“I’m so sorry but I can’t be with you, for so many reasons. I can’t be in the way of a child’s future, Paul. I can’t.” He started shaking his head, but I placed my finger on his lips, stopping him. “If we’re honest with each other, everything changed when you had sex with her in your office. There’s no way to recover from that, at least not for me, and I see that now. And the fact that it created a child...there is no way I can be involved in that. Everything has always been stacked against us, Paul. It’s never been easy and I can’t live like that anymore. I can’t always be wondering what is going to happen next to break us apart.”
“You don’t understand, it won’t. I won’t let it. Casey can’t ever come between us if we don’t let her, Aly. Don’t do this.”
I started crying. A part of me couldn’t believe I was doing this myself. I had spent years loving him, wanting him, and now that I could have him, it was too late. I knew we weren’t meant to be. I knew whom I was meant to be with and while I was so happy, this hurt me terribly.
“You don’t understand...it’s too late. There is no way I can be a part of things right now, when you still need to figure out what you’re going to do with her. You’re going to have to have tests and see if the baby really is yours. You need to focus on that, Paul. And knowing that the baby was conceived while I was hiding in that closet is too much. I thought I was moving past it, but I’m not. I need to walk away, Paul, walk away from you.”
He pressed his hands to his eyes, shaking his head. “No no no,” he kept saying over and over. I resisted the urge to comfort him, to tell him it would be okay. That wasn’t my place anymore. When I thought about it, was it ever?
He lifted his head to look at me, pain slashed across his face. “I can’t believe this is happening. I felt it all night. I couldn’t sleep. The thought of losing you is killing me. I’m broken.” He looked at me with the saddest eyes I’d ever seen. “Having sex with Casey right after having you is something I will never forgive myself for. I’ve punished myself over and over and over for it. I will never understand why I did it, Aly, but losing you is something more painful than anything I’ve ever experienced before.”
The tears finally broke and I was then the one to put my face in my hands. A part of me still loved him and if things were different I’d be the first to jump in his arms and have him whisk me away to happily ever after. But that would never happen. I no longer wanted it to happen.
I felt his fingers lightly brush my hair away then they were gone. I saw him stand up from the corner of my eye and I looked up at him. His face had become stone, all emotion wiped away. The change in him that quickly surprised me and made me nervous.
“Just tell me one thing, Aly. Are you with Baker now?”
My silence was all he needed. He swore under his breath. “Did I really ever have a chance?”
I stood and walked over to him. “Yes, Paul, you did until you did her in your office. That sealed us. It’s obvious now we were never meant to be. I’m so sorry. I will always have a place for you in my heart and a part of me will always love you, but I love Ethan and we are together now. I’m so sorry.”
He sighed. “I don’t know what to say,” he told me, rocking back on his heels. I stood there, my heart breaking into a million tiny pieces at hurting this man, this man who had been everything to me for so long. I knew I had to tell him one more thing, shutting the door on this chapter of my life for good.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to work together anymore. It’s too much for both of us. I am resigning effective immediately. The thought of not being there to finish what we’ve started kills me inside, but you know as well as I do that we can no longer work side by side after this. It’s for the best, Paul. I’m sorry.”
He just stood there, taking in what I said. His eyes flashed hurt for a brief second, then the stone set back in. He nodded his head. “I agree, it is for the best, Ms. Chase. I accept your resignation. Please come in first thing Monday morning and gather your belongings. I will find your replacement on my own, no need for your help. I’m sorry things have to be this way, but remember that this is your choice, not mine.”
He turned and walked to the door and I started to cry once again. He opened the door then turned back to look at me. “We could have been good, Aly. You know that’s true. I hope you have a happy life.” He shut the door behind him and walked out of my life, forever.
A distorted wail erupted in my chest as I slid down to the floor, my fist in my mouth. As I lay on the floor, crying harder than I ever have in my life, I knew that regardless of how painful this felt, I had done the right thing. I just wish the right thing didn’t hurt so much.
I spent the rest of the morning on the couch, watching cheesy romance movies. I lost count of how many times I rewound the ending of Sixteen Candles. The scene where she comes out of the church and he’s waiting for her, leaning on his car, always makes me melt. I needed Ethan so badly; I kept glancing at the clock to see how long he’d been gone.
I finally heard his key in the lock and he opened the door. I bolted off of the couch and hurtled myself into his arms.
“Whoa whoa, what’s going on, angel?” he asked, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
I just shook my head, needing him to hold me for just a minute. The memory of telling Paul flooded through me and I started to cry. Ethan ran his hand down my hair and made shushing sounds.
When he couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled back from me and looked in my eyes. “Tell me. What’s going on?”
I sighed and lead him over to the couch. “Paul came by,” was all I said.
His eyes showed surprise as he let out a breath. “Okay, how did that go?”
I told him everything that happened, stopping a few times to wipe my tears. While I was still so upset with Paul and everything that had happened, I knew a part of me would always love him. Knowing I had hurt him so deeply was not easy for me.
Ethan listened without interrupting and gathered me into his arms when I was finished. “I know that was so hard for you, babe, but I’ve gotta say, I’m glad it’s over. We can finally move on and start fresh. I know leaving your job is difficult, but Aly, this is just the beginning. You have so much ahead of you, angel.”
I looked into his eyes and saw so much love, so much admiration, and it took all of the pain from Paul away. Ethan had always been my savior, my confidante. Now he was mine in every way. I still couldn’t believe it.
He grabbed my hand and tipped my chin up to look at his face. “I have an idea,” he told me, brushing the hair away from my face. “Listen, I’ve actually been dreaming about this for a while, but it never seemed to be the right time. I think the right time has finally arrived.”
He looked at me and I had no idea what he was talking about. I motioned for him to continue.
He smiled as he leaned over to kiss my forehead. “I want to open a new home building business...with you.”
He sat there, waiting for my reaction. I was stunned. I was not expecting this and had never even thought about doing something like it before. But as I thought about it, the idea became so appealing that I knew we had to do it.
“Yes! I would love that,” I shouted, launching myself into his arms. He started laughing and hugged me back.
“Really? Oh, Aly, this will be so amazing. I have wanted to do my own business for a while now and the only one I’ve wanted to go in on it with is you.”
I raised my head and looked at him, putting my hand on his face. “I’m so excited! I think we can do a fantastic job and with both of our experience in the field, we can’t fail. I have so many ideas already. I can’t wait to get started!” My mind was going a mile a minute and I couldn’t wait.
He smiled wide and my love for him rushed through me. While this idea was just sprung on me, I knew it was right. Everything in my life was finally falling into place. “I love you, Baker,” I said.
He took my hand and kissed it. “I love you too, babe.�
�� Pulling me closer to him, he leaned his forehead on mine. “Do you realize that major changes are happening for us? You just quit your job and told Paul it was over, whatever it was. You and I just decided to start our own business and the best part of all is that we are finally a couple. I still can’t believe it when I think about it, angel. I know I’m a broken record, but you have made me the happiest man alive. I want you to know, I would have waited for you until the day I died if I knew I had any sort of chance,” he said, effectively melting me to mush.
He slammed his lips to mine in a hungry and explosive kiss. I grasped his shoulders and pulled him to me, lying back on the couch. His tongue swirled in my mouth, tantalizing me to new heights. I ran my hands through his hair, pulling and gripping as he started to kiss down my jaw, down my neck. When he started sucking on my ear lobe, I gasped.
“Angel, you have no idea what you do to me. What you’ve always done to me,” he said in my ear, nipping the lobe he’d just released.
Heat shot through me as he continued down my neck to the top of my breasts. He looked up at me, his eyes on fire. I pushed his head to me and he groaned, continuing to kiss me lower.
I raised myself so he could remove my shirt. He lifted it over my body, tossing it to the floor, then rubbed his hands up and down my arms, setting me back down.
“I love you so much, Aly,” he said as his lips crushed mine. My hands reached for the hem of his shirt, which he helped me remove in one quick move. Our hands moved over one another like it was life or death. After a few minutes, he stopped and held himself over me, looking at my black lace bra. “Hell,” he whispered, dropping his head to my chest. I gasped as he moved his mouth over me, over my bra.
He stood and lifted me in his arms as he headed to my bedroom. I leaned my head against his shoulder and sighed in pure contentment. He lowered me onto my bed and what happened next would be seared into my memory forever. It was like our first time all over again. He was so gentle and loving, treating me like I was his goddess and worshipping my body thoroughly. When he finally entered me, the feeling was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. We were perfectly made for each other. He twisted his hips as he kissed me, making the intense feelings climb higher and higher until I couldn’t take it anymore and exploded in complete ecstasy.
Ethan shouted out his release then dropped his head to my chest, panting. We stayed like this for minutes, both in a daze from what we just shared. I absently rubbed my fingers through his hair as each and every emotion coursed through me. I had never felt more complete in my life, ever.
I thought Ethan had fallen asleep, so he surprised me when he suddenly spoke. “Move in with me.”
My head jerked to him. “What did you say?” I asked.
A lazy grin came over his face. He stayed still, but his eyes were looking at me. “You heard me. Move in with me.”
Emotions flowed through me, from ecstasy to utter fear. So much had happened the past forty-eight hours. Moving in together? That was huge.
He started laughing and turned over, adjusting his pillow. “Don’t look so enthused, Aly,” he said, his eyes gleaming.
I blushed, looking down and twisting my hair around my finger, again. “It’s not that, Ethan. You just caught me completely off guard.”
An understanding look appeared in his eyes and he reached over for me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. But I mean it, babe. Move in with me.” His eyes hooded over, desire filling them again. I looked at him in awe, a million feelings coursing through my body.
I knew there was no need to hesitate. I wanted this. I climbed onto his lap, pressing my forehead to his, my hands on his cheeks. “Okay,” I said.
His eyes bulged, understanding hitting him. “Really?” he shouted, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I nodded, a huge smile on my face. I ran my hands through his hair and leaned over to kiss him. “Really,” I whispered.
He flipped me over to my back, pure joy on his face as he looked at me. “I love you so much, Aly,” he told me as he lowered his head to kiss my swollen lips.
I stopped him right as they brushed mine. “I love you too,” I said, then reached up to finish what he started.
The next day we stayed in bed until it was time to go to my parents for dinner. Luckily Ethan remembered as it had completely disappeared from my mind. While I would much rather have stayed in bed with him the rest of the night, I knew we had to go.
We drove over to my parents, holding hands the entire time. We’d discussed our new plan of moving in together, Ethan’s place being the obvious choice. It was bigger and in a security protected building. I would be giving my landlord my notice in the morning.
We reached my parents colonial style home and parked in the circle driveway. Ethan came over to open my door, taking my hand and helping me out. He brushed his lips over mine, then shut the door, leading me to the entrance. We walked in, hand in hand. “Mom? Dad?” I shouted.
“In here!” we heard my mom shout from the kitchen.
We continued walking in, passing the huge living room with my mom’s favorite country style furniture adorning the room. We got to the kitchen where we found my mom mixing something in a bowl at the huge island that stood in the middle. She eyed our joined hands and raised a brow, but didn’t say anything. Instead she dropped what she was doing and came over to greet us.
After kissing me on the cheek, she took Ethan in a big hug. “I’m so glad you made it, dear,” she told him.
He hugged her back, then taking my hand again. “I wouldn’t miss it, Mrs. Chase,” he told her.
She patted his cheek. “None of this Mrs. Chase nonsense. Call me Patty, okay?”
He smiled and nodded.
She went back to what she was doing. “Dinner is almost ready. Why don’t you go find your father and tell him to come along. He is in his study.”
“Okay, Mom. Be right back.”
We found my father watching some golf tournament in his study and said hello. After hugging me tight, he pumped Ethan’s hand in a strong handshake. “It’s good to see you again,” my father told him.
We walked downstairs together and I couldn’t get over how good this felt, how right. Ethan had always fit in with my parents, but now that we were together it took on a whole different meaning. He looked at me as he spoke with my father and I think he felt it too. I squeezed his hand and felt him squeeze mine back.
Dinner was lovely. Mom made her famous roast and mashed potatoes and the conversation never lacked. Every so often I would feel Ethan squeeze my thigh or my knee and I loved it. Mom would glance between us with a knowing look and I blushed each time.
Once dinner and the cleaning up was done, we retired to the living room with glasses of port. I’d just taken a sip when Mom finally said something. “So, you two, are you going to enlighten us on what’s going on here?”
I choked a bit on my drink and Ethan started to laugh. I got control over myself and looked at him. He shrugged and whispered, “It’s your mom, babe.”
I stuck my tongue out at him then turned back to my parents. “Well actually, Ethan and I recently decided to take our relationship to the next level and are now dating.”
My mom sat up straighter and gave a clap. “Are you really?” she asked, smiling from ear to ear.
I laughed. “Yes, really.”
She jumped off the couch and ran over to us, hugging Ethan first. He grinned looking at me as she wrapped him in her arms. I laughed at her excitement. I knew she had wanted us to be together since I met him and I knew she was ecstatic at this news.
I looked at Dad and saw the happy and peaceful look on his face. When he caught me looking, he gave me a sweet smile and nodded his head, letting me know he approved. I returned the smile.
Mom pulled me up from the couch and wrapped me in her arms. She kissed my cheek then bent toward my ear. “You don’t know how happy this makes me, darling. I’ve known you and Ethan were meant for each other since the first time you
brought him over to the house.”
I felt the tears brimming and squeezed her tight. She leaned back, looking at me, and when she saw the tears she dabbed at them with the tissue in her pocket. “You deserve to be happy, Aly, and you’ve found it.”
We stayed and chatted a little while longer, also letting them know of our plans to move in together. While I knew they wouldn’t love the idea, they didn’t tell us they were disappointed either. My parents are more traditional and would have preferred we married first, but they accepted our decision graciously.
We got back to my apartment, and barely made it to the bedroom before we exploded from need. Being with Ethan was spectacular, like nothing I’d known before. He always worshipped me and I knew I’d never tire of it. When we were done, the tears came at the sheer happiness I felt, and I turned my head to look at him.
He saw my tears and wiped one away with his thumb. He left his hand on my face, staring at me intently. “I hope those are tears of happiness, angel,” he whispered, leaning over to kiss another one from my cheek.
My love for him grew stronger in that moment. “They are happy tears. I love you so much,” I whispered.
He pulled me into his arms, turning me over so we were spooning and he scooted me back to his chest. “I love you more, ” he whispered into my ear. We stayed quiet like that, until sleep overcame us both. The last thing I remember thinking before I fell into a deep slumber was that I was the luckiest woman in the world.
The next day Ethan insisted on taking the day off and being with me as I went to work to gather my things. Someone from work had called earlier letting me know that Mr. Pierce would appreciate it if I came in before noon as he’d be out of the office all morning. That bothered me, but I knew I had to accept it. I’d hurt him and he wasn’t in any shape to see me. Ethan still insisted on being with me in case he ended up arriving early.
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