by Mazzy King
Sam looks away, out the window.
“But if you don’t, get ready for us to fight fire with fire,” I go on. “You’re not the only person who knows important people. You’d do very well not to forget that.”
The same way I felt Sam was bluffing before, I’m certainly bluffing now. I don’t know any high-powered lawyers, except for ones in the military. I don’t know any case workers.
All I know is how much I love Roxie and how hard I’ll fight for her, and I channel that through my unwavering stare.
“So,” I continue quietly. “What’s it going to be?”
7
Roxie
“So, as we talked about this morning, I’m going to have you stay in the admin role until we get your replacement hired, but you’ll be paid at your new salary effective today,” Sunny tells me at the end of the day with a smile. “And while you train your replacement, I’ll have you start training as a consultant, so things are going to be a little hectic for a few weeks.”
“I can handle it,” I say, returning her smile. “Thank you, Sunny. I still can’t wrap my head around all of this.”
She puts her hand on my shoulder. “I knew from the second I met you that you were meant for more. You’ve done a fantastic job of helping me run a tight ship here, and your replacement is going to have big shoes to fill. That’s why I’d like you to help me hire them. You really know what it takes to do this job—I need someone just like you.”
“My pleasure,” I reply. “I—I wish I could adequately describe what this means to me, and for me, and my little girl.”
Sunny offered me a permanent position this morning—design consultant, with senior design consultant inside of six months. It means benefits, vacation, sick leave.
And a raise. A huge raise. A salary I never in my life thought I’d ever attain.
It means my life will change for the better. It means I can provide even more for my daughter—if I get her back.
The lump in my throat returns, but I swallow it down.
I’ve been in a strange place today. It’s odd to get the best news of your life when you’re dealing with a terrible problem and your heart feels like it weighs five hundred pounds.
But Maddox was right—I am strong. And I will never stop fighting for Lexi, no matter what Sam throws my way.
It’s hard not to hate him, but I can’t bring myself to, not really. I can’t make room for hate in my heart. And he did give me Lexi. I can’t regret the time I spent with him. But I will never forget all the pain he caused me.
In a way, I have to thank him for that, too. Because if he hadn’t treated me so horribly, I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be treated so wonderfully.
I wish I was going home to my little girl tonight, but the man I love is just as good.
I called him at lunch to tell him the news, and he was thrilled for me, and said we needed to celebrate. I don’t really feel like celebrating, but he sounded so happy for me that I can’t rain on his parade.
On the way home, I call him to see if he wants me to pick anything up for dinner.
“No way,” he says firmly, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “Just drive safe and hurry home. I’ve got it all taken care of.”
I’m intrigued. He’s a pretty romantic guy, but not in a predictable way. His romantic gestures are always full of thought and meaning and sentimentality.
When I pull into the driveway, he’s waiting on the front porch for me, holding two glasses of champagne with fat red strawberries in them.
I smile, walking toward him. “Well, this celebration is off to a good start.”
“Congratulations, Ms. Design Consultant,” he murmurs, handing me a glass and then pulling me close. He kisses me slowly, with a hint of depth that makes my toes curl.
“Thank you,” I murmur back. “How about you take me inside and give me some more of those kisses?”
“I plan to kiss you quite thoroughly later on,” he says huskily. “Everywhere. But first, dinner.”
He takes me by the hand and walks backward into the house.
I smile. “And what’s on the menu?”
He halts just inside the door and kisses me again. “The Lexi Special.”
My breath catches at the mention of my daughter. “The—what?”
“Mommy!”
From the kitchen, my little girl races toward me. I’m hardly aware of Maddox quickly taking my glass of champagne from my fingers as I gasp and kneel to gather her in my arms.
“I missed you, Mommy,” Lexi says, her arms tight around my neck.
I can’t hold the tears at bay. “I missed you more, baby. I missed you so much.”
“Come and see what we made for your special dinner!” she exclaims, grabbing my hand.
I turn huge eyes to Maddox. “How—”
“Later,” he says, his hand on my lower back. “I promise. Later.”
The Lexi Special turns out to be macaroni and cheese and sliced hot dogs. Maddox winks at me. “She chose the menu for this extra-special occasion. But I promise to take you out for a real fancy dinner.”
I smile, brushing tears from my face. “This is better than anything I could imagine.”I spend the meal eating with one hand so I can hold Lexi’s hand with the other. I ask careful questions about her time with her father, and other than her saying she never really saw him but spent most of her time with his housekeeper Linda, nothing terribly concerns me. She seems like her normal, happy, exuberant self.
But I wonder how long I get to keep her.
After a night of snuggling and ice cream and movies, Lexi’s finally ready for bed, and demands that both Maddox and I read her a story together. Once she’s out cold, Maddox grabs the rest of the champagne from the kitchen and brings it into the bedroom.
We each take a swig and waste no time having our own “celebration.”
Our clothes are off in the blink of an eye, and true to his promise, he plants kisses all over my body before spreading my thighs wide and sliding his tongue all over me. I reach down to brace a hand on his head as he grips my thighs tight, his mouth and tongue relentless as he eats and licks and sucks me. Before long, I’m coming hard on his tongue, managing to hold in my cry of pleasure so that only a soft whimper comes out.
“Now, fuck me, now,” I beg him in a whisper as he leans over me, bracing himself on his forearms.
“Yes, ma’am,” he whispers back, reaching down to slide his thick, heavy cock deep inside my greedy, wet pussy.
I cry out into his shoulder, biting down. He grunts at the sensation, but it seems to spur him on until he fucks me with hard, strong thrusts that rock the bed. He lowers his mouth to mine to swallow my cries, never slowing his blistering pace until we explode at the same time. I feel him throbbing inside me as we lie motionless together, trying to catch our breath.
“Next time, I’ll take my time,” he says in my ear, and I giggle. “I was a little out of my mind for you.”
“I’m always out of my mind for you,” I murmur back.
Once we clean up a little and situate ourselves in bed, passing the bottle back and forth, I ask, “So how did you make it happen? I know you did.”
He shrugs. “I dropped in on your ex. We had a little talk.”
The blood drains from my face. “Oh, god.”
“It was civil,” he promises. “Well, as civil as talking to that asshole can be. He’s not going to pursue the lawyers and the case workers. I told him to keep his money too.”
“You—you did? Did you tell him I was going to get a raise?”
“No. I told him I was going to pay for Lexi’s daycare.” Maddox reaches out to twine our fingers together. “I don’t want to overstep, Roxie. But I want to provide for you, for Lexi. I’m not some fancy, bigtime financial guru like him—”
“Thank God,” I say emphatically.
He smiles. “But I do work hard, and I am smart with money. And I have two incomes—Roy’s and the Army. We’ll never want for anything.
I promise. If you’re okay with me pitching in.”
I bite my lip. “Only if you want to. Not because you feel like you should.”
“Of course I want to,” he says softly, then tips my chin up to look directly into my eyes. “I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while now. I love you, Roxie. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. And I love Lexi. Like she’s my daughter. I would do anything for you both. Anything at all.”
Tears sting my eyes as I reach up to cup his cheek. “What a coincidence, Maddox, because I love you too. So much.”
He sets the bottle on the nightstand and pulls me into his arms. He’s quiet for a long time, then he says, “Thank you.”
“For what? I should be thanking you.”
“For saving me,” he says softly. “I was lost. I’ve been lost, since I came home. Until I found you and Lexi. What you’ve brought to my life…changed my life. In a way it couldn’t possibly have changed without you. I have a purpose now—making you both happy as long as you want me around.”
I push up on my elbow so I can gaze into his eyes. “Then I hope you’re up for the task. Because we want you around forever.”
“Roger that, ma’am,” he murmurs, and captures my lips with his.
Epilogue
Maddox
Five months later
My sister Blair sticks her head inside the kitchen. “We need more spoons for the ice cream,” she announces.
Roxie pulls open a drawer and takes out a handful, handing them over. “Is Lexi a mess yet?”
Blair winks, taking the spoons. “I made sure to tuck a napkin on her, so the damage to that pretty pink lace dress is minimal.”
Roxie sighs and smiles. “Thanks, Blair. You’re a lifesaver.”
Blair’s already ducking out of the kitchen. “No prob!”
My sister and Roxie hit it off like old friends, and I love to see it. Blair couldn’t be more delighted for us, and Axel told me in no uncertain terms how glad he is I found someone who changed my outlook on life. Roxie and I aren’t getting married until next year, but Lexi’s already crazy about her Aunt Blair and Uncle Axel.
We found a little two-story with a big backyard in the suburbs and moved in early fall. Now, a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, we’re celebrating Lexi’s sixth birthday with our family and friends in our new place for the first time. The weather’s holding out nicely, but the chill is in the air, and we squeezed in the outdoor party just in the nick of time.
Our lanky golden retriever puppy, Bilbo, gallops around the backyard as small children from preschool, including Major’s son Felix, chase him between bites of cake and ice cream. A peek out the back window at the birthday girl herself tells me that her new pink lace birthday dress is a lost cause.
“Oh, boy,” Roxie says, following my gaze. “Well, it was pretty while it lasted.”
“It’s still pretty,” I say defensively. “It can be cleaned. Probably.”
She grins at me. “You’re such a good dad.”
I never get tired of hearing that.
Seline Belle, Roxie’s ex-roommate and my buddy Rocco’s fiancée, comes to the back door next, swiping a hand across her brow then holding it out. “Hard seltzer me, please.”
Chuckling, Roxie reaches into the fridge to retrieve a can. “Things going well, Auntie Sel?”
Seline cracks open the can and holds up a finger while she takes a long slug, then looks at both of us plaintively. “Why do they have so much energy?” she asks, bewildered, then returns to the fray as from somewhere in the depths of the yard, Lexi screams, “Auntee Sel! Come on!”
Roxie and I exchange a glance, then bust out laughing.
A few minutes later, Major bursts into the kitchen from the yard. “Welp. My son just managed to feed Bilbo an entire piece of birthday cake. Sorry in advance.”
I cringe. “At least the cake isn’t chocolate.”
He nods. “Small favors. Whew, I’m exhausted. That’s a lot of energy out in that backyard right now.”
“So we’ve heard,” Roxie says.
“I hear you, brother,” I say wearily at the same time.
Roxie laughs. “I thought you two were supposed to be Army strong.”
“We are,” Major insists. “But kid energy can topple even the strongest.”
“Aw, poor Majie.” Roxie pats him on the shoulder. “Seriously. Are you all right? If you ever need us to babysit Felix for you, you know all you have to do is ask.”
“We’d love to have him,” I add. “That’s my little buddy right there.”
Major is a great dad, too. He cares for Felix full-time since his ex-wife decided to pursue a Hollywood events planning gig in Los Angeles. She flies in occasionally to see Felix, but Major holds down the fort ninety-nine percent of the time. It was part of the reason he left the Rangers for the reserves. He can’t properly care for Felix being deployed all the time. I know the lack of a mom-dad dynamic really bothers him, since he had that growing up, but more than that, the way Felix always asks him why his mommy doesn’t see him more tears him up.
But, with all his old bravado, he flashes Roxie that trademark movie-star smile. “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m always all right.” With a groan, he stands. “Back to the hellions.” With a wave, he heads back out to the backyard, joining the chase along with Axel and Rocco.
“I worry about him,” Roxie says, sliding her arms around my waist. “He’s got a lot on his plate. And he talks a good game, but I don’t think he’s as all right as he wants us to think.”
“You’re right about that,” I tell her, kissing her temple. “He needs the love of a good woman. It does wonders for a broken man.”
“You were never broken,” she murmurs, squeezing me. “You’re a strong, loving, incredible man. I was the one who was broken.”
“Not even a little bit,” I say with a scoff.
“Well, then, can we just agree that we were two very hurt people who managed to heal each other?”
“Hmm.” I smile down at her, brushing a lock of hair out of her beautiful face. “You might be onto something with that one.”
“I love you, Maddox,” she says, looking deep into my eyes.
“I love you, baby.”
We steal a little moment together alone in the kitchen, and then we head outside to join our friends and family.
Back to our sweet little life.
The End
5 | MAJOR
1
Major Whitmore
“Daddy,” my six-year-old son Felix says. “You’re boring.”
I lift my brows at him, smiling, as I dump lawn clippings into a disposable paper bag. “I’m boring? Excuse you, sir?”
“It’s Saturday,” Felix says impatiently. “We should be playing, not doing chores.”
“If I recall correctly,” I reply, “we did quite a bit of playing at the park this morning.”
“But now it’s afternoon,” he argues. “I know that because I had lunch a little bit ago and you always give me lunch at noon.”
“Yeah, but Daddy needs to take care of the yard until you get big enough to do it for me.”
His big brown eyes gleam with sudden interest. “Will you pay me money for that?”
“If you don’t get out of here,” I say with a laugh. He’s got an entrepreneurial spirit I admire, but I also know it’s going to bite me in the ass one day.
“Basketball,” he whines, tugging my arm. “Please?”
I sit back on my heels with a sigh. The grass is mowed, and I’m almost done cleaning up. I did have big plans for a nap on the couch, tired from the hot, early summer sun beating down on me, but Felix is impossible to resist. Besides, his idea of basketball is far from an intense two-man game. He just likes bouncing the ball and then having me hoist him in the air to make slam dunks.
“Okay, just for a little while,” I relent. “But Daddy’s tired and he needs a nap—like this lil’ man I know.”
“No way!
” Felix yells, grinning, and runs to grab his ball from the garage.
With a loud groan that makes me feel older than my thirty years, I stand up and stretch. My shoulders and upper back are sore, but that has more to do, I suspect, from the uncomfortable cot I spent last weekend sleeping on during drill than any real strain.
Felix has his ball, blatantly double dribbling, still grinning from ear to ear. He’s six, but he’s got an athleticism that impresses me. I wasn’t that athletic at his age—I had to grow into mine.
I guess his mom was pretty athletic as a kid.
For a second, a dark cloud only I can see blots out the bright sun. It’s been six months since Felix has seen his mother, and as many days since Tonya’s called to talk to him. We got married pretty young, because we became parents young, but a couple years ago, she decided to pursue her Hollywood dreams and, after a relatively swift divorce, she left us behind. Prior to that, I was a proud Army Ranger, but that meant I was gone—a lot. And with her moving away, I refused to let my son grow up without at least one attentive parent. My parents love him to pieces and would gladly take care of him while I was deployed, but I left the Rangers for the Army Reserves, which means drill once a week, the occasional school or training orders, and luckily, so far, no deployments. I get to be in Felix’s life every single day, and that’s been priceless.
But he misses his mom. He misses having her around. He’s still not used to why our family went from three of us to two, and he doesn’t understand why his little buddies in his kindergarten and taekwondo classes all have their moms around and he doesn’t.
“Catch, Daddy!” he hollers and heaves the ball at me.
I pretend to stumble catching it, like it’s so powerful I almost missed it, then whip around and throw a purposely low shot at the hoop I installed—as much for Felix as for me—last year. The ball bounces off the pole.