He knocked softly on the door, “Come on, Mia. Unlock the door.”
She didn’t answer him. Instead she pulled a bunch of towels out of the linen closet, laid them down on the floor and took a stack of towels and linens for a makeshift pillow. She curled up on the towels and cried herself to sleep.
It was only an hour later when she heard a scraping sound and the surprise of the light being flicked on woke her up. Schooner stood there with the door lock and a Phillips head screwdriver in hand. She covered her eyes to shield them from the light.
He came and sat down next to her. “What are you doing?” He was clearly annoyed.
“I was sleeping,” she pulled a big beach towel tight around her shoulders.
“Why are you in here?”
She didn’t answer him.
“Don’t do this to me, Mia.” Schooner was tired, stressed and his temper was quickly unraveling.
“I’m not doing anything to you, Schooner.”
“You’re acting like a brat.”
Mia finally looked up at him, “I’m sorry that is how you see it.”
“You’re not sorry about anything.” He sat back against the pale blue wall, sighing and shaking his head, “Please come to bed.”
She noted that he still had not touched her.
She pushed herself into a sitting position. “Are you leaving me and Nathaniel?” A sob escaped.
Schooner looked like he had been hit in the solar plexus. “You think I’m leaving you?”
Mia nodded, “It’s what CJ told me you would do. It’s what Zac wants.”
“And you think that is what I want?” He was clearly annoyed.
Mia nodded, “It’s why you gave me the house, right?”
Schooner stared at Mia, “Do you know how much that hurts?” He raked his hand through his hair and shook his head.
She nodded, “I do,” her expression defiant.
“Where is this coming from, Mia?”
She picked at a thread on one of the beach towels, when she looked up at him, her cheeks were tear stained. “You’re separating from me, Schooner.” She looked back down and put her face in her hands, sobbing.
Schooner stood and walked out of the bathroom. Mia laid back down, curling as fetal as she possibly could with her pregnant stomach and continued to cry. How could he be so cold, she wondered and the sobs grew deeper.
She heard his returning footsteps and opened her eyes. He sat down next to her, “I’m not even going to begin to attempt to understand what is going on here. Lift your head.” She did and he slid a pillow underneath her face. He placed his pillow next to hers on the bathroom floor, laid down and covered them both with a blanket.
He didn’t reach for her to pull her on to his chest and that made her heart break even more. “Please don’t be so cold,” she whispered and moved over to put her head on his chest and her arm around him. He didn’t move for a moment and then wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Nathaniel, huh?” He finally said.
“Nathaniel James.”
“Nathaniel James,” he tried out the name. “Nathaniel James Moore. I actually really like that. A lot.”
She looked up at him. “You do?”
He smiled, “Mmm-hmm. I do.”
“It’s just what I’ve been thinking of him as. We don’t have to name him that.” She got up on an elbow to look at him.
“Do you really think I would ever leave you and Nathaniel? I have waited half my life for this, Mia,” his eyes looked wounded. “And this house? This is not a consolation prize. This is to always ensure stability for the two of you. God forbid something happened to me, Mia, before the divorce was finalized. I did this to protect the two of you.”
“Schooner, I know we are all walking on eggshells around Zac, but you can’t treat me like I don’t matter to you because you don’t want to rock the boat with him.”
He was silent for a moment, just staring at the bathroom ceiling. “I’m sorry. You’re right. He needs to deal with reality the way it is, not us changing reality to accommodate him.”
Mia was silent for a moment, running her hand over Schooner’s bare chest, “I’m really sorry that I doubted your love and hurt you.” Her face and eyes overwhelmingly sad.
He moved Mia off of his chest, placing her head back on her pillow and looked down at her, staring into her eyes, a sad small smile appearing on his face, “That was a very serious BBC moment there.”
He gently pushed up her oversized tee-shirt, exposing her tan and shiny pregnant belly and lowered his lips to the rounded mound, planting a soft kiss. “Mommy got a little crazy tonight, Nathaniel and Daddy definitely didn’t help the situation, but do you think you can help me convince Mommy that sleeping in a bed would be a lot more comfortable than the bathroom floor,” he put his ear to her belly and smiled, “Nathaniel’s vote is for the bed.”
He stood and then bent down to help Mia up off of the floor. They grabbed the pillows and the blanket and went out to the bedroom and crawled into bed. This time Schooner reached for Mia, pulling her to his chest. “Do you remember me telling you that I never stopped loving you and that I never would?”
She nodded, “Yes.”
“I know I was a jerk tonight and not handling things well, but you have got to believe that I will never, ever stop loving you, Baby Girl, not for a second. Don’t ever doubt it, ever. Ok?”
“Ok,” she looked up into his eyes and nodded.
He brought his lips to hers, “I love our son’s name. It’s perfect.” and grazed her lips softly before they both closed their eyes and fell into an exhausted sleep.
CHAPTER 30
Mia, Seth and Yoli were spread out in the kitchen and great room, all on their laptops, Skyping, emailing and working on multiple details of the opening. Holly had gone to the ferry terminal to wait for Jared’s arrival, Schooner was on the courts and Zac was laying out on the beach attracting the attention of a throng of teenage girls interested in the new handsome blonde boy from California.
“Oh yes! Just heard back from SJP, she and MB will be there.” Seth announced.
“I knew she wouldn’t let us down.” Mia looked up from her laptop.
“SJP?” Yoli asked, draining her third cup of coffee.
“Sarah Jessica Parker. She and Matthew Broderick live right in the West Village, so we know them from a lot of events.” Seth explained. “This is the most killer A list I have ever seen in my life. This event is going to rock Fashion Week and L9 is going to be the hottest ticket in all of Manhattan.”
“Have we heard from Heidi Klum? She’s been a member of our Brentwood facility for years and one of Schooner’s favorite clients.”
Seth checked the list, “Yes, Heidi plus one.”
Yoli did a silent yes, with her fist pump.
A sweaty Schooner came through the front door, dripping from a workout on the courts. “Good to see you lazy people up and working.”
Mia shot him the finger without looking up at him. “Oh, you’ll pay for that, woman.” He pulled off his L9 cap and bent down to rub his sweaty forehead all over her face.
She screeched, “Eww, you’re gross!” Pushing him away as he tried to pull her face under his sweaty arm pit.
“Actually, you’re both gross.” No one had noticed Zac come in from the deck. His face was screwed up with disdain.
Mia and Schooner were both laughing and said, “Yes we are!” in unison. Mia looked up at Schooner smiling and he planted a loud wet kiss on her lips. She locked in on his eyes, silently telling him, “I love you.”
“Zac, there are bagels and English muffins in the bread box, fruit, cheese and eggs in the fridge. Help yourself.” Mia informed him, without taking her eyes off of Schooner’s face.
“Your girlfriend Heidi’s coming.” Yoli updated Schooner.
“I knew my girl wouldn’t let me down,” he was beaming, as he grabbed a cold bottle of Fuji water from the fridge.
“Hei
di’s your girl, huh?” Mia looked at Schooner with a questioning look and he nodded his head vigorously. “Seth, show Schooner the updated list.” Schooner walked over to where Seth sat on the pale blue and white striped couch and peered over his shoulder at the laptop screen.
“This is mind boggling. This list looks like the Red Carpet at the Oscar’s.” Even Zac’s curiosity was piqued and he began to peer over Seth’s shoulder.
“This is the guest list?” He asked.
“This is actually the confirmed attendee list.” Seth explained.
“Holy crap!” Even Zac was impressed.
“We take care of our clients.” Mia was standing in front of the open SubZero refrigerator, staring at its contents, indecision marking her face.
“Glad I gave you the business.” Schooner came up behind her, standing close.
She turned her head and smiled. “I’m glad you gave me the business, too.” His proximity was making her horny.
He reached over her shoulder to grab a nectarine off the refrigerator shelf and whispered in her ear, “Come shower with me.”
She leaned back against him, “I’ll meet you in five.” And he gave her neck a quick bite, then headed upstairs tossing his nectarine like he was getting ready for a serve.
“So all the Fire Island girls wanted to know who the new guy on the beach was, huh?” Mia smiled at Zac. It was still hard for her not to look at him and just see Schooner.
“Apparently,” he smiled and then caught himself, the cold veil sweeping over his eyes like a curtain.
“Did you bring clothes for the opening or are you going to need to shop when we get back to the city?” Mia asked.
“I’m from LA, this is no big deal to us.”
Mia laughed, “Clearly you have never attended an event in New York.” She smiled brightly at him, but anyone who knew Mia would have known there was nothing friendly in that smile. It was a rarity for Mia, but that was not a real smile.
And on that put-down note, Mia turned from Zac and headed upstairs to join his father in the shower.
Steam was coming out of the bathroom when Mia got into the bedroom. She wanted so much to like Zac. He was Schooner’s son and every time she looked at him, it was like looking at the beautiful boy who was the love of her life, but it was clear that forging a relationship with him was not going to be an easy path.
Schooner was standing under the streaming water of the rain head, his head tilted back, eyes closed. Mia just stood there staring at his long, muscular frame, his gorgeous chest that had always been the perfect home to her head, flat stomach, muscular thighs and his magnificent, thick cock. He was a sight to admire and she just stood there thinking about what she wanted to do to him.
Quietly, she slipped out of her sundress and into the shower through the open end of the glass enclosure. Her hands were on Schooner’s balls before he opened his eyes, a rumbling growling sound coming from deep in his throat. “Oh yeah.”
He looked down at her, smiling. “You are the cutest little pregnant thing.”
“You think?” She smiled up at him and he just nodded his head.
“Oh that feels so good.” She was stroking the length of him with both hands, one after the other, getting him rock hard. “Now look what you’ve done.”
“Handiwork,” she smiled up at him and then dipped her head down to take the crown of his cock into her mouth while letting the warm water stream through her lips. She rolled her tongue around the rim, still holding him tight in her hands squeezing and stroking. She straightened up, “Too hard for me to bend anymore.” She pouted. “I think you should fuck me.”
“I think that is an excellent idea.” He pulled her hair back, tilting her face up to him, his lips crushing down on hers in a deep rough kiss. He backed her up to the wall, never breaking their kiss.
“C’mere,” he said, leading her to the corner of the shower and turning her around to face the wall. “This will give you belly room.” He whispered in her ear, taking her hands and raising them above her head and placing one on each wall, palms flat on the tiles, his hands covering hers.
His teeth grazed her shoulder and she moaned. “You like when I bite you,” he commented.
“I love when you bite me, especially my neck.” She tilted her head to the right to give him access as he slowly bit his way from her shoulder to her neck, softly grazing his teeth and sucking.
“Spread your legs,” he demanded and she did, sticking her ass out toward him so that he’d have total access. He ran his finger from her clit to her ass and back again sinking his thumb into her ass and his long forefinger and middle finger into her pussy. Mia gasped and moaned. “Feels damn good, doesn’t it?” He worked his fingers in and out of each hole, bringing Mia to a frenzied point. She was muffling her sounds into the wall, not wanting everyone downstairs to hear her on the edge of ecstasy from Schooner’s fingers working both her pussy and her ass.
He reached over to the shelf and grabbed a bottle of mango moisturizing lotion and flipped open the top. “Just like butter,” he read from the label and made a “Heh” sound.
Schooner pulled Mia’s face around to him and kissed her forcefully. She felt his breath on her ear and his teeth pulling at her earlobe. “We have a house full of people downstairs and I think this morning I want to fuck your ass. Do you want your ass fucked, Baby Girl?”
Mia nodded vigorously. She was way past the point of speaking, she needed him inside of her — anywhere.
“Say it, Mia. Tell me what you want. What you need,” she moaned, “come on, Baby Girl, tell me what you want me to do to you. Tell me,” he hissed in her ear.
“I want you to fuck my ass,” she whispered, harshly.
“I didn’t hear you,” he said into her neck, as he inserted two fingers covered with the buttery lotion into her tight, tight ass.
“I need you to fuck my ass,” she gasped, as he worked his fingers in and out getting her ready to take him.
“Well that’s a very good thing because I need to fuck your ass.” He finished rubbing a thick layer of the mango cream on his rigid cock. “And that’s what I’m going to do right now.” He held her tight by her hipbones and pressed the head of his cock against her ass. She moaned at the pressure. “Feels good, huh? Well, it’s about to feel a lot better,” and he thrust deep into her ass. Mia let out a loud moan. “Fuck yeah, that feels good. You. Are. So. Damn. Tight.” He thrust in and out of her unyielding ass.
Mia’s head was back and she was whimpering sounds of pleasure. “Oh God, you feel so good,” she panted, “I want it harder.” And he complied.
“Play with your clit for me, Mia.”
“No, this feels too good.”
Schooner grabbed her by her hair, pulling her face back to him in the steam filled shower and kissed her roughly. “I said, play with yourself,” and he gave her hair a tug.
She removed one hand from the wall and reached down between her legs to do what he said. After a moment she said, “It’s too distracting. I just want to feel you,” and put her hand back up on the wall to steady herself. She squeezed Schooner’s cock tight with her ass muscles, knowing that would distract him and get his focus back 100% on his cock. Which is exactly where she wanted to focus.
“Oh God, what are you doing to me?” He moaned into her mouth as she continued squeezing and relaxing her muscles. He wrapped both arms around her tightly and laid his face in the crook of her neck as he thrust forcefully into her. The sounds coming out of him made her entire body quake with release. “Oh Baby Girl,” she heard him whimper as his body shook, then finally stilled. They stood there both shaking, Mia with her hands bracing her against the wall and Schooner with both arms wrapped tightly around her, still inside of her, both being hit with muscle spasming aftershocks.
“Oh God,” she whispered and he tightened his arms around her. He slowly pulled out of her and she gasped loudly and whimpered. Schooner turned her toward him pulling her to his chest as he led them back underneath
the large rain head shower disc. They stood under the hot stream of water wrapped around each other for a long while until their bodies calmed from the rush.
A little while later they descended the stairs hand-in-hand, both barefoot with wet hair, trying not to smile. Schooner gave Mia’s hand a squeeze and she looked up at him, feeling like a shy sixteen year old with a secret crush. She hoped her tan hid the fact that she was blushing.
CHAPTER 31
They all stood in the center of the rotunda, L9’s New York staff, L.A. staff working the opening and transition, Mia’s entire team, Holly, Jared, Zac, Yoli and her girlfriend, Debbie, who had flown in for the opening.
“As you all know, we’ve reserved several floors at The James Hotel in SoHo for tonight and also for tomorrow night after the opening. Tonight, we are taking over their rooftop pool and their roof bar, Jimmy, for a private party at 6:30.” A cheer went up from the staff, a crew that looked like a combination of models, movie stars and ultra-hip artists. “I know this has been a long haul and tonight we just get to blow off a little steam — not too much though, because I need you all at 150% tomorrow. Tonight is our calm before the storm. When you check into the hotel, they’ll give each of you your room assignments and a package with your itinerary and schedule. We’re all meeting as team for breakfast tomorrow morning and that meeting room will be noted in your itinerary. Also, in your packets will be your schedules and assignments for tomorrow and tomorrow night,” he paused, “Tomorrow is a huge day — breakfast is at 9:30 and we are going to be balls to the wall for the next 18 hours. Tomorrow we take New York, folks. After tomorrow night, New York will not be the same. The biggest buzz in town will be L9/NYC. We’ve got an attendee list that rivals the Oscars and Mia and her team have the press in a frenzy over us.” Cheers and whistles went up from the team, who were getting pumped up. “No man is an island, and what’s been accomplished and what we are about to do, is because we have the best team on both coasts. The next twenty-four hours are going to be crazy, so let me take this opportunity now to say thank you to everyone. Trust me, everything you do does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. What everyone has done this summer to get us ready for tomorrow night is nothing short of a miracle and I know I’m also speaking for Mia when I tell you that we both sincerely thank each and every one of you.” Schooner gestured to the rotunda, “This is all of ours,” he shot them his best All-American boy smile, “I’ll see you on a rooftop at 6:30. Now get out of here!” The staff responded with clapping and whistles.
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