Never

by Lulu Pratt

  Walking over, I look at him curiously. There’s something weird in his voice but I can’t put my finger on it.

  Once I’m standing in front of him he pulls a canvas from a nearby table and extends it in my direction.

  “I know it’s not Christmas yet but I want you to have this since we’ll be at your mom’s house on the actual day. This is a little difficult to carry on the plane,” he states as my eyes roam over it.

  It’s an abstract piece, comprised of the colors red and black. The swirling tones are most intense in the center of the painting while the outer edges are only splattered with faint red lines.

  My eyes scan over it several times in quick succession. For some reason passion and love jump out at me as I take it all in.

  I love it.

  Smiling, I express gratitude. “It’s beautiful, thank you.”

  Andrew grins. “Don’t you want to know what it is?”

  It’s a painting. What is he talking about?

  “I thought the whole purpose of an abstract painting was that the meaning is left up to the interpretation of the observer.”

  My eyes travel back to the painting again, trying to make out any distinctive figures or clues. But I come up empty. The colors are fused together so well it’s like they were made to complement each other. Perfectly coming together like two lovers meant for each other’s bodies.

  “We made this,” Andrew fills me in as I continue gawking at it.

  My frown is apparent with this new information.

  “What are you talking about, us? I’ve never painted…”

  And that’s when it comes rushing back to me.

  That night after the movies. We’d painted each other and fucked like rabbits right on top of this canvas.

  Mouth wide, I look at the painting with new eyes this time. Every splash and smear of paint is more significant now.

  When I turn my eyes back to Andrew, he isn’t there. Well, he is but he isn’t standing.

  Kneeling beside me, he opens a red ring box and tears instantly clog my throat.

  Oh, my God.

  “I think I fell in love with you that night and I knew I didn’t want anybody but you for the rest of my life. You complete me,” he says, looking up at me adoringly. The love in his eyes is enough to make my knees weak.

  I can’t believe this is happening.

  “Lilah, will you marry me?”

  Speechless, I set the painting down and drop to my knees to cover his face in kisses.

  Chuckling, Andrew pulls a dazzling ring from the cushioned box and grabs my hand.

  “This ring belonged to my mother and now I want you to wear it as my wife. What do you say?”

  “Yes! Oh my God, yes I’ll marry you! Are you kidding me?”

  With another chuckle, Andrew slips the ring on my finger and it’s a perfect fit.

  I’m engaged.

  Holy crap, I’m going to be Mrs. Lilah Knight.

  Andrew lifts my chin up, so I look into his wonderful eyes.

  “To be honest, Cupcake… Lilah, this why Edward was here tonight. He had our mom’s ring and wanted me to have it to give to you when I told him what I was planning to do tonight. As I said, this is an investment.”

  Andrew’s smile at his own joke makes me squeal in joy.

  “And there’s something else.”

  He hands me a sealed envelope with a cute cupcake drawn on the front, which I snatch from his hands. I rip it open as he continues.

  “I know how much your project means to you. I want to you have this and I want you to make your dreams come true.”

  The check is for one million dollars.

  “This for your project. I believe in you, Lilah, and I believe in your project.”

  Happiness swells within me as joyful tears start running down my cheeks. This is the happiest day of my life.

  Making His Baby

  We’re making this baby the old-fashioned way.

  With my billions, I’ll pay whatever it takes for her to have my child.

  And I’m going to have fun putting it in her.

  After the baby’s born, she can go back to her regular life.

  But the way she screams my name in bed makes me want more.

  For the first time in years I want an actual relationship.

  Until I realize there’s something she’s not telling me.

  A secret from the past.

  And her plan to ruin everything.

  ***A steamy STANDALONE contemporary romance with a smoking hot hero. No cliffhanger, no cheating and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.***

  Chapter 1

  BLAKE

  High-school reunions. Fuck me. Mine is in my face, and it’s the last thing I want to face, no matter how much better I am now. Too many memories.

  “Dude. You still there?” My closest friend Ben’s voice is in my ear, bringing me back from my reverie.

  “Yeah, sorry,” I glance around my old stomping ground. “I’m just not looking forward to this shit in the slightest. Why did I let you talk me into doing this?”

  “Because you’re the big shit now, man. Time to show those bitches up.”

  “Right. ‘Cause that’s me.” I roll my eyes and try to keep myself from turning on my heel and walking the fuck back to my car.

  “Just hang out with some old friends and have a good time, Blake. Find an old girlfriend and tap that ass, brother.”

  “You sound like an idiot. I’ll call you later when I’m smashed.” I drop the call and take a deep breath. He’s right though. He usually is. Bastard.

  Besides, it will be good to see some of my old friends. And it will be even better to hear about how they’re doing and what they’ve been up to. That is why I’m here, or at least it’s how Ben convinced me to come. With a bit of luck and some conversational leading, I might be able to avoid talking about myself entirely. We’ll see.

  “Fifteen years. Damn, I’m fucking old,” I mumble to myself.

  It was odd for our class president to decide to do it on the fifteen-year mark. Personal agenda for sure. Five years before, the fucker got busted on a drug charge that took my ex down as well. Now though, he can brag about the successful sporting goods store he opened. My ex wasn’t so lucky.

  I walk through the entrance to my old high school, feeling a weird sense of traveling back in time. Almost immediately, someone calls out from behind me as I walk through the hall.

  “There he is!” It’s a man’s voice. I am tempted to keep walking and pretend I don’t hear it, but the shout is followed by the sound of rushed footsteps. Whoever it is runs up behind me. “We didn’t know if you were coming, Mr. Doesn’t Reply To Our Messages!”

  Turning around, I instantly spot the owner of the voice. It’s Clark, one of my good friends from high school. He was the class clown of our year. As he rushes to me, he wears that same big goofy smile that he was known for, although now, he is about forty pounds heavier.

  “Hey,” I say with a forced smile. It’s not that I don’t like Clark. In fact, out of everyone at the reunion, Clark is the person I’ve been looking forward to seeing the most. It’s just that Clark, like everyone else, reminds me of a past I’ve been trying to forget, and once again I struggle to understand why I’m even here. “It’s good to see you, Clark.” I stick out my hand to shake his.

  “Me?” He asks. “Dude, it’s good to see you, Blake! Hot damn, what’s it been? Don’t you dare tell me I haven’t seen you since graduation. Don’t you dare tell me that!” He still wears that big goofy grin. I can smell the beer on his breath. He’s got to be a few beers deep at this point.

  “Okay,” I say with a grin. “I won’t tell you that.”

  “You—!” He smirks, feigning a punch at my gut. “Come on, the whole crew is here! I’ll show you.”

  He grabs me by the arm and leads me through the hall to the actual reunion itself. Flashing, multi-colored lights spill from the doors to the gymnasium. Music thumps loudly in my ears as we get cl
oser.

  The gym is decorated in typical fashion. Streamers and balloons cover the walls, all blue and white to match the school’s colors. A huge banner reading “Class of 2002” hangs from the ceiling, stretching across the entire length of the gym.

  The crowd that has turned up is a mixture of people like Clark, overly excited at the prospect of catching up on old times, and people like me, apathetic to the idea, but still here out of some sort of moral obligation.

  “We had bets on whether or not you were going to make it,” Clark slurs. His arm drapes around my neck as he leads me through the masses. Some I recognize, some I don’t. I’m not the only one who has changed since high school.

  “Oh yeah?” I say, raising an eyebrow. “How much was I going for?”

  Clark throws his head back in an exaggerated laugh. “Not as much as you would like.”

  With his arm still hanging on me, he leads me to a large table in the corner of the room. Sitting around the table are eight faces that I recognize all too well.

  Five men and three women, they are my collective “friends from high school.” The ones I used to hang out with during the day and drink with at night. When we could find someone willing to buy us alcohol, that is.

  A pleasant wave of nostalgia hits me as I look at them. Like most people’s high school experience, mine had its ups and downs, but these were the people who got me through it. We grew up together. A lot of my formative experiences were with these people right here.

  Judging from their body language, I guess that most of them, like me, have fallen out of contact with each other, and they are using this night as a means to catch up and trade old war stories. It makes me feel a little less guilty about not having spoken to any of them for the past fifteen years.

  “Look who I found,” Clark says as he pushes me onto the seat by his own. “Lurking in the bushes. Classic Blake!”

  “Hey,” I say to no one in particular, not knowing who to address. I opt for a group chat instead.

  “Blake,” the woman next to me beams.

  “Hey, Sally,” I nod.

  She has bushy red hair and white, porcelain skin. She was my first kiss, and I’m pretty sure I was hers. “It’s been so long. What have you been up to, Blake? Doing well by the looks of it?”

  “Oh, you know, this and that,” I say, keeping it vague.

  I was poor when I went here. Dirt poor. I come from a broken home that had more problems than money. It’s something that I don’t like to talk about, and I hate being reminded of it. But now that I’m successful and more than a little rich, I realize that I don’t really want to talk about that either.

  I don’t want them fawning over me or grilling me about the specifics of my job. People always find my work a little too interesting, and it grates on a person after a while.

  But then it hits me. I don’t have anything else to talk about. All I do is work. Whereas they’re all laughing and talking about their kids.

  “Sounds interesting,” Sally continues, holding her smile on me as she does.

  “Oh, it’s not,” I say, giving my head a shake. “Trust me. It’s just business crap. Suits, too much coffee and a lot of missed weekends. Nothing to tell really.”

  I’m a film producer and getting to be a pretty successful one, too. I made my fortune through a few smart investments in college, and I used that money to open a production company. Ten years later, I’m worth more than I’ll ever admit to anyone.

  “My son’s two now, the little bugger,” Clark says to everyone in earshot. “So cute that sometimes I just want to eat him up.”

  I sip on my drink and listen.

  “My oldest daughter starts school next year. So you never settled down, Blake?” Sally asks with a smile.

  “No. No kids, no wife.”

  I do my best to smile and nod along, but deep down, my stomach churns. Despite my money and success, the one thing my life is missing is a family of my own. I made a choice when I was younger to pursue a career over family. Lately, I’ve been questioning that decision more and more. I want to be a father, but I’m hardly about to enter into a serious relationship with someone. No fucking way.

  “Oh damn, I wasn’t looking forward to this,” Clark says a little too loudly.

  I look across the gym to see what caught him off guard. The moment I see it, I feel my heart sink.

  A giant screen stands behind the makeshift stage. Projected onto that screen is a video, made specifically for the reunion. We were asked to send in clips of our own for a series of videos that would feature. The one playing right now is to commemorate the people who couldn’t be here tonight. Specifically, those who have passed away.

  The reason my heart feels the way it does is that I know one face in particular who would be appearing on that screen. Her name is Lyndsey, and she was my high-school sweetheart. And sure enough, as I watch the few names and faces flash on the screen, Lyndsey suddenly appears.

  “Hey, didn’t you used to date her?” Clark asks me. He is slurring even more than he was earlier. I guess the alcohol is really kicking in now.

  “Yeah,” I say, my voice flat. “I did.”

  Chapter 2

  CARRIE

  The only thing worse than attending a high-school reunion is having to work at one. As I walk among the tables and chairs and dodge the increasingly drunken attendees, I thank the gods that it isn’t my reunion. That drama is still waiting for me.

  What makes the reunion that I’m working at right now even worse than it would usually be, is the fact that it’s at the school I graduated from. Because of this, a number of the faces in the crowd are ones that I recognize. Luckily, they’re all at least five years older than I am, so none of them recognize me. Thank God. I’d hate for anyone I knew to see me catering for them. That’s an encounter that would be too much to recover from.

  Unfortunately, I have no choice but to work at the event. I’ve been trying to do it as little as possible lately, but I have bills to pay and my other job doesn’t cover them. My other job barely covers the cup of coffee I buy in the morning.

  I took this job purely as a means to pay my bills so I can pursue my passion, but as my expenses grow, so do my hours. Now, I can barely find an hour in the week to work on what I want. I actually managed to squeeze a few hours in last night, but that comes with a price. I’m tired now because of it, and it’s really starting to wear on me.

  “Are you finished with this?” I ask a very drunken lady as she leans against a table for support, an empty wine glass in her hand.

  “Sure am,” she slurs as she hands me the glass.

  Just as I’m about to take it, she lets go. I’m fast and manage to snatch it out of the air before it shatters all over the gym floor. I shake my head, walking on before I snap and say something that might get me fired.

  I can’t afford to be fired. I need this job, as much as I hate it. I’m a writer, or at least, I try to be. When I’m not catering, I’m hunched over my laptop. I’m currently deep in a book that I have been working on for some time. I want to say that it’s coming along nicely, but even I can’t lie to myself that convincingly.

  “Do you mind if I just grab these?” I ask a group of men standing by an empty table.

  None of them pay attention to me, which is mildly annoying, but it’s probably for the best. Drunken people are no fun when you’re sober. They’re not nearly as entertaining as they think they are.

  The table is laden with half-empty glasses. I start piling them onto the tray that I’m carrying with me.

  My mind is only half on the task at hand. The other half is on the presentation that was shown earlier. There have been about five different presentations tonight, most of them mindless fluff about the success of the graduates.

  But one video in particular hit me pretty hard. It was a memorial to students who had gone here and have since passed away. Even though this graduating class is five years ahead of my own, there is one student who I knew very well. One w
ho had passed away only a few months ago. Seeing her on that screen is like a punch to the heart.

  “Miss! Waiter!” I hear the voice call out behind me, but I ignore it. It’s more than a little demeaning to be called waiter, especially by someone who can barely stand. “Hello? Waiter.”

  A hand suddenly falls on my shoulder, pulling me back. As it does, I lose my balance and stumble backwards. The tray in my hand, full of empty glasses, smashes to the floor around my feet.

  “Oh no!” The owner of the voice wails.

  He’s an overweight man, with a red face and beady eyes. His glassy look and the way he sways dangerously as he stares at the mess he has made suggests to me that he has had a few too many.

  “It’s okay,” I assure him as I drop to my knees to pick up the pieces. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Here, let me help,” a deep voice says.

  “No, it’s fine…” I trail off as my eyes fall on the man speaking.

  It isn’t the drunk who was responsible for my stumble who is helping me. No, this man is about as far a cry from him as possible.

  He has dark, slicked-back hair and a chiseled jawline. His eyes, looking down at the broken glass, are a piercing blue. And even though he wears an expensive suit and is currently on his knees, I can tell that he has an impressive frame. This is a man who most certainly didn’t peak in high school. I don’t recognize him, but I sure wish that I did.

  For a moment I’m frozen, and all I can do is stare.

  “Sorry about my friend,” he says with a grimace as he scoops up a handful of glass shards. “It’s his first night away from the kids in a while. I guess he got a little over excited.”

  “That’s okay, really,” I say as I find my voice, which is a little too high-pitched at the moment. “Really.”

  This guy has a presence about him that suggests power and dominance. I can already sense it.

  “No, it’s not,” he says firmly. “But at least the glasses were empty. We’ll count that as a win.”

  “Oh, well, I can’t drink them anyway. So maybe I wish they were full.” It was an attempt at a joke, even though I’m not even sure what the joke even means. I have to work hard to keep my voice steady. I just want to come off as funny and not uptight.