“I know, huh?” I said, rubbing his back.
Dex leaned back and lifted Cam into the air, making him giggle, and then slowly brought him back down again before he wiggled him in the air. “Man, I feel like I’m pumping iron at the gym. One…two…three….”
“I’m pretty lucky, huh?” Cleo said. “I’ve got three beautiful grandchildren…and I’m sure I’ll have many more.” Her hand moved into Little Deacon’s hair, and she ran her fingers through it, which was thick and a little long, like Derek’s. Because he looked so much like Derek, he also looked just like Deacon, his namesake. “And in case it wasn’t obvious, Dex would be a really great father.”
I looked at Little Deacon beside me, looking into those intelligent eyes and kind soul, imagining looking at my own son someday, a boy with Dex’s light-brown hair, brown eyes, and his heart. “Yeah, I know.”
“Man, those kids are so cute they make me sick.” He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.
“Make you sick?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah, yuck.” He made a disgusted face and rubbed his stomach. “I gotta throw up.”
I chuckled and set my bag on the counter. “You think your parents will survive with three kids overnight?”
“Psh, Lizzie is pretty much an adult, and those kids are so easy. They’re quiet like Derek. Plus, they already did the three-kid thing.”
“That’s true.”
“You want to watch TV or go straight to bed?” Dex left his wallet and keys on the table, his hair a little messy because Cam had played with it for a while.
“How about both?”
“That’s a good idea, baby.” He smacked my ass before he walked into the bedroom, taking off his shirt as he went, showing his ripped back, his lats, his shoulders, a collage of chiseled muscle.
I followed him into the bedroom, watching him drop his jeans and kick off his shoes until he was in just his boxers. His tight ass stretched the cotton of his boxers, but a moment later, he was down to bare skin because he dropped those too.
He got into bed, moved to the center of the mattress, and then propped himself up on some pillows so he was slightly elevated, his legs sprawled out, taking up most of the bed like he was the king and it was his throne. Then his eyes moved to me, telling me exactly what he wanted with just his hard gaze.
I’d never wanted him more, and there were a few reasons for that. Seeing him with his nephews was a weird form of biological foreplay because it made my ovaries scream, and being with his family, his perfect, loving family, made me want them to be my family. And then there was just Dex in general, this deeply affectionate, loving, brilliant man who made my toes curl without him even touching me.
He nodded slowly, telling me to get into bed and on top of him. That serious intensity had returned, materializing the moment he stepped inside his bedroom, a different personality coming to the forefront. I loved the other version of Dex when we had lunch together or spent time with his family. But I preferred this version of him when it was just us, alone in his bedroom, alone in the office, in full privacy.
I dropped my clothes onto the floor, watching him watch me, getting down to my birthday suit, my nipples hardening once they felt the draft from the AC. Naked, I approached the bed and climbed on top.
He snatched me and dragged me to him, too anxious to let me take my time. He pulled me on top of him, one hand across my ass as it stuck out and the other deep in my hair, pressing a searing kiss to my lips that made his dick twitch underneath me. His fingers reached around my ass, and they were long enough to reach my clit, to rub me aggressively as he kissed me.
I was already wet, so he did that just for me.
His hands moved to my hips, and he tilted me so he could slide in, so he could get his dick sheathed inside my wetness, his personal garage for his enormous dick. It was the biggest one I’d ever taken, and it always hurt a little bit when it slipped inside.
But it hurt so good.
I bounced on top of him and rolled my hips, my palms flattened against his chest, doing all the work so he could sit there and relax.
His hands reached out and groped my tits before he moved one to my ass and gave me a harsh spank. “Fuck that dick, baby.”
Dex was in the shower, so I was sprawled out on his bed, his expensive linens and silk pillowcases, the sheets and comforter pulled up to my shoulder while I watched a show on his seventy-five-inch TV on the wall. The sound of the falling water was distant, coming from his large bathroom that had his-and-hers sinks and counters, and a large tub that could easily fit the two of us.
The more time I spent here, the less I wanted to go to my own apartment, not just because his was nicer, but because the place came with a six-foot-one gorgeous man who made the whole apartment smell like him.
My eyes flicked to the open doorway when I heard a knock.
At least, I thought I heard a knock.
My phone was on the nightstand, so I tapped my fingers against the screen so the time would pop up.
It was almost nine.
Would someone drop by that late? Dex’s phone was on the other nightstand, and it didn’t light up with a call or text.
Maybe it was just the show I was watching.
But the knock happened again, louder this time.
The shower turned off like Dex was finished, but he would need time to dry off and get some clothes on before he answered, so I pulled on the quickest thing I could find, the sweatpants and shirt I kept there to be comfortable when I stayed over, and walked to the front door.
I was nervous it was his dad, and I didn’t want him to see me making myself at home in Dex’s apartment, clearly sleeping over, but his parents didn’t seem like the type to care about that sort of thing. If anything, they wanted it to happen.
I checked the peephole.
But it wasn’t Deacon, Derek, Cleo, or even Daisy.
It was Catherine.
Oh my fucking god, it was Catherine.
I froze on the other side of the door, being as still as possible, hoping she hadn’t heard me walk over. If I didn’t move, she might just walk away.
What the fuck did this bitch want?
“Please open the door. I know you’re there.”
Oh shit.
“I just want to talk to you. It’s important.”
I looked over my shoulder and saw that Dex hadn’t left the bedroom yet, so I really didn’t know what to do. But the jealous side of me, the possessive side of me, wanted this cunt to see me and know that she’d lost her chance.
So that was what I did.
I opened the door—and let her see me in all my glory.
Catherine’s eyes immediately narrowed when she saw me in the open doorway, and she was so surprised that she didn’t even take a breath. She didn’t blink. She didn’t speak. She just stared.
I stared back, angry just looking at her. She was as beautiful as the photograph he’d thrown away, with that perfect hair and perfect features. But I wasn’t angry that she was this drop-dead gorgeous woman I could never compete with. I was pissed that she’d hurt Dex, someone who didn’t deserve to be hurt, and ripped him apart so mercilessly that he lost who he was entirely. She blamed him for something he wasn’t guilty of—and it was disgusting. “Would you like me to take a message?” I could barely keep my tone civil, because I wanted to rip her apart just the way Deacon had ripped Mason apart.
Her eyes shifted past me and stilled.
Dex must have been behind me.
His footsteps were audible as he came close then stopped right behind me. “Catherine, what are you doing here?” He didn’t sound panicked, like he had anything to hide, but he was definitely annoyed.
I stepped away and moved back into the bedroom so they could have some privacy—even though I could hear everything.
Catherine didn’t speak.
“I told you I’m seeing somebody,” Dex said. “So why would you just show up on my doorstep like this?”
&
nbsp; She was still quiet.
“Are you gonna say anything, or…?”
“I just…I just wanted to talk to you—”
“About what?” His temper flared. “Catherine, we’ve talked. We’ve talked long and hard. There is nothing else to say.”
“You didn’t deposit the check—”
“Because I don’t want it. It’s part of my past—and I’m not living in the past anymore. Keep it, Catherine. If you don’t want it, give it to charity. I really don’t care. I’ve got everything I need now. That money isn’t going to make me any happier, especially when I can’t be happier than I already am.”
I sat in bed with my arms crossed over my chest, relieved to hear him stand his ground and not flinch.
“What do you want from me, Catherine? It’s shitty that things ended this way, but they did. We can’t fix them. We can’t go back in time and change it. This is the hand we’ve been dealt. I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you, because I have no interest in hurting you, but I told you I made my decision, that I want to be with Sicily. You can’t show up at my front door like this. It’s completely inappropriate.”
Damn right, it was.
“If you really love me the way you claim, you’ll let me be happy. Because I’m finally happy after a very long year of being unhappy.” Dex ended his speech.
And Catherine said nothing.
I waited, my heart racing.
Finally, she said something. “Um…alright.”
That was all she had to say? She knew he was seeing me, but she still showed up late at night, like she might catch him with his guard down and take advantage of him.
Dex spoke before he closed the door. “Goodbye, Catherine.” I imagined he closed it in her face because there was no footfall to indicate she had walked away. He turned all the locks and headed back to the bedroom, giving a loud sigh. He stopped in the doorway and looked at me, his eyes lidded with guilt. “I’m so sorry.” The fear in his eyes was unmistakable, like her unexpected visit would prompt insecurities that had actually just disappeared.
It chased away all the anger I had. “It’s not your fault.”
He came to the bed and sat at the edge, right next to me. “I told her about you. I told her that I wouldn’t take her back. I made my decision, and I have no regrets about it. I just…I don’t want anything to happen to us.” His hand moved to my thigh, his eyes down, still afraid. “Please don’t let it change us.”
My hand moved on top of his. “I’m not going anywhere, Dex.” Seeing her was like a knife to old wounds, and yes, I was angry, jealous, insecure, but when he looked at me like that, pledged his commitment, the wounds quickly closed up again. I didn’t want an ex showing up at his doorstep, but I also loved this man beyond reason, and I wasn’t going to let her chase me away—because that was exactly what she wanted.
His hand squeezed mine before he brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Thank you.”
My arms circled him and pulled him close, pulling him on top of me, bringing us together on the bed.
He held me close and pressed his face into my neck, keeping our bodies tightly wrapped around each other, my thigh hiked over his hip. We didn’t say another word, and quickly, we fell asleep like nothing happened at all.
Eighteen
Dex
Derek shook his head slightly, his eyes showing his annoyance. “That could have been bad.”
“You’re telling me!” I threw my arms up in ferocity. “You have no idea how fucking scared I was. I seriously thought Sicily would storm out of there and dump my ass.”
“Catherine was out of line.” He rested his hand on his glass.
“Completely. I told her I was seeing Sicily.”
“I wonder if she did it on purpose.”
“I don’t know… I can’t see Catherine doing that.”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” He swirled his scotch and took a drink.
“Well, she had plenty of time to make things right without being desperate.”
“I’m relieved it didn’t chase Sicily away. No woman should have to put up with a man’s ex just showing up like that, especially an ex-wife. And with your history, it would be reasonable if it scared her off.”
“Thank fucking god it didn’t, man.”
“What did she want anyway?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t fucking know, man. And I don’t care.”
“Then, hopefully, that was the end of it.”
“Yeah.” I honestly believed the only reason Sicily was still with me was because I’d told her I loved her. I meant it when I said it, and I hoped she could see it in my eyes every time I looked at her. “I think I’m happier with Sicily than I ever was with Catherine. I was just too blind to see.”
“I agree. And I think Sicily loves you in a way Catherine never did either.”
It was a little tense the first day after Catherine stopped by, but we soon went right back to our old life like there hadn’t been a hiccup. After work, Sicily came to my apartment, and we made dinner, made love, and then we repeated it the next day—except when I had surgery.
Thankfully, my ex-wife hadn’t blown it for me.
Sicily and I were stronger than I realized.
I sat at my desk in my office and scrolled through the echocardiogram of the patient I would see after lunch. There was always work requiring my attention, patients who would call sooner than their scheduled follow-up and would need my attention, and my schedule was pretty hectic all the time.
But I was helping people, doing good work, making the world a better place, so it didn’t bother me. I knew I’d taken a bite bigger than I could chew, but it was fine. For now. A long time ago, someone asked how I would manage a wife and kids someday, and I’d brushed it off because it didn’t matter.
But now, it mattered.
Because I did want that again…someday.
Things would have to be cut back at some point, but I’d worry about that when the time came. For now, things were good, and I wasn’t anxious for the future or afraid of the past.
Sicily entered my office, bringing my lunch.
My eyes flicked to her, looking over her floral dress and pink heels, her curled hair pinned back and out of her lovely face. Sometimes I worked through my lunch, and sometimes I banged through my lunch. I would like to do the second one, but I really had too much to do right now.
She set it in front of me. “I also got you a latte with oat milk from that bakery you like.”
“Perfect.” I ignored the scan and gave her my full attention.
“Anything else I can get you?”
My arm moved around her dress and down her thigh, and I tugged her into my lap. “Nope. You know how to take care of me.” I pressed a kiss to her shoulder and squeezed her ass.
Her arm moved around my neck, and she looked down at me. “You’ve got a lot of work to do, Dex.” She acted like she wanted me to focus solely on work, but she was totally full of it. She loved it when she distracted me, when she was pulled into my lap and groped. Her eyes gave her away, with that smile she couldn’t hide.
“Maybe we need to schedule a longer lunch.”
She gave me a playful smack on the wrist. “There’s always after hours.”
“And when Andrea’s gone, you don’t have to be quiet—so there’s that perk.”
She gave me a kiss before she hopped up and smoothed out the back of her dress. “Eat. We still have a long day to get through.”
“I’d rather eat you, but fine.” I grabbed the sandwich and took a bite.
She glanced at me over her shoulder before she headed to the door.
“Baby?”
She turned back to look at me.
“Your ass is looking fine in that dress.”
She rolled her eyes, but that smile gave her away. “Eat.” She walked out and shut the door behind her.
I turned back to the computer, pushing her from my thoughts and focusing as I ate the lunc
h she’d grabbed for me. She ran my life so well that there was far less I had to worry about compared to before I met her. I could never go back to how it used to be. The woman was a godsend—as an assistant and as a woman.
She was barely gone for a few minutes before she opened the door again.
Just one look at her told me something was wrong—really wrong. “What is it?”
“Um…Catherine is here to see you.”
Just like that, my great day was ruined. Our happiness was sabotaged. It was as if she’d never sat on my lap and I hadn’t groped her ass. My sunny day was ruined by this goddamn rain cloud. “No.” I pushed out of my chair and walked right past her. “Nope. Not gonna let this happen.” I moved into the lobby and saw Catherine standing there, in jeans and a blouse, her hair perfect, her makeup spot-on like always. I walked right up to her and felt my entire body ache because I was so tense.
Sicily moved back behind the counter, probably because she had no idea what to do with herself.
Catherine glanced at her, her subtle anger visible. “I…I didn’t know she worked for you.”
“What the fuck does it matter?” I didn’t care if Andrea heard me talk that way to Catherine. I didn’t give a shit if she recorded it and put it online. I didn’t care about anything right now. “I made it very goddamn clear I want nothing to do with you. How much clearer can I make it, Catherine? I’m not the type to scream at someone like this, and you’re turning me into a man I hate, which makes me even more furious with you.”
She dropped her gaze for a moment. “I’m sorry. Can we…can we talk in your office?”
“No.”
She looked at me again, disappointed.
“I have nothing to hide. Say whatever the fuck you want to say in front of Sicily, because I’m not going to let her think, even for a second, that there’s something here between us when there’s not. I’m not going to let you sabotage what we have. I love her. I’m gonna marry her. I’m gonna put so many goddamn babies in her belly that we’re gonna have our own freakin’ basketball team. So, what the fuck do you have to say?” I didn’t look at Sicily to see her reaction, didn’t really think about her at all because I was just so angry right now.
The Doctor Who Has No Chance (Soulless Book 11) Page 14