by Lauren Wood
“So this is where you would take your other boyfriends?”
Eve shook her head. “I have never brought anyone here before. This was where I would go to think for a while, without being observed and silently judged. Half of the town goes to the same church, the one my father give sermons at once in a while. This was my place to think of where I was going to go when I could finally get out of here.”
“But you came back.”
She still hadn’t really given me an answer either. Her mind was elsewhere, that much was clear and I desperately wanted it to go back the way I had steered her.
“I did because I wasn’t doing as well as I would have liked to. I would have liked to have done things differently.”
“Come back and we can do it together. The apartment is still open or you can move in with me.” At this point, I was willing to take whatever I could get. If she wasn’t ready to marry me, we could play house for a time until she was ready. Every part of me told me that she was already mine, so if I had to wait, I knew that she was worth it.
“Is that what you want, really?”
“I want you to be my wife Eve. Beyond that, I want to take you back to the city and live together.”
She blushed again, but still there was no answer on her tongue. I wanted to know what it was that she wanted. Eve hadn’t said much about the proposal. I hadn’t thought of that right off the bat, hadn’t prepared really, but it was enough to get on her mother’s good side. Eve of course wasn’t as easily swayed.
“I don’t know what to say Carlos.”
“Don’t say anything. I think we do better when we let our bodies talk.”
She shivered underneath me as I pushed her back onto the grass under the older overpass and there was just something about the way she looked at me that made me melt right then and there.
I was in heaven and like before, her hips lifted up to meet mine. It was a moment of need that I wasn’t going to soon forget. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her and that was enough. What I wasn’t too sure of was how I was ever going to let her go if she didn’t say yes.
“God, I love you Eve. I have never loved anyone in my whole life but you and I don’t want to live without you anymore.”
Her only response was a small gasp, as I pulled her body away long enough to pull her skirt up and her panties down. I liked the new attire that she was wearing. It was far easier to get into and more important than anything she was ready for me as before. There was no denying how wet she was, glistening in the sunshine perfectly.
“I see you have missed me.”
Even nodded and wrapped her legs around me before I could get rid of my own clothes. She was impatient, as she had been last time and before I could stop her, Eve had me pulled down and was looking up at me as if I was the one. I wanted to be the one for her and I slide inside quickly, giving her what it was that she needed. The only thing that I heard over the pounding in my ears was the sound of her pleasure, coming out as I slid deeper.
“I love you too Carlos. I think I have loved you since I woke up in your bed.”
Kissing her, I silenced her words, rocking us both to the point of madness over and over again. I just couldn’t get enough of her and even when she pushed on my chest, begging for a break, I couldn’t stop. I pushed her as far past her limit as she had pushed me.
“Please Carlos, I can’t.”
“Yes you can Eve. You are going to do what I want.”
Chapter 14
Eve
“Who would have thought that you would be getting married here? I wish I would have seen mother’s face when you told her. Was she shocked?”
Shocked didn’t even start to explain how she had looked at me. I knew that Carlos had said something to her about it, but at the end of the day, it was still a surprise to hear it. Maybe she had thought that I would say no, but that was the very last thing that I had thought to do.
“Well she was definitely surprised, but she started crying almost immediately. You know how mom is.”
“Yeah, I do. When I told her that me and Barry were getting married, she had to have known it was coming, but she still wept every time she saw me for a week.”
“I don’t think I am going to be here that long, so she is going to have to get it all out at the wedding.”
My sister looked at me alarmed. “You aren’t going to stay here?”
I shook my head that I wasn’t going to. I had no intentions on staying here for another moment after we got married. I didn’t want to live there in that small town anymore. I had spent too much of my life there and when I told Constance that, I wished I had said it a better way.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” She was clearly offended and her feelings were hurt.
“What did you mean then? Do you really have nothing to stay around here for?”
“There is no work for me and Carlos owns two businesses in the city. I have to go. There is nothing for me here anymore. I don’t know if there ever was. I will miss you and our parents, but I will visit often. It is not that far away.”
Constance was watery eyed and she made me feel bad that I had made her that way. She was as bad as mom was about guilt and I felt guilty for even wanting to live somewhere else. I knew that it was what was best for me, but that didn’t really stop me from wanting to leave. I couldn’t live another person’s life anymore. It was time for me to live for myself and Carlos was my future. He was my destiny and wherever it was that he was, that was where I belonged. I understood that now, more so than I ever had before. Why couldn’t they be happy for me?
“But why today?”
“Because it is time. We have been here almost a week getting everything ready. I told mom that I would do it here at the church, like she always wanted, but after that, I am done living for them Constance. I have to live for me. I know that you won’t get it, but you are happy here with Barry. You are happy in Watertown, right?”
There was a moment of hesitation as the façade fell, but it was back up so quickly that I wasn’t sure if what I thought I saw was real. “You are happy here, right?”
She shook her head, but there was a tear in her eye that she brushed away and tried to laugh off. Everything was not as perfect as she would like me to think, but I couldn’t think of that today. Constance knew that I would always listen, but by the looks of her, she was not quite ready to give it all up just yet.
“You know that you can always come and visit us if you like Constance, with or without Barry.”
I could tell that she was rather surprised by the invitation and how it was given to her, but I wanted her to know that she was always welcome if she had to get away. I wasn’t going to tell her to forgive him if he did wrong. I would be there for my sister, not for the sake of her marriage.
“It is just going to be so strange without you. When you were gone before, I thought I was going to go crazy with no one to talk to.”
“I am only a couple of hours away and you can always call. I write at home most of the time, so I am always ready to talk. I felt the same way when you got married. I thought I was going to lose you or something, but I didn’t.”
Constance was crying freely now and I was doing my best not to. “Please Constance. I don’t need to smear my makeup. It took forever to get it on there.”
Smiling at me and wiping my eyes, she just laughed. “I did it too. I was smeary seconds before I walked down the aisle with Barry. Mom thought I was backing out, but it was really just too much to deal with all at once. How are you feeling about everything right now? Are you okay?”
I told her that I was. For a moment I had been nervous, but now all of that was going away and all I could think about was what I wanted to do next. I was ready to get married, because I knew that Carlos was the one for me. And he had promised me that if I ever forgot why I said yes to him, he would remind me again in a thousand ways. I really hoped a few of those ways ended up in the bedroom. He was very convincing there.
***
“Do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?”
I nodded my head and finally squawked out an answer, hoping that it was loud enough to be heard. Carlos was holding his breath and finally let it go with my answer. Did he really for a second think that I would say no?
He didn’t wait for the preacher to give the okay, signifying that we were married in God’s hands. Instead he pulled me to him and made quite a scene in the church. I could hear the gasping from behind me, but I also knew that every woman there wished that her husband had done the same. I was too busy dealing with the lips that could convince me of anything. All he had to do was ask and I was left helpless to not give him what he wanted.
When he pulled away, it was me who was finding it hard to breathe and I panted a little, my mind already going to what was going to be in store for us. I knew that it was going to be perfect. He was perfect and it didn’t matter what was ahead, as long as he was with me. With Carlos, I knew that I could do anything and now it was just official.
Walking back down the aisle hand in hand with the man I love was something that I would never forget. I didn’t see anyone else, nor was I going to remember anyone else. All I was going to remember was those dark brown eyes that twinkled at me and the beginnings of a beard that I missed so much.
“I love you Eve. I never thought I would feel this way, but I can’t think of what it would be like without you with me and I never want to find out.”
“I love you too Carlos. I am not going anywhere, ever again.”
Helping me into our getaway car, I moved to kiss him, grabbing his face and pulling him in. It was the first time that I had done it, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be to be the last. With Carlos, there was no right and wrong, there was only us.
THE END
PREVIEW
NEVER MINE
A SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE
PROLOGUE
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: MANDY
I couldn’t believe what I’d just found out. It was not at all what I was expecting when I took the test. Things like that don’t happen to girls like me. I was just out of high school and I had my whole life ahead of me. Greg had his whole life ahead of him and I knew what he would say if I told him.
It occurred to me then that I couldn’t tell Greg. He would try to fix it, do things that he didn’t want to do because of it. I couldn’t let him do that. I didn’t want him to be with me because he had to or because he felt trapped. There was nothing that I could do but get away. I had to get away from Watertown for a while. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I needed space and time to think.
Packing up my bags, all I could think about was Greg and what he was going to think when he found out that I had left. I knew that I couldn’t see him again and the thought made my heart hurt. It was something that I had to do, that much I knew, but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t going to hurt more than anything else I had ever felt before.
Looking back one last time in the room that I had lived in since I was a small girl it wasn’t my childhood home that I was going to miss the most. It was Greg and I knew I was always going to wonder what would have happened if I had stayed.
CHAPTER 1
MANDY
“Come on Mandy. I don’t know why you are being like this. It is a nice night and you have nothing else going on. Let’s go have some fun for a few hours.”
I tried to look excited, I really did. It was hard to feel like doing anything after I had worked twelve hours at the animal sanctuary. It had been a long day with two animals put into quarantine and another couple being released. All I really wanted to do was find a movie that I hadn’t seen in a while and have a glass of wine. I was tired, but it wasn’t going to matter to Alise. I had made her a promise and she was going to hold me to it. That much I knew, so there was no point in fighting it.
“I said I was going, what more do you want?”
“A little enthusiasm would be nice Mandy. Stop acting like you are on death row.”
I smiled, but I knew that it didn’t reach my eyes. I was leafing through the closet, trying to find something to wear while Alise played with my hair and the curling iron.
“I’m not. I just haven’t gone out in a while.”
She sighed and pulled another hot strand of curl off the iron that fell to my shoulder. I looked into the mirror and I liked the change. I hadn’t done much to my hair in a while besides braid the blonde mess up for work. Now I was looking like I didn’t deserve a lab coat on me, but I still couldn’t find anything that I really wanted to wear. Nothing looked good and I knew that it was because I wasn’t that into going out to a bar to drink and dance.
“I know you haven’t. Ever since you and Jeff broke up, I haven’t been able to get you out of the house after dark.”
Shooting her a look, I couldn’t believe that she was bringing him up. He was the last person that I wanted to think about, but if I was honest he was a lot like all of my exes and I didn’t want to talk about any of them either.
“I just had to take a little break.”
“Well time is up Mandy. It is time to get back out there and you aren’t going to do it with that.”
She took the little red dress out of my hands and I protested a little. “What is wrong with that?”
“It isn’t near short enough. I thought you wanted to have some fun?”
Groaning inwardly, I waited for her to pull out a skirt and tank top combo that made me blush. It was not the kind of outfit that I would wear but to keep the peace and get it over with, I slide the clothes on and watched them cling to my curves. “I look like a slut.”
Alise shook her head. “No, you look a little cheap, but not a slut.”
I smiled and laughed that she thought there was a difference. All I could think about was how much attention the clothes were going to bring me. Straightening up the skirt and pulling it down as far down my leg as I could, I gave up and realized that it was going to have to be okay. I had agreed to it after all.
“Do you want me to put your makeup on?”
Looking at the woman staring back at me in the reflection, there was no part of it that I recognized. My red hair was a mass of loose curls that fell around my waist and the outfit was tight and revealing. I looked good, a few years younger than my thirty two years, but I felt like an imposter.
“No I think I am good on that Alise. I look enough like you.”
She took it as a compliment and told me that my boobs looked good in the shirt. “If I had a body like yours Mandy, I wouldn’t be so shy to show it off.”
I didn’t want to hear that. Alise was beautiful and petite, something that I had always wanted to be. Where everyone else saw curves and features that they liked, I always wanted to be doll-like, like her.
“Whatever, Mandy. I know that you don’t get it, but I can’t even pull off half of the clothes that you have.”
Waving her off, I swiped a little lip gloss on my lips, as well as some eye liner and called it a day. “Are you ready?”
She looked at me as if she had been ready for a year and I had to giggle at her. Alise had a way of dragging me into things that I wasn’t necessarily into, but she at least made it fun on the way. Locking the door behind me, I moved out into the chilly night. Alise was right behind me and I was hopeful that I could get her back home before it got too late.
“What about Alfie?”
“He is with Rita for the night.”
“Good, so that means that you can stay out all night.”
“No, I still have work tomorrow.”
Alise gave me a look and I ignored it as we got in the car. I was still hoping to be in bed before midnight. My overnight partying days were behind me.
***
When we got to Dante’s, I was still a little reluctant, but as soon as I got a drink in my hand I was feeling a little bit better about the situation. The White Russian h
ad an extra shot of rum in it and before long I was feeling the music more than I was feeling my nerves. Alise was right of course, she always was it seemed. Maybe a night out was just what I had needed the whole time.
I could feel the smile spread across my face as I looked out at the dance floor. It was only when I caught the side profile of someone that I used to know that everything in me stopped. The people, the music, it was all in the background as Greg came into view.
Memories flooded my system and I was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe in the packed room. He didn’t see me yet and I was split between standing still and running away so that he didn’t. It had been too long since I had seen him and the last time I had, my heart had broken into a thousand pieces. There was a part of me that knew that he was never going to forgive me for what I had done. I had made some decisions that I knew was going to be hard for him to deal with. They were hard for me to live with as well, but it was what had to be done.
Greg was a bad boy or he had been when we were in school together. He was the love of my life and I would have sworn that I was going to marry him. That is what I had expected and when things had changed, it had taken me a long time to get over Greg, if I ever really did.
He turned my way and I stopped in my tracks. I had been staring and though I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see him or not, if I wanted him to know that I was even there. When he saw me though, I saw the recognition on his face and I was left speechless. He remembered me and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. One way or another, Greg started to walk towards me and I was left there to stand. The drink in my hand was gone and I felt betrayed a little bit by that.
“Mandy Cossin, as I live and breathe.”
I smiled up at him and I could feel my body’s age old response. All of me remembered Greg quite well.
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