by Sandi Lynn
The next morning, I opened my eyes and stared at her while she peacefully slept. Feelings deep inside me were rising to the surface, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was falling for this woman, but the demons inside me kept reminding me of my past. I was in my own personal hell and they wouldn’t let me out. I didn’t deserve to be let out.
“Good morning.” She smiled as her eyes opened and she caught me staring at her. “Were you watching me sleep?”
“I was. You looked so peaceful. Did you sleep well?”
“I did. How about you?”
“Yes. It was a good night. We need to get ready, have breakfast, and get to the airport. My plane will be here in a couple of hours.”
She reached up and kissed my lips before climbing out of bed. But before her feet hit the floor, I grabbed hold of her wrist. She turned and our eyes met. I didn’t know why I did that. It was just a reaction.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“I—I was just wondering if you wanted room service or if you wanted to go down to the restaurant.”
“I don’t care. You pick.” She grinned as she climbed out of bed.
I watched her as she walked her naked body to the bathroom. I craved her in every way possible and my cock was rising to the occasion. As soon as she started the shower, I climbed out of bed and joined her.
“I do believe I owe you another orgasm for you letting me hold your hand yesterday,” I spoke as my hands ran down the front of her body.
After I made good on my word and pleasured her in the shower, I stepped out, wrapped the towel around my waist, and began shaving. As soon as she was finished, she slipped into her robe and stood at the sink next to me while she put on her makeup.
“Damn it,” I said as I set down my shaver.
“You cut yourself,” she spoke as she grabbed a tissue. “Here, let me.” A smile crossed her lips. “You need to be more careful, Mr. Chamberlain. You don’t want to scar up that sexy face of yours.”
I placed my hand over hers, which was holding the tissue on my cut.
“I usually am very careful, but someone was distracting me.”
“Then keep your eyes to yourself.”
She removed the tissue and threw it in the wastebasket.
“Kind of hard to do when a sinfully sexy woman is standing right next to me.” I smiled.
She returned my smile and brought her lips up to where I cut myself.
“All better.”
After enjoying a delicious breakfast down at the hotel restaurant, we headed to the front desk to check out.
“Good morning, Mr. Chamberlain.” Peyton flashed a wide smile.
“Good morning, Peyton. I’ll be checking out.”
“Did everything meet your needs?” she asked.
I glanced over at Brielle. “Yes, my needs were fully met.”
She looked at me and swallowed hard.
“I hope you’ll be visiting us again soon.”
“Thank you, Peyton, and don’t worry, WE will be back.” Brielle smiled as she hooked her arm in mine.
As soon as we walked away, I glanced over at her.
“You’re a very bad girl.”
“I aim to please.” She winked.
Chapter 23
Caden
“I can drive you home,” I spoke as we sat on the plane.
“No. It’s fine. Ben is picking me up.”
“But why? I said I can drive you home. I’d like to see where you live.”
“Thank you, Caden, but Ben will already be there.”
“We don’t land for another hour. Call him and tell him that I’m taking you home.”
“Next time.” She smiled.
“I get the feeling you don’t want me to know where you live.”
“That’s not true at all.”
“Then call him right now and tell him that I’m taking you home. It’s actually an order, Brielle. We’re in this for the next five months and you’ve been to my place plenty of times. I want to see where you live.”
I could see the hesitation all over her face and I didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like I was a stranger to her.
“Okay. I’ll call him and let him know.”
As soon as the plane landed, we climbed into the car and she gave my driver her address. As soon as he pulled up to the curb of the building, I climbed out first and helped her out.
“Impressive,” I spoke as I looked up at the building.
“Thank you for a wonderful trip.” She kissed my lips.
“I would like to come up and see your place.”
“No, Caden.” She sighed. “Listen, my place is a disaster right now and I’m going to spend the rest of the day cleaning it. I would be totally embarrassed if you saw it in the state it’s in. Next time.”
I narrowed my eye at her for a moment and, all of a sudden, a child ran into me.
“Sorry, mister,” he said as he ran by.
“Damn kids. Where the hell are the parents? Nothing annoys me more than a parent that can’t keep an eye on their monsters.”
“I know, right?” she spoke.
“Go clean up your place. I need to get going.” I leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll be in touch.”
Something wasn’t sitting right with me. Her refusal to let me up to her apartment raised a lot of suspicion. Instead of going home, I went to Kyle’s restaurant to talk to him.
“How was Chicago, bro?” He smiled as I walked into the kitchen.
“It was good. I closed the deal.” I grinned.
“Awesome. More millions for you.” He smirked. “Since you’re here, make yourself useful. Chop up this garlic for me.” He handed me a knife. “So how’s Brielle doing?”
“She’s the reason I’m here. Something is going on with her.”
“How do you mean?”
“I had to practically force her to let me drive her home. For some reason, she didn’t want me to know where she lives.”
“She’s a smart girl. But she should know that you can find that out on your own.”
“When I finally told her she had no choice, she let me take her home but then wouldn’t let me go up to see her place. We’ve known each other for weeks and we’re going to be together for the next five months. I get the feeling she’s hiding something.”
“I think you’re being a bit paranoid, Caden. Maybe she doesn’t trust you. Can you chop that garlic a little finer, please?”
I shot him a look.
“Let me ask you this. Why is it so important to you that you see her place?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I just want to see how she lives. She gave me the excuse that her place was a disaster and she’d be embarrassed if she let me up. And trust me, she’s not a slob, so I’m not buying that story.”
“Why do you want to see how she lives? All she is to you is sex. You pay her for sex and sex only. Unless—” His eye narrowed at me.
“Don’t be an idiot,” I said.
“You have feelings for her.” He pointed his knife at me.
“No I don’t.”
“Yes. You do. For fuck sakes, bro, just admit it. This is me you’re talking to.”
“I think she’s kind of cool and she’s fun to hang out with.”
“You think she’s cool? Seriously?”
“Fine.” I slammed down the knife I was holding. “She’s an incredible woman, and when I’m not with her, I can’t stop thinking about her. And when I am with her, I don’t want it to end. But you and me both know that nothing can ever come of it.”
“No. That’s what you believe. Not what I believe. You’ve kept yourself locked up in a prison and threw away the key. What happened eight years ago is in the past. Are you really going to punish yourself for the rest of your life? Goddamn it, Caden, it was an accident. You deserve to be happy like everyone else in the world.”
“I’ve been having nightmares about that night,” I said. “That hasn’t happened in years.”
“B
ecause you’re falling in love with Brielle and it scares the fuck out of you. So you need to keep reminding yourself the reason why you locked up your heart and soul. If you still want to punish yourself then break the contract and get out of this stupid thing you have going on with her. But if you want to be happy, talk to her. Tell her what happened. Be real with her.”
“I can’t.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Listen, I’m looking for a couple art pieces for the restaurant. How about coming to the art gallery with me tomorrow? Mercedes is spending the day with her mom. We can make it a bro day. We haven’t had that in a while.”
“Sure. I’ll go.”
“Great. You can pick me up at noon.” He smiled.
Later that evening, I was sitting on the couch with my laptop and I found myself thinking about Brielle, so I decided to send her a text message.
“Hi. What are you up to right now?”
“Hi. Having dinner with my mom and Sasha. What are you up to?”
“Not much. Just sitting on the couch doing some work. I was hoping I could see you.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m busy.”
“I understand.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“You too. If you want to talk, you can call me later.”
I didn’t respond. I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t disappointed, because I was. This growing need to be with her was getting out of control and it needed to be stopped.
Chapter 24
Brielle
I sighed as I set my phone down.
“Was that Caden?” Sasha asked.
“Who’s Caden, Mommy?” Stella asked.
I shot Sasha a look.
“He’s one of my clients, sunshine. If you’re finished eating, why don’t you go and practice playing the piano.”
“Okay.” She smiled as she took her last bite of sweet and sour chicken.
“Caden wanted to see me tonight,” I spoke to my mom and Sasha.
“You just spent almost three days with the man,” Sasha said.
“Either he’s a sex addict or he’s falling for you,” my mother spoke.
“He’s not a sex addict. Well, he might be.” I furrowed my brows. “And he’s definitely not falling for me. I let him drive me home today,” I blurted out.
“What?!” Sasha exclaimed. “Are you nuts?”
“He basically forced me to. He wanted to come up and see the apartment and I had to make up an excuse as to why I wouldn’t let him.”
“Brielle, you’re going to have to tell him about Stella sooner or later.”
“I can’t, Mom. He hates kids.”
“What kind of man hates children?” Sasha asked.
“A man like Caden Chamberlain, that’s who. He doesn’t ever want children or a family. It’s really sad.”
“You can’t keep hiding Stella. Now that he knows your address, what’s going to stop him from coming over here one night out of curiosity? I shouldn’t have to tell you not to underestimate a man like him,” Sasha said.
“Besides,” my mother spoke, “he’s your client and Stella has nothing to do with it. He can’t hold that against you. It says nothing in your contract that you have to discuss your personal life with him. All you are is a business transaction.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I narrowed my eye at her.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but it’s the truth. Stella is none of his business. And if he hates children the way you said he does, then I don’t want her anywhere near him.”
I sighed and pushed my plate away. Sasha was right. What if he came over unannounced? Then what? Keeping Stella a secret from him for the next five months wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe he’d be okay with knowing I had a daughter. Maybe I was just overthinking it.
The next morning, I took Stella and Ben to breakfast and then I had him drive us around the city while I ran some errands.
“How would you like to go to the art gallery today?” I asked Stella. “A friend of mine has a couple pieces of her art on display and I’d like to go look at them.”
“Sure, Mommy. I like to look at all the paintings.”
Ben dropped us off at the art gallery on East 70th Street. I grabbed Stella’s hand and when we walked inside, I saw my friend Amelia standing by her artwork.
“Brielle, Stella!” She hugged us both. “My gosh, you’re growing up way too fast, little one.” She smiled.
Amelia and I got to talking about her art and Stella asked if she could go over to the table and take a cookie.
“Sure. You can have one and then come right back.”
“Okay.”
Caden
“What do you think about this piece for the restaurant?” Kyle asked.
“It’s nice. I think it would look good there.”
“Excellent. I’m going to go get the associate and tell her that I want to purchase it.”
“I’m going to walk around a bit,” I spoke.
I was standing in front of a painting. An odd one at that. It was a portrait of a naked woman lying on the floor in a room with several cats staring down at her.
As I was studying it, I felt a tug on my pants. When I looked down, a tiny human with bright blue eyes stared up at me.
“Hi.” She smiled.
“Excuse me, but do you know how expensive these pants are? I really don’t need your greasy little fingers touching them.”
“They’re not greasy. Would you like a piece of my cookie?” She held it up.
“No. I do not want a piece of your cookie. Where are your parents?”
“My mom is talking to her friend. What do you think this painting is telling us?” she asked.
Was this kid serious?
“I haven’t a clue. Can you please take your cookie elsewhere?”
“Stella, I told you—”
The moment I heard that voice, I turned around and stared at the woman a few feet away from me.
“Mommy, I was just looking at this painting.”
Brielle cupped her hand over her mouth as a look of shock swept over her face.
“Mommy?” I said in an angry tone.
“I can explain.”
“Do you know my mom?” the child asked.
“I do and now I wish I didn’t.”
I turned and walked the other way as fast as I could. I found Kyle up at the desk and told him that I’d be waiting for him in the car.
“Wait, Caden. What’s wrong?”
I walked out of the gallery and paced back and forth on the sidewalk. Anger soared through me as I clenched my fists. I couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe she had a kid and didn’t tell me.
“Caden, wait. Please. I can explain,” Brielle pleaded as she stood on the sidewalk.
“Explain what? That you had a child you never mentioned?” I angrily spoke through gritted teeth. “I cannot believe you.”
“Stella is my personal life. What we have is a business arrangement. I didn’t think I had to tell you that I had a daughter. I keep both my professional life and my business life completely separate.”
“Which brings me to another point. What kind of mother sells her body for money when she has a child?”
She raised her hand and I grabbed her wrist before she could slap me across the face.
“As of this moment, our contract is null and voided. I don’t ever want to see you again. And to think I was developing feelings for you.” I let go of her wrist and began walking to my limo.
“You’re incapable of any feelings!” she shouted. “You’re nothing but a mean, arrogant, and egotistical man who isn’t capable of love.”
I stood there for a moment, clenching my fist and taking in a deep breath.
“Caden, what’s going on?” Kyle asked as he stepped out of the art gallery.
“Let’s go, now!” I commanded as I climbed into the car.
Chapter 25
Brielle
&n
bsp; I stood there and watched his limo pull away from the curb. My body was shaking as tears started to fall down my face. I wiped my eyes, for I couldn’t let Stella see me crying. I composed myself and walked back into the art gallery to fetch her.
“Is something wrong, Mommy?” she asked.
“No, sweetie. We need to go home now.”
“Who was that man and why did he upset you?”
“He’s a friend and he didn’t upset me, sunshine. Come on, we have to go.”
The moment we climbed into the car, Ben looked back at me to make sure I was okay.
“We’re ready to go home now,” I said.
“Sure thing, Brielle.”
I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to my mom.
“Caden found out about Stella and it didn’t go well. Can I please drop her off with you for a while? I need to be alone.”
“Shit. Of course. Steven and I are heading back home now. Just take her home and I’ll stop by and pick her up. I’ll figure out some excuse.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Trying to hold it together was nearly impossible when all I wanted to do was fall apart. But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t let Stella see me like that. When we arrived home, Stella went right over to the piano and started practicing while I went into the kitchen and cleaned up. A few moments later, there was a knock at the door, and when I opened it, Steven and my mom stood there. She could tell I was upset, but she didn’t want to make a big deal about it in front of Stella.
“Grandma! Steven! What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Hello, my sweet girl. How would you like to spend the rest of the day and night with me and Steven? We have tickets to see Annie on Broadway!” she spoke with excitement.
“Really? Mommy, can I?” She jumped up and down.
“Yes. Of course you can.” I smiled as I patted her head. “Why don’t you go change your clothes?”
“Okay.”