Vipers Den Box Set: 1-3 (Vipers Den #1-3)

by J B Heller

  The others stayed silent but nodded their agreement with Piper.

  I shrugged my shoulders, “I want a baby.”

  Nobody spoke. All three of them looked at me like I’d grown a second head.

  “What’s wrong with that? Don’t any of you want to have children someday?” I asked.

  Tempi looked like she was about to faint. “Hell no! No friggin’ way, dude!”

  I had to laugh at the rush of words pouring from her mouth. I was pretty sure that’s the most I’d ever heard her say at one time.

  Pixie was looking at her feet, the wall, the coffee machine, anywhere but at me. “Pix?” I murmured.

  Her eyes landed on me for a single second then darted away again. “What? I’m just shocked is all,” she replied quickly.

  Reagan rushed me and wrapped her little arms around me in a bear hug. “That’s awesome! I’m so excited, I love babies.” At least one of them was happy about my confession.

  That left Piper, who was looking at me with suspicion. “When you say you want a baby, you don’t mean in a couple of years, do you.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

  I shook my head, no. “I’ve been thinking about it for a really long time, the last couple of years in fact. But I haven’t found anyone I would want to make that kind of commitment to and times a tickin’, if you get my drift. So, I’ve been considering other options. Over the weekend, I did a lot of thinking, I guess I’m just a bit sad it’s come to this,” I explained myself as best I could.

  Piper lifted a brow, “What exactly do you mean by it’s come to this?”

  I let out a deep sigh, laid my head on the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling. I didn’t look back at them when I replied, I didn’t want to see their reactions. “I think I’m going to do this on my own. I’ve been looking into getting a donor.”

  It was Tempi who spoke first, again, “Are you fucking crazy? Raising a kid with a partner is hard enough, let alone on your own. That’s it, call the nuthouse Piper, we need to have her committed.” I glanced over to her just as she threw her arms up in the air. She was completely serious. Another small laugh bubbled up at her reaction. Anyone would think she was scared of children.

  Just then, a knock sounded by the door and we all turned our attention in the direction of the sound. Jake was leaning against the door frame to the room with a cheeky grin on his plump lips. God, Pixie hit the jackpot with that one. “Mind if I steal my wife away, ladies? We have somewhere we need to be,” he drawled. As if anyone could refuse a request from that man.

  I stood up and snatched my bag from Piper while her attention was elsewhere. “Go right ahead, we’re finished here,” I told him as I hurried out of the room before the girls could stop me.

  Piper had told Mish and me to bounce five minutes before closing. I knew the girls were going to pull Tay aside and try to find out what was wrong with her today. I’d been thinking about her knocked up all day and it was driving me crazy. I couldn’t help myself, I had to know if she was telling me the truth this morning or if she was just messing with me for being nosey, so I snuck back in—like a fucking creeper—after all the girls gathered in the backroom, to listen to their girl talk.

  When the word donor left her lush lips, heat began to build up inside of me until I felt like I was going to explode. A fucking donor! She would let some random dude’s baby grow inside her beautiful body. I couldn’t stand the thought. I was about to walk in and… well, I don’t really know what I would have said or done because that’s when Jake busted me, standing with my back against the wall, beside the doorway.

  He was about to start laughing at me but I shushed him, in a very manly manner mind you. Then I took off. He understood guy code, he wouldn’t tell them I’d been eavesdropping.

  The whole way home that word kept replaying in my head— donor.

  Donor, donor, fucking donor!

  The next day I was still no closer to working out why the idea of Tay, pregnant with another man’s baby, filled me with so much rage. I wasn’t interested in having kids, at least, not right now. So it wasn’t because I was envious of the fact that she would be a parent before I would. Maybe it was just the fact that a stranger’s baby would be inhabiting the incredibly beautiful body I’d been lusting after for the last two years.

  I remembered the day I walked into Vipers Den to apply for the job I now held. Tay was the first woman I had ever seen that made my heart beat faster, just from the mere sight of her. I knew I’d be sunk if I got too close to her, so I had made a point not to get to know her too well. But it’s pretty hard not to pick up on things when you work so closely with someone for such a long period of time.

  I loved the way she dressed, she had the whole rockabilly thing going on but she liked to change it up a bit too and she rocked it. She was all class. I even remember what she was wearing that day, how pathetic is that! She wore a black halter dress that was covered in red cherries and had a red ribbon tied around her small waist, then it flared out down to her knees.

  Just envisioning her now, how she looked that day with her red heels and deep red hair falling in waves around her petite tattoo covered shoulders, made me hard as a rock.

  Okay, so I was attracted to her. I’d question any man’s sexuality if he wasn’t, but that didn’t mean I could have her. So what if I wanked while envisioning her lush curves and full lips now and then, it still didn’t mean shit. She’s a stunning woman, with a rockin’ body, wicked ink and sexy style, it’s only natural for me to be attracted to her.

  I may have also beat the shit out of her last boyfriend after he dumped her. Again, that doesn’t mean anything. The prick had tried to slap her, she dodged his hand and kneed him in the balls, then he dumped her and had the nerve to try pressing charges for assault. I did what any good friend would do, I followed him and kicked his arse.

  Tay took the break-up in her stride and went on with life as if nothing had happened. Most chicks would have been a blubbering mess, filling their face with ice cream and chocolates, but not Tay. She just shrugged it off and said he was crap in the sack anyway.

  My client cleared her throat, clearly frustrated with my lack of attention towards her. “Is something wrong Nate? You don’t seem yourself today,” she commented in her fake sugar-coated voice.

  I plastered on my signature smirk and shot her a wink. “Had a late night is all.”

  She blushed at my insinuation. I may have implied I had gotten lucky, but I just couldn’t sleep. Tay consumed my every thought.

  I flicked my eyes over to Tay’s station where she was doing a complicated up-style for one of her regulars. She was wearing a tight, red, three quarter skirt today with a black blouse. Her hair was in a bun at the base of her slender neck, with just a few curls spilling out around her face.

  My client interrupted my perusal, “You feel up to having another late one tonight, Nate?”

  Normally I would have been up for it, she was hot, but I just wasn’t in the mood for the fake innocence today. “Thanks for the offer, babe, but I’ve already got plans.” I didn’t, but I knew enough about women to know it wasn’t wise to piss them off by acting like a dick. So I chose to let her down gently.

  “Oh,” she pouted. Usually—if I had been telling the truth—I would have offered to make it up to her another night, but looking at her now did absolutely nothing for me, so I changed the subject before she could make the offer.

  By the end of the week, I was suffering from a serious case of blue balls. This was the longest I’d gone without getting some, in a long arse time. I had blown off every one of my regular hook-ups when they’d called or texted to make plans.

  Something was seriously wrong with me.

  I was still plagued by thoughts of Tay, with a big swollen belly. I hadn’t had the guts to ask if she’d found a donor yet, because then she’d know I’d been listening in the other day. A frustrated growl escaped me as I ran my hand through my messy hair.

  Then I s
aw her walking towards me with a bright smile on her full deep red painted lips. My lips lifted into an answering grin—it was impossible not to when she was looking at you— as she stopped directly in front of me “Hey, pretty lady, what can I do for you?” I asked.

  Her smile faltered, but only for a split second. It was just long enough for me to see the slight hesitation in her eyes, but then it was gone and her confidence was back in full swing. “You busy tonight? I’ve got something I wanted to run by you.”

  My heart began to beat faster. “I’m all yours, Sugar.” I’d called her Sugar from the first time we met and it’d stuck. It fit her like a glove and her smile widened every time I said it.

  Her eyes sparkled with excitement, “Good. Come to my place about 7, I’ll feed you then we can talk.” And just like that, she was gone.

  I had no idea what she wanted to talk to me about, and I honestly didn’t care. I had something I needed to say too, so I guessed it was time for me to grow a pair and man up.

  Waiting for Nate to arrive, was pure torture. As I paced my kitchen, I was about to start chewing my thumbnail but stopped myself just before my teeth came down on the acrylic tip. Nate would kick my arse if I chipped them.

  I decided to make a quick batch of cookies to keep my hands busy while I waited. Dinner was already in the oven and I had a cheesecake setting in the fridge. I bake when I’m anxious.

  I pulled my apron back over my head and tied it behind my waist, then set to pulling everything I would need out of the cupboards. Once I had it all, I mixed all the dry ingredients then carefully cracked an egg into a separate bowl and whisked it with some melted butter.

  Five minutes later, I was spooning the dough onto a tray ready to go into my other oven. Yes, I have two ovens, I like to cook and apparently, I’m anxious a lot.

  I heard Nate knocking at the front door as I slid the tray into the preheated oven. “Coming” I called as I wiped my messy hands on my apron then took it off, hanging it on the hook on the back of the kitchen door. Then I made my way through it to go let Nate inside.

  I still had no idea how I was going to broach the subject that had been tormenting me all week. I had decided this afternoon that she was worth breaking my rule for. I’d always known it so I suppose I should really say that I’d finally admitted to myself that she was worth the risk.

  Worth the risk of things possibly getting messy and losing the best job I’d ever had.

  Worth the risk of possibly losing the friendships I’d built with my co-workers.

  And, more importantly, worth the risk of losing her. That was the real reason I’d stuck to my rule when it came to Tay. I’d known from the moment I’d laid eyes on her that she was special. That she was meant to be in my life.

  I’d clung to my rule for fear of stuffing it up with her and not having her around every day. Just seeing her smile made even my worst days manageable. I was no good at relationships. In fact, I hadn’t been in a real one, ever. I had so much going on, I hadn’t had time to deal with a full time girlfriend.

  I inhaled through my nose and caught the scent of cookies… Was she baking for me? Cookies weren’t the only thing I could smell; my mouth began to water but before I could pin down the delectable aroma, Tay swung open her front door.

  My mouth continued to water, but for a very different reason.

  “Hey, Sugar,” I said and watched the blush from my pet name for her sweep across her cheeks.

  “Hey,” she breathed back in response.

  Without another word, she stepped back out of the doorway and I walked into her quaint home. She closed the door behind me as I turned around to look at her.

  She was wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing at work today, a figure-hugging, emerald green, 50s style dress with a deep neckline that exposed her tattooed cleavage. The only difference was she’d removed her matching green platform heels and was now barefoot and had flour smudged on her cheek.

  I couldn’t help myself, now that I’d decided to put my fear of losing her aside, I had to touch her. Stepping toward her, I reached out and grazed my thumb across the smudge and wiped it away. I didn’t remove my hand though, she felt so soft under my fingertips. I cupped her jaw and ran my thumb across her cheek again.

  Tay shivered under my gentle touch and the caveman inside of me roared to life that I could elicit such a reaction from just a simple touch.

  She blinked at me several times before she spoke, or at least tried to. “I…umm…ah…”

  I cut her off before she could string the words together. “You had a little flour on your cheek. I got it.” I smiled and winked then enjoyed the view as she flushed again.

  “Oh, thank you.”

  I dropped my hand and felt the loss of contact immediately. My body was demanding I throw my original plan, to take it slow and ease her into this, out the window and claim her as mine, like I had wanted to when we first met.

  I cleared my throat. “So, there was something you wanted to talk about?” I asked.

  She shook her head as if to clear herself from a daze. “Umm yeah, I have something I wanted to run by you, but I think I should feed you first and possibly get you drunk.” She let out a humourless laugh and then cleared her throat. “Dinner is ready and so are the cookies I put in just before you got here. Hungry?” she asked.

  She started walking to what I assumed was her kitchen, and I followed. “Starved,” I assured her. What I left out was it wasn’t just food I hungered for.

  When we all had drinks together, we’d move it around to everyone’s house and sometimes to a local bar so I had been to Tay’s place before but I hadn’t really had the grand tour; I’d pretty much only seen the living room that opened onto her back deck and the bathroom.

  She pushed open a swinging door on the wall to my right and I followed her through before it swung shut again. Her kitchen was freaking huge, stainless steel appliances lined the bench top on one side and the other was bare. Two large ovens took up the far end and a big double sink and dishwasher took up the other.

  “Holy shit,” I mumbled as I looked around the room. It was bigger than my bedroom, and my bedroom wasn’t small. It fit my king-sized bed in there as well as a big set of drawers and a two-seater couch.

  “I like to cook; my mother was a pastry chef and my father was a baker. It’s in my blood,” she shrugged as she explained.

  I already knew this, but didn’t say anything. I just nodded my head, and watched as she pulled two trays of what looked like choc chip cookies from the oven, and slid them onto cooling racks. Then she opened the other oven and bent down at the waist so her perfectly round arse was staring me in the face as she removed a roast.

  “Need a hand with anything?” I asked on a hard swallow. I had to busy my hands or I was going to touch her again, and I couldn’t do that yet. Not until I explained myself and my intentions.

  Glancing at me over her shoulder, her hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. “I do, but not with dinner.” Then she winked, “I’ve got dinner under control.”

  I had no idea what that meant but I decided I didn’t care as long as she kept looking at me like that. Pulling out a chair from the small timber table in the opposite corner of the room, I took a seat and watched her dish out our dinner.

  She plated up way more than I could possibly eat but I made a good go of it. “That was sublime Sugar. I haven’t had a roast dinner in a long time,” I told her.

  One side of her mouth lifted in a small smile at my compliment, but then sadness took its place. “How’s your mum doing?” she asked.

  I sighed and considered changing the subject.

  Tay reached across the table and touched my hand, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, Nate. You don’t have to talk about it.”

  The sincerity in her eyes made me want to tell her everything, I wanted to tell her that mum wasn’t going to go into remission this time, and that the doctor had pretty much told us to prepare ourselves for the wors
t.

  I didn’t have to say it though, she read it in my expression. “Oh Honey, I’m sorry,” she gushed and she was out of her seat, wrapping her arms around me, in seconds.

  I wanted to punch something. Anything to release some of the pent up pain and frustration brewing inside of me. I swallowed down the emotions that were so close to the surface, I was on the verge of losing it. “She’s not doing so great right now.” I said softly.

  She squeezed me a little tighter for a split second before releasing me and taking a small step back. “I’m so sorry, Nate, I know how close you two are. When I lost my mother…” she paused and took a deep breath, “just know you can talk to me. I’ve been where you are now, and sometimes, just sometimes, it can help to get it off your chest.”

  “Thanks, Tay, but I’m good.” I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I stood up and she watched me as I began clearing our plates off the table. Tay didn’t say anything else, she just helped me gather the remaining dishes.

  When we were done, she seemed to sense that I needed some quiet time, so she began to stack the dishwasher while I rinsed off the plates for her.

  We finished cleaning the kitchen in comfortable silence then she walked over to the fridge and pulled out a cheesecake. The woman was going to kill me with food. “Sugar, that looks amazing, but I honestly couldn’t eat another bite,” I told her.

  She didn’t seem to mind my bluntness. “Oh, well okay then. How about a drink? I have a feeling you’re going to need one for what I’m about to ask you.”

  My eyebrow quirked at her statement. I was more than a little intrigued. “All right, I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

  She nodded and went to get out two round crystal glasses. Shit, she wasn’t kidding. She put a few ice cubes in the bottom of each glass and reached up into one of the cabinets, pulling down a bottle of Gentleman Jack.

  When she was done, she handed me one of the glasses and told me to come sit in the lounge where it was more comfortable. I followed her, as I had been doing all night and would happily do for as long as she’d let me.