MMB_kdp

by Lauren Wood

  That door wasn’t locked, but I wasn’t welcome. Cece made it clear and actually threw something at me. “Keep your distance Dante. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Just do your job and leave me alone! I don’t want to have to fire you too.”

  ***

  “I think we should talk Dante.”

  I turned around and looked at her warily. “I have been trying to for a couple of weeks now. You haven’t wanted to have anything to do with me for all of that time. Keep your distance is what you said. What do you want me to say?”

  “I know that I have been distance, but it came to my attention that some of the information that I got, may not have been the right information. Sometimes it is hard to disbelieve what you see with your own eyes. I thought I saw something between you and Barb, but now I know that it wasn’t something that you had a part of. You have to understand that I never wanted to believe it, but it is hard to see something with your own eyes and not believe it. I didn’t want to seem like the fool that would let you make up such ridiculous excuses.”

  “Why do you think so differently now?”

  “I talked to Steve and he told me what happened. I wish you would have told me, but I don’t think I would have believed you anyways if I am completely honest with myself. I knew that Barb was a troublemaker, but I never would have guessed that she was that way.”

  “Well I wanted to talk to you about it, but I didn’t think there was anything I could say to make it better. I know that I didn’t want to have anything to do with her. You are the only one I want Cece. That hasn’t changed.”

  “Even though I was a jealous cow to you?”

  I smiled and I loved the way her whole face brightened up with idea of my forgiveness. It had been far too long since I had seen that look on her face and I wanted to memorize it so I would never forget it.

  “Yes even though you wouldn’t give me a chance to explain. It has only been you since the first time we were together and I don’t want that to ever change. I was hoping that the truth would come out one day soon, but I am not going to worry about it too much. Now that you are mine again and we are talking, that is all that matters.”

  “So what do you want to do now that we are talking again?”

  I chuckled and sighed. She really was the perfect woman when she wasn’t pissed off at me.

  “I can think of many things that I would like to do with you and all of them involve me, you and a bed.”

  She sighed and moved towards me. “Why a bed?”

  “Because it has been weeks Cece and I want to take you properly.”

  She shivered in my arms and I kissed her for the first time in a long time. I had been so afraid that I wasn’t going to ever be able to hold her again, but she felt amazing in my arms, she really did.

  “You feel different. It has been so long that you feel different to me Cece.”

  She pulled back away from me and looked at me a little strange. “What do you mean by that?”

  I held her middle, pulling her back to me and there were definitely some changes in the way her body felt in my arms. It was hard to explain, but she felt a little rounder and her stomach was a little harder. I certainly wasn’t going to say that to her though.

  “I don’t know. You just feel different to me. Your boobs even feel different.”

  That got her smiling and she pushed my hand away from her mounds. “They are bigger now, but not by much. How could you tell?”

  That’s what it was, that felt bigger and I had to put my hand up there again to cup them and see if she was right. She was. So what did that mean?

  “I don’t know Cece, but I know this body better than my own. I could just tell right off the bat that something was different. Why do you think your boobs are bigger?”

  “Because my bras are getting tight.”

  I waited for her to say more, but nothing was forthcoming.

  “So, why is that? I didn’t think that they did that… Oh.” Now I see.

  Cecelia moved back a little and looked at me, waiting for my reaction. It took me a minute, but now I got it. “Are you?”

  I couldn’t even say the word because it was so foreign to me. I didn’t know what to say so I just pulled her to me and kissed her on the lips. I was happy and scared all at the same time, but I knew that I wanted this with her. It cemented us together forever and I knew that I was going to have to make it official. I owed that to her and it wasn’t like I wasn’t already thinking about it, but first things first.

  Pulling her after me, I took her upstairs and closed the door, locking it. “I need you Cece.”

  Her blue eyes darkened the color of the stormy sea. “I need you too Dante, badly.”

  Her hands went to her shirt and she started to undo it. I wasn’t waiting though, not able to endure her little show. I pulled the shirt open and heard the buttons popping as I ripped it off. I didn’t care and once I got my mouth on Cece, she wasn’t going to care either.

  Epilogue

  Three Months Later

  Cecelia

  “So what are we doing here Dante? You know I don’t like surprises.”

  He smiled at me and told me that he wasn’t going to tell me a word. We had ridden the horses for a couple of hours and it seemed like now we were walking into dark nothingness and I was getting an uneasy feeling. It was late at night and pitch black, but he seemed just fine to let me worry about it all.

  I didn’t really care where we were going, as long as he was with me. All I could think about was how much I wanted him to just tell me already. I didn’t like the unknown, even though it was Dante.

  Everything had changed since I finally talked to Steve and found out the truth. Every time that I didn’t trust Dante, I was proven wrong and that was just another time that the same rang true. All I wanted from him was to be with him and now that I finally realized that I could trust him, everything had been so much better. I wish I would have gotten here so much sooner. It seemed like a waste, all of the mistrust and putting myself through agony thinking all of those horrible things about him for no reason.

  “I don’t care where we go Dante, as long as the ending is what I hope for.”

  I had only one thing in mind when we were together and now I wanted him so badly. When I thought about him, I knew that everything was going to work out. It took me a while to get there, but we were going to be a family soon enough.

  “I know what you want Cece and I promise that you won’t be disappointed.”

  His statement made me feel a little better and I started to relax a little bit, letting him guide me in the dark. Whatever it was, it would be good because it was from him. I was sure of that, if I wasn’t sure of anything else.

  My heart started to falter when we came through a clearing and I could see candles lit, as well as a blanket laying out with a picnic basket and some sparkling cider. He was always so damn romantic and this was no different. I turned to him and kissed him in the darkness that was no longer complete.

  “It’s beautiful baby. Totally worth the wait. You know how hungry I was. I was sure that you were trying to make me starve.”

  “Never Cece. I just wanted to have dinner with just the two of us, not with everyone else around from the ranch.”

  “I agree. I like eating with everyone like a family, but I like to be alone with you as well. It always feels so nice when we are together just the two of us. So what is the occasion for tonight? Why did you do all of this?”

  “I wanted to ask you something important and I wanted to make sure that everything was right.”

  I had a feeling I knew what he was about to do and I was so nervous that I asked for some sparkling cider first. He poured me a drink while I anxiously nibbled on a piece of cheese. I wasn’t hungry anymore, but I knew that I wanted to keep my hands busy before I did something that I would regret.

  “What did you want to ask me?” I already knew, but I wanted to prolong it just a little bit longer. This was a moment that
I was going to remember the rest of my life. It was a story that is going to be told over and over again and I wanted to make sure it was perfect.

  Dante did just what I had always envisioned in my mind. He got on one knee with a small ring box in his hands. “Will you marry me Cece?”

  I shook my head, tears streaming down my face because I knew that it was going to be hard to actually get any words out. I moved down to kiss him and toppled him over. I fell onto his hard body and I could have sworn that I had fallen back in love with him all over again.

  “So it that a yes?”

  “Yes! Of course I will marry you Dante! I thought you would never ask.”

  I moved off of him because I was smooshing my burgeoning stomach. I didn’t mention that it took him long enough. I had hoped for this, months ago, but now, as he slipped the ring on my finger, our future family together seemed more and more a part of reality. Our new reality and it was one that I wouldn’t change for the world.

  THE END

  NEVER KISS A BAD BOY: A BAD BOY SECRET BABY ROMANCE

  Chapter 1

  Grey

  “What the hell are we doing here Scott? I could be at home with Kaika all over me right now. This is not going to be any better.”

  I looked up at the hot woman on the stage and then back at my old friend. I hadn’t seen him since college and a chance meet turned into a night of drinking and now women were on the menu to finish off. It was just like old times, though this time we both had more money to rain on them.

  “Nothing is better than that ass Grey. I don’t care what you have waiting at home for you. This chick could bounce a quarter off of her ass. That is talent that you aren’t going to find in common folks, no matter how wild that chick of yours is.”

  I chuckled at his comment and I would be the first to say that his assessment of the firm ass in front of us was just as nice as he made it out to be. It didn’t change the facts though. The fact of the matter was that I should be at home with my girl, not out partying with him. We were already on the rocks and pissing her off wasn’t the way to go. Kaika was talented and I had kept her around longer than most. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to walk away from her skills. That was something that was hard to find.

  “Maybe so, but Kaika has other talents that are even better than bouncing money off her ass. She has a tongue that feels about a foot long when she uses it right.”

  The man chuckled and slapped the one in front of him. The girl glared back at him. We weren’t supposed to touch the dancers. That was rule number one, but sometimes it was hard to stop oneself from doing it and there is always ways to smooth it over.

  Scott handed her a hundred dollar bill and she wasn’t as pissed off as she was before. “There is more of that if you want to take a trip to the VIP lounge with me and my friend here.”

  The dark-haired dancer smiled at me and I smiled back out of instinct. Right or wrong, I was hard as a rock and my body was ready to do all kinds of naughty things to the stripper. It was all I could think about at the moment, though I knew there was much that I could do. If this woman decided to take the offer, I was going to be balls deep in her very soon. Nothing else would matter and the woman waiting for me at home wouldn’t matter either.

  There was no reason or need for me to encourage Scott. He didn’t need it and once Rose decided to take a break from the bar, I knew that I was sealing my own fate. Sad thing was I didn’t care.

  ***

  “Where the hell have you been Grey? I have been up all night waiting for you to get home.”

  “You should have gone to sleep. I told you that I was going out.”

  “You smell like booze.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with her. Kaika was the type of woman that wasn’t to be messed with. She had a temper that was almost as scary as mine. It was part of the reason I liked her. She wasn’t so vulnerable that I was afraid I would break her when I took her properly. No, Kaika was tough and that meant that there was a battle ahead of me if I didn’t cut her off at the pass.

  “I just went out. We had a few drinks, caught up and talked about old times. I haven’t seen him in ten years.”

  With other women I wouldn’t even go this far to explain myself, but the girl had a way of swallowing me whole. I had never seen or felt it before and I doubted that I was going to find someone as talented as she is. It was worth taking a little bit of her grief if I had to.

  “Really? That is all you did? You weren’t at the strip club on 3rd avenue, right?”

  I was and that told me that she was asking the question that she already knew the answer to. Did she know what I had done there? It was a good indication that she did and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do about it. I could just come clean, but that had never been my style. I could try and convince her that she was crazy, but Kaika wasn’t going to go for that. I was stuck and my silence seemed to mean to her the same as an omission.

  “What do you want me to say? I just went out, that’s it. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. You are the one making it that way.”

  “Because I want to know what the hell you could spend five hundred dollars on at a strip club.”

  I wasn’t sure how she was getting her information, but I had to admit that she knew what was going on. I don’t think that I was going to be able to talk her out of it and the fact that I had just slept with a stripper wasn’t helping my cause. I actually felt a little guilty and I think she could smell it on me.

  “Look Kaika, you are making a big deal out of this. It is really not that dramatic. It just happened, I swear it to you.”

  “What just happened?”

  “The club and all of that." They got a hold of my credit card, so there is no telling what all got charged on it. I will check it in the morning. Right now I am tired and I want to go take a shower.”

  “You aren’t going in there until we are finished. I need the truth Grey.”

  This was going nowhere fast and it made me nervous when she said something about the truth. She didn’t want this truth and if she got it, I was sure that I wasn’t going to see her again. I knew where this was headed and I didn’t want it to go there, even though I really didn’t have a choice.

  “I was out Kaika and now I am home. That is the truth.”

  I moved to kiss her and she could smell perfume on me... Then she saw lipstick on my collar and that was all that she needed to see and smell. It wasn’t long before she was storming out of my apartment and I knew that I wouldn’t see her again. It was good while it lasted, but the quiet was even better than her presence.

  The sad thing was, as talented as Kaika was; she wasn’t enough for me to say no to a beautiful woman. That was most likely why I was bound to be single forever. Not that it bothered me, but it was clear that at this rate, I was going to be pushing forty before long and I would then be a constant bachelor. Right now I was still eligible according to the Morning Post. That was all going to change in a couple of years. I would be the man that no woman could pin down.

  I cracked open a beer and looked around the apartment, really seeing it now that Kaika was gone. She had only lived here a couple of months and parts of her were everywhere. I got up and started putting all of her things in a box. I would give it to the doorman and he would be able to handle it. She would come back when she cooled off and when she realized that I was done with her, she would want to come up and get it all. It was a ploy to get back around me and I wasn’t going to fall for it. It was always better to think ahead as far as I was concerned.

  Taking the elevator, a few minutes later, the door opened with a ding. “Hey Tony, can you give these to Kaika when she comes back for them?”

  “Another one bites the dust?” The older doorman looked bemused. This wasn’t the first time that this very thing had happened. I had a bit of a reputation and he was right to think that I was done.

  “Yeah.”

  “What did you do this time?”

  I shrugged my s
houlders and didn’t really answer for a minute. “You know the usual. See you later Tony. I am going to go out for a bit. Finally got some freedom and quiet back.”

  “What I wouldn’t give…that woman was beautiful.”

  “They all are in their own way.”

  I walked towards the front entrance and pulled the jacket closer around me. It was unseasonably cold or I wasn’t used to it yet. I almost went back into the building, but I needed some fresh air to clear my mind. I wasn’t going to miss Kaika and that made me question it all a little more. I should feel sadness, something, right?

  New York City was bustling all around me. The lights were on because it was so late, but this was the city that never slept. I don’t either, so it was like I was meant to be here. Many nights I found comfort in that, but now I was getting a little claustrophobic. How was I supposed to clear my head when everything was blaring on around me? I needed some quiet and I wasn’t going to get it here. Things that usually comforted me were now not so helpful. For once, I felt like I had to get away for a while and I moved on that feeling, walking back towards the parking garage to get my vehicle out. I needed a country road and a drive to set me back right again.

  Chapter 2

  Cameron

  My car was getting hot or something was going on. I wasn’t sure what it was, but now that the light was on, there was smoke billowing out of the car. I had to wonder if this was just my luck or if this was a sign. I also had to wonder why it took the light so long to come on. It was apparently a big deal. Shouldn’t I have gotten a little more warning?

  Pulling into the off ramp for the rest area, I was surprised at how dark it was. It was scary and the fact that I was sure my car was going to explode didn’t help me much at all. I didn’t want to know what was going on with it. I just wanted it to work.

  My phone was almost dead, so I only had enough juice for one call to Triple A. They said they would be out soon and I was just going to have to wait. It was late and I locked myself in my car. I didn’t want to go out there. I wasn’t sure where I was, not really and the last thing that I needed was for someone to walk up or something like that. This was how nightmares and horror stories begin.