“You know me, Manning,” he says. “People don’t come to me with this shit because I’m not going to fucking answer it. They know better. I had Becca send out a press release on behalf of the organization asking that they respect your privacy as well as your son’s,” he says.
“How are you going to handle the press?” Nico asks. “You have a game tomorrow night. Luckily for us, we are home for eight days, but . . .”
“It’s no surprise. I don’t talk about my private life, and I’m not going to do it now.” I look over at Becca and Candace. “Unless she comes out spewing shit and talks about Evelyn, I have nothing to say on the matter. I’m not the first man to get divorced, and I won’t be the last one.”
“Dad.” I hear Jaxon calling me. “I’m making cupcakes.” I laugh now and look at the three people who I know will be in my corner no matter what. “I’m sorry, guys.” I put my hands together. “I didn’t want it to come out the way it did. I didn’t want this huge media circus. But she crossed the line with Evelyn. She broke it off with me because I was married even after I told her what was happening with Murielle. It killed her that she was the other woman and to be attacked at her work. I wasn’t going to let it slide.”
“Hopefully, this will be over very soon, and we can pop champagne for another reason,” Nico says, getting up. “Becca, why don’t I take you to dinner?”
Becca looks over at him and tilts her head to the side. “Depends. What are you thinking?”
“Whatever you want,” he tells her, and she gets up, closing her laptop.
“I’m thinking pizza,” she says. “In Italy.”
“If we leave now, we can get there for lunch,” he says, and they both leave.
“Ralph and Miller are going nuts,” Candace says when I walk her to the door. “I didn’t tell him anything, and he’s being a big fat baby about it and pouting.”
“I’ll give them a call later,” I tell her. “Thank you,” I say, “for everything.”
“Out of all my clients,” she says, opening the door, “you were the quiet one. I’d expect this from Miller.” She shakes her head, laughing as she walks to her car. I lock the door and walk back to the kitchen.
Slapping my hands together, I ask, “So what are we eating?” My mother looks over at me. “I’m starving.”
My mother takes over the whole conversation during dinner, talking about all the chores she does at home, and when I get up to walk Jaxon upstairs, I look over at her. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”
She smiles and nods her head. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”
I wait for him to slip on brand new pjs that we found in one of the bedrooms. Becca really did think of everything. “How was your day?” I ask, and he smiles.
“I had fun with Nana,” he says and then jumps on the king-size bed in the room.
“I wanted to talk to you a bit,” I tell him as he slides into the bed. “About your mom and me.” I start, and he looks at me.
“Are you guys getting divorced?” he asks, and I’m shocked. “Katie’s mom and dad are divorced,” he tells me, “but she says it’s okay.”
I nod my head. “We are getting divorced,” I tell him, wondering what else I can say. “But that doesn’t change how we feel about you,” I say. “Plus, now you get to have two rooms, and you can do sleepovers whenever you want.”
“Sleepovers,” he says. “Is it like the sleepovers that Mommy has with Thomas when you go to play hockey?” My heart sinks, and my chest aches. She had him sleep over when I wasn’t there. My hands shake with rage that she did that.
“Yeah, like that,” I say, pretending that what she did was right. “But for the next couple of days, you are going to stay home with grandma.” His eyes open wider.
“I’m going to ask her to make my favorite cupcakes,” he says, and I shake my head.
“I think she’ll do whatever you want,” I say, and he sinks down into the bed. “Good night, son,” I tell him, kissing his cheek and walking out.
I walk downstairs, my head still spinning about Murielle having Thomas stay over. I send Becca a message.
Me: She had Thomas sleeping over in my house when I went on the road.
I put my phone in my pocket and walk into the kitchen. My mother has cleaned up everything, and she is making herself some tea. “Hey,” I say, and when she turns around, I see that she has been crying. I pull out a stool and sit down. “Stop crying,” I tell her, and she just looks at me.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” she asks. “We could have . . .”
“What could you have done, Mom?” I tell her. “I made my bed, so I was lying in it.”
“You weren’t the only one,” she says. “I always hated that bitch.”
I laugh now. “I met someone,” I tell her, and she looks up at me with shock on her face. “By accident,” I tell her. “We met one night and . . .” I look down. “Something shifted.” I try to explain it. “She had no idea who I was, and I didn’t tell her. One week later, I see her at the hockey arena with Jaxon. She’s the aunt to one of his best friends.”
“Oh my god, talk about the universe taking things into their own hands,” she says. I tell her all about Evelyn, and my face ends with a smile.
“You love her then,” she says, and I look at her. “When you came in before, I thought you would have this empty look in your eyes. The same empty look that you’ve had in your eyes for the past five years.” I open my mouth to say something, anything, but she holds up her hands. “Don’t even try to pretend.” She shakes her head, walking over to the kettle and pouring herself some hot water. “I saw it. Your father saw it. We tried to pretend we didn’t, but we couldn’t. Then you got even more distant.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I tell her. “It was wrong, and I should have put my foot down.”
“I know,” she says. “Your father wasn’t too happy about it, but we understood.”
“When I found out Murielle was having an affair, it didn’t even hurt me. I didn’t even flinch.”
“You didn’t love her,” she says. “You love that she gave you Jaxon, but you didn’t love her.”
“I guess I didn’t.” I agree with her, my finger tapping the counter.
“Go,” she says, and I look up at her. “Go. I’ll call you if Jaxon wakes up.”
“How did you . . .?” I ask her.
“You’ve been antsy since you walked in. You checked your phone every second during dinner. Then you took it with you upstairs. You’ve never done that.”
I get up. “Are you sure?” I ask, and she laughs. “I think I can handle it.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I walk over to her, and I kiss her cheek and hug her. I start to walk out of the room when she calls my name.
“Thank her,” she tells me, and I just look at her, “for giving me back my son.” I smile at her and nod.
I make it over to her house in record time and ring the bell. “Manning.” I hear her say my name as she opens the door. “What are you doing here?”
I walk to her, grabbing her around her waist and shutting the door with my foot. “Never a third without a second.”
Chapter 32
Evelyn
The doorbell rings, and I literally jump out of bed. My stomach starts to speed up, my palms sweat, and I take my phone with me as I walk to the door. I wrap my cashmere sweater around myself and walk quietly. I look out the peephole, and I see him. “Manning?” I say, opening the door. “What are you doing here?”
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he walks in and grabs me around my waist, causing my stomach to flutter for a whole different reason. He closes the door with his foot, and right before his lips crash down on mine, he says, “Never a third without a second.”
My arms wrap around his neck, and my legs go around his waist as he walks into my house, going to my bedroom with his mouth on mine. I move my hands from his neck to his hair, and I swear I could kiss him every single day for the rest of my life, and it’ll
be like a first-time kiss. I let go of his lips. “Hi,” I say softly, touching his face, the beard itchy on my hand. “I can’t believe you came back.”
“I couldn’t stay away,” he says, turning to sit on my bed. My legs stay around his waist, and I straddle him now. He pushes my hair behind my shoulder.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him, then lean in to kiss him softly.
“She released a statement saying it’s a private matter and that we are working through it as a family,” he says, and I just swallow, wondering if he will regret doing all of this. I look down now, not sure I can look in his eyes without him seeing that. The last thing he needs is more stress.
“I put out a statement saying that this is a private matter, and we are working on things separately. Tomorrow, Candace is going to drop that we are getting divorced.”
“Are you sure?” I ask him softly. “It’s okay if you changed your mind.”
“I think I’m in love with you,” he says, and I stop breathing. My heart stops beating in my chest. “I know it sounds stupid. I know we barely know each other, but . . .” He looks down at my chest rising and falling.
“I knew I was falling in love with you when I let you go, and I couldn’t breathe,” I tell him. “When the sadness seeped down to my bones. My whole body felt like I was run over by a truck, which was crazy. I broke up with Dex, and I went to work the next day. I think I cried for an hour.”
“I hate that I made you cry,” he says, touching my cheek with his thumb. Both of my hands are on his face, and I lean in to kiss him softly. “I hate that you went through that alone.” His voice is almost a whisper.
My hands move down from his face to his shoulders and then to his chest. I open his jacket and slip it off his shoulders, then I lean in and kiss his neck. “I would wonder if you were thinking about me,” I say, moving my hands under his shirt and pushing it up over his head. “Wonder if you were dreaming of me.” I kiss under his chin. “I used to go to bed at night and pray you would be in my dreams.”
“Every single night since the day I met you,” he says, taking off my cashmere sweater and leaving me in a tank top and panties. “Every single dream is of you.” He pulls down one spaghetti strap, almost snapping it. “I would wake up with your name on my lips,” he says, taking a nipple into his mouth, and my head falls back. “Every night, I would fall asleep to your smiling face.” He pulls down the other side. “You laughing.” He bites the other nipple and then sucks it in. “You moaning my name.”
“I missed this.” I tell him the truth. “Us.” I get up now off him. Pulling my tank over my head, I then slip my panties off. His eyes go darker blue now. I step between his legs, and he kisses my stomach as his hands rub up my legs to my ass. “I would think about all the things I wanted you to do to me.”
“Tell me,” he says, and I shake my head.
“Better if I show you,” I say softly and kiss his lips. “Will you make love to me?” I ask, and he has me in the air and on my back in the blink of an eye. He strips himself of his pants, and I watch him.
“I want to kiss every single inch of you,” he says, getting on the bed with his cock in his hand as I spread my legs for him. “I want you to come on my tongue and then my fingers.” He talks so softly I get shivers all over me. “But my cock,” he says, and he rubs his cock up and down my slit. “My cock needs you first.”
I don’t say a word to him, afraid that if I talk, he’ll stop, and I can’t have him stop. We both look down at his cock as he slowly slides into me. The minute his balls hit my ass, I lift my legs and wrap them around his waist. He props himself over me on his elbows. “Manning,” I finally say when his mouth hovers over mine. I stick out my tongue to slide it into his mouth, and he sucks it in as he slowly begins to move his hips. He lets go of my tongue as he fucks me slow and steady. The whole time, we look in each other’s eyes, and he rests his forehead on mine. I tilt my hips up, trying to get him deeper. “Harder,” I tell him, and he picks up his pace, slamming into me. Both of us moan as my pussy tightens around him. The sound of our skin slapping together fills the room.
“Baby.” He says my nickname, and I lick his lips as his tongue comes out to kiss me back. “I’m going to . . .” I nod, feeling the pull in my stomach that I’m going to come. “Your pussy,” he says. “So tight.” I close my eyes, coming all over him, squeezing him even tighter. He pounds into me now, and then he finally plants himself balls deep as he comes in me.
“I don’t want to leave,” he moans as he pulls out of me after round three or maybe four. Who knows at this point. “But it’s almost six.”
“You need to go,” I tell him, watching him get up and hating it. “I don’t think we’ve actually spent a whole night together.”
“We did,” I say, getting up and grabbing my cashmere robe. “On the first night.”
“What are you going to do today?” he asks me, slipping on his shirt. I stop in front of him, grabbing his hips.
“My parents are coming over at ten,” I tell him, and he just looks at me. “I figured I should tell them the story before they read it in the tabloids.”
“Good idea,” he says, kissing me when I put my head back. I walk him to the front door. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” I say. I’m about to go out with him, and he stops me.
“I don’t want you out there,” he tells me. “I don’t know if she is crazy enough to tell the press about you. They could be outside and take your picture, and well”—he smirks— “you look like you spent the night rolling around in bed.”
“I did.” I smirk at him.
“Well, I don’t want anyone seeing that,” he says. “It’s for my eyes only.”
I shake my head. “Get going,” I tell him. I close the door behind him, and I know that I’m not going to sleep even if I tried. Walking to the shower, I turn it on as my mind thinks of him the whole time.
I slip on my blue jeans and a white cashmere sweater, letting my hair loose. I don’t check the news. Instead, I call Chantal and tell her that I’m working from home today. She tells me that she will send me all the things I need and will drop off anything that comes in for me.
I sit at the island trying to work, but the whole time, I’m looking at the clock. My palms get sweaty when I hear the doorbell at nine forty-five. I get up and walk to the front door, and I open it, seeing both my parents. My mother tries to pretend she is okay and happy to see me, but I know that it’s been killing her not to call me. My father puts both hands on my arms and kisses both my cheeks. “Honey.”
“We brought you some cake,” she says, and I see the box in her hand. “I figured we could eat away the emotions.” I smile, and they walk in with me as I put the box on the counter.
“I’ll make coffee,” I say, turning to walk to the coffee machine when I hear the front door open and then close. I look at them, and they look back at me. “Is Tim coming?” I ask. I look now toward the entrance, and my mouth hangs open when I see it’s Manning.
“Hi there,” he says, going to my father and putting out his hand to shake Dad’s. “Sorry, I’m late.” He looks at my mother. “I’m Manning.” She looks at him, taking his hand and her mouth literally hangs open. He walks around the counter, and he smiles at me. “Sorry I’m late,” he says, kissing my lips.
“Oh, my,” my mother says finally, and I just blink.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him as quietly as I can.
“I wasn’t going to let you talk to your parents about us and not be here,” he says, making my mother come out with another “Oh, my.”
“Shall we sit?” my father says, and I just nod at him and watch them walk to my couch while Manning slips his hand into mine.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I tell him, wiping away the tear that is about to escape. He takes our hands and kisses my fingers. I walk over to the couch, and we sit side by side.
“Before we start,” Manning says. “I would like to apologize to
you both first.” I look at him, and my mother has these goo-goo eyes for him. “I’m sorry about the scene that happened.”
“It’s not your fault,” my father says. “Not even a bit.”
“But it was,” he says, and he looks at me. “I saw your daughter and the earth shifted.” He puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him. “I should have walked away, but I couldn’t.” He smiles shyly now. “I couldn’t do it. It was wrong, and I know it was, and I will be forever sorry that I put her in that position. But I can’t be sorry that we met. I won’t be.”
“You were married?” my father now says. “You are married.”
“In name only,” he says. “Four years ago, I asked her for a divorce, and she took my son away. I would have promised her anything to get him back. I was waiting until he was old enough to have a voice and choose. But sometimes things happen, and you have to jump.”
“This woman attacked my daughter in front of her colleagues,” my father says, and now I’m the one who speaks.
“She didn’t attack me. She confronted me, and she caught me off guard. I’m not going to justify our relationship. By no means should it have happened, but it did.” I wipe the tear away. “I sent him away and told him I couldn’t see him,” I tell my parents.
“When you thought I was sick, that was me with a broken heart because the man I was falling in love with was married, and I knew it was wrong. I know it’s wrong. But,” I say, my shoulders going straight, “there is a huge but. Some things went on that you aren’t privy to. They are private, and I’m not going to be the one to tell the story. But that woman does not deserve him. I don’t even know if I deserve him. I do know I’m going to hope like fuck I can prove I deserve him.”
“What if the press finds out?” my mother asks now.
“I don’t care,” I say, throwing up my hands. “So they find out we are seeing each other. We were seeing each other.” I look at my parents. “It’s us.” I look at Manning now. “It’s us, and we will get through this.”
Only One Night (Only One Series 3) Page 18