upon a time,” she said and then her eyes grew big as if she had not meant to say it out loud. She bit her lip and shook her head with a laugh. “Sorry. I really didn’t mean to say that.”
“Where is Carrie’s father?” Emmy brazenly asked. I gawked at her. I couldn’t believe she was bringing this up in the middle of the women’s dresses with our kids and Claire’s kid and every other shopper as an audience.
Claire’s smile faltered and fell altogether. She looked at Emmy for a long thoughtful moment through eyes that looked like they had seen hard times.