I don’t tell them Em and Hannah have been supporting me. “Look, I was going to do this one way or another. Instead of an anonymous donor, it happened with Sterling. He’s a loving man and if you give him a chance—”
“Are you two together?” Dad asks.
I shake my head. “No, I’m not ready. He’s giving me space; I hope you can respect it.”
Dad’s nostrils flare. Mom goes to his side and rubs his arm. “She’s not a little girl, James. But she needs us, and we’ll be beside her. You asked me what I wanted to do next year. I want to be with her.”
“You don’t have to, Mom, but if you guys want to stick around, I have plenty of room.”
She smiles because usually I tell her off and send her to Alex or Jeannette who like to be babied.
“We’ll find a place nearby. I’ll ask Jackson or Jason to recommend us a realtor.”
He opens his arms and I walk toward them.
“I had no idea you wanted this and I’m happy for you, sweetie. You know I’m going to love them and spoil them.”
“Thank you, Mom and Dad.”
This wasn’t that bad, I’m not sure how Jackson is going to react, but I’ll be ready for his outburst.
Sterling
Leaving June with her parents didn’t settle well in the pit of my stomach. I had to do it. Plus I felt like an outsider and her dad was pissing me off. She’s not a kid. Perhaps this is a normal reaction and I’m the one who was out of line.
She’s not asking for anything. In fact, she has almost all her shit figured out. I’m the one variable in her life who is making her lose her cool.
The moment I arrive in my studio, I send her a text.
Sterling: I hope that what I said didn’t create a problem between you and your dad.
June: You were incredible, thank you.
Sterling: It was nothing.
They needed to know how important this is to June. It’s not an accident she’s trying to fix but a dream she’s able to fulfill and I’m fucking happy that she’s letting me be a part of it.
June: It was, see you soon?
Sterling: I’ll be working for a few hours but come and visit if you dare. My table is anxious to have you—me too.
June: Is that a challenge, Mr. Ahern?
Sterling: Are you brave enough to accept it, Ms. Spearman?
June: Enjoy work xo
I put my phone away and set up my materials. For a couple of hours, I work on a piece I want to give her for Christmas. But there’s something that James Spearman said that keeps nagging me so first I text Abby apologizing for my behavior and promising to invite her to dinner soon. Then, I call Wes.
“This better be important,” he answers immediately.
“Maybe not for you,” I say. “Are you still in town?”
“For a couple of days,” he answers, his voice serious, and I bet he’s mad because of the way I behaved with Abby. “Are you ready to talk about June?”
He doesn’t let me speak; he fires up the first question. Fuck, when is he going to let me work things at my own pace? Never, he’s Wes fucking Ahern.
“She’s different,” I start.
“We gather that much. When something matters to you, you protect it with your life. You don’t want us close to her yet,” he explains. “Do you think I’m going to tell her what an asshole you used to be?”
“It’s a lot more complicated than you think,” I explain. “Everything between us is new. Plus, I’m trying to convince her that I’m worth sticking around.”
“You are, but does she know about your baggage?”
I drum my fingers against the table. “Last night we closed my social media accounts. She understands me like no one else.”
“I’m always here for you, slugger,” he calls me by my ridiculous childhood name. “You’re my brother and I’ve tried everything to include you into my family, but you keep pushing us away. There’s just so fucking much I can take.”
June’s right. If I had asked or let them be there for me life wouldn’t be so … lonely. There, I accept it, I’ve been miserable and alone for the past couple of years. If she hadn’t come into my life and brightened everything around me, I wouldn’t have noticed it.
“It’s not that I don’t love you or want you around. But you’re what I have left, and I couldn’t forgive myself if one of my crazy fans hurt either one of you.”
“You didn’t give us a choice,” he says almost the same words June did when I told her about the situation. “We love you, Sterling, and these couple of years have been hard for me. I thought we were past the bullshit and suddenly I lost you and then Mom.”
“Sorry,” I apologize. “I’m going to work harder because I want you to be part of my life. June is important and … we’re expecting.”
“Fuck, are you kidding me? You’re expecting a baby,” he says with an astonished voice. “She’s my fucking hero.”
“Twins,” I add. “She’s fucking amazing. Not sure why she appeared into my life because I’m the last person who deserves someone but she’s still around. I’m so fucking afraid to mess everything up.”
“You’re more than our parents let you believe. Of course, you deserve someone brilliant and loving like you. You won’t fuck things up, slugger, because when you love, you love with all your heart,” he says and the excitement in his voice makes me want to believe that maybe June will accept me. “When do I get to meet her?”
“Soon, her family is in town. I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
“Wait, you’re meeting the family?”
I whistle and tell him what’s been happening the past couple of weeks. It feels so different and I’m relieved that I’m finally patching things up with him.
* * *
Beck enters the studio after knocking on the door. I check the clock and it’s around noon. Fuck, where did the time go? I meant to text June to see if she wanted me to bring something or cook for her.
“You got a visitor,” he says casually. “Randy will stay while I take my lunch break.”
I frown, Randy stayed with June today. “Who is with June?”
He grunts some nonsense and opens the door wider. I smile like an idiot when I see my girl stepping into the room.
“Hello, gorgeous,” I greet her.
“So here’s where the magic happens,” she says, looking everywhere. “Have you thought about cleaning up a little?”
“Stay away from my mess, Juniper,” I warn her but smile because she could do whatever she wants with me and my studio. Mostly with me.
“I’m naked.” She points at the sketches on the table. “Multiple times. I look like Jessica Rabbit here. I’m afraid my tits are never going to look like this.”
Then she picks up another one. “This tattoo, it’s lovely.”
“You like it?”
She nods and turns her head, trying to look at her back, or her butt. “Maybe once the babies are older, we can do something smaller. I’m not sure I have the patience to stay still for hours until they’re done with this masterpiece.”
“I could paint it on you right now,” I suggest. “Just take off your blouse and bend over my table.”
She laughs and the vibrating sound stirs me up and makes me hard. This woman has a lot of power over me.
“You wish, Ahern.”
“Of course, I do, baby. It’s all I’ve been thinking about since … I met you.”
She shakes her head and hands me over a tote bag. “Here, I made us some sandwiches for lunch. You can tell me all about the places where you hide.”
“There aren’t many. I talked to my brother,” I say, changing the subject.
“What’s up with your relationship with him? Sometimes I feel like you’re close, others that you hate him.”
I shake my head and start my story from the beginning. “He was my parents’ first foster kid. Almost a year after he arrived, I was born.”
As we eat lunch, we discuss my parents. Dad’s will.
He left most of the company to Wes who hated the company as much as I did. By Wes’s logic, if he has to deal with the legacy I do too, so we own it in equal parts now.
“Maybe our children would want to manage it or sell it,” I offer. “We have a great team of executives in charge.”
We talk some more about the properties I own and then she mentions her parents. “Mom and Dad might look into renting or buying a place.”
“Pool house,” I suggest. “They can stay in the pool house. If not, I have other houses.”
“Thank you.” She takes out another container from the tote bag she brought. “Dessert. I went to Like Home to buy a couple dozen macaroons. I met the owners, by the way, and I ordered lavender macaroons for this weekend. They’re so good.”
“This is whipped cream.”
“Right.” She grins mischievously. “This is for us to share. The cookies are just for me.”
Licking her lips, she tells me, “Challenge accepted.”
I set the container on my table and pull her to me. “I knew you had a wild side.”
She places her palms on my chest. “Umm, nope, I am the one enjoying the whipped cream,” she pauses, “on you.”
June glides her hands down my torso and pulls the hem of my shirt. “We’re changing the way you do things, Ahern. I call the shots during the day.”
The throaty voice and the idea of her taking charge has my erection pressing painfully against my pants.
“Do you know what I want?” she asks when her fingers brush my erection through the denim fabric.
“Whatever it is, take it,” I answer. “It’s yours.”
“Take off your shirt,” she orders, and I obey.
She runs her fingers along my stomach. “I want to lick you and then swallow you.”
I moan and close my eyes, almost coming in my pants as I imagine her on her knees between my legs. Her mouth taking me slowly, drawing me deep until I hit the back of her throat.
“You want my mouth, Sterling?” she asks seductively.
“You’re going to pay for this tonight,” I warn her and the smile playing on her face makes me shiver. “I’m talking blindfolds and ice cream.”
“You talk a lot, let’s see who wins this match,” she says, running a wandering hand across my stomach and unfastening my jeans. My length springs, ready to fuck her mouth. She moves my pants farther down and as she kneels in front of me her tongue traces the lines of my muscles and then, she kisses my tip.
I jolt, and she smirks.
“If you last long enough, I’ll let you bend me over.” She pauses, biting her lip. “If not, I get to boss you around tonight.”
“What happened to no sex, minx?”
She opens her mouth wide and licks around the base, nipping my sack. “You challenged me; I can’t walk away. It becomes personal.”
She sucks my tip and lowers her mouth oh so slowly, I’m having trouble controlling myself. Fuck, if she wins this round what’s she going to do with me tonight?
June
On my drive to Jack’s office, I keep thinking about lunch. And the time Sterling and I spent together. I’m not sure where I gathered the courage to walk into his studio and just take charge, but I loved every second of it. I loved it more when he held me close and said, “You’re the best thing that’s happened in my life, there’s not even a close second.”
When I park the car, I close my eyes momentarily to savor the peaceful moment we shared before I had to leave his studio.
There’re so many things that scare me about this guy. The way we fit so well, how easily we can go from a serious conversation to mind-blowing sex and then comfortable silence. How well he reads me when he barely knows me. The way I get lost in us. It makes me uneasy how fast we’ve come to settle into a relationship. Also, that he doesn’t like titles or permanency.
I grab my things. It’s time to face Jackson Spearman, and the guy is going to try to bulldoze me into a plan where I do things his way so I can have a “better” life.
“He’s in his office waiting for you,” his assistant says when I arrive.
“Thank you,” I reply and swing the door open meeting my fate.
“What is he doing here?” I ask when I spot Jason. A second later, Alex comes out of the private bathroom.
“Great, three Spearmans!” I growl.
“You’re selling my career to some idiot,” Alex protests. “I have the right to be here.”
“No, I’m taking you with me. I won’t leave you, now go away,” I argue.
He leans against the wall and crosses his arms. “Still, I’m staying.”
“And you?” I turn to Jason.
He shrugs. “I might know someone who wants to buy it.”
“Well, since almost everyone knows, let’s get this over with then you two have to leave.” I rub my temples and say out loud. “I’m pregnant.”
Jackson says, “I fucking knew it. I’m going to kill that asshole.”
“Seriously, you’re going to start with that line, Jackson Spearman? Cool it and listen to me because I’m not going to tolerate nonsense. This pregnancy was bound to happen. I planned it. Actually, I had everything planned to get knocked up this year.”
“By him?”
I look up at the ceiling and take a deep cleansing breath. He’s so smart but sometimes he can be such an idiot.
“No, Jack, I was going through artificial insemination. If that didn’t work, the next step was IVF. I wanted a baby and for some crazy reason things worked out differently than I planned.”
Straightening my shoulders and glancing at the three of them, I speak calmly. “I’m thirty-three. It’d be nice to be treated like an adult. It’s exhausting to be me. I have to show you guys that I’m old enough to live my own life. It’s getting old.”
I set my things on his desk. “Who took care of you when you were going through your divorce, Jackson? And when things weren’t working out with Emmeline? I took a week off and came to stay with you.”
I don’t add that Jeannette was with me, the point is that we’re always taking care of them.
Then, I switch my attention to Jason. “Or who looked after you when that bitch abandoned you at the altar?”
Alex lifts his hands. “I know, you take care of me all the time. When Nikki, Charlotte, Edna, Kelly, and the others left me. Or when I was in that car accident, and you took charge of my life until I recovered.”
“So what do I have to do so you can understand I’m not a baby?”
Jackson smirks. “Aw, but you’ll always be the baby of the family, Junie.”
I growl.
Jackson presses his lips together and sighs. “Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”
“Because what’s the point? You’d have tried to convince me not to do it,” I answer. “The only two people who I confided in were Em and Hannah because they are one hundred percent behind me and not wondering if I’m old enough to do stuff.”
He runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. “What do you need from me?”
I’m astounded by his calm tone. “What?”
“I don’t want to lose you. My only options are to change or see you during the holidays. I will change,” he offers. And then he surprises me by saying, “Congratulations on the baby.”
“Well, not to brag or say, I can too but they’re twins.” I smirk.
Jason laughs and walks to me to hug me tight. “Some things don’t change, you had to compete with Jack. When is your due date?”
“The first week of August.”
Jack and Alex hug me too and it’s nice to know that they can listen and see me as their equal.
“Look, June, I love you and I support you. This is all good and I’m sure you’ll rock the motherhood shit just like you rock everything in the world. But …” Jason pauses, giving me one of those, this is for your own good looks. “Ahern isn’t what you need.”
“Stop right there,” I order, lifting my hand. “My r
elationship with him isn’t any of your business. We’re getting to know each other but we both agree that parenting the babies matters the most. I’ll decide if he’s good for me. Who knows, maybe I’m not good for him.”
“Now can we discuss my company?”
June
I savor the days that lead into Christmas, everything seems normal. By normal I mean, morning sickness, meetings with potential buyers and current clients. So much for I’m taking the month of December off. Fortunately, at night when the door of my bedroom closes, I have Sterling to make everything worth it.
Spending every available moment we have is our number one priority. He’s getting ready for next year’s exhibition. We’re going to Paris and staying there for a month. I’m beyond excited. This is the first time I’ll travel with the guy I’m dating. Not that we have a relationship status, yet.
It doesn’t matter. I never thought I’d become so familiar with someone so quickly. We’ve learned each other’s expressions, meals, words … He might be easygoing but I’ve learned he has a big temper and knows how to keep it under control. He’s a tease and likes to experiment in bed. We both do.
He’s also sweet. So sweet he’s tried to make this Christmas special, if not the best for both of us.
Jeannette arrives later today. She convinced Teagan to spend Christmas Eve with us and Christmas day with her parents. Sterling is paying for the trips. I think he likes me. I’m getting used to the domestic life we’re settling into. We haven’t talked about the future but I want to talk about it now.
My parents are with Jackson today. Dad’s playing Santa. Not that Caroline and Marianne will understand it, but I can’t wait to see the pictures from the photo shoot.
I’m in the living room waiting for Sterling to finish his conversation with Beck. Apparently, someone is looking for him and whoever it is needs some kind of clearance to speak with Sterling or it’s a business that needs his attention. I didn’t understand the code well.
Until now, I had no idea they had codes. I hug myself tight because what if there’s a stalker or—
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