by Megan Noelle
Her eyes stared at the bed around us, but very slowly rose to look at me.
“I’m hungry for you.”
We both lunged for each other and ignited a fire that burned deep within us both—only for the other.
Chapter Sixteen
Danielle
The next morning, okay, so it was technically afternoon, I woke up to the oddest sight. Corey, sitting in the chair at the far end of the room, meticulously scanning through the pages of baby catalogs. His eyes squinted at certain things, gave a snort of dry humor at others, and he even used my red Sharpie to circle the items he liked, just as I had. I must have lain there well over ten minutes, just watching him. This was due partly because I was in a daze, and partly because I was absolutely fascinated at what I was staring at.
I was so stunned by what Corey was reading that I almost overlooked the stunning view directly behind the catalog. After we fooled around for a good couple hours, I passed out immediately. Now I realized I missed something quite fantastic. Gray sweatpants rode low on his hips with nothing covering his chest, leaving his hard, rippled abs available for lingering eyes like mine. And, let me tell you, I most definitely let my gaze take in everything about this delicious man! Each crease of his six-pack was perfectly sculpted, from the curve of his peck to the near-heavenly lines of his ‘sex lines’. Oh, you know - sex lines. That delectable “V” all women love so much. Well, no one’s quite compare to Corey’s. The thick, muscled lines were intoxicating to taste and led to something so damn perfect.
My mind had hardly woken up, but my body was wide awake now. Just as I felt my tongue hungrily trail along my lips, Corey looked up at me with a smirk.
“Are you just going to lie there and stare at me all morning?” I shrugged my shoulders, not at all feeling ashamed for being caught ogling my man.
“Perhaps. What are you doing, if you don’t mind me asking?” Corey held the magazine up a bit more as if I couldn’t see it.
“You made your lists in here already. And I saw your markings, so I made some of my own.”
I pushed the blankets off my body and swung my legs onto the floor. Corey opened his arms to me like there was nowhere else I would possibly go, which of course was true. When I was in reach, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down onto his lap. My back pressed against his chest, but I twisted enough for my hands to frame his strong jaw that was covered with a day old beard. My lips found his and, right here, I was home. We kissed once, twice, three times before I finally twisted enough so our mouths weren’t temptingly close.
“Show me what you like,” I said as I pointed to the magazine that he set on the arm of the chair.
“Okay, but before I do, we need to decide what to do.”
“About what?” I asked.
“Well, do we change the guest room into a baby room and continue living in different houses? Or, do we move in together and maybe look at getting a bigger place before the baby comes?”
My head whipped back around to see the expression on his face. “Are you serious?” I asked, not believing he wasn’t joking.
He nodded, keeping his eyes locked with mine. “Of course I am.” I felt my chest tighten, my breathing seemed to quicken and a strange feeling plummeted to the pit of my stomach.
“But …” That was all that came out, but my mind was burdened with many additional questions that I just couldn’t articulate.
Corey placed a gentle peck against my forehead. “Don’t overthink it, Baby.”
“How can I not? A new house? But what about this one? My Grandpa just bought it and I don’t see why we can’t live together here? It’s not that small, or is it? Are you ready to live together - what about your apartment above the bar?” I saw Corey trying to answer my questions, but questions just kept spewing out of me. “You know, if we officially moved in together, I’d expect you to be with me each night. I mean, you wouldn’t be able to run back there if we got into an argument or anything.”
He sealed my hurried thoughts with a kiss. While it most definitely did not answer anything, the move still had a calming effect on my overactive mind.
“I don’t have all the answers, Dani. This is something I want you to think about. If you think this is the place for us, then this is where we will stay.”
I felt my nerves ease. At least I knew now that if I didn’t feel ready to move out, I wouldn’t feel guilty about making Corey stay.
“And Dani?” I realized I had slowly lost focus on the conversation.
“Yeah?”
“I would never run back to my apartment like a child because we were fighting. That’s my house right now because that’s where I’ve lived since I bought the bar. I never wanted it to be permanent, but I had yet to find anyone that I wanted to uproot for.”
“Did you find someone that made you want to move out now?” Although I had a strong feeling I knew the answer to this question—I still liked hearing it.
Corey chuckled and nodded his head. “I found two someone’s to want more with.”
“Oh? There’s another woman, is there?” My arms wound around his neck as I teased him.
While I expected a sarcastic response, what I didn’t expect was the look in his eyes. That fear that rolled off of him, the slight stiffening of his back and arms and dilated pupils, shook awake my curious mind.
“No, Danielle! Of course not.” His words rushed out in a jumbled mess. My teasing mood was out the window, along with the memories of our beautiful very early morning reconciliation.
“Well, I should get ready for work.” I wasn’t in the mood to fight with a man who was adamant about his silence. He wanted to keep secrets—so be it. I wondered how long it could last before this apparently not-so-pretty truth came out.
I got off his lap but, before I could get away, Corey’s hand circled my wrist. “Dani,” he whispered. His eyes pleaded with me to understand, but I didn’t relent.
“Are you going to tell me what you’re hiding?” Minus the pained look in his eyes, he didn’t respond. “Then you need to release my arm so I can get ready for work.”
The confliction was clear in his face and, for a second, I hoped he would keep a hold of my arm and tell me everything. The second passed and before I knew it, he released my wrist with a sigh. His eyes looked to the ground and I stomped away and slammed the bathroom door shut. I was horribly pissed off and, now, I was even more suspicious than ever.
Why did he tense up when I joked about another woman? Was there one? Lord, please tell me he’s not one of those guys with families all over the country! I never expected Corey to be a man like that, but now, with no idea of what was real anymore, anything was possible.
In the shower, I made sure the water was scalding hot as I scrubbed away the anger and frustration that riddled my thoughts. Here I was, horrified at the way I treated him. All the while, he was openly keeping secrets and apparently hiding other women from me. I would be lucky if, by the time my shower ended, I still had my teeth intact - I was grinding them roughly back and forth.
At one point, I heard the door open and Corey’s voice echoed through the room, breaking through the sound of the beating water.
“Baby, you’ve been in there for a while. Why don’t you come out?”
I pulled back the curtain and stuck just my head out of the steamy shower. “Why don’t you tell me who she is?”
The emotions that crossed his face ranged from fear to shock. Finally, he settled on anger as he narrowed his eyes at me.
“There is no one else, Danielle. Do you really think I would ask you to be my girlfriend? Ask you if we should look at getting a bigger house if I were banging some chick on the side?!”
“Men do it all the time, Corey! It’s called cheating!” I watched his blue eyes erupt in flames.
“Is that what you think I’m doing? You think I am cheating on you?”
There was a knot growing in my chest at the thought alone, at the possibility of any of our words being t
rue. I knew it would absolutely tear me apart. There was a side of me that just couldn’t fight with him. Maybe it was the growing need to protect myself and my little bean and, not to mention, my heart. I’ve been a fool for men in the past and the last thing I wanted was to find out that my fears were confirmed - that Corey wasn’t the man I so desperately longed for him to be.
“You tell me, Corey! There’s something you’re not telling me and you are obviously doing something shady. What else could it be?”
“A million things,” he growled back.
“So why won’t you tell me what it is!?”
His head dropped back as he wiped a hand on his face. “Because I can’t!”
I rolled my eyes. I was done with this conversation. “Correction - you won’t!”
“No…”
“Just go, Corey. I need to get ready for work and I can’t do that with you here, obviously.”
My body started to chill with the door open. I shut the curtain and immersed myself in the steady flow of hot water. Corey made a few conflicting noises, but eventually, there was nothing but a sigh.
“I’ll get out of your hair then. Please call me later, Dani.”
“Mhmm,” I managed to get out. My heart was screaming and my body was shaking with fury and agony at the way my perfect life was falling apart.
“I love you,” Corey called out, before shutting the door behind him.
It was almost instantaneous - the door clicked behind Corey and my knees gave out. As I sunk to the tub floor, I clutched at the empty feeling in my chest that told me something was so incredibly wrong. This had to be some kind of sick joke. There was no way the man I fell in love with could ever do something like that. Yet, all signs pointed to the obvious - that he was.
The water ran cold and I reluctantly made my way out to dress for work. It wasn’t until I entered my kitchen and saw a note from Karly that I realized that it was just last night that she was here, too. It just felt like such a long time ago. Now I felt completely guilty that I slept until after noon and didn’t even remember she was here. I picked up the note and smiled.
Dani Darling!
I hope you and Core hashed everything out. Thank you for having me over! I got a call from Jake bright and early this morning that he was home, so I’m headed out! I love you! Call me later!
XoXo Karly
The note made me feel a little better to know she wasn’t sitting around waiting for me all day.
I made a quick deli sandwich before hopping in my car to drive to the Inn. It was very lucky for me that the Inn was not only in my family, but also that Bailey was there. She was a godsend. She insisted that I come in whenever was convenient and leave early if I needed to. It was very rare that I did that, but there were times, like now for instance, that it was nice to know I had leeway. Besides, the thought of spending time at home right now was less than appealing. Staying late at work was turning into a fabulous idea.
*~*~*~*~*
Bailey waved animatedly from behind the front desk when I walked in. I’ve always loved that girl, but now it seemed her confidence was really shining through. I never got the full story of what happened, but what I did find out was she took a risk, in life and in love. She felt something for a man and, for the first time in her life, she went for it. Bailey had never made the first move with anyone she loved, but this time she did. She let herself feel love and be happy. Unfortunately, it ended with nothing more than a broken heart. But that turned out to be just what she needed to make her life a memorable one, instead of the play-it-safe workaholic lifestyle she knew.
When she told me about what happened, I was excited and impressed by the way she turned everything around. There was more to the story. One of my first days back, we were eating lunch together in my room and she turned to me and said, “It’s because of you.”
“What is?” I asked.
“The reason I took a risk like that, for the first time in my life.”
It had stunned me to hear that, but I couldn’t believe that I could have had such an effect on her. “You’re not serious, right? I mean, you’re an incredible woman and a hell of a lot stronger than I am! How could I have been the reason?”
Bailey stopped eating the salad in front of her and looked me square in the eyes. “You’re much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Danielle. You came in here, knew who you were, and what you wanted. There was every reason for you to walk away from Corey because of his past, but you didn’t care. You showed him who you were and that’s why he fell in love. I have to admit, I was extremely jealous of you.”
“Jealous of me?” I nearly choked on the pasta I had just shoved in my mouth.
“Of course I was! I know you have a lot of family issues in your life and relationship blunders in the past, but you never stopped trying. You could have become a workaholic like me and never loved anyone. You worked your ass off and let yourself have a life. My heart was broken in the early years of college and from that point on—I gave up. I thought people in love were fools and that I was the smart one by not loving. Yet, it was me who went home every night to a home with nothing to greet me but a great big tabby cat.”
“You’re a beautiful and inspiring person, Bailey. Please don’t forget that.”
She let out a damn near electrifying smile and nodded. “I won’t, as long as you don’t either.”
I answered with a wide grin and held out my hand to shake on it. “Deal.”
It was from that point after my return, that our friendship took a turn for the better. She was constantly bringing in new baby magazines and showing me anything baby related. In return, I set up an online dating site for her and we spent our lunch hour reading dating profiles and scanning through baby theme rooms, looking for the perfect one for my little bean.
It helped fill the void I had in my heart with Gabby being away. Although we still talked a lot, it wasn’t as much as it used to be. Every other day, we’d text and, once a week, we would talk on the phone. She was pulling extra hours at the magazine and one night she admitted to me that when she’s off work, she goes out to the bar. Gabby hated being alone and the silence in the apartment was deafening without me there. It killed me that I couldn’t be there for her, but at the same time, I needed her to find someone else who could be there for her.
So the days I needed her, I tried to depend on someone else. Between Bailey, Sanders, Alex and Corey’s sisters, I had endless amounts of support. It didn’t take long to realize that every time I went back to Gabby, I was sucking her back into the world of just us and that was not where she needed to be. No one would have the best friend title that she had, but our friendship had to be different now.
*~*~*~*~*
The afternoon hours at work were crazy busy with preparing for the weekend of events. Bailey and I had to tag team the work for the projects. While I called the florist for a wedding party, she finalized the menu. When I had to pick out color samples for the Walton’s 50th wedding anniversary, Bailey made sure the cake order was perfect and on time for pick up.
I completely loved days like these because there was just far too much for my mind to think about anything else. Besides, in New York I was good at what I did but here, I loved what I did. Party planning all day, looking after guests, and overseeing events was apparently what I was made to do. I’m just so relieved Bailey’s time alone didn’t break her because I couldn’t imagine running this place with anyone else.
The first slow point of the day fell at eight o’clock. By that time, dinner was finished and most guests were either in for the night or already out for their evening plans. Bailey slumped against the receptionist desk and I joined her.
“I hate that you stay so late, Bails. You work so hard and now that I’m back, you’re still working that hard.”
Bailey chuckled and shook her head. “Are you kidding? I love this stuff. It may seem like work, but I have a blast doing it. Besides, American Idol is a rerun tonight,” she said with a win
k.
I laughed and nodded knowingly. “You know, I love it here, too. But right now, I just want to go home. Do you want to get some take out and come over to my place and hang out a bit?”
Bailey lit up and nodded furiously. “I’d love that! As long as I can kick my shoes off and stretch out.”
I eyed her up and down with a scrutinizing glare. “If you have stinky feet you can stretch out, but the shoes stay on.”
She dropped her jaw and I couldn’t keep my serious face in place anymore. I patted her arm as I continued laughing, “Oh, you know I’m kidding!”
“You better be or I’m going to stick my stinky feet right in your food!” This made me laugh even harder because, apparently, my little bean either made me cry hysterically or crack up at everything.
“I’ll grab my purse and then I’ll be back.”
I was still chuckling when I went back into the office and gathered my purse and baby info. My laughing ceased when I heard Bailey gasp from the other room.
“Holy shit! DANI!” She screamed my name and I instantly ran out of the room with everything jostled about in my arms. I didn’t know what to expect when I got back out to the front, but I never expected what I saw.
Standing in front of me, forming a semi-circle, was Alex, Sanders, and two other guys I recognized from the bar. Every single one of them held two vases of the most stunning red roses I have ever seen. My jaw dropped to the floor, joining Bailey’s, as the two of us were in awe at the sight in front of us. The boys had shit eating grins on their faces, but there was one face that wasn’t smiling was Corey’s. He walked toward me with a heartbroken expression that told me our fight had upset him just as much as it did me.
The beauty in his expression almost made me overlook the incredibly perfect pink orchid in his hands. Corey stopped directly in front of me and I wondered if I was still breathing.
“Do you remember what I wrote to you in the note about the orchid?” he asked and I nodded. That note was the single most beautiful and heart breaking thing I have ever read.