Unscripted Desires

by Lawson, Cassandra

  Tucker slipped an arm around my shoulders. “I didn’t mean to imply that this pregnancy is the only reason Ben would want you back. He loves you.”

  I shrugged. “Not enough. I’m going to call him now, so I don’t overthink this.”

  “What are you going to say?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we plan this out?”

  “No,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t need a crazy speech.”

  I took out my phone and called Ben.

  “Stone Morrison’s phone,” Tamara answered.

  “Is Ben available?” I asked.

  “He’s recording,” she replied in a cold voice.

  “Can you ask him to call Gemma when he gets out?”

  A long pause followed my question before Tamara responded. “Are you calling to tell him you plan to move to New York?”

  “Excuse me?” I asked. “I’ll discuss my reasons for calling with Ben.”

  “Listen, Gemma,” she began somewhat angrily. “Ben doesn’t have time to argue with you, and he certainly doesn’t need any more emotional turmoil.”

  I blew out a frustrated breath. “Are you telling me you won’t give him my message?” I’d call him back later if that was the case. He had to be close to his phone, eventually.

  “I’m not saying anything of the sort,” she assured me. “All I’m trying to do is convince you to leave Ben alone for now. Let him focus, and then you can discuss other matters later. He tried making things work with you, and you blew him off.”

  “This is important,” I told her.

  “Fine,” she agreed. “I’ll tell him you called, and he may get back to you. You need to understand that he may not want to deal with this right now. The divorce papers should go out later this week. If you could sign them quickly, it would help.”

  I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Yeah, I’ll sign them when they get here.”

  “Great,” she replied before ending the call without so much as a goodbye.

  “Bitch,” I muttered.

  “Who did you talk to?” Tucker asked.

  “It sounded like Tamara,” I replied. “I always thought she liked me.”

  Tucker shrugged. “Who cares what she thinks? All that matters is what your man thinks.”

  I let out a sigh. “He’s not my man. Soon, he won’t be my husband.”

  Chapter 60

  Ben

  “I should have called her,” I muttered as I collapsed onto the sofa after finishing recording.

  “Who?” Tamara asked, having just entered the room.

  “Gemma,” I explained, “You were right.”

  Tamara waved off my words. “I’ve changed my mind about that. Texting may not have been the best way to contact her, but that doesn’t give her an excuse to ignore you. It’s time to move on with your life.”

  “Whoa! I didn’t realize you were this annoyed about Gemma not texting me back.”

  She shrugged. “I feel like she let you down. The divorce papers are ready. All you need to do is sign them, and we can send them to Gemma.”

  She set a folder on the coffee table and pulled out the documents that would end my marriage. All I could do was stare at them. I didn’t want a divorce.

  “I need to talk to Gemma.”

  “Even though she didn’t respond to your text for nearly two weeks?” she asked.

  That gave me pause. “I texted Gemma three weeks ago.”

  Tamara hesitated. “She called while you were recording about a week ago.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded.

  “You need to focus on your career, and I couldn’t see her bringing you anything but more heartache.”

  “That wasn’t your call to make,” I snapped. “You have no business answering my phone, and certainly no business screening my fucking calls. Damn it, Tamara! I love her.”

  “And yet you didn’t call her,” she snapped back.

  “It still wasn’t your place to decide if I got her message,” I argued. “Could you leave before I say something I might regret later?” I wasn’t convinced I’d regret it later, but I knew, if Tamara stayed, I’d end up firing her. She was a good manager, but I still didn’t know if I could forgive her. It would all depend on whether this delay messed things up with Gemma.

  Pulling out my phone, I clicked on my messages. No, I wasn’t dumb enough to send Gemma another text; I needed to talk to her, but I wanted to remind myself of what I’d said in my text first. It gave me something to do while I considered how to best approach Gemma. When I saw the message hadn’t been sent, I cursed long and loud. For three weeks, I’d been feeling sorry for myself because she hadn’t gotten back to me when, in truth, she’d never even gotten my text. I could imagine what she thought.

  I pulled up her name on my phone to call before thinking better of it. This was something I needed to handle in person.

  “Tamara!”

  She entered with a huff, obviously having stayed close to the room. “I know you're angry, but I did what I thought was best for you and your career.”

  “I’m not ready to discuss this with you. Gemma didn’t blow me off. The text never got sent. What exactly did she say when she called?”

  “I don’t remember her exact words,” she admitted. “She asked that you call her. I told her you’d be sending the divorce papers soon.”

  “Find a way to get me out of recording tomorrow,” I told her. “I need to pack.”

  “Pack?” she asked. “Where are you going, and what excuse am I supposed to give for you missing recording?”

  “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” I replied. “I’ve rescheduled three times in the last month to cover for other actors. They can cover for me this time. I’m going to see Gemma and try to fix my marriage.”

  With any luck, I wasn’t too late.

  Chapter 61

  Gemma

  It was the day of my ultrasound, and I was more than a little nervous. Tucker couldn’t get time off from work, so Jade was going with me. She’d made my morning by bringing me tacos. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until she’d shown up.

  “This is so good,” I said after finishing the last bite. “It almost makes me forget how much I have to pee.”

  Jade gave me a sympathetic look. “That was a lot of water to make a pregnant lady drink.”

  “I know! It’s torture. We should head over there now,” I told her. “Maybe they’ll take me a few minutes early.”

  “All right. Let’s go,” she agreed with a smile.

  “Why do you look so happy?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I’m excited about being an aunt. Have you heard back from Ben yet?”

  “Not a word,” I replied.

  “Did you try calling him again?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “After the ultrasound, I’ll call him again. I’m not all that anxious to tell him. Who knows how he’ll react?”

  “You don’t think he’ll react badly, do you?” she asked.

  “I’m a little worried he’ll decide we should get back together just because I’m pregnant,” I explained. “I don’t want to be with him for that reason.”

  “He loves you,” she pointed out.

  “Not enough to try to make things work,” I argued as we grabbed our purses and headed to the front door.

  I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the front door and saw Ben standing on the porch about to ring the bell.

  “What are you doing here?” Jade demanded.

  Ben flashed me a nervous smile as he replied to Jade. “I came to see Gemma.” In a softer voice, he said to me, “I came to see you.”

  Ben was on my front porch. My heart beat wildly at the sight of him. I’d missed him so much, and part of me was thrilled that he was there—thrilled, yet worried. Had he come to deliver the divorce papers himself? Did he think I’d refuse to sign them? Was he eager to end our marriage so he could move on? Those doubts plagued me even as I struggled to think of something to say.
r />   “Please,” he whispered.

  “I have an appointment,” I explained.

  “I’m driving her there now,” Jade added.

  “Let me drive you,” Ben offered.

  I hesitated because I wasn’t sure I wanted to have this conversation with Ben when I had so much else going on, but he needed to hear about the baby. I’d be late if we had this talk before I left for my appointment.

  “Fine,” I agreed as I looked down at my hands and fumbled with my keys so I could lock the door.

  “Are you sure?” Jade asked. “I don’t want you to get stuck down there if he takes off.”

  “I’m not going to take off,” Ben assured her. “That’s a mistake I don’t plan on repeating.”

  Jade hesitated before nodding. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “All right,” I agreed before locking my front door and hugging Jade.

  “Good luck,” she whispered.

  I had a lot to say to Ben, but I remained quiet on the way to the car.

  “How have you been?” he asked as he opened the door for me to climb in.

  I let out a startled bark of laughter. “Are we going to make small talk? Should we discuss the weather?”

  “Sorry,” he replied. “I’m not sure where to start.”

  “No, I’m sorry,” I said with a sigh. “That was bitchy. We have a lot to talk about.”

  “Yeah, we do,” he agreed before closing my door, moving around to his side, and sliding behind the wheel. “I didn’t get your message until yesterday.”

  “Oh,” I replied. “I guess I should have called again. When Tamara told me you were going to send the divorce papers soon, I figured you wanted to move on.”

  “Sorry about that,” he began. “Sorry about everything. I was an idiot, Gemma. I decided to text you after I realized what an idiot I’ve been. Calling would have been better, but I was afraid. When you didn’t respond, I decided you must not want to talk.”

  “I never got a text from you,” I replied.

  “Right. I was in a hurry and never hit send,” he admitted with a sheepish smile. “I should have tried again. I screwed up.”

  “Oh,” was all I could think to say. Ben hadn’t been avoiding me.

  “Where are we heading?” he asked.

  I gave him the address and waited for him to program it into the GPS before continuing. “You didn’t need to fly out here to explain all of this to me.”

  He released a tired sigh. “You’re not happy to see me. I don’t blame you after all we went through, mostly because of me. Calling you didn’t seem like enough. I needed you to see how serious I am. Who am I kidding? I needed to see you. God, I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too,” I whispered. “This has been such a crazy time for me.”

  “Can we try to make this work?” he asked.

  “What about the divorce papers?”

  “I never signed them,” he admitted. “I want to stay married to you, have babies with you, and spend our lives together. I don’t know how to make this work. It still scares me to think about being away from you so often, but I can’t stand the idea of losing you. It’s been hell without you in my life.”

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” I began.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  I hesitated.

  “You can tell me anything, Gemma.”

  He deserved a good shock after all I’d been through since he’d left. “We’ll discuss it later.”

  Of course, I’d forgiven him, and I planned to take him back. I loved him, and I’d been miserable without him.

  Chapter 62

  Ben

  I didn’t know what Gemma was keeping from me, but it made me uneasy. All sorts of horrible possibilities went through my mind. Was she sick? Did she have some incurable disease that she didn’t want to tell me about? I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her.

  She told me to take a seat as she checked in at the imaging center. Gemma wasn’t very chatty, and she seemed nervous. By the time they called her back, she also looked incredibly uncomfortable and had started snapping at me.

  I caught her hand and squeezed it. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “It will when I finally get to pee,” she muttered.

  “You can go soon,” the technician leading us back said over her shoulder with a smile.

  “Can’t she stop on the way there?” I asked.

  “Let the woman do her job so I can pee,” Gemma told me.

  “All right,” I agreed.

  Once we reached the room, she gestured for Gemma to enter.

  “Do I need to wait outside?” I asked.

  “No,” the technician assured me. “A lot of husbands go in with their wives.”

  Gemma turned to me. “I can’t do it this way. I wanted you to be as surprised as I was, but this isn’t right.”

  “Oh, God,” I breathed out. “Something’s wrong.” I took her hand. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through this together.”

  She flashed me a shy smile. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”

  “It’s the truth, baby,” I assured her as I brushed her hair back from her face. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m pregnant. That’s what I was calling to tell you.”

  Have you ever had one of those moments when it felt like the ground was spinning beneath you? This was one of those moments.

  The technician interrupted. “We’re booked today, so I need to get started.”

  Gemma nodded and released my hand. “And I really have to pee.”

  My shock quickly gave way to joy, and I grinned. “Lead the way. I’m dying to see this baby we made.”

  Chapter 63

  Gemma

  The ultrasound technician said my pregnancy looked to be around eighteen weeks. I was in my second trimester, and I hadn’t realized I was pregnant until a week earlier. I’d always called bullshit on people who claimed they didn’t know they were pregnant. I’m not sure I’d have made it to the end without obvious symptoms, like a huge belly, especially not after the bigger bombshell they’d sprung on us.

  “Twins must run in your family,” Ben remarked from his seat across from me at the small café where we’d stopped for lunch.

  “Yeah, they do,” I admitted. “Even knowing that, I didn’t think it would happen to me. My mom wasn’t a twin. This is a lot, isn’t it?”

  He smiled. “My whole day has been filled with surprises. I expected to come out here and beg you to give me a chance to make this work. Instead, I took you for an ultrasound. We are back together, right? You’re it for me, Gemma. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  “You’re it for me, too, Ben.”

  “Are you disappointed about your plans for school being disrupted just after you started?” he asked.

  “Not disappointed,” I began thoughtfully. “It’s a little frustrating that I have to delay moving forward, and I don’t know how long I’m going to take off from school. Up until today, I imagined being a single mom.”

  He nodded. “Sorry I made you think you’d have to do this on your own.”

  “Not all on my own,” I assured him. “I have friends and family.”

  “But they all have jobs and busy lives, so they can only help out so much,” he argued. “I’m going to be here for you. If I have to quit this show, then I will. I’m not going to leave you and the babies.”

  I let out a frustrated sigh. “So, now we’re back to you giving up your dreams.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not giving up my dreams. After getting some experience, I have a better chance of getting another job. It’s been fun doing the show, but I have more to consider now. It’s one thing to try to make a long-distance marriage work, but I’m not going to be a long-distance dad.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes. “I’ve missed you so much, Ben. I was afraid you were moving on.”

  “How could I possibly move on from you?” he asked. “Let�
�s get out of here. I want to spend some time alone with my wife.”

  As we headed out to Ben’s car, I was still a little shell-shocked, but I knew everything would be okay.

  Chapter 64

  Ben

  “Are you going to be smiling like that all day?” Gemma asked from the passenger’s seat of the car.

  “Probably,” I admitted. “I knocked you up.”

  Gemma let out a bark of laughter. “You are such a dork, and you’ve already said that three times.”

  “I know, but I feel like I need to say it over and over again until I’m sure it’s real,” I stated.

  “You’ll start to believe it’s real when you have to go out to get me tacos,” she warned. “Tucker is getting tired of me suggesting tacos for every meal.” She looked around as if just now noticing we weren’t heading back to her condo. “Where are we going?”

  “Home,” I told her. “I need to make love to you for several hours before falling asleep with you in my arms.”

  “I don’t have any of my stuff at your house,” she argued.

  “Our house,” I corrected her. “We can pick up your stuff later.”

  “Are you even going to ask if I’m planning to move back in with you?” She didn’t sound annoyed, so I took it as a good sign.

  “Nope,” I replied. “We agreed we’re together.”

  “Fine, but you’d better follow through on your promise to make love to me for hours.”

  “It will be my pleasure,” I assured her as I parked in the driveway.

  My hands nearly shook with anticipation when we finally stood inside our home. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. I’d dreamt of tasting her so many times, all the while fearing she’d never be mine again.

  My dick was already throbbing in time with my heartbeat as a voice in my head chanted, mine, mine, mine. I couldn’t imagine going through the torture of being separated from my wife again.

  Backing Gemma toward the sofa, I guided her down beneath me as I continued kissing her while we worked at each other’s clothing. When I was down to my boxers and Gemma her boy shorts, I kissed my way down to her breasts. They looked slightly bigger, and her nipples were even more sensitive. She practically arched off the sofa when I took one into my mouth and suckled it. I teased both her breasts before moving down to kiss her belly as I tugged off her panties.