Then There Was You: A Single Parent Collection

by Gianna Gabriela

  “What?”

  “I thought you were going to tell me this was a mistake.” This time, I cup her face in my hands so she can’t turn away. I don’t want to go a second without her gaze on me.

  “At first, I thought it was. I lost the love of my life, and I was broken. Just going through the day to day. When Jeremy died, I thought I would never breathe again.” Her confession cracks through my heart. It seeps into my veins, and the pain laced in her tone makes me want to wrap her in warm blankets to keep her from ever feeling that agony again.

  “You don’t have to—”

  “He was my first love,” she continues. “And for a long time, I thought I could only love one person.” She offers a soft smile. There’s no sadness in the way she looks at me, merely curiosity. “Perhaps it’s time I find out if there’s another person I could possibly love.”

  My mouth falls open, but no words come out. We’ve spoken about our past losses. About the pain that’s still there, lingering beneath the surface, but she’s just given more to me. She’s given a part of herself I didn’t think I’d ever get.

  “I’m much the same,” I admit, my fingers drawing circles over her smooth, bare skin. “I hardly even noticed other women, but you . . .” The corner of my mouth kicks up, and I can’t help but notice the blush on her cheeks.

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, a teacher, my daughter’s teacher who is so blatantly off limits.” I chuckle, giving her a squeeze.

  “You know, they said that dating students is off limits. I don’t think they mentioned parents of students,” she sasses me, earning her a swat on her behind. “Ouch.”

  “There’s more where that came from, sweetheart,” I promise, scooting lower so I can pull her up and over me. Once she’s straddling me, I grip her hips and watch her take control of the situation. I’m hard once more, and I lie back, enjoying the view of a beautiful woman as she uses me for her pleasure.

  Her pussy is warm and wet as she rolls her hips above me. I’m not inside her, but the torture of just feeling her wetness against my shaft is enough to have me growling.

  “You better stop teasing me, sweetheart.” My tone is a warning of what’s to come. Most times, I love being in control, but watching that sly smirk on her lips tells me it’s best for me to allow her this.

  She grips me in her delicate hand and strokes me while slowly sinking down on my length until I’m fully seated inside her. It’s a deliberate torture, and I can’t help but bite my lip as she moves back and forth, riding me. Her hands flat on my chest, her eyes locked on mine as desire swims around us.

  “Fuck, Caleb.” She whimpers when I lift my hips, fucking myself into her. We move once more in sync, in tune with each other, and it doesn’t take long for us to both find pleasure.

  Her body sinks over mine, and I hold her there for a long while. I’m certain she’s the one bringing me back to life, not the other way around, but I allow her to believe what she needs.

  Wrapping her in my arms, we scoot under the covers, and I cocoon her with my body. “Do you think your mom could watch the kids tomorrow?” I ask, planting a kiss on her cheek.

  “Why? Did you have plans?”

  Nuzzling her neck, I whisper in her ear, “We have plans . . . naughty ones.”

  A giggle falls from her lips, tumbling between us, and situating itself in my chest, right in the broken parts of my heart.

  I’m falling.

  And I don’t want to stop.

  Epilogue

  Kayla

  As the snow falls outside, the fire crackles inside. Christmas is always my favorite time of the year, and being out here on the slopes of the Alps, I can’t help but smile knowing that soon I’ll be married.

  Saying goodbye to Jeremy wasn’t easy, but as I watch Caleb, Libby, and Nicholas at the table eating their breakfast, I know the next part of my life is about to take place. I believe we all have a story to tell. Each of us have chapters in our lives that are good, bad, and some that are silent. Those we don’t talk about. But I no longer look at that as a bad thing because with Caleb, I know my life has taken on a chapter of its own.

  Jeremy may have been my part one, but Caleb is my part two. It took a while for us to get here, for me to agree to wear his ring. But like Mama said, we have to move forward in life, not backward.

  “Are you joining us?” Caleb grins from the head of the long wooden table.

  The cabin we rented for the holidays is snug in the mountains, where the kids can go skiing or snowboarding, and Caleb and I can watch them from the porch while having our mulled wine.

  It’s become a ritual. Last year was our first visit here, and now our second year has only solidified it as a family vacation.

  “Yeah, I just like seeing my family happy,” I tell him as I settle in the chair beside him.

  “Mom,” Nicholas asks, “can I go make a snowman?”

  One more thing I’ve loved is Caleb and Nicholas doing things together while Libby and I read our books or talk about makeup and boys, even though her father doesn’t approve of the last topic. He’s very strict with her, but there are times I’ve talked him down from the ledge.

  She’s sixteen now, and she’s able to go out, with a curfew, with the boy who’s been hanging around the house. He’s a good kid.

  “Yes, you and Caleb can do that,” I tell him as I sip my coffee. It’s not as windy today as it was yesterday when we arrived, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with this year. Last year, it was some form of a bunny-man abomination, which only had us rolling with laughter.

  Nicholas is up and racing down the hallway to change into his warm clothes as Caleb rises before pressing a kiss to my forehead.

  “Get a room,” Libby chimes with a giggle when her father hugs me close for a moment.

  “You want to come up here and say that, young lady?” Caleb chuckles.

  I watch in amusement as she shakes her head. “Nah, you two are far too old to be doing all these PDAs, you know.”

  “And how would you know about PDAs?” Caleb questions, his dark brow arching upward, and I know he’s teasing her. The look on her face makes me smile.

  “I learned it from my dad.” Libby giggles, rising from her seat to round the table and place a kiss on her father’s cheek. “I love you, Dad,” she tells him before giving me a cuddle and leaving us to go and change.

  “She’s growing up too fast,” Caleb mutters under his breath.

  “You do realize she’s sixteen. There’s nothing you can do to stop her from dating now,” I inform him, which earns me a death stare.

  “I can lock her in her room until she’s forty,” he bites out, pinning me to the seat with those beautiful eyes I remember hypnotized me the moment I looked at him.

  “No, you can’t,” I tell him. “Because we’ll need a bigger house then.” My confession is a whisper, but Caleb catches it. He’s always heard me. Even when I was in pain and didn’t say it, he knew my heart was broken, and he let me cry.

  He held me.

  He healed me.

  And now, we’re bringing another life into this world.

  “What do you mean?” He’s beside me, holding my hands as he stares at me. “Kayla . . .”

  “I’m pregnant,” I finally admit. It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud, and I don’t know what he’s going to think. We weren’t planning to have a baby, but then again, we didn’t not plan it either.

  Silence hangs between us, reminding me we’re not married yet, and we’ve not spoken about extending our family. But when Caleb pulls me into his hold, I know it’s going to be okay.

  “Fuck, I’m going to be a dad again?” His voice is husky, and the emotion that grips my chest is more love than I ever thought I would feel again.

  “You are.”

  “I fucking love you, sweetheart,” he tells me. “More than I ever thought possible.” He cups my cheeks in his hands, holding my face just so. His lips land on mine, the warmth of him intoxic
ating, and I know if we stay like this, we’ll give the kids more trauma than they need.

  Pulling away, I look into his loving gaze and smile. “Hey, Daddy, will you let the kids build a snowman and come show me how much you love me?”

  And with that, he picks me up and carries me to our side of the cabin with a shout for the kids to get started without him.

  About the Author

  Dani is a USA Today bestselling author of a variety of genres, from romantic suspense to dark erotic romance and even BDSM romance. She loves to delve into the raw, emotional journeys her characters venture on, and enjoys the dark, edgy, and sensual scenes that fill the pages of her books. Dani’s stories are seductive with a deviant edge with feisty heroines and dominant alphas.

  Dani lives in the beautiful city of Cape Town and is a proud member of the Romance Writer's Organization of South Africa (ROSA) and the Romance Writers of America (RWA). She has a healthy addiction to reading, TV series, music, tattoos, chocolate, and ice cream.

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  RIPPLE EFFECT

  A Second Chance Romance

  Author Evan Grace

  PART I

  1

  BROCK

  “Hey baby.” My girl, my heart, the love of my life climbs into my beat-up old Ford pickup truck. Once she’s inside, I grab the back of her neck, pull her across the worn bench seat, and kiss her lips hard before pulling back. Her smile is like a beacon of light leading me to the promised land, and her cornflower blue eyes twinkle in the sunlight as she stares at me.

  “Brock what is it? Is something wrong?” She worries her lower lip between her teeth.

  I stroke her cheek with my fingertips. “No, nothing’s wrong. I just love you.” Pleasure fills me as I watch her lightly tanned cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink. Even after all this time, I can still embarrass her.

  Ripley Brown and I have been together since our freshman year in high school—well, technically we did break up for a week the middle of our sophomore year, but that’s it. We were each other’s firsts, and if I have it my way, we’ll be each other’s lasts.

  I pull into the parking lot of Aldridge High School where Ripley and I are seniors. In two days, we’ll finally be out of this place, and then in just a couple months, she and I will be heading to Western Illinois University. My girl is going to be studying elementary education and I’ll be going to school for law enforcement. We talked for a long time about our future and where we both wanted to go to school, and her parents have been great about it.

  They know we’re serious about each other and her dad knows that after graduation, I plan on giving Ripley a promise ring. I worked my ass off this past year to be able to afford the ring I wanted to give her: a delicate gold band with her birthstone, a sapphire, and a little diamond next to each other. I really wanted to propose, but I know she wouldn’t want to get married until we both finish college.

  I can wait.

  I climb out of my truck and walk around the front end, helping Ripley down then wrapping my arm around her shoulders. At our school, it’s small enough that you almost know everyone. Sometimes it’s a good thing, and other times not so much, like last year when a rumor was started I had cheated on Rip with some girl I met at an away game. It wasn’t true; I’d never do that to her.

  It all started because Jonah Mitchell is a rich asshole prick who thinks he’s entitled to everything, including my girl. Ripley is the only girl at school who is immune to his “charm”. Sure, she is nice to him—she’s nice to everyone—but he is always watching her, looking at her like he wants to strip her bare and do whatever he wants with her. We’ve hated each other since grade school, and I hate him still.

  Once inside the building, we make our way toward our lockers, which are coincidentally right next to each other—thanks to Rip’s best friend, Kat. Every year, the friends switch lockers, and it was actually Kat who introduced us.

  Through grade school and junior high, Rip and I went to different schools. It was two days after the first day of high school that I met her and fell in love. I was putting my backpack in my locker when I heard laughter coming down the hall. When I turned toward the sound, I felt myself freeze. Ripley was walking arm in arm with Kat, and she was smiling widely at the spastic red head. My breath caught in my throat, and my dick took notice. She hasn’t changed much since then. Her blonde hair hung down her back framing her face in wild, crazy curls, and her eyes were the softest baby blue, surrounded by thick dark lashes.

  She was and still is a petite thing with subtle curves that do things to me, and it always brings out the need to protect her.

  “Hey guys!” Speak of the devil. Kat races toward us, wrapping her arms around Ripley before letting her go and giving me a high five. “Only two more days then we’re out of this bitch.” She pumps her fist in the air, Ripley and I laugh.

  “What’s up, James?” I feel my body lock up tight and turn to find Jonah and the asshole brigade. They’re your typical teen movie/teenage drama characters: rich boys who think they can do whatever they want. They hate me because I’m popular, captain of the football team, dating the hottest girl in school, and what they would call poor.

  My family is lower middle class, for sure. My mom works full-time, and my dad works until he gets fired then moves on to the next job because he’s a drunk who loves to run his mouth. Everyone knows he beats us, or at least he used to beat me until I got bigger than him. Now he uses words instead of fists. He hits my mom, although she denies it and defends his shitty behavior. I’ll never understand why, and until she’s ready to leave, there is nothing I can do.

  I shake off those thoughts. “What do you want Mitchell?”

  “Oh nothing.” His eyes scan Ripley’s body and I want to pummel his face, but that’s exactly what the prick wants. He’s been trying to get me to lose my temper for a long time, but I refuse to let that asshole win. “What’s up Ripley? Looking gorgeous as always. You know if you ever want to come with me on my family’s boat, I’d love to take you out.”

  I’m ready to pound him when I feel Ripley’s arms wrap around my waist and her lips kissing the underside of my jaw. I smile, knowing what she’s doing, and I attack her mouth right there in the hall, backing her up against my locker. She loves it when I pin her down or push her against the wall.

  “When you’re ready to stop slumming, I’ll be here,” Jonah says loudly, and I hear him growl before walking away. Reluctantly, I pull away from her.

  Her grin is wide and she’s got a hint of mischief in her eyes. “You’re so bad. I’m going to have to paddle your ass tonight,” I whisper against her lips.

  Maybe I’ll drive her out to our spot and make love to her in the bed of my truck. It sucks because I don’t dare bring her back to my place, and her parents may love me, but they wouldn’t if they caught us doing it in her bedroom.

  “Promise?” Ripley winks at me before opening her locker and grabbing a pen, then gives me another kiss before disappearing down the hall with Kat.

  I feel someone move next to me—it’s my best friend Cale. “What’s up dude?” We exchange one of those half-hug, half-back-slap greetings.

  “Nothing.” I look at my phone. “Running late?”

  “Yeah, I couldn’t get my fucking car to start. Luckily my dad was still home so he jumped it. Where are Kat and Rip?” Cale’s got a thing for Kat, but is kind of shy around the opposite sex. He’s been really good about hiding his feelings for her, which is a good thing. If Ripley picked up on it, she would’ve already tried setting them up on a date. My girl is desperate to play matchmaker for everyone we know.

  “They already took off toward Ms. Baker’s class.” I lean in close. “When are you going to talk to Kat? I don’t want you to miss your shot with her before she goes away to school.” Out of the four of us, she’s going the farthest—she’ll be attending USC and majoring in
accounting. She’s a freaky math whiz.

  “I don’t know. Every time I try to get her alone, it just doesn’t work. Maybe I’ll talk to her at Miller’s party.” One of our classmates is throwing a party the night of graduation. I honestly don’t want to go because someone will get drunk and then get stupid, and it’ll ruin it for everyone else.

  Don’t get me wrong, I like to drink, but I don’t get all crazy with it because my dad’s an alcoholic and I refuse to become one too. Plus, I wouldn’t do anything that could jeopardize my relationship with Ripley.

  “I think that’s a great idea.” I bump his shoulder. “Let’s go before we’re late.”

  My leg bounces as I wait for this graduation ceremony to get over with. We’re finally graduating. I can’t wait to finally be away from my dad. Of course, I don’t want to move away from Mom, but she’s never going to leave him. I wipe the sweat from my brow and banish those thoughts from my mind. We’ve already been up to get our diplomas, and now we’re listening to the final speech before we can get the hell out of here.

  Ripley’s parents are taking us out to eat after we’re done and they invited my parents, but my dad said no, which meant my mom said no too. Whatever—I’d rather not have his drunken ass there. You know things are bad when every night you pray for your own father to drop dead. I’ve got a lot of anger inside me, and that’s why I can’t ever hit Jonah, even if I want to. I’m afraid I’ll snap and there will be no turning back.

  Kat taps me on the arm and I realize everyone is tossing their caps up into the air. I give her a smile and with a whoop, toss mine too. I spot Ripley as she comes running toward us, and I catch her in my arms. After spinning her around, I set her back down on her feet and kiss her quickly. When I pull back, a flash has me turning my head—my mom is taking our picture.