Complete Indelible Love Series

by Cee, DW

  “Dude, you’re not trying to set me up with her are you? Just because you’re all happy and settled now does not mean I want to be happy and settled.”

  I laughed at my cousin. “Bee and I…I don’t know what Bee and I are, but I enjoy her company and I’d like to go to New York with her. That’s about as complicated or as simple as it gets between us. Since Ruby will be there, I thought it might be fun to have another person, whether guy or girl. Think about it. We leave in a few days.”

  “Speaking of…” Doug tilted his head toward the doors. “There she is.”

  Bee and I made eye contact and gave each other a slight nod and a smile, but that was all. She sat with the Taylor women and I stayed with Doug.

  “Nick!” My imp of a niece called out and put up her hands so I could pick her up. As soon as she was secure in my arms, I stood up abruptly and threw her in the air. I caught the look of horror in her eyes and I expected her to wail in fear, but instead, this little monster commanded, “MORE!” Not wanting to miss the action, James waddled over to us and Doug picked him up and performed the same circus act. Both kids couldn’t get enough. I had no desire to have kids of my own, but these two were easy to love.

  Jake walked over with JR and I found this to be the perfect time to ask him about lodging in New York. “I’m headed to New York in a few days. I just wanted to make sure our apartment in Soho is empty?”

  “MORE!” Ellie insisted when I stopped to talk to her dad. I had no choice but to carry on this conversation while making sure I didn’t drop Jake’s middle child.

  “I believe it is. When are you leaving? I was thinking about taking Emily and the kids over there for the remainder of vacation. Maybe we can all go at the same time.”

  My silence gave Jake a reason to pause. Did I want to tell my brother who I was going to New York with and have to answer all the probing questions? If possible, I wanted to keep all details secret from the family so they wouldn’t make a big deal out of this situation.

  “I was thinking about leaving in a couple of days?” I already had the tickets and I knew exactly when we were leaving, but I didn’t want to have to explain to my brother that I was not leaving alone.

  Jake gave me a funny look but let me be. Smart man!

  With the imp still in tow, I casually made my way over to Bee, greeted all the ladies, and sat between Bee and Becky.

  “Hi Ellie.” Becky did her best to greet the beautiful brat sitting on my lap, who was wondering what to make of the newborn laying in Becky’s arm. “You looked beautiful yesterday at your Auntie Laney and Uncle Donovan’s wedding.”

  “No Ne Ne. My Unca!” She let Becky know.

  “She has a serious crush on my nephew, doesn’t she?”

  “I guess. Hey,” I leaned in and whispered, “Jake says the apartment in Soho is empty. You mind staying there?”

  Bee answered without hesitation, “I would love to spend time with you anywhere, as long as there are no Reids and Taylors involved. I’m tired of both families.”

  “You can say that again!” I leaned in even closer and kissed her stealthily on the lips. I didn’t think anyone caught that but even if they did, I didn’t give a shit.

  “Hello, everyone!”

  “What the hell are they doing here?” Bee turned my cheek over to Donovan and Laney, who were at their own after-the-wedding brunch to which they were not invited.

  “Why the hell are you here?” was on everyone’s minds and tongues.

  Ellie and James ran over to the happy couple, and each picked up his and her favored child before telling us why they were spending part of their honeymoon with us.

  “Is everything all right?” Uncle Henry asked.

  “Everything is perfect, Daddy. We stopped by because we have some news.”

  “We’re waiting…” That shout-out earned me an elbow from Bee.

  “Well…” Laney started. “I’m a little embarrassed, but also thrilled to tell you that…” She stopped and fidgeted, gave James a kiss on the head, and moved even closer to her husband.

  “Today, Laney! Your Gram and I can die at any moment.” That earned Grandfather an elbow from Gram.

  This time Donovan spoke. “We were originally going to ride our Ducatis up the coast and fly to South Africa to go surfing for our honeymoon.” That sounded cool. “But, we are forced to change our plans because…” Shit. This was going to take all morning. Now, Donovan was deferring to his wife.

  “We’re having a baby. I’m pregnant.” Laney was barely audible, but we all heard what she uttered.

  “Did I hear that correctly?” Bee nudged me for an answer.

  “What the hell is it with my family members not using birth control?” I nudged her back.

  Once the shock wore off, everyone got up at once and ran to the happy couple like a sea of linebackers chasing the quarterback. While the revelry continued, Bee and I made plans for our time away from the family. I convinced Doug to join us, and Bee called Ruby to confirm she’d be in New York.

  “All is set. Ruby will be there. I told her about Doug and she was all for meeting him. What do we do about accommodations, now?”

  “Doug will most likely stay in the apartment with us. Do you mind?” Maybe this was a bad idea. I’d forgotten Doug wouldn’t have a place to stay and if Jake was going to be in New York, Bee and I couldn’t stay at his place.

  “Will the three of us be roommates?”

  “You and I will be roommates. Doug can take the other bedroom.”

  “Then it’s all good.”

  Our plans were set. In two days, Bee and I would enjoy the Big Apple without the prying eyes of any Reid or Taylor, except for Doug.

  “Nick.” Jake called. “Good news!” What now? “Donovan and Laney are headed to Amsterdam before going to the Maldives on Roland’s plane, and they’re willing to drop us off in New York.” Great! Now there was no chance Jake and his family would be on the same flight with us if they were flying with the newlyweds. “And I’ve secured a seat on the plane for you and a friend.” Jake snickered and walked away.

  Shit!

  December 30, 2013 BEE: New(s) York, Man

  “What are you laughing at?” Nick asked once we finished having a quickie after teasing and being teased all day. “You better not be laughing at the fact that I lasted all of four minutes this round. It’s not my fault you were a tease all day.”

  “Oh, I was the tease when you placed your hand on my inner thigh at dinner? At least I teased in private. You do know your brother could see your hand from his seat at the head of the table? And you didn’t last four minutes. It was more like two!” I scoffed at his accusation.

  “So? What if I was having a little fun at the dinner table?”

  “Sure. Turn me into the slut in front of your family.” I got up from bed to clean up our mess. “Just so you know, I wasn’t laughing at your in-and-out performance. I’m still laughing about the plane ride over here.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I thought you and I would have a quiet vacation here without a Reid or Taylor.” ‘Without a Reid or Taylor…’ What a joke! Nick and I were told to show up to the plane, early Saturday morning. Waiting for us with the biggest grins on their faces were Jake and Emily plus three, Donovan and Laney, and Max and Jane. Doug bailed as soon as he learned all six of them were flying together. He told Nick he didn’t want anyone making wrong assumptions about him and Ruby. They teased us the entire five-hour plane ride asking for details about our “secret getaway.” Nick and I resorted to playing with the twins to get away from the adults. “Max and Jane promised to vacate the other bedroom on New Year’s Day. Since they spent last New Year’s Eve here in New York, they wanted to do the same this year.”

  “It’s all good, Nicholas. Your family is fun. I enjoy spending time with them. What should we do tomorrow?” I asked before stepping in the shower.

  “I’m one step ahead of you. I thought I’d be the perfect frie
nd with benefits and help you all morning when you go to the mart. I heard you tell Emily tonight you needed to meet with some vendors and suppliers.”

  Should it have pissed me off that he called me a “friend with benefits” or should it have made me happy that he was willing to be my errand boy all morning?

  “Is that what we are calling each other? Friends with benefits?”

  “Um…” He was hesitant, but not hesitant enough. “Well we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, and we’re not exactly platonic friends, so friends with benefits seem to be the best way to describe this...situation.”

  He was too afraid to call this idiotic status of ours, a relationship. That straw broke this camel’s back. I had had enough. I was tired of being a second-class citizen in his life and I was tired of being his bedmate. Rather than taking a shower, I started packing my bags.

  Nick whistled his way to the kitchen to get a snack with no freaking clue what I was doing and how I was feeling. I finished packing, walked out to the living room, and called out, “Goodbye.”

  “Where the hell are you going?”

  I didn’t want his lame attempt at rectifying or justifying this situation. And I sure as hell didn’t want him to know he was starting to mean something to me. Stupid me! I was hoping this trip might finalize us as a couple. I looked at him with a schooled expression and answered, “I don’t know. Either I’ll go to a hotel, or I’m going back home once I get all my errands done tomorrow.”

  “I don’t understand why you’re leaving. What did I do? What happened in the last five minutes that got you upset enough to make you want to leave?”

  Damn idiot! “I think I’m done with our friends with benefits relationship...or no...let me correct myself...not a relationship, a ‘situation.’ I am done having you as a bedmate, I don’t need your help as an errand boy, and I sure as hell don’t want to be with somebody who’s embarrassed to be with me. Have a nice life, Nicholas Reid.”

  Stupid me, again, expected an obligatory stop-at-the-front-door or at least a follow-me-out-to-the-hallway-and-try-and-convince-me-to-come-back scenario. I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised when none of that happened.

  What the hell, now?

  I wasn’t going to feel sorry for myself nor was I going to be upset that this relationship never happened. I marched myself over to Ruby’s apartment and knocked on her door.

  “Bee!” Michael surprisingly answered the door. I walked in without an invitation. “Are you...moving in with us…?” He stared at my suitcase.

  “What brings you here?” I asked this stupid question. “I thought you were staying in London.”

  “I…live here.” He was at a loss for words. “No let me rephrase that, I don’t live here, but this is one of our family homes. I will be here temporarily.”

  I glossed over what he said and asked, “Ruby’s not here?”

  “She was supposed to come in last night with me, but she had an event she needed to attend back in London. She’s arriving tomorrow morning, instead.”

  Knowing Ruby wasn’t here, I felt deflated. I was lost. Though Ruby and I were not close friends, she was a friend I felt I could count on. She had sent me this address and welcomed me to her apartment any time. I was hoping I could find a friend in her as I did in Laney.

  I picked up my suitcase, turned around and said, “Will you let Ruby know that I was here? Never mind. I’ll call her when I get situated in a hotel.”

  “Wait.” A man finally stopped me from leaving. “Do you need a place to stay? You are welcomed to stay here. Ruby and I only take up two out of the seven bedrooms. We are not exactly lacking for space.”

  “I’m not very good company right now. I don’t know if you’ll want to be with me.”

  “I haven’t been very good company since August. We can brood together.”

  Michael made me laugh at my pathetic situation. Deciding this was where I wanted to be, and Michael was the friend I needed, I promised, “Tomorrow, after I finish taking care of business...you, me, dinner and drinks! I’m buying.”

  This time, we were finishing our conversation from the pub!

  January 2, 2014 NICK: 19?!?

  “Happy New Year, Nick! Where’s Bee?” Emily asked, while my devious little niece ran over, jumped into my arms, and tried to crawl up on my shoulder.

  “Same to you, my dear sister, and as for Bee, your guess is as good as mine.” Of course, I gave into this little munchkin and allowed her to crawl up my shoulder, and I spun her around while she hollered with joy. I only stopped when I felt something, probably her saliva, drop onto the top of my head. She was laughing so hard, she was drooling all over me. Of course, what you do to one child you must do to the other. After Elizabeth placed her two feet on the floor and caught her bearing, I wiped her nastiness off the top of my head and picked up James to perform the same act. JR, who was only five months old, looked like he wanted to get in on the action so I repeated the same steps except I held JR in my arms rather than putting him on top of my head. He loved it too.

  “I think it’s time for you to get married and settle down and have kids of your own.” My brother came and relieved me of the twins who were hanging on my knees.

  “Your kids will have plenty of cousins with Laney and Jane popping out babies. I don’t need to join in the procreation. I assume now that JR is five months old, it’s time for you to pop out another one or two?” I looked at a horrified Emily.

  “Bite your tongue, Nicholas Gerald Reid!” Emily generously relieved me of JR, too. “I would like to have more kids but I need a bit of a breather.” She might’ve said that, but by the way my brother was shaking his head I knew another baby was coming sooner than Emily believed.

  “Bee?” was all Jake asked.

  “The night we came back to the apartment after having dinner here, Bee and I were talking about what we were going to do the next day, and for no apparent reason she got pissed and she left the apartment with all her belongings, and I haven’t heard from her since.” That was the story I was sticking to, no matter the pressure.

  Based on his expression, Jake saw through all the holes in my defense; Emily played the advocate and began her line of questioning. “You said nothing to upset her? She just up and left for no apparent reason?” Emily did not believe the crap I was trying to pull over her eyes.

  “All I know is...I called us ‘friends with benefits’ and that ticked her off...I think.”

  Emily now looked perturbed with me. “You bring a girl out to New York, have her sleep with you in your family home, and you consider her a ‘friend with benefits?’” Emily enunciated each word to accentuate her disapproval.

  I had to defend my actions. “Emily. She and I had an agreement that we were basically friends with benefits. There’s no better description than that for what we are. She knows I don’t want to be in a relationship, she never expressed wanting to be in a relationship, and we enjoy each other’s company. That’s the beginning and the end of us.”

  “Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t think a man and a woman can sleep with each other for months on end without having feelings for each other. What you feel for Bee has to be more than just attraction, Nick. Or else you would not have brought her along with the family and allowed us to hope for another Reid-Taylor union. I don’t know Bee very well, but from what Laney has spoken of her, a girl can’t get more independent, self-assured, and gifted than ‘your friend with benefits.’ Am I wrong?” Emily was still enunciating each word and making sure I understood what she was saying and asking.

  I continued to defend myself. “Emily, you’re not wrong. However, Bee and I are just friends who like each other a lot. We don’t want to get married, we are not looking to have kids, and we are still young and would like to date other people if other interests might come about.”

  “Hold that thought, Nick. Let me answer the phone.” By the sounds of her conversation, it was Laney on the other line. “I
know Laney. I agree. I’m trying to get to the bottom of this right now, myself.” Shit! They were talking about me. “She wants to talk to you.” Damn, just what I needed—my cousin getting on my case unnecessarily.

  “How is it that you are all the way out in the Maldives, and yet you are still nagging me for one reason or another?”

  “Donovan and I are seriously pissed at you, Nick. I just spoke with Bee, and she tells me that she is not staying with you. In fact, she’s pretty much homeless right now. Because of your insensitivity and your commitment phobia, you displaced my aunt in a random city...random state!” Oh brother! Drama queen was at it again. “Do you even know where she is? Have you called her to make sure she’s okay?”

  I supposed when put that way, I was a bit of an asshole for not calling to check up on Bee. “Hey! She chose to leave. We were getting along fine until she decided to nitpick my words and leave the apartment. I didn’t ask her to leave. In fact I wanted her to stay! I wanted us to have a great vacation together!” I yelled back—pregnant or not, this cousin of mine was pissing me off.