by K E Osborn
Complete Me?
THE TRUST ME? TRILOGY
K E OSBORN
Complete Me?
BOOK #3.5
THE TRUST ME? TRILOGY
K E OSBORN
Copyright 2014 - K E Osborn
License Notes: This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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ISBN: 978-0-9923338-3-6
Book design by Swish Design & Editing
Cover design by Swish Design & Editing
Editing by Swish Design & Editing
Formatting by Swish Design & Editing
Cover image Copyright 2014 Swish Design & Editing
Dedication
To my fans.
Thank you!
To each and every one of you.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I have to thank the fans, you were the ones who inspired me to add one more book to The Trust Me? Trilogy, so without you, Complete Me? would never have been written.
To my friends who understand my busy schedule, but still stand by me and push me along when I need a good kick in the butt. For always being there when I need a friend or a shoulder and for always supporting me no matter what. I love you all.
To my BETA readers—I thank you sincerely for your efforts and constructive criticism throughout this series. I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I have.
To the Blogs—Special thanks go to Liz, Nicola, and Jade because without your help, none of this would have been possible. To the blogs Magic Within the Pages (Liz), Endless Reading (Nicola), Fictional Boyfriends & My Book Affair (Jade), Book Friends Forever (Dzintra), Francessca’s Romance Reviews (Francessca), Babycakes Book Blog (Charlotte), Verna Loves Books (Verna), Tracey’s Vampy and Racey Book Blog (Tracey), Book Junky Girls (Maria), The Scribe’s Library (Sharon), This Mommy Loves to Read (Ebony), and Stephanie’s Book Review (Stephanie), thank you. I honestly could not have gotten this far without you. I have so many more bloggers that have helped me time and time again, and I thank you so much for everything. Their names and links are listed on my website www.keosbornauthor.com.
To my family (blood or not)—Mum, Nan, Pop, Wendy, David, Craig, and my adopted family Lucy, Chris, Kim, and Marni—you crazy bunch of people, I love you all and I thank you for just being you. You have all supported me through this wonderfully crazy journey and not one of you thought that I was incapable of pulling this off. Your humor and dedication to making me live, laugh, and love is what keeps me going. I love you all!
Last of all I want to thank YOU, the reader. Without you none of this would be possible.
Thank you,
Much love,
K E Osborn
xoxo
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Connect with Me Online
About the Author KE Osborn
Complete—adj.
1. Having all its parts; entire.
2. Make whole or perfect.
3. Having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full: a complete set.
4. Finished; ended; concluded.
Pocket Oxford Dictionary, Fourth Edition / www.dictionary.com
Adore You?
~Mike & Callie~
Chapter One
It’s funny, when I used to hear people talk about how their partner completes them, I always thought it was a bunch of bullcrap! I never thought that I’d turn into one of those people. You see this all started nearly three years ago. Well, let’s be honest, Callie and I truly started when we were about sixteen years old, but I have digressed.
Three years ago I finally got what I’ve been waiting for my entire life. The return of love and affection from my lifelong sweetheart, Callie. And it was at Aiden and Jeni’s wedding, where the ball really started rolling, which has landed me where I am right now.
Where’s that you ask?
Well, I’m standing here waiting for my sweetheart and absolutely shitting myself.
What if she says no?
What if she doesn’t want to have a second marriage with me? What if this all blows up in my face and she decides that she doesn’t want to be with me anymore? I will lose the love of my life and if I lose Callie again, I lose everything.
God damn it, I’m freaking out. Hold it together old man!
I know Aiden indicated that she’d say yes, but I’ve never asked a woman to marry me.
What if I do it wrong or it’s not romantic enough?
I rub the back of my neck and exhale forcefully through my mouth, trying to expel all my overactive negative thoughts.
As I wait, my mind wanders back to when I first thought of asking for Callie’s hand. I’d been thinking about it for… well, my entire life, but if the truth be told it was mainly for a couple of weeks before Aiden and Jeni’s wedding. I’d noticed that they had disappeared, so I went looking for them. Their guests were starting to wonder where they were. I knew they’d be off somewhere enjoying some alone time, but I had built up the courage to ask Aiden and I needed to do it then and there otherwise I’d probably back out. Aiden has a funny way of showing his approval of my love for his mother. Sometimes he’s ecstatic about it and other times it’s like he’s trying to make me think he isn’t happy about our relationship. I think mostly he’s just stirring the pot, but I can never tell. Anyway, I was searching for Aiden and Jeni and I found them in the first place I looked; they were sharing a moment alone, as I thought they would be. I didn’t really want to interrupt, but I’d grown some balls and decided that it was now or never. I cleared my throat to get their attention as they were locked in a steamy embrace. I couldn’t hide my smirk as Aiden took his lips from Jeni’s and turned around to look at me.
“Sorry to interrupt, but your guests are wondering where you both escaped to,” I questioned and Aiden chuckled. He reached for Jeni’s hand and went to leave. My stomach was in knots and I honestly felt like I needed to be sick, but like I said it was now or never. Callie means everything to me, so I took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Um, before you go, Aiden, I wanted to ask you something if you have a moment?” I asked with conviction, even though I felt like I was going to pass out.
Aiden’s approval means absolutely everything to me.
“Sure, Mike, fire away,” Aiden said, with a gigantic smile beaming across his face, which immediately eased the tension.
I gulped and needed to do something with my hands because I couldn’t stop fidgeting, so I straightened my tie and cleared my throat. I don’t think I’ve ever been
that nervous in my life. If Aiden didn’t give his blessing, well, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I took in a deep breath and let it all come out as quickly as I could.
“Okay, here goes... Callie is the love of my life. She always has been and always will be. I was forced to take a back seat when her parents shut me out and I wasn’t allowed to see her. Then your father came along. I’ve loved her from afar forever, and I never thought I’d have the opportunity to be with her. I won’t let another minute go by where I’m without her. She means everything to me, absolutely, everything. She always has and always will. I guess what I am trying to say is… Aiden, do I have your blessing to ask Callie to marry me?” I said, and somehow had the courage to keep eye contact with Aiden the whole time.
He smiled so wide, making me instantly relax and before I knew what was happening Aiden lunged toward me and embraced me tightly. I laughed and hugged him back. The relief I felt in that moment was beyond measure. Aiden was happy. I thought that it was too soon, after Alistair to be doing this… well never mind that, at least Aiden was happy, and that made me the happiest man on earth.
“Mike, I’m very happy for you both; you’ve no idea.”
Could this day get any better?
“Of course you can ask Mom to marry you. And thank you for asking, although you didn’t need to. I give you my blessing, and I know Bree and Blair will, too. They love you just as much as I do,” Aiden said as he let me go.
It was so hard to contain my emotion. The young man in front of me, who I couldn’t love more had just given his approval for me to marry his mother. And even though I had no intention of proposing any time soon, because it wouldn’t be proper for me to place Callie in that position, due to Alistair’s recent departure, at least I knew that when the time was right I’d ask Callie to marry me and nothing would stand in our way.
I held back my tears, because grown men don’t cry, and looked at Aiden.
“Thank you so much, Aiden. You don’t know what this means to me. You have just made an old man very happy,” I stated and patted Aiden on the arm. “Well, you should probably get back to your guests, everyone is waiting for you.” Then the beautiful Jeni leaned in and hugged me.
“Thanks Mike, for everything,” Aiden said, shocking me.
Really, he was thanking me?
I should be thanking him. He gave me the one thing I so desperately needed and wanted more than anything, the biggest gift this man could receive… the permission to marry his mother.
“You’re welcome. Oh, and Aiden?”
“Yeah?”
“You have lipstick on your mouth,” I remarked, as I walked past them. Aiden seems to always have Jeni’s lipstick on him. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell him to wipe it off. It’s a good thing I suppose; it proves how utterly in love they are. But then again anyone with eyes can tell just by the way they look at each other. I’m so glad they worked through everything and found their way to each other because they are so happy now.
“Thanks Mike, what would I do without you?” Aiden responded, patting me on the back as I walked past and back to their reception.
* * *
That was three years ago and the memory is as fresh now as it was back then, I mean I’m getting on a bit, but I’m not senile, just yet.
I guess to understand how much I adore and love Callie you need to know our story from the very beginning. So let’s go back to when we first met…
I was sixteen and Callie was just fifteen. I was from a poor family; my parents were always seen as lower class people. Back in those days, class meant everything and my family just didn’t even register on the scale; we were that poor. So I tried to work with my father doing carpentry and odd jobs here and there to help. I was always fond of cars and motor bikes, so I went along to a dirt bike race when I was in my mid-teens. I found myself being welcomed with open arms into a group of young males, who were seen as poor, but had enough money and no sense to race their bikes. They taught me everything I know about engines and I spent nearly every day with the group of guys that I called my brothers.
Douglas was the ‘leader’ of the group, I guess you could say. He had all the girls around him wherever we went. I kind of idolized him as I had never even held hands with a girl, let alone gone ‘all the way’ with one like he had many times, and with many different girls. He told us about this new girl he’d seen at the local park near the barn on old man Harris’ farm. She was prim and proper and completely not like the other girls that Doug would normally go for. He told us he wanted to try his luck with a rich girl.
It was all about the sex with him, he didn’t care about the girls at all, once he had his way with them, they were gone, and he was onto his next conquest.
We arrived at the park and she was there with a guy, he also looked like he had money and they were having a picnic. I could tell that he was interested in her, but she really didn’t show any signs of interest toward him, other than friendship.
“That’s her, that’s the next bird I’m going to lay,” Doug exclaimed and I cringed inwardly. Even though I’d never been with a girl the thought of being with multiple girls just for the fun of it, and not because you loved them, didn’t sit well or make sense to me. When I go all the way with a girl it’ll be because she’s the one I’m meant to be with.
“Hey gorgeous, why not dump the fag and hang with some real men?” Doug calls out as we approached. She smirked and instantly I was drawn to her; her smile and the way her blonde locks fell over her shoulders. It did things to me that I didn’t even know were possible. I felt a twinge in my pants, but luckily I kept it under control. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid my eyes on, and for the first time in my life, I actually wanted someone.
“I beg your pardon, I’m not a fag thank you very much, and she’s hanging with a real man not some gutter trash shit like you guys,” her friend chided.
She continued to smile and our eyes locked, a surge passed through me and I’d never experienced anything like it before. I knew I instantly fell in love with her the moment our eyes locked.
“Thanks mate, but we’ll take it from here. Sweetheart, wanna go for a ride on my bike?” Doug said, as he winked at her.
I didn’t say anything or try to persuade her not to go. Doug wasn’t the type you try and take a girl from; if you did, you ended up bloodied up and in a ditch somewhere badly beaten. I was young and foolish, but I wasn’t stupid. She stood up and her friend huffed as she patted down her dress and walked over to Doug; she smiled and put out her hand for him to shake.
“I’m Callie, nice to meet you. This is my friend, Alistair,” she said, and Doug shook her hand.
“I don’t care about your friend, I’m Doug, remember that, you’ll be screaming it later on,” he said and her eyes widened in shock.
I shook my head slightly. He sat on his bike and she climbed on behind him, holding him tightly around his waist. God, how I wished she was holding onto me like that. But she wasn’t, she would be Doug’s girl now, well, for however long he wanted her for anyway. The look on Alistair’s face was priceless; I’ll never forget the horror in his eyes at seeing Callie get on the back of the bike with Doug.
Callie and Alistair were a package deal. She never went out without him and he never left her side, even though he was outraged that she was hanging with the local dirt bike group. Doug would always talk about how much of a prude Callie was, that she would hold his hand but never did anything else with him and would pull away if he tried. He was growing impatient, but I was secretly hoping it was because whenever we were in the group, her eyes never left mine. She was Doug’s girl, but I had her full attention. We spoke every now and then when Doug was distracted by a broken engine or something, and we started to grow closer. As Doug was losing interest, my interest in her was growing exponentially. Even though Alistair was an A-grade loser, we accepted him into the group because Callie wouldn’t come near us without him. She always denied there was
any attraction, but I knew for certain that Alistair loved her.
I mean, who wouldn’t?
She was beautiful, kind, smart, funny, came from a good background, everything you could wish for in a lady, and so much more. I was captivated by her; she amazed me every time we spoke. We had a habit of finding ourselves locked in hour long conversations in old man Harris’ barn. She loved it in there; she said it felt like a home away from home. She was prim and proper, but she also had a wild streak that she’d hide from her parents. Like going out with the leader of the dirt bike group; this was unheard of in her family’s class of acceptable suitors. That little tidbit of information she hid from her parents. But one day when Doug turned up at her house the shit really hit the fan. Her parents said she couldn’t see him anymore.
It didn’t really matter because he was tired of her not putting out, so he broke it off with her anyway. I was so relieved and devastated at the same time. We hadn’t gotten to know each other overly well, but in the time we had together, I knew I wanted to marry her.
So, I had a decision to make, I could stay with Doug and the boys who I now called my brothers and never see Callie again, or, I could stop being in the gang and stick with Callie and Alistair.
Yes, that’s right, it was a no brainer.
Callie’s parents didn’t seem to mind me hanging around, which I was over the moon about. They seemed to take pity on me - the kid who was too poor to own anything other than a push bike. Her parents didn’t see me as any kind of threat, rather as a friend who’d be there for Alistair, and I guess the third wheel. Alistair would talk to me about how one day Callie will see how perfect they are for each other and that they’ll get married at his parent’s mansion over on Burdette Lane. I went along with it as I always thought Callie was way too good for me anyway.
Didn’t stop me from wanting her though!