“Fine,” I mockingly complained but kept a mental note of the sexiest lingerie for when times were better. “Do you think we’ve done enough?”
“For now. We can always get more.”
“Good. I think I’ve seen enough of this stuff. I prefer the real thing.”
“Do you?” she teased.
I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder to take her into the bedroom. We were just waiting for our orders to arrive, so I wanted to make the most of our time together.
Later in the week, we finally heard some results. I returned home from work one night to see Ariana waiting for me with a big smile on her face.
“Good news?” I asked.
“It’s a start. My mom called me and asked if I had sent any packages to her apartment. I played dumb and told her I hadn’t. She revealed that a few packages had arrived, but Terry grabbed them and took them to his car, saying that they must have belonged to someone else and that he was going to return them to the owner.”
“Damn,” I cursed. “I wish she would have seen what was in them.”
“Me too. But, your dad knew. That’s why he was so quick to get rid of them and never speak about it. I was disappointed at first, but it’s not all bad. Now there’s some suspicion and mistrust brewing. She also said that they got what looked like a magazine, wrapped in black plastic with Terry’s name on it, but she had no idea what it was.”
“Really?”
“Yep,” she smiled. “She didn’t open it before he came home and swept it away. I went ahead and told her that sometimes pornographic magazines are delivered that way. I merely suggested that your dad was old school and liked his porn in print.”
“Was she horrified?”
“Oh yeah. She completely denied that he would order something like that, but now the idea is in her head. I think we’re well on our way.”
“That’s good news,” I said. “Hopefully this ends soon. There’s a new Italian restaurant downtown that I want to take you to. Maybe that can be our grand celebration.”
Finally, a whole week later, shit hit the fan at Mr. and Mrs. Malone’s apartment. Ariana called me at work to tell me that her mom was growing more and more suspicious by the day. She finally opened a wrapped-up magazine when my dad was at the horse track. She was horrified to see Busty Blondes, truthfully, the tamest of the lot. For her sake, she’s lucky she didn’t watch any of the videos. I felt bad that she had to see something upsetting, but it was nice to see my dad go down.
She confronted Terry about it and he flew off the handle. He denied it all to her face. Later, she heard him screaming at poor customer service employees about stolen credit card information. Apparently, Barb hadn’t seen him angry yet and it frightened her. I had seen him at his worst and I knew exactly what it was like. He could turn on the charm when he wanted, but when he turned it off, it was scary.
The final straw was when her paranoia got the best of her and she searched his computer. The dumbass didn’t have a password on his computer, so his secret stash of personal pornography was too easy to find.
I’m not exactly sure what she found and I hope I never find out. But, whatever it was, it was nasty enough for her to lash out at him. Last Ariana heard, Barb hadn’t kicked him out, but he was sleeping on the couch. We weren’t home free, but at least they were no longer in their honeymoon stage. It was the result we were looking for.
“Maybe now she’ll remember what I told her in the restaurant,” Ariana said. “Now that she knows her husband isn’t squeaky clean, my words might hold a little more weight.”
“You should call her tomorrow and give her a little loving push in the right direction,” I suggested. “How about you mention the fact that I’m nothing like my father while you’re at it.”
“I’ll see what I can do. So, Dr. Malone, what’s next for us?” she flirted.
“I don’t want to celebrate prematurely, but I’ve been itching to take you out. I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”
“They aren’t divorced yet,” she said, wrapping her arms around me. “If anyone knew what was going on, it would be pretty embarrassing.”
“How about this,” I said. “I take you out to a nice meal. We’ll talk and have a great time. We can order drinks and dessert if you want to. You can put on that pretty dress that you got in San Francisco. We can pretend like we’re on a first date. We’ll keep it clean—no PDA of any kind. Then, when we’re all hot for each other, we can come back here and get it on like we were never related.”
She thought about it for a second. “Are you sure no one will say anything? You’re starting to become better known around town. I’d hate for us to slip up and get caught.”
“We won’t get caught. Besides, who gives a crap? Technically, we’re not related and you’re not my patient. I love you and I don’t need to explain my actions to anyone. No one is going to keep me away from you.”
“You’re right,” she said, giving me a kiss. “Hopefully, sometime soon we won’t have to worry about PDA in public. I want nothing more than to walk down the street, holding your hand.”
“Then it’s settled—let’s go on the first of many celebratory dates. Go get ready,” I said, turning her toward the bedroom and giving her a playful slap on the butt.
I followed her, excited to finally be able to go out with her. Being secretive was exciting, and at times, pretty sexy, but I wanted to be with this girl for the long haul. If I wanted to be in a committed relationship, I wanted to be able to act like it.
Chapter Eighteen
Ariana
I woke up late the next morning with Daniel’s arm draped across me. My phone started buzzing so I tried to lean over to answer it, but I was stuck underneath a snoring man.
“Move,” I said, “someone’s calling me.”
“Leave it,” he groaned. “I never get to sleep in.”
I relaxed, in an attempt to go back to sleep, but my phone started ringing again.
“I gotta get this, babe,” I said, sliding out from under him and taking my phone into the other room.
“Mom?” I answered. “What’s up?”
I could hear her sniffling on the other end. Something was wrong.
“Are you in danger?” I asked, my heart racing. “Did Terry hurt you?”
“Not physically, no,” she cried. “I think it’s really over.”
My heart soared. I wanted to scream and dance around, but it wasn’t the time. I didn’t want her to know how extremely excited I was by this news.
“Are you at home? I’ll come over now. We can talk.”
“Do you want me to come get you?” she sniffled.
“No, no, I’ll get a bus. Maybe I’ll stop on the way so I can get you your favorite donuts.”
“Thanks, Ariana. I know I haven’t been easy to deal with lately.”
“No, Mom, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you soon.”
I hung up the phone and skipped back to the bedroom.
“Guess what?”
“Huh?” Daniel moaned.
“That was my mom. It’s over. I’m going to take the bus to her house to comfort her. I’ll fill you in on the dirty details later.”
“That’s great,” he mumbled. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a car? I can drive you.”
“No, go back to sleep. I’ll call you when I leave her place. Go ahead and buy your bottle of champagne. We can celebrate at home tonight. I’m still full from last night’s dinner.”
“Love you,” he croaked.
“Love you, too,” I responded, kissing him on the cheek.
I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater and grabbed my bag. I practically ran to the bus stop, too excited to wait another minute. I wanted the juicy details to prove that their marriage was over.
On my way there, I got off a few stops early and grabbed breakfast for my mom and me. If I knew my mother, I could be sure that sugary fried dough could cheer her up more than anything else. I ended
up buying a half dozen donuts for the two of us.
Then, I continued walking, enjoying the morning. Everything seemed a little brighter to me. I knew there would be a stark contrast between my disposition and my mother’s.
I didn’t want her to be miserable, not by any means. But, I knew that this was best for her in the long run. Daniel and I may have planted evidence, but it was ultimately Terry’s bad behavior that did him in. She would have found out eventually. It was just nice that it was over before he bankrupted her.
When I got to the apartment, the door was unlocked. I knocked once and let myself in.
“Hi, Mom,” I said. “How’s it going?” I lowered my voice to show my concern for her.
“I’ve been better,” she said from the couch. “Come in. I was just boxing up Terry’s things.”
“Is he coming back to get them?” I asked, feeling apprehensive. If he suspected that his son and I had anything to do with my mom’s discovery, I didn’t want to be around to be confronted.
“I don’t want to see his face ever again. I’m going to shove the box into the hallway and lock the door. He can pick his things up, but I’m not going to talk to him.”
“That’s probably for the best,” I encouraged. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
She took a cream-filled donut from the box and took a big bite, spilling flecks of glaze onto her bright dress. “You were right about what that magazine was. You were probably right about a lot of things.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe there was a better way to tell you. It’s just too bad that we couldn’t have met before the wedding.”
“This isn’t your fault,” my mom said. “I should have listened to you. I was so stupid.”
“No, this is Terry’s fault,” I said firmly.
She nodded. “In a way, I think you’re right. You have no idea how different he was once we settled in. At first, he was just the greatest. I had the time of my life with him in those early weeks. Then, he started to change. He came home late without any explanation of where he was. He would spend a lot of money and say that he was buying something for me, then nothing would ever come of it. But, I couldn’t say anything because I was afraid of looking like a fool for marrying him. I just put up with it, hoping that I could get used to his new attitude.”
“You could have come to me,” I said. “It could have saved us all some stress.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to admit that you were right, especially after I told you off.”
“So, was the porn the final straw?” I asked.
She nodded. “You know how I hate that kind of stuff. Not only does it give me the creeps, but it makes me realize that he was never attracted to me. I mean, it was stupid for me to think that any man would want a woman who looked like me.”
“Stop that,” I chided. “There’s nothing wrong with you. He’s just a creep, plain and simple. I hate to say it, but Daniel’s mom told me this would happen.”
My mom grimaced. “I guess I’m glad I’m not the only one.”
“Agnes is actually pretty great,” I said. “Maybe the two of you should get together. I think you’d get along well. I know Terry messed her up, too, but you should see how well she’s doing without him now.”
“Maybe one day,” my mom said, tossing Terry’s clothes in a box. “How is Daniel? Have you spoken to him about this?”
I bit my lip. I wasn’t quite ready to tell my mom the truth. If I did, she would understand that her heartbreak was a direct result of my relationship with Daniel. It just wasn’t a good time to break the news. Instead, I downplayed it as much as I could.
“I’ve talked to him a little,” I lied. “Mom, I really like Daniel. Actually, I kind of love him.”
I watched her face turn from a frown to a curious smile. “Really? I didn’t realize you two were that close.”
“You’re not mad?” I asked.
“As long as he’s nothing like his father, I’m happy for you.”
“He’s nothing like Terry,” I promised. “He’s really great. He’s been so supportive of me with my condition and helped me deal with the stress of your marriage and getting rid of Jake. He’s done so much for me and never asked for anything in return. I really want to make things official with him, but it’s complicated.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because your separation isn’t finalized,” I answered. “Plus, I didn’t want to make you feel bad if I started dating Terry’s son.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve already filed the paperwork for an annulment. It will be like it never even happened. It’s just a few bad months out of my life. Besides, your happiness is more important than the mistake I made with that asshole.”
“Thanks,” I said. “It means a lot.”
“Now that I think about it, the awful things I found on his laptop wasn’t the last straw,” she said, looking at the floor.
“It wasn’t?”
“No. In fact, I had only banished him to the couch. I was reevaluating our relationship when that happened, but I was willing to try to make it work. What really ended it for me was when he talked about you and Daniel.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What did he say?”
“I don’t want to go into it again, but he said a lot of terrible things about the two of you. He said that you were interfering in our relationship and that we should treat the two of you like you never existed. He said that our relationship would be the best lesson that we could ever teach you—that your happiness isn’t more important than ours.”
“Oh,” I said. He wasn’t entirely wrong about the interference aspect.
“And then, I was certain that it wouldn’t work out between us. I got the annulment paperwork that same day.”
“Have you heard from him since?”
“Oh, he’s tried to make amends a few times. He went back to his old charming ways and tried to apologize. There was no going back to him. I’ve stopped answering his calls. I don’t want to fall for his tricks again.”
“Good,” I said. “You can do so much better than him.”
She nodded. “I know I can. Next time, I’m going to be more careful. I think I’m going to take a little time to myself, but I refuse to be broken by that man. I know that’s what he wants.”
I gave my mom a big hug. “You’re the strongest woman I know. You’ll get through this.”
“It helps to have a good daughter,” she replied. “I’m fine now. Why don’t you go live your life? What do you have planned for today?”
“Well,” I said apprehensively. “I think I’d like to spend the day with Daniel.”
“Then go to him,” she laughed. “I’ll call you later this week. We can have the lunch we were supposed to have a month ago.”
“Sounds great,” I replied and gave her another hug.
On my way back to the bus stop, I pulled out my phone and called Daniel.
“It’s over,” I said. “Once and for all.”
“That’s a relief,” he replied. “How do you feel about it all?”
I thought for a minute. “Strange. I feel like I’m not sure what to do now. From the moment we realized that there was a spark between us, everything has been so chaotic.”
“Are you worried that things are going to be boring now?”
“A little, yeah,” I admitted. “Are you?”
“Not at all. There’s nothing boring about you. Besides, that was just stressful stuff. We can have good adventures, too.”
“You’re right. I’m just leaving her apartment now. I’ll be back soon.”
“Hey, Ariana,” he said. “Now that it’s socially acceptable for us to be together, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Yes?”
“If you don’t want to, I understand, but you’ve basically been living at my place for the past few months. Do you just want to make it official and move all your things in? That way, y
ou don’t have to pay for your apartment and we can hang out together whenever we want.”
“Wow,” I said, a little shocked. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Am I moving too fast?” he asked.
“No, no, I don’t think so,” I said, a smile spreading out across my face. “Yes,” I squealed. “I’ll move in with you.”
“Awesome,” he said, “Stay where you are. I’ll come pick you up and we’ll start packing up your apartment.”
“See you soon,” I said, sitting down on a park bench. I bet the people passing by me thought I was a lunatic for smiling so much, but I couldn’t help it.
We spent the rest of the day packing up my apartment and moving it to Daniel’s house. It took a few trips, but luckily, I didn’t own a lot of stuff. He laughed at the fact that I owned so few items of furniture, but then I reminded him that we wouldn’t have to carry it down the stairs, and he changed his tune.
“I never bought that champagne,” Daniel said on our way back to his place during our final trip. “We’re almost to the house. Should I turn around and get some?”
“Why don’t you drop me off with these final bags? I can work on unpacking and you can go to the store.”
“Sounds good,” he said, turning onto his street. Our street.
He handed me a key to the front door as I got out of the car. “I guess we’ll have to have another one of these made,” he smiled. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“Take your time,” I said.
When I got inside the house, I dropped my bags and shut the door behind me. But, instead of hearing the click of the lock, I heard the door swing back open. I shoved it behind me again, but something was blocking the door.
When I turned around to fix the door, I saw Jake leering over me. He had a rope in one hand and a canister of bear mace in the other.
“What the—” I shrieked.
“Shh,” he hushed. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“How did you find me?”
“Your stepdad gave me this address. He said you’d be happy to see me. I came over right away, but you weren’t home.”
Forbidden Prescription 4: A Stepbrother Fake Marriage Medical Romance (Forbidden Medicine) Page 11