Always Love Me: A Standalone Second Chance Romance

by Derrick, Zoey

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “We’ve never…I half expected you to be gone when I woke up.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Do you want me to leave?”

  “No, it’s just…Dirk, we’ve never spent an entire night together.”

  I think about it, and she’s absolutely right. Even when we were kids and she fell asleep in my bed, she was always gone by morning. No matter how hard I tried to stay awake and stop her from leaving, she always managed to get away.

  Then in New York, I left her.

  The house in Dutch, she left me.

  Then the boat.

  “Fuck, you’re right,” I breathe and hold her tightly against me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You meant it? What you said last night?”

  “I mean everything I say,” I tell her with a solemn look. “What part are you referring to?”

  “That you love me.”

  I smirk and lower my face to hers. “That depends.”

  “On?”

  “Whether or not you’re going to run away on me again.”

  She flinches. “I don’t plan to.”

  There is no corner of the earth she could disappear to that I wouldn’t chase after her. No matter how hard I try to deny it, I have and will always love this woman. But I need a more solid answer from her. A statement I know I won’t get, or at the very least, not without her fingers crossed behind her back as she promises me that she’ll never run away again.

  “Good enough,” I whisper and press my lips to hers.

  Her cell phone ringing cuts our kiss short. “We should get moving,” she says as she slides from under me and off the bed, heading for her purse. She finds her phone. “McKay,” she snaps. “Hi Dawson. What’s up?” She falls silent, listening to whatever he’s saying to her. “Alright, make sure Diem has the details. Though, I suspect he’s already gone to pick up Scott. I’ll be heading to the hospital in the next hour or so?” she says to him while looking at me. I nod. “Then from there, I have no idea. I haven’t talked to my uncle since I left last night.” She pauses, but I see the tears she finally managed to stifle threaten again. “He has a very difficult choice to make.” Her voice cracks, and my heart breaks. I can’t even begin to imagine what Randy is going through, and it makes me think about what Rebel said about Jaxon and my job.

  Being a fisherman is no joke and comes with a million and one risks for what can sometimes be a small reward.

  “Okay, yeah, sent it to Diem, and then copy me. I’ll take a look at it. Anything else?” She’s quiet as he speaks. “Okay, thanks.” She ends the call and tosses her phone on the bed.

  “Everything okay?” I can’t help asking.

  “Yeah, just some work stuff and Ryleigh’s flight plan. She’ll be here tomorrow.”

  “Ryleigh’s the lawyer from the gala, right? She was at Jaxon’s birth?” I ask to make sure we’re on the same page.

  “That’s her, my best friend. I haven’t seen her in almost a year,” she frowns. “I miss her,” she adds softly.

  “Why haven’t you seen her?” I ask, hoping to gain some insight into her friend.

  Her sad eyes meet mine. “It’s a really long story. But without stoking the fire of too many questions, she moved back home. New York wasn’t safe for her anymore.”

  Of course, that sparks a million more questions, and I raise an eyebrow at her.

  “She was a defense attorney, a damn good one. She got stuck with the wrong client a couple years ago.” Her voice cracks, and I get the impression talking about this isn’t going to do anything good for her emotions so I put my hands up in defense.

  I shake my head. “You don’t have to explain. I think I get it,” I say sadly, but I get the impression there is a lot more to the story than she has said, or maybe she can say.

  She nods. “Thank you.”

  “Of course.” I sit up, making sure I’m wrapped in the covers.

  “I’m going to jump in the shower.” She smiles. “Care to join me?” She winks.

  “Ahh, I would very much love to, but I’m afraid whatever you have in mind might not work so well,” I softly remind her.

  “Well, you need to take one, right?” she asks.

  “I do, but it’s a bit redundant, I don’t have clean clothes here.”

  She sighs. “Can we swing by your place before we go to the hospital?” She fidgets. “If you want to change, that is.”

  “I’d like to, yes,” I tell her. I am still not sure how comfortable I feel about her seeing or being in my place.

  “Then shower with me?” she offers again, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  “I’d like that.” I shift toward the side of the bed where I left my prosthesis last night. I kind of wish I had my blade with me, or at the very least, a crutch. I don my prosthesis without my sock, I’m not going far enough to warrant getting all situated just to walk to the bathroom. “Help me?” I ask her.

  She smiles and comes to stand next to me. I stand and hear the pressure release a little and feel the lining give. We’re both stark naked. My eyes roam down her body, and my already hard cock jumps slightly. She doesn’t seem to notice, and I take a step. Walking without the full setup isn’t difficult, it’s keeping myself together, and that’s why I need her.

  “Stay close,” I smile and take a step. She moves with me and we walk into the bathroom.

  The first thing I do is examine the shower. It’s a walk-in with a very large rain style showerhead set in the center of the wall. There is river rock at the base of it and I feel a little more confident about standing and moving. “Start it up and then come back to me.” I smirk. She nods and steps into the shower, finding the knobs and turning them on. She makes some adjustments, and then she’s back at my side.

  For the first time since I first lost my leg, I’m going to have someone help me, and a small part of me hates it, but she never loses patience with me, and she’s there every step of the way as I lean on her to make my way into the shower.

  Chapter 35

  Skylar

  I never thought I would enjoy waking up next to someone. Man or woman. I’ve never done it. Not until last night. Granted, I’ve fallen asleep before and woke up long before my bed partner did, but this was completely different. He’s still here, and he’s awake.

  I’m not sure which part of me thought he was going to be gone when I woke up. The part that expected it or the part that wanted it.

  But seeing him with Jax this morning, and the way he lit up when Jax woke him made the idea of waking up next to him every day feel normal and easy. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that.

  I don’t get time to dwell on it before leaving the hotel.

  After our shower, I check in with Diem. He lets me know Scott made it to town. He plans to stay with Melody and Jaxon before bringing them by the hospital later on. Melody plans to find somewhere Jax can burn off some of his little boy energy instead of him being cooped up in a hospital all day.

  With everything arranged, Dirk and I set off in his truck for his place.

  There’s a small bit of excitement at knowing that he’s relenting and taking me there. I understand all too well why he didn’t want to bring me to his place last night. But I can’t help wondering if he’s ever brought a woman into his place. Lord knows, I’ve never brought anyone home to my penthouse. I’ve either used their place, hotel rooms, or my second apartment. A large part of that was simply to hide my wealth and identity from the people I slept with.

  “How much farther?” I ask as Puget Sound comes into view and we run out of real estate. I can’t help wondering if we’re taking a ferry.

  “Not long —three minutes, maybe,” he says flatly.

  As he drives, I try to recall the addresses Dawson dug up a couple years ago, but I only ever remember a P.O. Box as his address. One here in Seattle, and then the business one in Anchorage.

  I’m not surprised by the boat that comes into view as he turns
down a road along the Sound. I see the Bearded Bean II docked, but I don’t expect what else I see when we pull up.

  A rather large, very beautiful two-story houseboat sits tied to the other side of the wide dock and anchored to the barrier wall. “Is this yours?” I ask in awe. I can’t pull my eyes away from the two-story wooden beauty before me. The side I can see from here has very large, glass garage doors that appear to be functional. Beyond the windows, a living room with a couch and coffee table. On the floor above appears to be a bedroom. While it’s grand as houseboats go, if it’s more than one bedroom, I’ll be surprised.

  “It is, it’s my home.”

  “Always on the water,” I tease.

  “Always.” He turns off the truck. “Want to see her?” I nod, still staring at the beauty before me. “Come on then,” he chuckles and opens his door. I follow after him. There’s a light breeze coming off the water, but it’s warm outside and the breeze feels good.

  As we walk, the Bearded Bean looks haunting in a way. A reminder of the last time I saw her. She’s dormant, and it’s very clear no one is on her at the moment. Everything is tied down good and tight as she floats gently on the water.

  I turn toward the house, following after Dirk as he comes to an opening in the patio on the wall side of the boat, the part I couldn’t see compliments of the barrier wall. What I also didn’t see was an extension of the dock running between the wall and Dirk’s home. He steps over then turns, offering me his hand, and I take it. I step onto his boat and take in the beautiful front door. I smile as he unlocks it. “Do you actually take this thing out on the water?” I ask, curious.

  “No. She’s permanently anchored here.” He steps back from the door and grabs my hand, taking me to the end of the boat, opposite the dock, and he points down the side of her. I follow his direction and look to see a very beautiful catamaran tied off to the house in what appears to be an extension of the house. “That I take on the water.”

  “Wow,” I breathe. I’ve seen some beautiful boats in my day, but this one takes the cake. It’s a gorgeous catamaran that could easily be sailed for months. There’s a cabin that looks like it rivals my second apartment in New York. With two jet skis at the back and things strewn on the deck, she looks like a well-used and loved boat. “That’s gorgeous,” I tell him. His eyes meet mine, and there’s a shimmer of something in his eyes, like I’m missing something when it comes to the catamaran. “What?” I ask.

  He smirks and shakes his head. “Later.”

  I shrug it off.

  We go back to the door he already unlocked, and he opens it for me, ushering me inside.

  The entire first floor is a wide-open space. No walls except for the exterior ones. The garage doors are on both sides of the boat. There are tracks for each that run along the ceiling. We’ve stepped into the living room that I saw in the windows. It’s beautiful in here. To the right is the living room and behind that is the kitchen which is wide open and runs almost the entire length of the boat itself, with full-sized modern appliances in stainless steel and a long island with lots of bar height chairs that run along it on this side. To the left of the door is a dining room table with an L-shaped bench running along the front wall and the wall to my left. There are several other chairs surrounding it. Clearly, he does a lot of work here because there is a laptop and papers scattered all over it.

  “If I’d known I would be bringing you here…”

  “Stop, I don’t mind,” I tell him.

  He nods.

  A beautiful wrought iron staircase separates everything and leads to the second floor. Which is where he heads. “Want to come up?” he asks.

  “I’d love to,” I tell him and follow after him.

  Once at the top of the stairs, my one bedroom theory is squashed when I see three doors. One is clearly a bathroom and the other leads into a bedroom that would be above the dining room. To our left and over the kitchen, a set of double doors lead into a very well-lived in bedroom. The bed is unmade, there are clothes on the floor that he starts to pick up as he leads me into his room.

  There’s a king-size bed to my left, centered on the wall with two windows on either side of it. They’re higher on the wall, short and wide. Opposite the bed, a huge bookshelf-entertainment center with a large flat screen in the center and drawers to the right of the TV and a very tall wardrobe type door take up most of the wall. Glancing around the room, I notice there is no closet and no additional doors. So, the bathroom I saw is the only one, at least up here.

  My breath catches as I take in the view. The entire wall overlooking the sound is made of glass garage doors, giving you the perfect view of the sound. Beyond the doors is a patio much like the one by the door, though it’s slightly longer and sitting on it are a table and chairs on one end, along with a grill and then on the other end is a hot tub. “Wow,” I murmur.

  “You like?” he asks.

  I nod. “Very much.”

  He goes over to the far side of his bed and opens a door that leads onto the patio. “Go on out. I’ll change, and we can go.”

  I step outside and the breeze from earlier cools my face. The water is relatively calm despite the breeze and it’s beautiful. I notice to my left is a set of stairs and I look down to see that they go down to a small landing that you can either climb onto the catamaran or go into the house. Judging by the distance, it’s the door I saw to the left of the kitchen. A way up here without going through the house, hence the grill. I move to stand along the railing between the table and hot tub. I look down and see a solid wall beneath me, and I wonder what’s there because the door in the kitchen was right at the wall. There’s more to the boat that I didn’t get to see when we came in downstairs.

  I stay out on the deck until Dirk returns in fresh jeans and a t-shirt that fits him and his muscles perfectly. I lick my lips. My pussy warms and desire washes through me at the idea of peeling it off him. I keep myself in check. I really would like to get to the hospital, and I don’t want to push him into doing something here, especially knowing what he said last night.

  “It’s gorgeous, Xavier.” I smile widely at him.

  “It’s my own little slice of paradise.”

  “And yet a stone’s throw away from work,” I say teasingly.

  He chuckles. “And Randy and Kathleen.” His voice cracks on her name.

  “Really?” I ask.

  He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the stairs that lead down to the kitchen and the boat. It’s then that I notice the Roving Rogue a dock down and at least one other boat on the other side of it. Dirk points up to the shore at the very beautiful house that is Randy and Kathleen’s place. “Well shit,” I chortle. “I had no idea.”

  He frowns at me.

  The truth is, Randy and Kathy bought this place while I was finishing college and Bearded Bean was growing and expanding so much that they moved to Seattle from Portland. I’ve never been in their house.

  “Bearded Bean owns three docks along here. It’s where five of the boats are housed in the off-season. Though, two of them are out doing salmon tendering in Alaska.” I narrow my eyes in confusion, not understanding. “I’m usually up there too,” he adds, “but BB needed some work. We just got her out of dry dock a couple days ago. We were supposed to take her out yesterday and test her out, but…”

  “We should get going,” I say after a few heartbeats.

  “Yeah,” he nods absently and turns back toward the door. I follow after him.

  When we’re inside, he turns and locks the door behind me. “Are you alright?” I ask, unable to stop myself.

  He shakes his head, looking out the window overlooking the sound. “I feel like I’m losing my mother all over again,” he murmurs. “When I came home, after losing my leg, Randy was there for me, and Kathleen treated me like I was a part of their family. It’s how I ended up working for them.” His voice cracks with emotion, but he doesn’t stop talking. “I stayed with them for a while until I could get on my fee
t. Randy taught me everything I know about this industry and helped me get XT Logistics up and running. Kathleen was there every step of the way.” My heart breaks at his words. “She was always there to see us off, to see us return. She never gave up on me.” Now I feel like a jackass. He sighs. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

  I walk up behind him and slide my hands around his sides and to his stomach. I rest my head against his back, holding him to me.

  He puts his hand over mine and holds me there. “Neither does Randy,” he murmurs.

  “We should go to him,” I whisper.

  He grabs my hand and pulls it up to his lips where he kisses my palm. The gentle scratch of his beard tickles against my flesh. He pulls away from me and turns around. “Tonight?”

  I narrow my eyes, unsure of what he means. “What about it?” I ask.

  “Am I staying with you again?”

  I sigh. I want to say no. To put an end to this before it can take off again, but I can’t. “I’d like that.”

  “Good, give me a few more minutes, let me pack some stuff.”

  I nod as he moves around toward the drawers near the TV. I watch as he grabs an olive green backpack from inside the cabinet, and he starts opening drawers, pulling out a few things. Then he disappears into the hallway, I can only assume it’s the bathroom, and he comes back with the pack on his back and a crutch in his hand. I smile softly. “Makes moving easier sometimes,” he says shifting it in his hand.

  “I don’t mind you using me,” I smirk.

  “Not if I have to pee in the middle of the night.”

  I giggle. “True.” I look him up and down in his jeans, tight t-shirt under a hoodie that has some logo over the breast I can’t quite make out from here, and sneakers. “You good?” he asks.

  “Yup, just admiring the view.”

  I believe he actually blushes, but he turns before I can really see it. I follow after him as he descends the stairs.

  Chapter 36

  Xavier