Curves for Him - 10 Delicious Tales

by Aubrey Rose, Dez Burke, A. T. Mitchell, Catherine Vale, Marian Tee, Harper Ashe, Eliza Gayle, M. G. Morgan, Shirl Anders, Milly Taiden

  Chapter 8

  Claire cried during the entire drive back to the mansion, occasionally wiping away her tears when they blurred the road in front of her. In the guest suite, she started pulling clothes and accessories out of the closet and setting them on the bed, only stopping to wipe more tears from her eyes.

  When she grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand, the slightly open drawer caught her attention. She opened it further and grabbed the bag of Dove chocolates she had stashed there. She unwrapped one and popped it in her mouth, smoothing out the foil wrapper to read the words inscribed inside.

  There’s a time for compromise. It’s called later.

  Once again, it was the right message at the right time. She wasn’t about to compromise her dignity for that jerk. At least not in front of him. That’s why she had to leave his place. And why she had to leave the mansion now.

  Last night, she finally let down her guard and let Robbie into her heart. What did it get her? Heartache, that’s what. She was stupid to think that having sex meant more to him than just...sex. He was just like every other guy on the planet who loved the chase but quickly lost interest once he caught you. She popped another chocolate into her mouth.

  An exhale moment deserves delicious chocolate.

  Ha! Where were you last night, my little Dove delight, when exhale moments were in abundance? She crumpled up the foil wrapper and threw it across the room. That one sure missed the mark. The only things Claire was exhaling this morning were expletives. She picked up her phone and tapped out a text message to her sister.

  Something’s come up and I need to head home a few days early.

  Abby responded almost instantly. What happened? Are mom and dad okay?

  They’re fine.

  You must not be fine, then. Did something happen with Robbie?

  Claire wasn’t sure how to respond. Abby and Stephen weren’t due back for a couple more days, and they deserved to end their honeymoon on a high note.

  It’s a long story, sis, but I’m fine, too. Will tell you all about it when you’re back. Just didn’t want you to wonder where I was when you got home.

  It was only a white lie. She would be fine once she put some distance between her and Robbie’s remodel project.

  A full minute passed before Abby responded with a simple message. Take care, Claire.

  You too, Claire responded. Then she set the phone down and resumed packing.

  When her car was loaded, she packed up her makeshift office so Robbie could take his computer and paperwork home. Then she made a few phone calls to make sure that all of Abby and Stephen’s service providers were on track to give the mansion and grounds a quick once-over before the newlyweds returned.

  She did one final walkthrough of the entire house, lingering in the master bathroom and then the kitchen to admire Robbie’s craftsmanship. He may have been a complete jerk to her this morning, but he sure did wonderful work. She was a little sad that she wouldn’t get to see the final result, although she would be back for a visit sometime soon and could see it then.

  Confident that everything was in order, she locked up and hit the road.

  ~~~

  Rob entered the mansion, which seemed oddly quiet, and called out to announce his arrival. “Hey Claire! It’s Rob! I’m here to finish up! Look, we need to talk.”

  When he didn’t get a response, he went out to the guesthouse to look for her. But instead of finding Claire, he found an older man with a round belly cooking in the kitchen.

  Since the man had a rather large knife in his hand, Rob thought he should introduce himself. “Hi there, I’m Rob Halliday, the Blakes’ contractor.”

  “Good morning. I’m Chef Laurent, Mr. and Mrs. Blake’s personal chef. Can I help you with something?”

  “I’m looking for Claire. Have you seen her?”

  “Mrs. Blake’s sister?” The chef asked rhetorically. “She’s gone.”

  “Gone, where?” Rob asked.

  “Eh,” Chef Laurent shrugged. “I didn’t ask, she didn’t say. She called a couple days ago and asked me to make sure there was food prepared for the Blakes’ return.”

  “Thanks,” Rob said. “I guess I’ll just get to work then.”

  “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Halliday. The new kitchen is a chef’s dream. I look forward to preparing many wonderful meals in it once it’s complete.”

  “Thanks. It was nice to me you, too, Chef Laurent.”

  In a daze, Rob returned to the main house. He knew he had made her uncomfortable the morning...after. Just like that time in seventh grade when he had kissed her, he got scared. But why would she leave like that? Without telling him? Without giving him a chance to apologize...to explain?

  He found his business stuff packed up in the den and headed up the stairs and into the guest bedroom where Claire had been staying. Everything was gone except for the black dress she had worn to lunch, which was hanging in the open closet, and a half-empty bag of Dove dark chocolates that was sitting on the nightstand.

  He slumped down on the bed and pulled out his phone. After a brief hesitation, he tapped the screen.

  “Hi Stephen, it’s Rob Halliday. No, no. Everything’s fine with the remodel. I’ll definitely be done by the time you and your wife get home. Speaking of your wife, is she available to speak with me?”

  “Robbie?” a female voice questioned on the other end of the line.

  “Hi Abby. Claire’s gone.”

  “I know. What did you do to her?”

  “Nothing. Everything. Damn, I don’t even know.”

  He heard Abby sigh. “Tell me what happened. But my phone service isn’t that great, so you might want to give me the Cliff’s Notes version in case I lose signal.”

  “We spent the 4th of July together and it was amazing. One thing led to another and we ending up sleeping together—”

  “Wait. You had SEX with my SISTER?”

  Robbie cringed against the phone. “What Claire and I shared was more than just sex. It was a mind-blowing experience.”

  “If it was so mind-blowing, why did my sister run away the next day?”

  Robbie hesitated before answering. “She may have gotten the impression that being with her didn’t mean as much to me as it really did.”

  “WHAT?! WHY?” He didn’t blame Abby for being angry, but yelling at him wasn’t helping.

  “The morning...after...I was a little freaked out by the whole thing. I may have acted a little cool and offhand toward her.”

  “You idiot! It wasn’t enough for you to break Claire’s heart in seventh grade and make her pine for you all through high school. Now you had to go and break her heart all over again? No wonder she needed to go home. She needed somewhere private and familiar to lick her wounds.”

  “Hold on there,” Rob argued. “I didn’t break her heart in seventh grade. She broke mine.”

  “What are you talking about, Robbie?”

  “Claire was my best friend until that stupid kiss. After that, she changed. She treated me weird and started dressing different. I didn’t even know how to act around her after that. Eventually, I just stopped trying to get back what we lost.”

  Abby groaned. “Okay, forget seventh grade. How do you feel about Claire now?”

  “I love her, Abby. Help me get her back.”

  “Stephen and I will be home tomorrow,” Abby said, “here’s what we’re going to do.”

  ~~~

  Claire rang the mansion’s doorbell. When nobody answered, she tried the knob and found the front door unlocked. She let herself in and called out to her sister. “Abby! I’m here! I’ve got ice cream!”

  She hadn’t wanted to come back to the city so soon, but Abby had begged her until she agreed. Evidently, she had returned from her honeymoon with some sort of crisis and only her baby sister would know how to help. When Abby had said, “Bring along Ben and Jerry,” Claire knew that, whatever the crisis was, it must be serious.

  So she had packed a sma
ll bag, hopped in the car, and drove back to Blake Mansion. But it was Stephen who descended the stairs and greeted her with a warm, yet somewhat stiff, hug. He looked tan and relaxed, which made the billionaire seem less intimidating.

  “Claire, so nice to see you again.”

  “Hi Stephen. How was the honeymoon?”

  “Delightful,” responded with a smile. “Just like your sister.”

  “Yeah, about that. Do you know where I can find her?”

  “I believe she’s waiting for you in the guesthouse,” Stephen said.

  Claire thought that was a little odd, but didn’t say so. “Great. I’ll go track her down. Thanks.”

  When she passed through the completely renovated kitchen, the magnificent design made her pause. Travertine tile, quartz counters, top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances. Every detail was meticulously planned out. The kitchen was first class all the way, even if the man who built it was classless.

  She went through the French doors and paused before walking around the pool toward the guesthouse. She and Robbie had shared a lot of meals there, and the memory of her pain was still raw and rough in her heart.

  Be bold!

  With her head held high, Claire walked boldly toward the guesthouse and went inside. At a glance, the place looked empty. But on the small dining table was a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a crystal bowl filled with Dove dark chocolates.

  Claire was confused. “Abby? Are you in here? Abby!”

  A tall, dark, and handsome figure emerged from the bedroom. “Hello, Claire.”

  Robbie!

  “I’m looking for Abby,” Claire said nervously, looking around for her sister. “Stephen told me she was here.”

  “She’s not. It’s just me...and now you.”

  Claire was confused. “What about Abby’s crisis?”

  “She made that up. It’s the only thing we could think of that would get you to come here, to get you to talk to me,” Robbie said as he walked toward her.

  Claire shook her head as she backed away from Robbie’s advances. “Abby wouldn’t trick me like that. But I can easily imagine you being that underhanded.”

  Robbie poured some wine into the two glasses and held one out for Claire. “Here, take it.” She reluctantly accepted the glass but didn’t bring it to her lips like he did. “I don’t blame you for feeling hurt and confused, Claire. But you left town before I had a chance to explain.”

  “What’s to explain? You got what you wanted and I got the cold shoulder. End of story.” She took a gulp of wine to calm her nerves.

  “That’s just it, I didn’t get what I wanted,” Robbie said as he slowly inched toward her.

  “You d-di-didn’t?”

  “No, Claire, I didn’t. I didn’t get a chance to explain. I didn’t get to tell you how I feel. I didn’t get to make things right between us.”

  She sighed. “There is no us, Robbie.”

  “There’s always been us, Claire, I just didn’t realize it.” Robbie paced back and forth in the small area between the kitchen and dining table. “The way I treated you after we were...together...was wrong.”

  The pain of the last week, of the last decade, washed over Claire and tumbled out of her in a rush of words and a gush of tears. “Wrong? Do you have any idea how horrible it was for me to wake up that morning and realize that the person in bed next to me wasn’t the same loving, passionate man I went to sleep with the night before?” she cried. “I opened up my heart to you, Robbie, and you stomped on it. It was like seventh grade all over again!”

  He moved toward her and gently brushed away her tears. “I know, and I’m sorry. If I could go back and change the way I treated you that morning, or what happened when we were kids, I would. I was scared, Claire, then and now.”

  “Scared of what, people finding out that you liked the fat girl?” She turned away from him in shame.

  “What? No! You’ve got it all wrong.” He came up behind her, and she could feel his breath on her neck. “I love your curves,” Robbie said softly. “I was scared of losing my best friend. I want you back, Claire.”

  Her shoulders slumped when she realized what he was saying. “After what happened between us, Robbie, I don’t think I can go back to being your assistant or your friend. Working with you every day would be a constant reminder of what happened between us, of what might have been...”

  He laughed, which was not the response she expected after pouring her heart out to him, although maybe it should have been. She spun around and glared at him through glassy, tear-filled eyes.

  ~~~

  Too late, Rob realized that laughing at Claire’s confusion was the wrong thing to do. If looks could kill, he’d be dead. Although he preferred an angry, fired-up Claire to the sad, weepy one. “I’m not saying that I want you back as my office assistant,” he explained. “Well, that’s not entirely true. You were the best assistant I’ve ever had.”

  Claire put her hands on her curvy hips, her signature move when she mad and wanted answers. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “I know. Let me try again.” Rob ran his fingers through his hair, trying to find the right words to show her what was in his heart. “I didn’t know how to be both friends and lovers and still don’t. But I’m willing to do whatever it takes to figure it out. Please, Claire, give me a chance to make things right.”

  “What are you saying?” she asked, the anger gone from her tone.

  “I’m saying that I love you, Claire. That I want you back in my life. Not just as my assistant, but also as my best friend, as my wife.” He grinned at the look of shocked surprise on her face.

  “What about the woman you want to have babies with? The one you recently met?”

  “That woman is you, Claire. It’s always been you.”

  “Me?” He could tell that his words hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

  “Yes, you. I want to have babies with you.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a ring and dropped down on one knee. “I know this may seem sudden, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you left my place that morning after the 4th of July. I haven’t stopped thinking about us. Claire Branson, will you marry me?”

  Claire’s eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open. It was pretty clear to Rob that she hadn’t seen his proposal coming. “Well,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Will you?”

  “God help me, I love you, too, Robbie,” she admitted. He could see the conflicted emotions in her eyes... and the moment when she forgave him for hurting her. “Yes. Yes! I will marry you.” She yanked her hand back before he could slip the ring on her finger. “Under one condition.”

  “You have a condition?”

  It was her turn to laugh at the confused look on his face as he stared up at her expectantly. “Yes. A smart man once told me that we made a pretty good team. I will marry you, Robbie, but only if I can be your partner in every way: in love, in life, in business.”

  His relief was palpable. “Yes!” He slipped the ring on her finger, stood up, and swept her into his arms, capturing her lips with his to seal the commitment they had just made to each other. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. “I promise to never let you go again, Claire Branson,” he whispered against her lips.

  “And I promise to hold on tight no matter what, Robbie Halliday,” she said with a soft sigh. “If we were alone, I would invite you to go skinny dipping with me for old time’s sake. But we seem to have an audience.” Claire pointed across the pool toward the French doors, where Abby and Stephen were smiling, arm-in-arm, watching the happy reunion.

  Rob laughed. “Maybe we should go home, where we can be alone.”

  “Your home?” she questioned.

  “Our home,” he corrected. He grabbed the bottle of wine and took her hand, letting his eyes meet hers one more time.

  Claire looked back at him and he saw the love in her eyes. “There’s nothing I’d like better than to go home...with you.”


  ~~~

  Claire could hardly contain her excitement as Robbie pulled into the driveway of his house on the lake. Correction: their house on the lake. She held her left hand up to the sun and admired the way the light reflected off the large diamond on her ring finger.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I finished the bathroom remodel,” Robbie said as he picked up her bag and unlocked the front door. “I can’t wait for you to see it.”

  He led her upstairs and into the master bedroom. Her heart raced at the sight of his bed in the middle of the room. The bed where their love was recently consummated, even if they didn’t realize it at the time.

  The closet door was open, and she saw her little black dress hanging there. “What’s this doing here?”

  Robbie reached out and ran his fingers over the fabric. “You left it behind at the mansion, I’m guessing because it made you feel sad. I brought it home because it reminded me of how sexy you looked in it, which made me happy.”

  Claire swiped at a tear that escaped down her cheek. She didn’t want to cry again. “If it makes you happy, I’ll definitely wear it again. I could even put it on right now if you’d like.”

  “Honestly? I think you have too many clothes on already. C’mon, I want to show you something.”

  She followed him into the newly-remodeled master bathroom and gasped in delight. At the end of the bathroom under the window was the two-person jetted tub they had sat in at the showroom. “I thought you decided on a small tub and a large shower,” she said.

  Robbie shrugged. “My fiancé wanted a bigger tub. Care to join me for a swim?” He didn’t wait for her answer before plugging the drain and turning on the water.

  While his back was turned, Claire shimmied out of her clothes. She laughed at the look on his face when he saw that she was already naked. “I’m one step ahead of you, Mr. Halliday,” she said.

  He grinned as he dropped his clothes next to hers, never taking his eyes off her curves. “You usually are, Miss Branson,” he responded. He pulled her soft body against his hard frame and kissed her deeply. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  About the Author: Harper Ashe