Davenport Harbor (Six Degrees Book 3)

by Statham, Mayra

  “Since…" I took a deep breath and touched the tips of my short hair. “After everything, you've been distant...”

  “I asked you to marry me!” His voice was now slightly amused.

  “Yeah….”

  “Twice!” He reminded me as if that would somehow clarify things.

  “Exactly,” I sighed, burying my head into his shoulder where I couldn’t help but take in a deep breath. “We should have been closer these last couple of weeks. You asked me to marry you and you've done this hot and cold game with me...”

  “I haven't…”

  “You have!” My head popped up so that I could look at him.

  “You’ve been getting home later and later, you’re never in the office…” I held his shirt tightly. “You rush me off the phone…”

  “I’ve been busy, Kitten, but I’ve been home every night…”

  “Later and later.” His lips curled slightly up as if he was trying to fight to keep from smiling.

  “Are you having cold feet, baby?”

  “No,” I immediately answered, and he leaned in to kiss me. His lips were on mine, nibbling and pulling my lower lip. He set me on the top of his desk, my ass at the edge of it, then stood and winked at me.

  Silently, I watched him move his powerful body to the door and heard the distinct click of a lock. I watched him walk right back to me, his eyes on mine the entire time. Sitting back in his chair, his hands went to my thighs, spreading them open, so he could go between them. His large hands were holding to the sides of my waist.

  “I’ve been working on a couple of things. Things that normally would take a lot of time,” he admitted. My hands went to playing with his black tie that had tiny red pin stripes.

  “Like what?”

  “Like surprises for you.” My cheeks warmed. “One of them being that I need to know that you two are protected. That’s why I have been in and out of the house so much.”

  John

  “What?” She asked, her eyes cautious, and I sighed, taking her hand in mine as I stared into her eyes, my eyes roaming lower to those damn lips of hers that drove me crazy.

  “I was going to save this for later, as a wedding gift. But…” I rolled my chair back, one hand going to the top drawer on the side of my desk, taking out two files and handing her one of them. I sat back, resting my hands together on my lap as I watched her.

  “I think I need to make clearer to you what I feel. You need this.” I tilted my head towards the file in her hand and she looked at it.

  “John…”

  “Read the file, Kitten.”

  I watched as she opened the file with shaky hands as she unconsciously nibbled on her lower lip. Her beautiful face was frowning as she was flipping the pages. Then I watched the frown soften. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “I needed this done now, not later. I wanted you to know that the Downeys have no control over you or Zoey. The past is just that.”

  “How?” Her eyes met mine over the file and I smiled.

  “It doesn’t matter, it’s done.”

  “John, they signed off on Blake’s parental rights?”

  “With your permission I would like to adopt Zoey,” I interrupted her, but it was almost as if she didn’t hear me.

  “What did you have to do, for them to agree?” She whispered, her face slightly worried as her eyes searched mine.

  “It doesn’t matter.” I shrugged but she shook her head.

  “It does, John, these people…” her voice was slightly higher with worry.

  “Believe it or not, the Governor was pretty easy to talk into.”

  “Did you blackmail him?” She blurted out, and I couldn’t stop the laughter that came out.

  “No. Blackmail a Governor? Anne, you have been watching too much TV.” She scowled at me, and I leaned in and kissed her full lips.

  “I don’t watch TV. You would tell me the truth?”

  “He knew it was for the best. He agreed that the best thing for Zoey would be that he nor any Downey family memner wouldn’t contact her,” I admitted and then sighed. “He just asked us to send pictures of her when we could, and he’d like to see her grow up, even if only through pictures,” I told her, and she was looking at me as if she didn’t believe me.

  “So you don’t have to make a hefty donation to a re-election campaign?” She asked suspiciously, and I chuckled at her wild imagination, though I would have if he’d asked.

  “Hell no.” Her eyes still on me, she lifted her hands to my face. She was searching for the truth and I sighed, “I would tell you.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.” Silence fell between us. One of her hands touched my chest while the other held the file, her eyes fixed on it.

  “Anne…” I started to talk, but she looked up at me and I couldn’t say anything. She was so damn beautiful she took my breath away.

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, I want you to adopt her.”

  “You don’t have to agree. I wanted to handle it because I didn’t want you going to those people to ask them for shit.”

  “She loves you, you love her. You want to be her dad. I want you to be her dad. Yes.” Her eyes were soft and a knot formed in my throat. I fucking love her, the words were on the tip of my tongue, but something mentally stopped me, and I pulled her mouth down to mine and kissed her, hoping that everything I felt about her would somehow transfer over into that kiss.

  “Thank you,” I whispered against her lips, my eyes closed and wet. “You just have to sign and the papers will be filed officially tomorrow.” My voice sounded off to my own ears.

  “Okay,” she whispered back, and when I opened my eyes, hers were warm and looking into mine, smiling brightly.

  “I…” My mouth opened and her hands moved to my face.

  “I know.” Just like that, she let me off the hook from having to say those three words out loud; and I let her as she leaned in and kissed me. Her taste was filling me, engraining itself in me much like the woman herself.

  “I have another surprise,” I admitted against her mouth and she smiled.

  “Okay.” She leaned away and never took her eyes off of me as I handed her a second file.

  “What is this?”

  “Passports.”

  “I can see that.”

  “You didn’t have one, Zoey didn’t either, and mine needed to be updated.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly.

  “Now we have them.”

  “Okay.”

  “We’re going to London after the wedding for three weeks, on a honeymoon. That’s another reason I’ve been working nonstop. I’ve worked on where to stay, made sure Bernadette’s work load wasn’t too bad, and hired the security that’s going to accompany us, even Mrs. Bradley as our nanny…”

  “Security?”

  “Anne…”

  “Is it Blake?” She asked, and I instantly shook my head.

  “No, baby. I just… I need to know you two are safe.”

  “Why wouldn’t we be if he’s…I don’t even know what he is. I haven't asked you what happened to him, if you don’t want me to know and you say we are safe I believe you. But security?”

  “It’s just for my peace of mind, and if you want to know about Downey, I’ll tell you everything about him if you need it. I won’t keep anything from you. Ever. No secrets.”

  She lowered her sexy body down from the desk she’d been sitting on and straddled me, holding my face in both hands.

  “Is Blake dead?” Her voice trembled and I looked at her.

  “No,” I answered honestly and could see that my answer surprised her.

  “How can you be so sure he won’t…”

  “There are things worse than death, Anne.”

  “Was this your call?”

  “No,” I answered honestly again, and she searched my face to see if I was lying. I rolled my eyes. “If it had been my call, he’d be six feet under. It
wasn’t. Trust me. Your days of worrying are over,” I vowed.

  “What happened that day?” She asked, biting her lip, and I touched the tips of her hair. The fear of that day was still raw. The cut looked good on her. But I was pretty sure she'd even look good bald.

  “Blake was getting deeper and deeper into drugs and narcotics, as well as pharmaceuticals. Which was bad, since he was supposed to be selling the product, not testing it out. I’d already planned on speaking to the Governor. Luckily, he was nearby and we met up after you were taken. I told him what his son had done and when I told him about you, he was relieved you were alive. The Governor had thought that Blake might have had a hand in you disappearing. He had eyes on Blake, even if he hadn’t seen his son in over a year.” I leaned in, kissing her softly, needing to feel her close, the emotions of that day still too fresh even after almost a month.

  “Pat shot him, and he lost a lot of blood. He recovered at the hospital, but with no brain activity. It was something about the loss of oxygen while he was in surgery. He’s in a care facility in Arizona, but he’s brain dead, Kitten. That’s why the Governor was able to sign away on Blake’s rights.”

  Her eyes watched me, blinking a few times, but she didn’t shed a tear.

  “I feel like a bad person, feeling relieved that he can’t hurt us anyone,” she said, and I held her closer.

  “You are not a bad person. He’s hurt a lot of people.” Her eyes sparkled and she frowned.

  “Belle?” She asked and I smiled grimly.

  “No, someone close to her. Very close.” I watched her process that, and her eyes filled with worry again.

  “Is Patrick going to get in trouble for…?”

  “No. The Governor's people are on it. Patrick is okay,” I shared with her and she nodded.

  “I want us to be partners,” she blurted out, her cheeks red, and I kissed her.

  “Okay.”

  “I know I will never have the money you have.”

  “What’s mine is yours, Kitten.”

  “I want us to be partners and make decisions together. I get why you did what you did, and honey, I seriously appreciate you taking care of Zoey.” Her voice cracked. I put my hands on her thighs. “I didn’t want to have to ask them to… well, and you did. You took care of us. You saved me.”

  “I’ll always take care of you, Anne. I promise you. You still going to marry me?” I asked her against her lips and she smiled.

  “Yes.” She whispered.

  “I’ll try to talk and share more, but I can’t read minds either, so you have to share with me, too.” She pulled her face away, looking slightly embarrassed, and I grabbed her hand, my thumb caressing my ring on her finger. “I promise I will make it worth putting up with me. I’m not an easy man to love.” I stopped talking, because the love shining through her eyes made her usually hazel eyes slightly lighter.

  “You’re so easy to love, John. You are the only one who doesn’t see that.” She kissed me. “I’ve missed you,” she admitted against my lips and an idea formed in my head.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Sabrina’s people need us here….”

  “Not far. Just you and me. Mrs. Bradley can watch Zoey and if not her, then Mike can. What do you say?”

  “John.” She laughed. “Okay.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Anne

  I watched him spread a big quilt onto the grass behind the house. For having so many people around, this part of the property was empty and quiet, making it feel like it was just the two of us together in a magically beautiful bubble.

  “Come here,” he growled and pulled me down, my body on his. I settled into the crook of his shoulder and chest, my hand over his heart, the steady beat of it more than soothing.

  “What if it rains on Saturday?” I asked him and he laughed.

  “It’s Southern California, baby.”

  “I know but…”

  “But?”

  “There’s something about us coming together that somehow brings out the rain.” I felt his chest rumble with laughter.

  “I’m sure Sabrina has thought of everything and has a plan B on standby.”

  “If it does, promise me we’ll still get married in our spot.” His eyes warmed and he kissed me.

  “I promise. No matter what, we will say ‘I do’ in our spot. Even if I have to make you put on one of those silly plastic rain ponchos people use at Sea World while sitting in the splash zone,” he told me and I laughed. My laughter was dying down as I looked at him and enjoyed the view of him lying below me. He was wearing a crisp, white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, his black and red tie loosened up. My eyes roamed lower, appreciating him in his black slacks, and I smiled at his bare feet, one foot crossed over the other.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Kitten,” he warned, and I bit the inside of my lip because I knew that tone. I loved that tone.

  “Why?” I lifted my head and looked into his hungry eyes as I leaned my head in closer, daring him. Pushing his buttons.

  “I’ll forget that our house is swarming with a hundred people getting shit done for our wedding and I won’t give a shit about what they see or hear.” The idea of getting caught made me blush, and he shook his head as his eyes heated up more intensely.

  “You like that?” He asked and I shrugged.

  He looked around us and suddenly moved our bodies so that I was the one on her back now, looking up at him and the blue cloudless sky. His hands roamed down to my thighs, and I was immediately glad I’d decided to wear a new sundress. His hands slowly skimmed the hem and then moved up higher and my breath caught.

  “So damn beautiful,” he growled as his head lowered, our lips so close I was breathing in his air. “So much I would want to do to you here.”

  “Like?” I asked, closing my eyes when his fingers pressed on my inner thighs and I spread them slightly.

  “Like touch you,” his rich voice whispered against my ear, making shivers run down my spine. I moaned quietly when his thumb skimmed the front of my now wet panties. “So wet, Kitten.” He growled, slipping his finger inside me. My hands wrapped around his shoulders to press him close, a sound escaping from the back of my throat.

  “God. I love that sound. I love when you purr for me, Anne.”

  “John.” I whispered, my body needy, achy.

  “Shhh. We have to be quiet, but later, oh later, Kitten, I am going to take you back into my office.” I opened my eyes and licked my lips. “You like that idea?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you thought about that?”

  “I’ve thought about a lot.” His finger stopped and I gripped his shoulder, but it were his eyes that showed surprise.

  “Don’t stop.”

  “Like what, Kitten? What has that pretty little head been fantasizing about?” His finger moved to my swollen clit and he rubbed it in a circular motion, my wetness evident.

  “John.”

  “Later, you’re going to tell me,” his voice was thick with his own need.

  “Yes,” I whispered, biting my lower lip, his touch too much, egging on my orgasm.

  “Promise me?” His touch slowed, and I growled and whimpered at the same time.

  “I promise.”

  “Good. Kiss me and try to stay quiet,” he ordered as his finger became two and our lips locked. When I closed my eyes, I saw nothing but stars bursting as he took me over the edge, his fingers never leaving me. He just kept petting and caressing. When I finally opened my eyes, I adored the expression on his face. It was one of triumph and love. He loved me. One day he would say it.

  I watched, utterly captivated, as his fingers slipped away and he straightened my dress and licked his fingers, closing his eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.

  “Best taste in the world, Kitten,” he remarked and I blushed. His hands stroked my cheeks, as if tracing the pinkness. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he admitted.
His voice was serious, and my heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

  “John.”

  “We’re a team, you and me, in and out of the bedroom. Partners. Okay?” He said and I nodded, unable to speak, too much emotion running through me, all of it good. Better than good.

  “What about you?” I asked him, noticing the bulge straining against the front of his slacks.

  “Later.”

  “But…”

  “It’s lunch now.”

  “Lunch?” I asked, surprised at this, and watched him bring out a bunch of different containers from the picnic basket.

  “Reading and lunch,” he announced, bringing out two books, something about World War Two, and I instantly recognized the cover of the other.

  “How did you get this?” I asked in wonder, grabbing the book from his hands and sitting up. I heard him laugh as I stared at the front cover of Sophie Samuels’s upcoming book that wasn’t going on sale for another two weeks.

  “Believe it or not, I know people. I noticed you liked reading her books. They were all over the guest house.” He laughed, and I playfully stuck out my tongue at him.

  “Thank you. This is awesome.” I touched the cover one more time and looked up at him. “Did you know she’s a total mystery? No one knows who she is, what she looks like. All anyone really knows is she’s from California, but that’s because she says that in the section about herself.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “I’d love to meet her.” I watched his eyes twinkle, so I kept talking, “I know it sounds stupid, but her stories, they’re brilliant. Each one is different and beautiful.”

  “What if I told you I think I could arrange for you to meet her?”

  “Are you serious?” I gasped and he laughed.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” He smiled and opened up a container of bright and delicious looking fruit. “Come here, I need to feed my future wife.” He grabbed a plump strawberry and fed me.

  We smiled and ate. I asked him about his book, and he admitted he loved books about history. Tons of people were all around the front and inside of the house, yet in our little spot, it felt like it was only the two of us in the world as we lay down on the comfy quilt, his head on his bunched-up suit jacket, mine on his chest as we both read under the blue sky.