Play Me to Infinity (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 3)

by Carey Decevito

  My balls drew up, my skin felt too tight for my body.

  “Holy shit!” Her core milked every last spurt from me.

  Cuddled with Nicole on my lap as we regained our wits, she asked, “How long until you’re ready to head home?”

  “Let me get dressed and you cover this gorgeous body of yours and then we can go.”

  “What about work?”

  “It can wait.” I buried my face into her neck, soaking in everything that was her. “I need to get back to my fiancée. I’m sure the business won’t fall apart overnight.”

  She laughed. “I can wait, handsome. Finish what you need to do.” I gave her my best do-I-have-to look. She got up and leaned forward to cup my face for a sweet kiss. “I don’t need you preoccupied with work this weekend.” She tried to retreat, but the sight of her disheveled state made me want to take her all over again. I reached out for her, but she jumped out of my grasp, trying to tuck her breasts back in and doing up the clasps on her corset. “Work, then play.”

  “All right, you win. Now tell me about what you and George have cooked up with the Fleishman account.”

  Chapter 61

  “Michael,” Nicole said, “what are we doing here? We’re going to be late for the barbecue.”

  I parked the car on a side street and handed her an envelope.

  “They can wait. This is more important, and it won’t take long. I need to check up on something.”

  She remained seated in the car, looking at the envelope as if it was some foreign object that held secrets beyond her understanding.

  I chuckled. “You can open it now.”

  “What is it?”

  “Open it and you’ll find out.”

  She didn’t need more incentive than that.

  Page in hand, her brows furrowed. “Michael?” She looked at me with a wounded expression. “Why?”

  “Because I think you’ll be rather too busy to entertain me around the office.”

  “Why’d you bring me here? We’re parked on the side of a street, downtown, for Christ’s sake! You could have done this at home.”

  “I have an early wedding gift for you and that, in your hands, is part of it.” I gave her my best Cheshire cat grin. “Now, turn around. I need to blindfold you for this next step.”

  With a suspicious glance before doing what I’d asked of her she said, “What are you up to, Michael Withers? Why is it that I have my walking papers when I’m perfectly happy where I am?”

  “Ah,” I began with a sultry voice, “but are you really?”

  She nodded. “Of course!”

  “No, you’re not.” I made to exit the car before she could beg to differ. “Wait for me to come and open your door.”

  “Are you trying to start an argument?” I guided her out of the passenger seat.

  I smirked. “With you, arguments are like foreplay.”

  I wrapped her arm around my elbow and escorted her down the large block and rounded the corner.

  Stopping at our destination, I reached for the door and found it unlocked as I’d instructed.

  The room was dark, but the emergency lights helped enough for me to see and guide Nicole around.

  I grabbed her hand and led the way.

  “Mike,” she pulled back on my hand, “where are we? What are you trying to pull?”

  I ignored her words, but paused to turn and face her with my hands clasped just below her jaw. “You have a dream,” I moved to stand behind her, “and we both know that it’s more than sitting in an office pushing papers for me.”

  “What are you getting at?” I began to remove her blindfold. “I told you that-”

  A light snapped on to illuminate a lone guitar right as the blindfold fell from her face.

  She gasped. “What’s that doing here?”

  Before she could take in too much of her surroundings, I turned her to face me.

  “Nicole, you can’t tell me that you’re completely happy.” Her brows quirked up in question. “You’ll never be unless you’re doing what you’ve always dreamed of doing.” I cradled her cheek, kissing her chastely.

  “And I told you…” She sighed out her annoyance. “Michael, can we talk about this another time? We need to get going.”

  I grinned. “What about your surprise? Don’t you want to know what it is?”

  She took a deep breath, realizing that nothing had been revealed except for the fact that she stood in a strange darkened place she clearly didn’t recognize, her guitar was on the premises, and I’d just handed over her termination papers moments earlier.

  “Fine!”

  “Now that you’ve got that insurance money of yours, I’ve been waiting for you to talk more about your plans to open your music shop again, but you haven’t.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “You can’t argue that it’s a good time to make it happen.”

  Her breath caught and doubt filled her eyes. I saw the darkness, the fear, the excitement that lay there. The fear was most prominent, and I knew that she’d spout out a bunch of excuses as to why she hadn’t moved forward with that part of her life as of yet.

  “There’s a lot involved in opening up a business, Mike. I have the overhead at this point, but I need a place.”

  “You have one.”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

  I smirked. “Honey, you’re standing in it.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Michael, I wish you’d run this by me first. There’s so much more than just an empty space needed. The last place was perfect. Do you have any idea how much it costs to build a recording studio? How much the inventory-?”

  “You mean instruments?” She nodded. “Which ones? Guitars?” A light came on and Nicole gasped when she saw the wall filled with an assortment – both acoustic and electric – from base models to the higher end ones. “Pianos and keyboards?” Another light came on, highlighting an array of Yamahas and Steinways along with other brands.

  “What’s going on, Michael?”

  “I think you know what’s going on, Nicole.” The rest of the lights came on and the gang, who’d been hiding in the back storage area, appeared bellowing a loud surprise as I turned her to face them and held on to her hips to prevent her from toppling over from shock.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She looked all around. “This… this is my shop!” She whirled around to face me. “But… How did you-? It was rented out!”

  So she had been looking around.

  A pang of jealousy struck me that she hadn’t shared that with me. With how things had fallen apart for her, I knew she wanted to handle this part on her own, as proof that she could make it.

  I chuckled. “Wrong, it was purchased. I bought it.”

  “I can’t believe you!” She smacked my chest and broke down, her face in her hands. I grabbed one of her hands and she stepped forward to bury her face in my chest.

  “Nic,” I whispered. “Honey?”

  “This is too much.” Her body shook with her sobs.

  “It’s nothing.” I kissed her hair. “I told you I’d do anything to keep you happy and this is something that does.”

  Her arms came around me and tightened like a vice. “I can’t…”

  “You can, and you will.” I delighted in the fact that she let me tilt her face up so she could see me. “Guys, give us a minute?” I waited until I heard the last of the footsteps fade into the stock room’s direction.

  “You shouldn’t have.”

  “You don’t like it?”

  She shook her head. “No, I love it, but you shouldn’t have. This was mine to do on my own.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with a leg up, honey. Plus, you own the place now. No more rent and no mortgage. I paid it in full, it’s in your name. All I ask is that you take this place and do what it is that you love.”

  “It’s too much money.”

  “You’re forgetting my net worth.” I pecked her nose. “In case you forgot, I’m lo
aded.”

  She chortled. “You’re crazy is what you are.”

  “And you belong here, with all of this,” I gestured to our surroundings with one arm while the other held her close, “not in an office.”

  She began to look around. “This really is amazing. I’ll never be able to thank you for this, Michael.”

  “You taking this place, doing what you love most, and seeing your smile every day is thanks enough. You’ve already given me enough by agreeing to be mine forever.” I wiped the stray tear that trailed down her cheek. “Please kiss me and say that you’ll keep it. I can always sell it and get you some bigger place.”

  “No!” She covered my mouth with her hand as if what I’d just said was blasphemous. “This place is where my heart is. You have no clue what you’ve done.” Her eyes welled up with another bout of tears.

  “I think I have a slight inkling. I saw how you looked when you brought me here and told me about when you first opened it up.”

  “So many memories are holed up here,” she whispered. “Saying goodbye to this place was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

  I hugged her head to my chest and buffed my cheek on top of her head. “It’s a good thing it wasn’t a final one, even though you didn’t know it at the time.”

  A sigh of resolve mixed with contentment escaped her. “I’ll take it. I can’t say no to this, Michael. The fact that you know me so well means the most, but this…” She pulled away and looked up. “This I can’t refuse. I’ll take it, but…”

  I smiled down at her. “What is it?”

  She grabbed my face and looked me in the eyes. “Don’t you dare do anything like this again.” Her eyes grew stern. “For one, I don’t think you can top this, and two, you’ve given me more than a lifetime’s worth of gifts and happiness with this place alone. I don’t want anything else other than you… just you.”

  I laughed. “I can’t promise you that.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Seriously, Michael, I don’t want anything like this again. You do know that men typically surprise their bride with jewelry or something of that sort.”

  Laughing, I let my forehead fall to hers. “I agree, it was over-the-top crazy, but I’d do it ten more times to see the look on your face you have right now.”

  “Just so you know, you buy me another building, and I’ll turn around and sell it to get you something nice in return.”

  I grinned. “That could be fun, but awfully expensive.” My face grew serious. “Nicole?”

  “What?”

  “Kiss me.”

  “I was just about to.” She pulled my head down and captured my lips with hers in a fierce kiss.

  When she jumped up, I caught her, wrapping her legs around my waist as her hands dug into my hair and her forearms pulled my face closer to hers.

  “I love you more than you’ll ever know,” she said over my lips.

  I laughed. “I think that could be debated, but I’ll call us even.” Spinning us around, I yelled, “Get in here guys!”

  Everyone came pouring in, hugs and kisses all around.

  Jasper sat at one of the pianos and began pounding away, asking Paxton if he could have one, while Jordan was in the guitar section, checking out the electric numbers.

  I watched as Nicole toured the shop and found a seat beside Jasper. The rest of the adults had gathered in the middle of the place and were busy catching up.

  At some point, everyone’s attention was directed to Nicole and Jasper. They were both playing Chopsticks, but it was cute seeing that within less than half an hour, the five-year-old had learned a few basic keys.

  “Can you play me a song, Nikki?” the little guy asked. I saw the look of uncertainty cross her face – or was it anxiety? “Please!”

  The kid’s trademark pout did it. “Just the one.” She looked up and crooked her finger at me. “Come here. This one’s for you, handsome.”

  She played the baby grand and everyone corralled around the beautiful instrument to listen. I watched as her fingers tickled the ivories, love and passion pouring out while she played as if the music came straight from her soul. She made it look effortless and awed me, but also provided me with added conviction that what I had done for her had been the best decision I’d ever made, next to asking for her hand in marriage.

  By the time she was done, every man who had a woman had their arms wrapped around them.

  “Is there anything you don’t do?” Ben asked in awe.

  She giggled. “I don’t play the drums, and don’t ask me to play a wind instrument.”

  “I can’t believe that you’ve kept your singing a secret for so long,” Danica said.

  “You’re amazing,” Alissa added. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, pretty much surprised and rendered speechless.

  “I don’t know that song,” Jasper said, scratching his head and he perked up. “Can you play something else that I know?”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  We left the store, making sure everything was locked up, and headed to Paxton’s and Alissa’s for what was to be our engagement party à-la-BBQ style.

  Jordan and Jasper were running around, playing with a football while Nicole, Danica and Alissa were tending to a baby each.

  I found myself tuning out the guys as I was taken with the image of my fiancée holding my niece.

  “Mike,” I heard, “did you hear me?”

  I turned toward Ben.

  “Huh?”

  “I think we need to get you away from Nicole,” Jake said and the guys laughed.

  “I should remind you that you and my sister are still that way.”

  “Just wait until after two years of marriage. It never felt like it would fade, but it did,” Ben said. The guys and I turned to look at him. It was the first time that he’d spoken so openly about his dead wife. I detected a bit of resentment? “What?”

  “It’s just…” I began.

  “I’m not that broken that I can’t talk about her, bro.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m just surprised that you brought her up, it’s all.”

  “It’s better that way,” Ben said and set his gaze on my fiancée. “Sure, we had our moments, but who doesn’t, and she deserves to be remembered. You have a great woman, Mike. Nicole’s the one that’s reminded me that the accident wasn’t the only thing that should be remembered about her.”

  I know that the man still felt guilty for what had happened, but whatever it was that Nicole and he had discussed, I could tell that he seemed to be working toward forgiving himself. Survivor’s guilt was a constant demon of Ben’s.

  Jake excused himself to help Danica with the twins. Paxton followed, deciding that he should get some of the food on the grill, leaving Ben and I alone.

  “I owe you an answer,” Ben started.

  I looked at the man I’d asked to be my Best Man and he smiled. “You’re sure? I know it’s not easy.”

  “I’d be honored to return the favor.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Plus, I kind of thought it was a done deal after you talked to me about giving her that ring anyway.”

  Chapter 62

  I was dressed to the nines and pacing the spare bedroom at Paxton’s, where the ceremony would be held.

  It was hard to believe that a month and a half had gone by since my rather unorthodox proposal, and I’m happy to say that things have only gotten better.

  Nicole’s leaving Withers had been a major adjustment for us.

  Where I anticipated the decrease in seeing each other as being a bad thing, I found that our evenings meant more. Seeing the twinkle in her eyes and the smile lighting her face as she spoke about her business only confirmed that making her dream a reality had been the best decision for both of us.

  As I waited for my cue to head downstairs, I peered out the bedroom window.

  I took in the look of the Lowell’s back yard and the transformation it had undergone in just a matter of days. The tents and dance-floo
r were set up, and so were the dinner tables and chairs. There were miniature lights garnishing the ceilings of each structure, waiting to be lit, adding to the allure of romance as they mimicked twinkling stars. Freesia and lilies made up the floral arrangements.

  It was simple, elegant. It was perfect.

  My eyes stopped on the archway that was covered in tulle, or so I think that’s what I overheard Allie and Nicole discussing the other day. Flowers and lights were part of the mix there as well. There was a table off to its side which would be for the registry signing after Nicole and I were married.

  “They’re fifteen minutes out,” Jake said as he entered the room with Ben. “We should get you down there.”

  My head bobbed.

  “Everything okay?” Ben’s hand landed on my shoulder.

  I smiled to myself. “Perfect.”

  “Nervous?”

  “Not even in the slightest.”

  “It’s a good sign.” He chuckled. “Only a few more minutes of freedom left. How does it feel?”

  Amazing.

  I greeted the guests on the inner portion of the aisle as I headed toward the altar. The justice of the peace shook my hand and then I waited.

  Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours. I had only been there for two minutes before the soft sound of Pachelbel’s Cannon in D Major began to play.

  Danica walked down first and I was amazed at how beautiful my baby sister looked. She gave me a dazzling smile and a wink before assuming her place opposite me, leaving room for the woman I would soon be taking as my wife.

  As soon as the song ended, a familiar tune began to play, but without its lyrics.

  Our song.

  I felt Ben’s hand on my shoulder and looked down the aisle to find the most beautiful creature that would ever walk this earth.

  Her gown, although simple, was amazing. Satin was gathered at her bust, hugging it down to her waist, a sparkling brooch adding to the fanciness of her attire where the skirt flowed flawless and moved as she moved, pooling to the ground. Her hair was pinned only at the front, leaving the rest of it to flow loosely curled around her bare shoulders.