Hate at First Sight

by Penelope Bloom

  My eyebrows raise in surprise and he pulls back, frowning at me, seeking out an answer with his eyes. As if he reads my thoughts and my doubts, he takes my hands in his.

  “Lindsey,” he says. “Letting you go was the biggest mistake of my life, and I’m ready to spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you’ll just let me. I’ll beg if you make me,” he adds without a hint of humor in his expression.

  He’s serious, I realize. As much as a mischievous part of me is tempted to see what a begging Chris Savage would look like, the rest of me is screaming to end his misery and just scream with happiness that we don’t have to be apart anymore. I force myself to find a happy middle ground, keeping the smile from my face just because he deserves to squirm a little longer after everything he put me through.

  “Jeez,” I say. “I don’t know. I mean, you come out here and hunt me down like some kind of psycho fan. I know my blog is impressive, but this really is over the top.”

  He looks so confused I wish I could snap a picture and hold on to it whenever I need a good belly laugh, but I can’t hold back the smile anymore.

  His smile grows with mine, eyes darting across my features as he takes in my face and sees all he needs to, but if he had any doubt, I stand on my toes and lean as close to his ear as I can manage to whisper over the sound of the pouring rain. “I reserve the right to make you beg in the future, but right now, I’m just happy you’re back.”

  He picks me up by the hips like I'm weightless, face breaking into the biggest and most genuine smile I've ever seen on him. "We're pregnant," he shouts into the rain like he's making sure all the animals and plants know it. "We're having a baby!" He yells.

  I laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him cradle me to his chest where I can nuzzle my head into him. The rain patters against me, cool and refreshing, filling my nose with fresh smells that make me think Spring isn’t far away. A time for new beginnings. New chapters. Happy chapters.

  “If you want to ever meet our baby, you should probably get us inside before the lightning starts,” I suggest, even though I’m reluctant to ever let this moment end.

  Being here in his arms in such a wild moment feels like the kind of thing a person could spend their entire life hoping to find. One of those rare moments that never loses its luster, and only grows more perfect the longer its held on to. This is my moment. I’m in it, living it, and breathing it all in. But my swollen belly and the man clutching me to his chest make me sure it’s only the first of many.

  He starts walking toward his truck, but I tap his chest to get his attention. “Maybe you can just carry me back to my place,” I suggest with a slightly embarrassed smile. “You kind of owe me some special treatment, you know.”

  He smirks. “You have no idea.”

  I tuck my cheek down, resting it against his muscular chest and feel my cheeks burn beneath the cool rainwater. I let the gentle sway of his steps lull me into a state of tranquillity, I put all of my focus into memorizing every last detail of this moment Taking mental snapshots of every smell and sensation so when I revisit this memory a hundred thousand times over the rest of my life, I’ll have it all bottled up like a little treasure. There’s only one thing that could make it more perfect, I realize.

  Part of me thinks I shouldn’t rush it, that I am going to make myself look desperate or weak by admitting what I’m about to say to him so quickly, but this is our fresh start. I nearly lost everything with Chris because I waited too long to tell him the truth once, and I’m not about to make the same mistake again.

  “I love you,” I say.

  He stops in his tracks, looking down at me. “What?” he asks.

  “I’m sorry,” I blurt, “I just wanted to be open and—”

  “No,” he says. “I just couldn’t hear you over the rain. What’d you say?”

  My cheeks grow even hotter now. Really, Chris? Get your damn ears checked! “I love you,” I say again.

  His face grows serious. Intense. Like he just closed himself off to the rest of the world and I’m the only thing in existence to him. “I loved you first.”

  I laugh. It’s not a girly, dainty laugh, but one that comes from my nose and throat in equal parts. Leave it to him to turn this into a contest. Well, two can play at that game. “Past tense,” I say. “It doesn’t count unless it’s present tense, you know.”

  He grins. “I love you so much it hurts. So much that I couldn’t stop even when I thought you had betrayed me. So much that when I found out what Alec did, I probably dislocated his jaw.”

  I smile. “You’re going to have to tell me more about the beating you gave Alec later, when you want to get me in the mood.”

  He laughs. “You mean you’re still not in the mood? Shit.”

  “Chris. I’m pregnant. My hormones are going berserk, and apparently for me, that means I’m so horny that—” I clear my throat. Honesty is good, but there’s a point of over-sharing I probably should hold back from. Besides, he can figure out the rest, which he apparently does, because instead of taking me back toward my house, he changes direction and heads for his old cabin.

  22

  Epilogue - Lindsey

  Eight Months Later

  We’re in the same hotel where Chris and I came for his book tour. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel coming back here at first because some of the memories are bittersweet, but it feels right now that I’m here. Besides, it means Amelia and Brooke got to travel outside the country for the first time in their lives. We were even able to bring my dad with us, who now has complete freedom to travel and move around because Chris is covering all his bills. I tried to tell Chris I didn’t want him to feel like he had to fix all my problems with his money, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and bit by bit, he has been quietly taking away all my financial burdens. As much as I appreciate it, I still make a point of striving to grow my blog and readership so I never become lazy and take his help for granted. Besides, whether the money is good or not, my blog has always been a labor of love, and I’m never going to stop working on it.

  I wasn't sure how bringing a three-month-old on such a long flight would go, but we used Chris' private plane, so it wasn't difficult to breastfeed and walk around with Barrett, who we call Bear for short. Chris wanted to make his legal name Bear, which I thought was cute, but a little too much. We eventually compromised on Barrett, so if he when he's applying for jobs someday, he has something a little more professional to put on his resume.

  Lindsey and Amelia each have rooms across the hall from us, which is great because they both love watching Bear, so Chris and I have been able to have some fun nights out while my sisters babysit. I still don’t like to be gone from him for more than a couple hours though. I tell my sisters it’s because I don’t want him to get used to bottle feeding, but it’s really just because I worry something will go wrong and he’ll need his mommy.

  It’s amazing how quickly the maternal instinct kicks in. Before the pregnancy, I didn’t even dare to think about having kids. I felt like I was so far from being in a position where it’d make sense to have a baby. Even with Ryan, I never really thought about it, except to feel a little bit of dread at the idea of having a kid with him. Somehow that didn’t tip me off that marriage was a bad idea.

  Now, Bear is only three months old, and there’s already nothing I wouldn’t do to keep my little guy safe and happy. He has Chris’ brown eyes, and it’s hard to place exactly who he looks like more. Sometimes I think he has my eyebrows and a similar shaped mouth, but when he’s cooing and making faces at us, all of his expressions remind me so much of Chris it is uncanny.

  Chris is leaning back in a chair in our room, dozing with Bear sleeping on his chest. It’s an overcast day, but ever since my reunion with Chris in the rain, I always seem to be in an unusually good mood when it rains. I lean back on our bed, watching my boys nap together with a swelling in my heart that I’m still not used to.

  Chris' book has been an inte
rnational bestseller for months now, but he's not living the rock star author life anymore. He's just my rockstar, my personal celebrity that I get to keep all to myself. His calmer lifestyle has actually made him a much more boring target for the paparazzi too. There is still the occasional photographer trying to sneak a picture or fans who recognize him and want a selfie, but I've noticed the number dwindling week by week, except for when we first had Bear.

  We’ve actually been living in Chris’ cabin together. It’s small and he’s constantly trying to fix things around the house that are broken or need a little attention, but it already feels like home to me. It’s also so close to my sisters that I don’t feel like I left them behind, and we’re still within driving distance when we want to visit my dad, but with Chris’ help, my dad is actually able to visit us now. The new freedom to move around has brought back some of his old self. I think after feeling confined for so long, just being able to get out and move around gave him some of his old confidence back.

  Chris even paid for Amelia’s beauty school, which she is loving every minute of. He’s also loaning Brooke the money to start her own restaurant, even though he offered to just give her the money, she was too proud to take anything but a loan.

  In some ways it’s almost sad. Our poverty held me together with my sisters, so it never felt strange that we all still lived together. Now, with Chris’ help, I can feel us moving off in our own directions. It’s for the best though, and I know we’ll all still stay close, no matter where their careers take them.

  I hold my engagement ring up to the light and watch the diamonds sparkle. Chris’ proposal wasn’t some grand, elaborate gesture. It was spontaneous, like the need to propose just hit him and he couldn’t wait to ask me. In so many ways, that was sweeter than any orchestrated proposal would’ve ever seemed.

  We were at a park, just watching the river and letting the beauty of everything around us soak in. He had said something that made me laugh, I don’t remember what, and then he looked at me with this sudden intensity. The next thing I knew, he was on one knee. He didn’t even have a ring yet, he just said he knew at that moment and he couldn’t wait a second to ask.

  I sigh and smile at the memory, sinking back into the bed and wondering what I did to deserve all this. I can barely contain my excitement when I think about our wedding, which is tomorrow. Chris found a lighthouse in Germany that looked absolutely stunning from the pictures. He came out and saw it in person to make sure it was perfect, but said I have to wait until the wedding day to see it. After Ryan and Claire got married at the lighthouse I always thought I wanted to get married in front of, the place lost its appeal, so when Chris suggested finding our own lighthouse, I immediately agreed.

  We still have some healing to do after the rift of the way things almost ended in Germany, but I know we’ll make it. I know this time, nothing will come between us.

  23

  Epilogue - Chris

  Two Years Later

  The sound of the woods on the mountainside are so familiar to me now. I left behind the mansions and the lifestyle that came with my money so long ago that it’s almost hard to remember anything else. We have our quiet life on our mountain. Me, Lindsey, and Bear.

  I’m by myself right now, but I usually am early in the morning like this. I like to get up before Lindsey and Bear do. I walk out here to my parents’ graves and I just sit with them while the sun rises and the woods wake up. I don’t often talk to them, but today, I feel like I have to say something, so I came out extra early while the morning air still has a bite of cold to it.

  I lean against the tree nearest their graves, forearms resting on my knees. “You know,” I say. “I thought when I wrote a real book that mattered, I was doing some kind of honor to your memories. I thought about you, mom, holding me when I was a baby and stroking my forehead, dreaming about my future and the great things I could do. I felt like I’d finally validated you somehow.

  “I realize the book wasn’t it, though. I did something bigger, something you’d be more proud of. I found Lindsey. We’ve made it work. We have a son. The book is nice, but I know now you’d be more proud of the other stuff. Hell, I know I am. Oh, and Lydia and I are finally getting along. I figured you’d appreciate that.”

  I stand, dusting off my pants and heading back to the cabin. There’s a stronger sense of peace than I’ve ever felt settling down into my chest as I make the short walk back.

  I let myself back into the cabin quietly. We’ve renovated some. I may be into the quaint lifestyle, but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the millions and millions I have collecting dust a little bit. I find Lindsey still sleeping on my side of the bed. I quickly learned that if I get out of bed, it only takes her a few minutes to migrate to my side. I asked her about it one day, and she admitted that she misses my smell, and she says my side smells like me. The funny part is she makes her way over there even if she’s dead asleep.

  I slide into bed behind her, wrapping my arms around her small frame and kissing the nape of her neck.

  She stirs awake, turning to smile sleepily at me. “Morning, baby,” she says. She raises an eyebrow when she feels me press myself against her backside, pinning my erection against her. “Oh,” she says suddenly. “Morning wood.”

  I roll her to face me, looking into her hazel eyes. “I want to try for another baby,” I say.

  She raises an eyebrow. “Well, you certainly brought the right tool for the job.”

  I chuckle. “Is that a yes?”

  She kisses me, pulling back and chewing on her lip in that sexy way she always does. “Of course. Kids are expensive though. That’s more diapers. Wipes. More baby clothes…”

  I can’t help but smile at her frugal nature. That’s such a Lindsey thing to worry about and completely adorable. One day she’ll get used to having unlimited funds for her needs… until then I’ll just keep spoiling her.

  “I think we’ll manage,” I say, pushing her down to her back and climbing on top of her. “Now let’s make another baby before our little Bear wakes up.”

  “You know it usually takes more than one try, right?”

  “I’m hoping it does.”

  Bonus Book: Baby for the Beast

  I didn’t know his secrets when he knocked me up…

  I only knew the heat of his touch,

  The bite of command in his voice,

  He demanded submission. Complete surrender.

  For one night, I was someone else. Then I learned the truth.

  Neela

  It’s just one blind date. One silly night to get my sister and my friend off my back. They say I’m letting my best years slip by and that I need a man in my life.

  Me, though? I’m happy on my own. I have a good job and my life is fine. A little boring sometimes. Maybe just a little depressing and lonely here and there, but it’s comfortable.

  But that one little blind date turns my life upside down.

  All I gave him was a single night, just a few hours of recklessness. A few moments of release. For just a night, I was someone else.

  The scary part?

  I’m starting to like the person I am with him, and my comfortable, easy life seems a whole lot less appealing now.

  Enzo

  I’ve always done my job. My duty. I’ve sacrificed my life for the Luciani crime family, so what difference does it make if I have to kidnap some girl?

  Her father is on the verge of cracking a case against my father and our family wide open, so using his daughter as leverage is our best shot.

  My job is simple. Meet the girl for a “date”. Tempt her back to my place and hold her until her dad cooperates.

  It should have been simple.

  But then I saw her. Those wide, innocent eyes and that mischievous little smile. Those curves barely hidden under her dress that practically begged to be explored and worshipped.

  She was a goddess. Sexy innocence made flesh.

  In a single moment, I knew this girl wa
s going to ruin everything. I’d break promises for her. I’d forsake my duty for her. I’d start a war for her if I had to.

  I’ll make her mine, no matter the cost.

  Also By Penelope Bloom

  Baby for the Brute

  Baby for the Beast

  Savage (#20 ranked Amazon bestselling novel for February)

  The Dom’s Bride (#40 ranked Amazon bestselling novel for January)

  (Babies for the Doms)

  Knocked Up and Punished (top 21 Best Seller)

  Knocked Up by the Master (top 12 Best Seller)

  Knocked Up by the Dom (USA Today Bestselling Novel and #8 ranked Bestseller)

  (The Citrione Crime Family)

  His (Book 1)

  Mine (Book 2)

  Dark (Book 3)

  Punished (top 40 Best Seller)

  Single Dad Next Door (top 12 Best Seller)

  The Dom’s Virgin (top 22 Best Seller)

  Punished by the Prince (top 28 Best Seller)

  Single Dad’s Virgin (top 10 Best Seller)

  Single Dad’s Hostage (top 40 Best Seller)

  The Bodyguard

  Miss Matchmaker

  1

  Neela

  I take a deep breath, stripping off my latex gloves carefully to make sure I don’t splatter blood on my scrubs. I just finished a two-hour surgery on a hundred pound husky and removed a tumor the size of a golf ball from his stomach. There’s a glow of satisfaction in my chest. All the time and hard work I put into becoming a veterinarian feels worth it when I’m exhausted after a successful surgery. Sending sick pets home with medication or trying to convince owners to spend the money their pets need to get healthy is often more frustrating than therapeutic. At least in the surgery room, I’m able to get my hands directly on the problem and fix it.