“Not tonight, but thanks for offering.”
As soon as our driver closes the door, she puts up the privacy screen and climbs on my lap. I settle my hands on her hips and smile at her. She leans forward and sucks my lip ring into her mouth as I rub her back. “Thanks for giving me a night to relax, Pretty Boy.”
“I hate seeing you so stressed. Hopefully my present will make you feel better.”
“Just being with you always makes me feel better.”
“Same.”
We kiss until the car stops almost an hour later. I know our lips are swollen, both of us have fucked up hair, and I’m about to bust out of my pants. This night is already pretty perfect.
“The W? We’re staying at another one?” Yas asks, her eyes sparkling.
“Of course.”
Since we stayed at the one in Chicago after going public with our relationship, we’ve tried out several others. We haven’t been to this one yet, since we usually stay at my parents’ house here in L.A. But Luke needed it tonight, so I figured this would be perfect.
Our Extreme WOW suite here has a couch curving around the big window. I notice a cushioned ledge behind it, and I’m even happier. We’ll play with that later. Right now, I need to talk to her. I lead her over to the chairs and sit down in one, not letting her onto my lap just yet.
“I can’t sit with you?”
“After we talk, you can sit wherever you want, baby.”
“Anywhere? Are you going to do the thing you love?”
I chuckle as I remember telling her going down on a woman was just okay. We both know I think it’s a lot more with her. But I still won’t act like those guys in her books—at least when it comes to that. “I’ll do the thing you love. Anytime. Anywhere.”
“It could be my present—you saying it.”
“I once told you I’d say it and you said I didn’t have to.” It was the first night of the game controllers, and I would’ve done anything for her. Including that.
“I know. It’s just so sexy when the guys say it in the books.”
“I’m not sexy enough?’
“You are,” she says with a sigh, giving up. “Go ahead and tell me about my real present.”
“Reina and Isa let me know that Tegan has a family friend who’s been wanting to expand his foundation to include literacy programs. I agreed to donate as long as he put a branch in Las Vegas. And you could be the Director.”
“What? Me?”
“Yes, you. You always tell me how you want to do more for literacy in middle and high school students. You said they get lost sometimes, but can be brought back to reading with the right book. Combining your business degree and your love of books would make this the perfect job for you.”
“But you’re giving it to me. I didn’t earn it.”
“The hell you didn’t, Yas. This guy had actually heard of you before I got involved. He had a whole file on all the things you’ve done. You were one of the people he was looking to talk to for a position in the Midwest. My contribution just keeps you in Vegas. And helps the kids there.”
“He really wanted me?”
“Yes. Even with me putting up the money for that branch, he’s not the type of guy to put someone in a position like this if they wouldn’t be a good representative of his company.”
“What would I be doing?”
“Exactly what you told me you’ve dreamed of doing, but wouldn’t let me make happen for you because you’re too proud.” She starts to complain, but I put a hand over her mouth. “You know it’s true. I would’ve done this for you. Or you could’ve done it yourself. We share everything. You know that—it’s not my money. It’s ours.”
“My friends can work with me?” I nod. “And we’ll be giving away books, hosting authors, and doing book talks?”
“Yep. And whatever else you can think of. Plus, it won’t just be me funding it. Reina talked to Jane and they’re giving some of the Corrigan Foundation money to fund the program. And she’s planning a big ball for after you’re up and running. Isa and Tegan want to volunteer with you whenever they’re not on a mission.”
“Of course Isa and Tegan can volunteer. Reina helped, too?”
“Yes. We all love you, baby. They hate seeing you sad. Not as much as I hate it, but enough to want to see you smile more.”
“This is just…I don’t even know what to say.”
“Yes?”
“Of course, yes! Thank you so much. You’ve lifted a huge weight off of me. I wasn’t ready to give up books.”
“You’re very welcome. You should know by now that I’d do anything to make you happy.”
“I do know that.”
I lean over to kiss her, and then lift her up to a standing position so I can unzip her dress. I make quick work of her bra and lacy boy shorts, too. She reaches for me, but I back away. I don’t need my clothes off yet. “I don’t need anything off at the moment.”
I pick her up and carry her to the column connecting the windows. It has a little area with pillows and a cushion. Like it was made for what I want to do. I sit her down and spread her legs wide. Then I place her hands above her head on the column. The city and mountains are behind her. I didn’t turn on many lights when we walked in, so everything looks perfect. She’s perfect.
I kneel on the couch in front of her and kiss her breasts. After they’ve been properly explored, I move lower, licking her ribs and nibbling on her hips. I spend extra time on the one with my tattoo. She’s more than ready when I get to the place where we both want me to be.
I take one long lick and have to hold myself back from just devouring her. I want to draw out her pleasure for as long as I can. But fuck if she doesn’t taste good. She always has, and I know I need to give in and give her what she’s always wanted.
“You taste so damn good, Yas. So good. I could come just from fucking you with my mouth. I love it.”
I look up long enough to see the smile lighting up her face, and then I’m back to business. And pleasure. I lick and suck as she runs her hands up and down the column, purposely putting ideas in my head. Such a bad girl. And I love it.
I don’t want to add my fingers, because my mouth is greedy for every last drop of her, but I do it anyway. It only takes a few practiced twists and a little bit of teeth. Her hands move to my hair, tugging hard. “Scott. Oh God. Oh fuck me. Scott, fuck me.”
She doesn’t have to ask twice. I have my pants off, and she’s turned around on the ledge next to the column, within seconds. Her hands are against the glass, and she’s still panting from the orgasm I gave her. I thrust hard and just sit there, balls deep, for a moment. It feels so good. It always does.
I can’t go slow, and I know she doesn’t want me to. I take her hard and rough, her hands sliding up and down the glass as she tries to stay upright. “I’ve got you,” I tell her as I hold her hips tight.
“Harder, Scott. I need it.”
I press her fully against the glass as I let loose. I’m biting her shoulders and she’s holding onto my ass now, her fingers digging into my flesh. She screams again, and then I’m lost in the sensations as I shoot into her, coming so hard I almost fall backwards. I manage to lean into her instead.
“That was…we haven’t done it like that in a while,” I tell her when I’m finally able to speak again.
“Yeah. But we should. Make that happen, okay?”
“Definitely. I love you, Yas.”
“I love you too, Pretty Boy.”
Once I’ve regained some of my strength, I carry her into the shower. It’s not as sexy as the one in Chicago, but that couch more than made up for it. After we’ve played in there, we cuddle on the bed. I’m so sated and happy that I start to doze off.
“Oh no. I need to give you your present. Although, after the business news and finally telling me you love going down on me, I’m not sure I should. It’s nowhere near as exciting.”
“It’s from you, so I know it’ll be good. Oh, and can you grab
me some briefs from our bag? I don’t want to open the door for breakfast naked tomorrow.”
“There’s a robe.”
“Please?”
“If I must. I don’t like you covering up my property, though.”
“It’ll stay uncovered when I don’t have to answer the door. Promise.”
“Okay, then.”
I hear a squeal and know that she’s found what I really wanted her to get from the bag. She comes running in, clutching the bouquet of pens to her chest. “Where are my briefs?” I ask her with a laugh.
“You got me pens! Beautiful, wonderful pens.”
“With special messages on them, even.”
“What? Huh?”
She looks at them and starts smiling. I had a bunch of each made with different messages of love and encouragement just for her. I’ll give her the extras when we get home. She starts crying, and I know they’re happy tears. My wife is definitely emotional.
“They’re perfect. You’re perfect. Now my gift is even worse, though.”
“Let me be the judge of that. Hand it over.”
She does, looking nervous. I open the package to find a small book. When I open it up, I see that each page has a different quote about computers on it in English, or a romantic or sexy message in binary code. They’re all different fonts and it’s perfect.
“How?”
“Scott and Drew helped me make it. I’d planned to just do quotes, but I saw how much you liked what Zack did for Ainsley with the binary code, so I included that, too.”
“I knew I liked those guys. Especially since one of them has a great name. This is the best gift ever.” I pull her to me and start to kiss her neck. “And I told Ainsley that if you ever did something like that for me, I’d have you coming all night.”
“Please do.”
I spend the rest of the night keeping that promise. I wear the robe to answer the door for our breakfast, and then we go pick up our boy. We take pictures with Buzz, Woody, and everyone else we can find. Even the princesses. He’s little enough to not think girls have cooties yet. I am truly the luckiest man alive, and no one knows that better than me.
Chapter 9
Luke
Well, this is awkward. The rehearsal dinner has ended, but I’m still sitting here in the almost empty room, where just a few of us are left. It’s just me, Jade, Ellie, and my soon to be ex-wife. Oh, and let’s not forget her sister, who’s the maid of honor at the wedding, and won’t stop glaring at me. Or her doctor, whose wife has become good friends with my mom and has also been giving me strange looks all night. Probably because I’ve been drinking non-stop.
It’s the doctor who finally speaks. “I know things are hard, Luke. But as I’ve told Olivia, the two of you still have time to make choices.”
“Choices?” What the hell is he talking about?
“There’s no choice. I’ve told you that, over and over again. It doesn’t matter what he wants. I’m having this baby.”
“What the fuck, Olivia?” I ask.
I may have been drinking, but I’m not drunk enough to ignore that there’s something going on here. Something he thinks I know about. I’d like to know, though, and I realize that one way or another, I’m getting the answers I need tonight.
“You haven’t told him?” he asks, his eyes wide.
“It’s not his choice.”
“So, the baby really isn’t mine. Good to know,” I say as I stand up.
“Of course the baby’s yours,” Rose tells me, standing to face me. “How could you even think my sister would cheat on you?”
“She didn’t tell me she was pregnant, and now she says I have no choice in whatever the fuck’s going on. I think it’s pretty clear that it’s not mine.”
“Olivia, you promised me that you would tell him. He has a right to know.”
“I can’t, Doc. I just can’t. Because I won’t change my mind. And if he tries to change it, I’ll hate him forever.”
“You won’t know until you tell me, now will you?” I’m being a surly bastard, but I really don’t give a fuck.
She looks at me then, the woman I love more than life itself. I see the tears in her eyes, and I just want to hold her and tell her we’ll be okay. But I can’t if she won’t talk to me.
“Can we go somewhere and talk?” she asks in a small voice, running her hands over her stomach.
“Yes.”
“You can use the house. We didn’t cancel anything, so it’s all set up,” Jade tells me.
“The house?”
“I was planning on us having a romantic night at the house here. Before I found out what was upsetting you. Or at least the part of it you finally let me know. I thought maybe I could make you love me again.”
The alcohol is making me a little more honest than I want to be, but it is what it is. I’ve laid myself bare for her before. I can do it again. Because I love her. And nothing will ever change that. Not even if this baby belonged to someone else. I’d hate what she did, but I could never hate her.
That realization sends a shudder through my body and makes me realize that there has to be a way to fix this. Before I knew she was pregnant, I was willing to do anything I could to keep her. Yes, she lied to me and is in fact, still lying to me. But I still need to try and keep her.
“I’ve never stopped loving you Luke. Never. Do you still want me to go there with you? You may not like what I tell you.”
“But I’ll love you no matter what, Ollie.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve been a dick the last couple of days because I was hurt. But even if the baby was someone else’s, I’d raise it if that’s what you wanted. Because I meant my wedding vows. Both times I said them. For better or for worse, I’m yours. I screwed that up once, but I’m not going to do that again.”
“It’s your baby. I promise. And we’ve both screwed things up. I don’t want to do that again, either.”
“Then we definitely need to go talk.”
I hold out my hand, and she takes it. I pull her to me and kiss the top of her head. We walk out to the waiting car and make the hour long drive to the house. We don’t talk, or even look at each other. We just hold hands.
I lead her up the stairs to my room once we’re inside. The interior is flickering with the light of electric candles everywhere. There’s also stuffed animals covering almost every surface, and a plate of macarons from Drago Sisters Bakery back in Vegas. The bed is covered in flower petals, with a sexy lace nightie in the middle.
“It’s beautiful. And perfect.”
“Still?”
“Always.”
She grabs a bigger version of her Ollie octopus, and clutches it to her chest as she sits on the floor. She pats the space next to her, and I join her. I know why she ignored the bed, but we could’ve cuddled in the chair. Then again, maybe it’s not time for cuddling again yet.
“You can tell me anything, Ollie. In fact, I need you to tell me everything. Even if it’s bad. I can handle it as long as I know you won’t leave.”
“I won’t,” she says, taking a deep breath. “When I found out I was pregnant, I was so happy, but also so scared.”
I want to ask her why, but I sense that she needs for me to let her say it all before I speak. So I remain quiet and just place my hand over one of hers.
“I should’ve told you this before we got married. Or stayed married, but I couldn’t. My parents almost had a third child. They found out the baby had Down Syndrome and chose to terminate the pregnancy. Although it’s not very often that it’s inherited, I knew I carried a gene that could make it more prevalent in a child.”
I’m breathing as hard as she is as she continues. “I didn’t want a test, because there’s no way I would ever terminate a pregnancy. I’m totally pro-choice, but I couldn’t do it myself. And I don’t care if my child has special needs. I wouldn’t love my baby less for it.”
“But you did have the test, didn’t you?” I ask, remember
ing the doctor saying that we had options.
She nods. “Doc convinced me that either way, I needed to be prepared. That’s when I decided I was going to wait until after the test to tell you. I wanted you to have a chance to leave if you couldn’t handle it.”
“You think I would leave you, and our child, because he or she would have special needs?”
I remove my hand from hers and just stare at her in shock. My anger’s coming back now, too. How could she think that about me? I volunteer with Special Olympics and Opportunity Village in Las Vegas.
“No. Yes. Maybe. No. I let Doc get me freaked out, but I know you’ll love him even though he’ll need some extra help with things.”
“Him? It’s a boy?”
“Yes. It’s a boy. The test told us that, too.”
I push her hands out of the way so I can cup her stomach with my hands. Then I lean over and kiss that little bump. It’s not enough. I’m not close enough to my son. I want to crawl inside her womb and tell my little boy how much I love him. Just the way he is.
“Have you had a sonogram already?”
“No. I-I couldn’t do that without you.”
I look up into her eyes and see remorse there, along with fear. She went the wrong route with all of this, but I know she thought she was doing it for the right reasons. What’s most important is that she would’ve never even thought of giving up our child. She was ready to go to battle with me to protect him. She knew deep down that she didn’t have to, but she would’ve.
“You’re not going to be doing any of this without me, Ollie. I love you and I already love our perfect little boy, too.”
“I’m so sorry, Luke. I knew it wouldn’t matter to you, but the doctor had me so scared.”
“I know Mom’s friends with his wife, but I think you need a new doctor. I’m seriously pissed that he was still talking about options to you tonight. We need someone who’s with us all the way.”
“You’re right. I’ll start looking for a new one when we get home.”
“We’ll start looking. Together. Always together.”
“Always.”
I lean over and kiss my wife for the first time in a long time. She deepens the kiss, and is practically tearing at my shirt when I pull back from her. “Ollie?”
Keeping Their Love (Griffin Brothers #7) Page 5