by Kaylee, Katy
“Oh!” I gasped as I tipped over the edge into the sweetest orgasm.
He groaned, and then let himself go, filling me again with the essence of him. If only it included his love.
When our breaths returned to normal, he held me, and I nearly wept with yearning for this to be my life.
“I’m hungry,” he said. “Let me cook you breakfast.”
“A private breakfast from renowned restaurateur Kade Raven? Why, I think I might swoon.”
He grinned. “I love to make you swoon.” He leaned over and sucked my nipple deep into his mouth.
“Oh, god… you know I won’t let you leave this bed if you keep that up.”
“We need our sustenance first.” He rolled out of bed and grabbed a robe, which he tossed to me. Then, he slipped on a pair of sweatpants. “Want to come cook with me?”
“Didn’t we just do that?”
“I love your dirty mind.” He leaned over and kissed me. “I’ll see you in the kitchen.”
When I rose from bed and put the robe on, the nausea hit, and I was glad he’d left the room. I locked myself in his bathroom, took care of my business, used some of his toothpaste to wash my mouth out, and then made my way to the kitchen, the scent of bacon leading the way.
I watched from afar for a moment. His strong back muscles moved as he worked in the kitchen. His sweats hung low over his hips, and I had an urge to pull them down and grab his bare ass.
“Are you going to join me?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Do you have eyes on the back of your head?” I finished making my way to the kitchen.
“You always need to be aware of what’s going on in the kitchen,” he said.
“Will you be coming to my kitchen again tonight?” I asked.
“I wish I could. Unfortunately, I’ve got to deal with another place tonight.”
I was disappointed, but understood. “What are you making?” I looked at the blender that he’d filled with eggs, milk and flour.
“German pancakes with peaches and fresh cream.”
“Mmm, sounds delicious. We call them Dutch Babies.”
“Yeah, well, that’s sort of morbid if you think about it. I mean, babies are kind of cute, so why would you want to cook them?” he said.
“You think babies are cute?” My guilt took hold again.
He shrugged. “Sure. I guess I’ll find out for sure soon, as Sara is about to have one.”
“Do you want one?” My stomach clenched as I waited for his answer.
He turned his head, looking me straight in the eyes. “Maybe. Someday.”
A shiver ran up my spine at the intensity of his gaze.
“What about you?”
“Yes.” Now was the time. “In fact — ”
His phone beeped. He took it from his pocket and looked at it. He frowned. “I have to take this. It’s one of the restaurants.”
“Yes, of course. Do you want me to blend this and put it in the oven?”
“That would be great. The butter is already melting in the dish in the oven.” He left the room and relief flooded me. What did it say about me that I would rather keep this baby a secret than tell him?
I poured the batter into the dish, returning it to the oven. I turned the bacon, and found tea bags as coffee had lost its appeal since I got pregnant. He returned a few minutes later while I sat in his dining area, drinking my tea and enjoying the view of the city.
“Sorry about that.” He set his phone on the table. “I take it you’ve got everything managed in the kitchen?”
“You better check yourself. You’re the master.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do you want orange juice or something?”
I swallowed the bile that threatened. For some reason, even the thought of orange juice made me sick. “No, thank you.”
“Let me whip up the cream and serve you, then.” He left me at the table and headed back to the kitchen.
I returned my gaze out the window, wondering if Kade truly appreciated what his family money had gotten him. Granted, a fancy home wasn’t the key to happiness, nor was money, but it could go a long way to helping ease the pain of lupus or the stress of wondering how you were going to buy groceries. I hoped beyond all hope that I was able to turn this restaurant into a success so that I could at least ease the financial burden my mom and I had.
Kade’s phone buzzed on the table, lighting up with a text. I glanced at it because it was making a noise. I had no intention of reading the message, and yet, I did. What I read made my heart break in two.
Back tonight! Picked up new lingerie when I was in Paris. And a few tricks. Can’t wait to get naked and show you.
The message was from someone named Jolie, which I knew meant pretty in French. It fit her too, because even with tiny little circle of a picture, I could see that she was a tanned, skinny blonde.
I felt sick, only this time it wasn’t morning sickness. I’d let him have me without a condom, and he was still with other women.
Well of course he is, my practical brain told me. The Kade Ravens of the world were playboys that sowed their oats. But now I was pregnant by this playboy. I had no doubt he’d be responsible, but I also knew he’d be unhappy. When I asked him, his response was “maybe,” which in hindsight was probably so I wouldn’t ask more questions about it. Men like Kade knew how to give women enough to keep them hooked without making a commitment.
I was such an idiot. I rushed back to his room and dressed, deciding I’d shower to wash him off when I got home. I heard him call my name, but I didn’t respond.
“What’s going on?” he asked as I finished dressing.
“I need to get home,” I said, trying to keep him from seeing that I was on the verge of crying.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“I just realized I didn’t tell my mom where I was.”
“So, call her. Breakfast is ready.”
“I can’t.” I brushed past him. “She needs me with her now.”
“What?” He followed me to the door.
Not wanting to be ungracious, which was odd considering he was texting with another woman while with me, I said. “Thank you for the lovely evening Kade.”
“Morgan, did something happen?”
“No. Sorry… I’ve really got to run.” I opened the door and hurried to the elevator, hoping he wouldn’t follow.
I cast a glance to him, and he was watching me with a quizzical look on his face. The door to the elevator opened and I stepped in, hitting the door closed button. When the door shut, I burst into tears.
Thankfully, when I arrived home, my mother was resting. I showered and then climbed into bed to wallow until it was time for me to go to the restaurant. When I rose later and got ready for work, I felt strong enough to face her without giving away my utter despair. Instead, I focused on the opening and how well it went. We needed to make a few tweaks to our processes and systems, but overall people seemed to enjoy the food, and there were no major disasters.
She hugged me, telling me she knew I’d be a success and how proud of me she was. Wait until I had to tell her I was pregnant.
At the restaurant, I was focused on the job at hand. More so than last night, I spoke with authority, and while I listened to my staff, I didn’t let them sway me from my purpose.
“Why don’t I expedite tonight?” John asked. “We had a few issues — ”
“I’m expediting,” I said more tersely than I wanted. The last place I needed to be was wooing our guests.
He held up his hands in surrender. “Just trying to help.”
“You can help by keeping the diners happy.” Knowing I was on the verge of losing it again, I headed to the office and locked the door.
I didn’t want to cry, so instead I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge and tried to take deep breaths. When the phone rang, I was planning to ignore it, but since everyone else was working, I figured the least I could do was answer.
“Morgan? It
’s Beth.”
“Oh, hi. What’s up?”
“I wanted to find out how the opening went last night. I haven’t heard anything. Ash, Hannah and I are dying to come.”
“Give me a couple more nights under my belt.” I pinched the bridge of my nose as tears threatened again.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Just busy.”
There was a pause. “Tell me what’s going on, Morgan.” She said it like a mother would, which I supposed made sense because she was a mother. Would I someday sound like that?
Needing to release the awful pain, I blurted out. “I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, ah. I didn’t realize you and Kade — although, we’re talking about Kade—”
“What makes you think it’s Kade?” We’d never been out, so how would she have known?
“I just thought… since you and he were spending so much time together— look whoever it is, did he not take it well?”
“I haven’t told him.” I hoped she dismissed the idea that it was Kade, although I don’t know why. Like Kade, eventually she’d find out.
“Why?”
“Because he probably won’t want it. Because he’ll think I trapped him.”
“Even if he said that, it doesn’t matter. He has a right to know. If there was one thing I learned in my situation with Ash, it was that it’s wrong to withhold that type of information. I remember distinctly you telling me that.”
“You and Ash are different. You loved each other. I’m just a notch. He was planning a hookup when I was having breakfast with him?”
“What?”
“She’s going to show him her new French lingerie and new sex tricks she learned in Paris.”
“Ah, hell. Morgan, I’m sorry. I can see why you don’t want to tell him, but honey, he needs to know. He has rights. And he’ll have responsibilities, which you’re going to need him to help with. Starting a business and being a single mom will be hard.”
“I won’t fail you, Beth.” I felt like I was going to crumble. She’d given me so much, and I was ruining it.
“Don’t worry about me. You were there for me and Hannah, so you can bet we’ll be there for you. But don’t underestimate this man. Maybe he won’t be your fairy tale, but he could step up for you and the baby.”
“I’m not ready. Please, don’t tell anyone.”
She paused again, and I wondered if she’d be able to keep my secret. “All right. But don’t wait too long, Morgan. You have to put that baby first now.”
She was right, of course. Mom and I were barely getting by as it was. I was tired from trying to help her business and start my own. Adding a baby to the mix would surely cause a breakdown.
The petty part of me thought about showing up at Kade’s while Jolie was showing off her lingerie to tell him about the baby. But I could too easily see the smirk from her, wondering how I’d ever think I’d get a man like him. And I couldn’t decide if he’d be horrified or pissed that I’d trapped him.
“Morgan,” John’s voice came through the door. “Dinner is starting.”
“I’m coming.” I wiped my tears and took a big drink of water. I pressed my hands over my belly. “Whatever happens, baby, you can trust that you’ll be loved and taken care of.”
With my head high, I walked out of the office and to the kitchen, just in time for the first order to print out.
21
Kade — Monday
Two days later, I still couldn’t figure out what the fuck had happened with Morgan on Saturday morning. No matter how many times I replayed the morning through my head, I never figured out why she left.
We woke and had sweet, slow sex. We started making breakfast together. We talked about babies. I hadn’t freaked out about it, so that couldn’t be it. I had to interrupt the morning by taking a call from one of the restaurants whose order got messed up. Was she mad that I let the call take away from our breakfast?
When I returned, she was at the dining table, happily drinking tea. She’d felt comfortable enough to go through my kitchen to find tea and seemed content. And then minutes later, she was dressed and rushing out the door. I didn’t buy that she needed to get to her mom then, and I certainly didn’t now, since she hadn’t responded to any of my texts over the last couple of days.
I called the restaurant on Saturday to check on her.
“She’s a ball buster tonight,” John said.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s all business, take no shit…to be honest, it’s good to see, but I think she’s scaring some of the waitstaff.”
I didn’t worry about it. She was still settling into her roll, and with the problems from the first night, little as they were, it would be normal for her to react strongly to compensate.
But John was as close as I got knowing what was up with her. Was she with him, and felt bad for screwing me? She’d told me it wasn’t like that between them, but maybe that was a lie. He certainly seemed to think there was something.
The closest thing I could come up with for her abrupt leaving was she saw the text from Jolie. But I couldn’t be sure that came in before or after she left. Either way, all she had to do was ask me about it.
When I saw the text, I was so pissed at her leaving, I’d considered telling Jolie to come over after I closed that night. There were only two problems with that. First, it was a douche thing to do. Second, I wouldn’t have been able to follow through. The only woman I wanted in my bed right now was Morgan. Until that desire stopped, I was fucked. Last night, I’d decided I wanted to see where this thing between us would go, which meant my desire for her could last a while. That’s what I’d wanted. Was there a way to stop wanting someone?
The alarm on my watch went off, signaling I needed to meet with Beth and Ash about the restaurant and small business project. I made my way down the hall to Ash’s office.
“Yes, honey, it’s okay. I can take care of the meeting,” Ash was saying. I waited outside so I wouldn’t interrupt his call with Beth.
“We need to tell him, Beth. Morgan being pregnant is going to impact the restaurant. She needs to make plans, and Kade is the best to help her.”
My head buzzed and my knees went weak. Morgan was pregnant? Was that why she left? No, I shook my head. She wouldn’t have known in one night. But was that why she said I didn’t need to use a condom? She knew she was pregnant? Why didn’t she tell me? Was I going to be a father?
I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to make my racing thoughts slow down. No, I couldn’t be the father. She’d have told me. As crazy as her departure had been the other day, I couldn’t imagine she was the type of person to keep that information from the father of her child. Maybe John was the father, and she felt weird the next day being with me. Or hell, maybe she really did want to check on her mom. Or maybe it was a combination of it all.
“Kade?” Ash poked his head out the door. “You waiting for me?”
I swallowed. “Yeah. Ready?”
“Yep. Beth can’t make it, but I think we can handle this without her.”
I nodded, feeling like I was in a netherworld. Here, but not quite here.
“Are you okay?”
I gave myself a mental slap. “Yep. Sorry. Just a lot on the plate today.”
“I went over the reports you gave and what Mr. Parker sent in.”
I sneered when I heard John’s name. I wanted to fucking rip his throat out for taking my woman.
“Kade?”
“Yeah. It’s all looking good. It’s only a few days though. Once the newness wears off, that will be the test.”
Ash rested his forearms on the desk. “There’s something you need to know. It needs to stay between us.”
“Oh?”
He studied me like he wasn’t sure he could trust me. That irked me.
Feeling surly, I said, “Is this about Morgan’s baby?”
His head jerked in surprise. “You knew?” Then his eyes narrowed. “God you didn’t —”
“Why do you always think the worst of me? I didn’t knock a woman up. That’s you.” I stood as tension coursed like electricity through my veins.
Ash held his hands up. “Sorry. You’re right. The point is, it's unclear if she’s going to get married or have help. We need to make adjustments for that.”
“Already on it,” I said, even though I had no clue what I was going to do. “We’ll get the profits up, invest in good workers and marketing. The place can run almost without her.”
“Nine months isn’t a lot of time.”
“If worst comes to worst, we take it over as a Raven Industries place.”
Ash frowned. “I’m not sure Morgan will want that, and I know Beth won’t want us taking it from her.”
I really needed a moment alone. “Let me work out some ideas. I’ll get back to you.”
“You’re the expert.”
On my way back to my office, I heard a commotion coming from Ben’s office. The door was open, so I peeked in.
“Stop pestering me,” Ben was shouting at Alex.
“Then stop wasting all of our time,” Alex snapped back. I considered leaving, but the two of them were standing like they were in a face off. Normally, I felt like Alex could hold her own, but I didn’t trust Ben to not do something crazy.
“Mind your own fucking business,” Ben yelled.
“You are my business, you asshole. You’re drowning yourself in booze, and if you don’t sober up, you’re going to lose the best shot you have at saving your father’s legacy and your own damn life.” She was right about that.
“Who says I want my life? Maybe I want to drown.”
“I’m trying really hard to feel empathy for you, but you’re a selfish bastard.”
He sneered. “Finally, you get it. Now get out!” He leaned closer to her. Close enough that I couldn’t risk him hurting her.
I strode in. “Okay you two, break it up.”
Alex glared at him, and then rushed past me out the door.
“Good riddance,” Ben called.
“You know, she has a point,” I said, watching as Ben swayed back to his desk. “Alex is rarely wrong about important matters.”