by Katy Kaylee
“I won’t. Maybe we should buy a bigger house. We can have two home offices and work from home,” I mused aloud.
“You’re getting way ahead of yourself. Let’s live in the moment for now. We’ll worry about the details later. Right now, I want to cuddle against you just like this before I’m too fat and there’s a big belly standing in our way.”
“When the belly pops out, I’ll snuggle you from behind,” I assured her.
She smiled, giving me another quick kiss. “I like the sound of that, but there’s one thing you said that we need to discuss a little more.”
“What’s that? What did I say?” I asked, worried I had already screwed up.
“The very thought of pickles and ice cream makes me nauseous. Oh, that’s another thing. Your child is making me violently ill every morning. If you could talk to him or her and let them know that isn’t nice, I would appreciate it,” she said with complete seriousness.
I had no idea if she was joking or if she really wanted me to talk to the baby that I guessed was the size of a peanut from my very limited knowledge of pregnancy. “Um, okay, should I, uh, speak through your belly?” I asked, not sure how I was supposed to go about the first lecture I would give to my child.
Her laughter bounced around the room. “I’m kidding. But seriously, you can talk to the baby if you want. I read the baby can pick up on sounds in the last trimester. We want our child to come out knowing who we are.”
“I think I need to read this book. Many books. I need to read many books. I’m kind of at a loss here. I’ll be here and do whatever you need, but I do need to study up on this,” I muttered.
“We’ll study together,” she whispered, her hand resting on my arm.
I liked the intimacy of having a conversation in the nude while our noses touched. There were no distractions. We were both completely focused on each other. I decided all future serious discussions needed to happen just like that.
Epilogue
Penny
One year later
I looked out the glass wall of my fishbowl and noticed everyone was hard at work. It’s what I liked to see. Being in the fishbowl wasn’t so bad when I wasn’t the lone fish swimming about. I had an entire team working with me now and I loved it. I thrived on the crazy deadlines and the constant flow of ideas that were always coming in. It had taken some getting used to, but now I understood the open concept. We could all talk to each other without leaving our desks. We could see each other and hold up images. It was fun and made me feel like I was really working with a team.
I pulled up the new file Jax had sent me. It was a client interested in our hiring our marketing firm. Yes, marketing. The launch had been ridiculously successful and launched Jax’s star high in the world—which he hated. He hated the fame. He hated the publicity and hated being in the public eye. After the incident with the senator and the many viral video compilations, Vines, and memes, he’d given the fashion industry the big middle finger and walked away from the whole thing.
We were a marketing firm. Jax got to express his creative chops in a new way that allowed him lots of freedom, made us all a ton of money, and he was no longer famous. A few people remembered him, but after a year of laying low and refusing interviews, the world forgot about the bad boy of fashion and moved on to a new target. I liked it that way. I had him all to myself with no other women ogling him all the time.
“Hey, Mommy.” I heard his voice coming down the hall.
I spun around in my chair and saw him rounding the corner with Jacy in his arms. The man was smitten with his daughter. The girl was going to be the most spoiled baby on the planet. She had her daddy wrapped around her finger from the very moment her screaming self entered the world. I got up and opened the door to meet them.
“Hi, sweet baby,” I cooed, kissing my five-month-old daughter on one of her chubby cheeks.
“Are you talking to me or our daughter?” Jax asked, giving me a kiss on the forehead before handing me the baby.
“Both of you. Did the nanny go home for the day?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yep.”
“I got that file you sent,” I said, bouncing Jacy on my hip as I talked.
“Good. Got any ideas?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, but I think we can come up with something amazing. If all your old contacts in the fashion world keep reaching out, we’re going to have to hire another design team. We already have more clients than we can handle.”
He grinned proudly. “Dam—I mean darn straight,” he quickly corrected.
“You’re amazing,” I told him, fiercely proud to call him mine. “You’re brave and smart, and I’m so proud of you for making such a huge change in your world without knowing it would be successful.”
“I knew it would be successful. I had the best marketing manager in the business working for me. I figured I could ride your coattails for a while until I figured out the ropes,” he said nonchalantly.
“I don’t know if I’m the best, but the two of us together are certainly a force to be reckoned with.”
“Speaking of, I have that meeting with Chance in about five minutes. Do you have the final proofs for their campaign launch?” he asked.
“I do,” I said, moving to sit down, putting Jacy on my thigh and continuing to bounce her while I used my free hand to pull up the file. I hit the button to send it to his tablet, then opened the hard copy that I had on the corner of my desk and pushed it to him. “This is it. Do you think Lydia will like it?” I asked nervously.
Jax flipped through the images, nodding his head, reminding so much of that first time when I had done the same for his first campaign launch. “Da—Dang, these are really good. I think Lydia will be impressed.”
“They have to be perfect, not just for Chance’s sake, but Lydia’s as well. I know she wants to get away from being in the front of the camera. Her collaboration with Chance is her chance to get on the design side of things. Chance showed me some of the ideas she has for the female athletic line. He’s thrilled to be partnered with her. Of course, who wouldn’t want to be Lydia Lydon’s partner. She’s pretty much awesome at everything,” I said with a laugh.
He stood up and dropped a kiss on the top of my head before kissing Jacy’s dark curls. She’d inherited my hair color and Jax’s natural curls. She’d also been lucky enough to get her daddy’s green eyes. Jax was sure she was the most beautiful baby on the planet. I had to agree with him.
“How did you get so good at this?” he asked with admiration in his voice as he began to flip through the file again.
“You can thank yourself for that,” I said.
He looked up at me. “Me? I didn’t do this. This is all you.”
I shook my head. “No, because when the whole college nonsense happened, I was more driven than ever. I focused on school. I didn’t go out. I didn’t party. I certainly didn’t date anyone. When I transferred schools, I realized that I had actually made a step in the right direction. Their marketing program was far better. With all the studying and lack of a social life, I managed to pull off some really good grades and earned scholarships. When I first started college, I had planned on getting my associate’s and then finding a job. You changed the course of my future, and look where it led me—right back to you. We had to get through all that to be where we are today.”
He smiled, pointing to his nose. “And without the busted nose, I never would have gotten those modeling jobs. I never would have made the money I needed to start the company, and I never would have gotten the chance to work with you or reunite with you long enough to make that cute little dumpling.”
“Fate. It has a funny way of making things work out, doesn’t it?”
He groaned. “It was a rather dark, twisty, lonely road. I could have done without that part.”
“Ah, but that’s what makes it all the better.”
Jacy grabbed the giant diamond sitting on my ring finger and tried to pull it into her mouth. I gently pu
lled it away from her. I had told Jax the ring was too big, but he had insisted, claiming my giant belly was a lot to compete with. He wanted the world to know I was his wife and needed a rock that shined bright enough for the folks up at the International Space Station to see. He loved to spoil me.
“I need to get going. Daddy will see you in a little bit,” he said, rubbing Jacy’s curls.
“You sure you don’t want to take her in?” I teased.
He scowled. “No. Definitely not. We’ll never get any work done.”
“She’s a good girl.”
“It isn’t her that’s the problem. It’s your d—brother. He can’t focus on anything else when his niece is in the room. He turns into a giant puddle of goo. He ignores me and tickles the baby or talks to her. She’s a distraction that Chance can’t resist. She stays with you for this one,” he said firmly.
“Oh, my pretty girl is just too cute to handle,” I cooed.
“Yes, she is. Are you headed home for the day?” he asked from the door.
“Yep. I’m going to send off a couple emails, and then we’ll be going home to make dinner.”
“Good and open up that bottle of wine we picked up the other day. Let it breathe because after a certain someone goes to bed, I plan on turning her perfect, saintly mother into a debauched sinner,” he said in a low voice.
I covered her ears. “Jax!”
He chuckled and walked away, leaving me feeling more than a little flustered. The man could still turn me on with a single look or a few well-chosen dirty words. We’d made a deal that he wouldn’t cuss in front of the baby, but when we were alone in our room, all bets were off. He’d even gotten me into talking dirty when we were alone in bed or the shower, I thought with a grin.
The man was amazing at everything he did. He was an amazing father, husband, lover and an excellent provider for his family. After he and Chance talked things out, he’d made it clear we were going to be married. I had tried to argue we were rushing into things, but he and Chance had made it clear we were married now or later, but we would be married.
I didn’t regret anything that had happened between us. That deep hurt I had felt only showed me I was capable of deep love. Jax had gone above and beyond to prove to me he would always be loyal and faithful to me and his daughter. I believed him when he said he would never leave us. We were a family. Neither of us had great home lives when we were growing up, which made us more determined than ever to give Jacy everything she needed to grow and thrive in a loving environment.
Chance spent a lot of time at our house and promised to buy a house in the neighborhood as soon as his line made him wealthy. Jax had offered to loan him the money, but Chance was determined to do it on his own. I didn’t blame him. In fact, I encouraged him to wait until he could do it on his own. It would make the reward all the sweeter.
I closed my laptop and stuffed it in the carrying case. “Are you ready to go home and make some dinner for daddy?” I asked Jacy.
She smiled, a big open-mouthed, drool-filled smile as she clapped her hands together. I took that as a yes.
“Mommy is going to make daddy a special dinner and then maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to work on getting you a little brother or sister,” I told her, knowing she had no idea what I was saying.
She clapped her chubby little hands anyway. I walked to Jax’s office to retrieve the diaper bag before heading toward the elevator. The conference room blinds were open. I couldn’t resist teasing my big brother and stopped in front of the window. Jax had his back to us. I waved, catching Chance’s eye. His eyes lit up when he saw Jacy. I put a finger to my mouth, telling him to be quiet. He nodded and pulled a few funny faces for Jacy before Jax spun around to find us staring through the window. He gave a stern look and pointed for us to leave. I burst into laughter, knowing we had just destroyed Chance’s concentration. Jax was going to pay me back for that one.
I couldn’t wait.
***The End***
Just Faking It
Description
I seduced my brother’s best friend to take my innocence,
And he convinced me to fake marry him!
Jake Dunne: Sinfully handsome. Naughty . Funny. Piercing Blue eyes. And kisses like nobody’s business…
Jake Dunne: Also the man who broke my heart, five years ago.
My fake husband but my baby’s REAL father!
It was supposed to be….well, let’s call it ‘a business arrangement.’
Only six months.
Each of us gets our dreams,
And we call it quits.
There’s just one simple rule – ‘Don’t fall in love.’
Except that I broke the rule.
And while Jake is busy getting the divorce papers ready,
I am staring at the two pink lines on the stick.
Prologue
Sofia
The only thing I wanted for my twenty-first birthday was Jake Dunne. I watched him as he entered my parents’ restaurant and gave them and me a quick wave, before taking the beer my older brother Tony had waiting for him. Yep, I wanted to get all six foot two of him naked, stroke what had to be a long and thick dick, and then hand over my V-card.
“My own bakery in New York City.” That was the answer I gave to my friend Mary Capelli to her question of what I wanted for my birthday. Granted, she’d probably agree with me about Jake, but I’d kept my fascination and lust for Jake a secret since I was fifteen and conjured him up during my first self-pleasure experience. He was the starring feature of all of them since.
“Your parents won’t ever let you go,” Mary said, looking over at my mom and dad who were schmoozing with my friends and family during my birthday celebration. She wasn’t wrong. It was the twenty-first century, but it might as well have been the eighteenth where my parents were concerned. They had every intention of keeping me at home until I married. They were hoping I’d settle down with Joey Tratelli, but that wasn’t going to happen. Joey was okay, but I had my sights on bigger things. I wanted to be like Jake; leave suburbia to make it in the Big Apple. New York City was less than an hour away by car, but it might as well have been on a different planet from my hometown. Life here was slow, and as far as I was concerned, boring.
“Besides, how would you get the money to buy a bakery, especially in New York?” Mary finished.
I hadn’t figured that all out yet. I was too busy baking for and serving desserts in my parents’ restaurant. The authentic Italian eatery was started by my grandfather after World War II. My father took it over with my mother when my grandfather retired. Now my brother, recently married to his high school sweetheart Vera, was taking on more responsibility for the restaurant. Unlike me, Tony seemed perfectly happy to follow the path my parents had laid out for him, which was to someday take over the restaurant from my mom and dad. Me, I wanted more.
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” I answered Mary. “But someday I will.”
“You mean when pigs fly?” She grinned at me.
“Or hell freezes over.” I laughed.
I might not have wanted to pursue the path my parents planned for me, but I couldn’t complain too much about them. They were loving, albeit too traditional. They supported my love of baking and paid for culinary school where I earned my AA in Baking and Pastry Arts. While desserts hadn’t been a big part of their restaurant before, when I graduated, they let me add them to their menu and even bought a refrigerated dessert case so all my yum yums were on display to the patrons. At times, I felt bad for wanting to leave, considering all they’d done. Then again, I was pretty sure they’d done it so I’d stay. It wasn’t like I kept my goals and dreams to myself. They knew I wanted to live in New York.
The only other issue I had with my parents was how overprotective they were. While Tony, along with his good buddy Jake, were running havoc all over town as teenagers, I had to stay home. The few dates I had; Tony had to come along. God, their heads would explode if they knew the things I wante
d Jake to do to me.
I looked over at him again. He’d lost the last bits of boyhood and now looked like a fully-fledged man with broad shoulders straining his black t-shirt and a fantastic ass in his faded-in denim jeans. He had the olive coloring of his Italian mother, but the blue eyes of his Irish father. It made him stunning to look at.
He was three years older than me and had just finished law school in New York. I heard he secured a job in his uncle’s firm, which would help him pass the bar. I wasn’t surprised. Jake had a reputation as a hellion and ladies’ man in high school, but he was smart, hardworking and goal oriented. He wanted out of our little village and he’d made it.
“Listen, Sof, I have to run. I told Derek I’d meet him when he got off work,” Mary said of her boyfriend.
“Tell him ‘hi’.” I gave her a hug. “Thanks for coming.”
Mostly everyone else at the party were cousins and friends of my family. I took Mary’s leaving as an opportunity to slip away to the kitchen, steal a cupcake, and then go out the side door for some fresh air. I loved being around my family, but every now and then, it was nice to have a moment alone. After eating my cupcake, I was about to head inside when I saw Jake heading across the street to a car. In the past, he’d had a beat-up sedan, but this one was a sleek new-looking sports car.
“Hey, Jake.” I trotted up the side of the building to the sidewalk. I took a quick look right to see who might be out front at my parents’ restaurant. Seeing no one, I crossed the street.
“Happy Birthday, Sofie.” He held out his arms and of course I went to them. I could pretend he liked me as a woman, even though I was sure he viewed me like a little sister.