Chapter 28
A week later and I was in disbelief at how great my life was. I had the girl of my dreams, quit a job I’d learned to hate, and was now patiently waiting for spring to come so I could begin taking the classes that would lead to my architecture degree.
The only dark spot that I had to figure out how to deal with was Sophia. She was still contacting me, leaving messages on my cell at least twice a week. I had to assume that Stan gave her my information as payback for leaving Perfect Ten.
I found her hanging around on the sidewalk in front of my building a couple of times too. Both times, I was able to duck back inside the building and use the worker’s exit to take Heidi for her walk.
I hadn’t spoken to her since the day Faith and I ran into her in the Perfect Ten parking lot, but I knew it was just a matter of time.
Aside from that glitch, as I said, things were going great.
Faith and I finally went on our first official date to Lions, Tigers, and Bears. It could not have gone any better. The weather was perfect, the animals were all out and about, and I caught Faith looking at me with a look that I just knew meant she was falling for me. That was the best of all, because I’d already fallen. Hook, line, and sinker, I was hers.
All the pieces were falling into place. Even the sale of my condo. I was sitting at home watching a replay of a Flyers game when I got a call from my realtor.
“Hi, Macy. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Joe, thank you. Well, I have good news.”
I’d put my condo on the market a week before. “Yeah? What’s the news?”
“All I need is your signature, and your place is sold. They loved it so much that they didn’t even want to barter. They’ve agreed to full asking price if you’ll pay half the closing costs.”
Great news, but I hadn’t found a new place to live yet. It was way too soon to ask Faith if I could live there… Wasn’t it? “Okay, that’s great.” After paying off what I still owed on the place, it would put almost four hundred thousand into my bank account, which meant another meeting with my investor.
“There’s one small catch.” Of course. I knew that was too easy.
“What’s that?”
“They want to move in tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Well, as soon as they can. Do you have a timetable you’re comfortable working with?”
“Can I get back to you? Give me a couple of days, but I accept their offer. I just need to make some arrangements.” I could always rent a storage unit for my stuff and stay with my mother if Faith wouldn’t take me. I wasn’t really sure I even wanted to ask her. I sure as hell didn’t want to do anything to fuck our relationship up now!
“Sure. How about if I call you back on Wednesday?”
“Great. Thanks.”
Faith
“No, Mother. I don’t think so.” I don’t know where the backbone of mine came from, but I’m enjoying it.
“What do you mean no? We’re all going. Don’t you want to parade that man around in front of us some more?”
My mother continued to be disapproving of Joe for no reason. I can’t imagine how she’d feel if she knew he’d been an escort. She still thought he worked for an architecture firm before—and he did. It was just way before his escort days.
Joe had finally told me all about his father and his problems that led to his suicide. That he still owned a part of Starling Architecture was telling to me. If he truly wanted to forget all about his father, he would have sold his stock and never looked back. I wanted to help him forgive, though I didn’t have the first clue as to how to go about that.
Backbone still in place, I replied, “No, Mother. I’m not like the rest of you, Daddy excluded. I feel no need to prove myself or Joe to you.”
“Really. Well, if you—”
“Pumpkin?” My mother was sputtering in the background because my father took the phone from her. I’d always loved how my father could make her lose her cool. She must really love him to allow him to have any kind of control over her.
“Hi, Daddy.You’re a saint, you know that?”
“I’m far from a saint.”
“I’ll never understand how you’ve stayed with Mother for all these years.” I guess it really isn’t my business, but my mother was never happy. It was hard enough being her daughter. I couldn’t imagine being married to someone like that. I strongly believe that your spouse should be your best friend.
“I know you don’t. I’m not sure that I could explain it to you, but I can try, Pumpkin.” He paused and took a breath before continuing. “Your mother and I had a quick romance, as you know. When I met her, every cell in my body stood at attention. She was so vibrant—so full of life.”
“What happened? I can’t remember her ever being like that. Not with me, anyway.”
“Well, when we started having children, our focus turned toward you girls. In the beginning it worked, but as years went by, your mother became more and more distant. The attention was shifting from her to you girls. When you came along, I lost my heart for the second time—don’t you ever repeat that to your sisters. I love all my girls, but you’ve always been special to me, Faith.”
I knew I had, and secretly it pleased me. Daddy was my only real source of confidence and unconditional love as I grew up. “You’re special to me too, Daddy.”
“I love you, Pumpkin, and I hate how your mother treats you—and your sisters have learned from her, but I said for better or worse, and I meant it. I really do try to make her see the hurt she causes you, but she swears she only wants what’s best for you. To be honest, I think she’s jealous of you. That’s a horrible thing for a father to have to say to his little girl, but there it is. For what it’s worth, I believe she loves you in her own way.”
I don’t know if I believed that, but it wasn’t about me this time. “But are you okay with being stuck in a relationship with her?”
“I’m just fine, sweetheart. Now let’s forget all those things your mother just said. Come to the lake with us. Like it or not, we’re your family, and we’d all like to get to know Joe. My side of the family will be there as well.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “And I promise to take you out fishing anytime you can’t take the rest of them. Anytime.”
“Oh, Daddy. Do you think that maybe you could take Joe at sunrise? He and his daddy used to do that, and it’s a fond memory for him. I really want to help him learn to forgive his father, and I think he needs to remember the good times.”
“Of course, but don’t think I could ever take his father’s place, sweetheart. I’d never try to do that. His father sounds like he was a good man who got in over his head and didn’t know how to deal with it.” I think my father may very well be the smartest man on the planet.
“Do you know how much I love you, Daddy?”
“Does that mean you’ll go, Pumpkin?”
“Well, I have to ask Joe first, but—”
His barking laughter cut me off. “Well, then we’ll see you at the family cabin on Saturday. He’d never say no to anything you asked him.” His laughter still echoing in my ears, he disconnected the call. I called Joe, and of course got his immediate acceptance to go camping with my family. And somewhat to my disappointment, my boss allowed me to take the week off with such short notice, so I had no excuse not to go.
Joe
If I were reading Faith’s body language right, and I’m sure I was, she was nervous as hell at the sight of her family’s cabin.
And let me tell you…cabin is not really an appropriate word for what we drove up to—it was a huge dwelling made of logs, but the similarity to a simple cabin ended there.
There were dark green shutters on each window out front, which wasn’t just a few. I counted twelve, and that didn’t include the full-size triangular windows on the third floor. The grassy lawn in the front gently sloped down to the lake, where a dock, big enough to tie down three large boats, and the accompanying boathouse sat. A t
iki bar, complete with fire pit and ample seating, was filled with people all laughing and having a good time. Kids swam in the lake, and more adults played horseshoes off to the side.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? It looks amazing here.”
“You’re just going to tell me I’m wrong and I shouldn’t worry. Let’s just go.” Her hand was on the door handle, but before she could open it, I stopped her.
“I’m sorry I do that. I’ll try not to, or at least do it in a different way. Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“Well, you make me feel beautiful, you know?”
“Not seeing a problem so far. You are beautiful. More beautiful than anything we’ll see down there.” I didn’t even need to look to see who was there. No one compared to Faith for me. No one.
She gifted me with a smile and then continued to tell me her fears. “On a whim, I bought a sexy bathing suit. Believe it or not, it’s a two piece.”
“And?”
“Oh, come on. You know how they all think I’m fat!” And that was one of the best things that’d ever left her mouth. Think about it. She said how they thought she was fat.
“And?” I was not going to give her thoughts any significance. “Oh.”
“You finally got it?”
“You’re worried about the men ogling you? I’ll shoot them all daggers if they look at my girl the wrong way.”
She gave me the laugh I wanted. “The hell with it. You’re right, but let them look. If they’re not put off by my…extra curves, let my sisters see how men look at me!”
How could I not fucking love this woman?
There was no one in the house when we arrived, so we threw our bags in an empty room and got dressed to go down to the lake. I admit that I may have slowed the process a bit by making love to Faith as she tried to get dressed, but hey—those white polka-dots on her blue bathing suit were fucking hotter than hot! Can you even understand how insane it drove me to see the gentle swell of her belly ever so slightly protruding over the bottoms? Who the fuck wanted to see a woman’s bones? Jesus… That soft skin. I wanted to bite it, suck it into my mouth—so I did.
We finally made it outside, and walked down to the dock, hand in hand, without being noticed. I thought Faith could use a bit of liquid courage, so we made our way to the bar. There was an extremely good-looking man pouring drinks, and I can tell you right now, I did not like the way he was eyeing Faith’s exposed body. I pulled her bathing suit cover tighter, thinking better about my idea of her becoming more comfortable in skimpier clothes.
“Hey, mate. What can I get for ya?”
Awesome. A good-looking man with a fucking accent. “Faith?”
She was looking at him with doe eyes, so I grabbed her and reminded her who she was with. Coming up for air after giving her a sweltering kiss, I asked, “What do you want, sweetheart?”
The Aussie laughed. “Point taken, mate. Hold on to that one.”
I stuck out my hand, accepting his acknowledgment that she was my woman. Yeah…caveman. “I have every intention of doing just that.”
“What do you have back there?” She leaned over the bar, trying to get a peek behind it, and wound up almost spilling out of the top of her suit. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her back against me.
“Oh, I’m fully stocked, darlin’. You want it, I’ve got it.” He was still flirting with my girl—even if it was harmless. I still didn’t like it.
“She’ll just take a beer, okay…mate?”
The Aussie laughed me off and handed Faith a bottle of beer. “Looks like you might want something a little stiffer, hey, doll?” He had the audacity to wink at her, totally ignoring me. His hands moved under the bar, and he came out with four green Jell-O shots. “Here you go. You two try some of these to get you started.”
“Thank you.” Faith slurped down her two shots and handed me one, holding it to my mouth. I made sure the Aussie saw my tongue flick out over Faith’s fingers before I took the shot, gaining another bark of laughter from him.
“You have it bad, mate.”
“I don’t deny it.” Maybe I was overreacting a bit. “Sorry.” I stuck my hand out again, and he reached for it. “Joe Starling. This is my girl, Faith Graham.”
“Ah, one of the Graham girls. My name’s Benny, and I’m here with Cindy.”
“Oh good. Another ally. Have you—”
“Faith! Joe! I’m so glad you two are here. I wasn’t sure if you’d come.” Cindy came running up and locked Faith in a bear hug. “Your sisters are at it already,” she whispered. “Let’s get drunk and piss them off.”
Benny caught my eye. “And you can keep your eyes off that one. Is it a deal, mate?”
I wasn’t looking at Cindy that way, but I agreed just the same. “Deal.”
We spent some time with Cindy and Aunt Alice, playing bocce ball and that beanbag toss game. Some of the other nicer family members joined us as still others congregated at the end of the dock with their feet in the water.
Afternoon turned into evening as Faith finally got brave enough to take her cover off, and we settled into one of the two hot tubs on the dock. Her head was resting on my shoulder as my fingers danced up and down her arm. “I’m getting pruny and hungry. How about we go grab some burgers?” My stomach let out a loud rumble, making Faith laugh.
“Yeah. I could use some food. Those Jell-O shots go down way too easy.”
“Are you drunk again, Faith? I’m only asking for my own safety. The last time you got drunk, you took advantage of me, if you’ll recall.”
“I took advantage of you?” She poked my chest and rolled over in the water so she was floating over me, her breasts tantalizingly close to my face, her ass just breaking the surface.
“Huh?” As usual, when I saw that much of her appetizing skin, all thought fled.
She looked down to see where I was looking and came closer until she was less than an inch away from my lips. Her whispered words teased me mercilessly. “Guess what I brought with me? I have four sets of furry lined handcuffs. Do you know what they’re for?”
“Tell me.” I tried to kiss her, but she turned her face. Teasing me some more.
“They’re for restraining. You. In my bed. I’m also going to put a blindfold on you, Joe. You’ll be at my mercy, completely and utterly. What do you think of that?”
“I think I love you.” Time stopped. I guess you can’t always pick the perfect time or way to tell someone that. I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. There she was, so sweet and sexy at the same time. She’d become my everything. I thought about her every waking moment. When I was with her, everything was right with the world, and when I wasn’t, I wanted to be.
“Holy cow. Say it again.”
I raised my hands to her face and gently kissed her precious lips. “I love you, Faith.”
Her arms went around my neck, and she pulled her legs in to grip my waist. “I love you too, Joe.”
The rest of the family had made their way back up to the house, getting food ready for the grill or chasing children, which is why no one had noticed the extra person walking the grounds.
“Isn’t that fucking sweet.” I whipped my head around to see Sophia standing behind us at the edge of the woods. “Joe, I really need to talk to you.” She walked out of the woods and didn’t stop until she was standing right next to us.
“Sophia! What the hell are you doing here?” She had to have followed us. There was no other way for her to know where we were.
She rolled her eyes. “I just told you. I need to talk to you. You don’t return my calls or my texts, so when I saw you leaving your place today to pick her up, I followed you. Come to think of it, I’m kind of surprised you didn’t notice me following you to her house and then all the way up here.” She was now sitting on the rim of the hot tub. I wasn’t sure if I was simply amazed or a little concerned that she’d actually followed us all the way up into the mountains.
Faith kept looking between Sophia and me
. I had no idea what was going on inside her mind. Hell, I had no idea what was rattling around in mine. “I had other things to keep my eyes on. What do you need to tell me, Sophia? Tell me and leave.”
“It’s not going to be that easy, Joe. You see, I’m pregnant.”
My mind began to work furiously. It wasn’t possible! I always, always used a condom. I’d only fucked her twice, and once was in the ass. Can’t get pregnant that way. And then it hit me. I remembered that I’d already started coming the last time we fucked. When I whipped the condom off, some of my cum landed on her spread-open pussy. Could it possibly be? Fuck no! It wasn’t fair.
I took a deep breath as my mind cleared a bit. Sophia slept around. The father could be anyone. Hell, I’d seen her have unprotected sex with Vaughn. “It can’t be mine, Sophia. What game are you playing?” Before she answered, Faith questioned me.
“You told me you’d never had sex without a condom before me. Were you lying?” Faith stood up, and I simply watched as the water slid down her glorious body. Christ! I could lose this.
“Condoms break.” Sophia smirked at Faith and ran a hand over her abdomen. “Right now, our child is growing inside me.” She looked back at me expecting God knew what. This day was going to hell in a handbasket when only a few short minutes ago, I told Faith I loved her for the first time.
“I’m going up to the house, Joe.” I didn’t do anything to stop her. Truthfully, I wanted her away from Sophia.
“I’ll go with you. Really, we should talk. Woman to woman.” Sophia followed Faith, who did her best to get away from her, short of running.
When they got to the top deck, as luck would have it, Marge was standing there. “Well, who is this, sister?”
Faith didn’t have a chance to answer. “I’m Sophia DeMarino. A client—well, more of a special friend I think—of Joe’s from Perfect Ten.”
Oh God…no.
“What’s Perfect Ten?”
Sophia, looking completely innocent, answered her. “The escort service he works for. He’s the best.” She winked at Marge and rubbed her belly again. “If you know what I mean. Full service.”
Perfect Ten Page 23