Dangerous Kiss

by Michelle Love

  “Is this really healthy?” I ask him as I look up at him.

  He shrugs. “I don’t know. I just know what I feel for you is fierce. It has a power of its own. It took me over completely by surprise. It runs through my veins and seems to have its own agenda. And I don’t think I could stop it if I tried. Which I’m not going to do.”

  “That’s how I feel too. I feel like some other power has taken me over. I keep wanting to say it’s you who's taking me over, but the truth is it’s so much stronger than a mere person.”

  I let out a sigh. Then we both say, “It’s magic!”

  We both laugh and then I let that final piece of what if go.

  It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t last. I need to enjoy this for what it is, anyway. Amazing, awesome, love. Pure love.

  What if he cheats on me? What if he’s only telling me what I want to hear? What if he leaves me? What if he knocks me up and leaves me alone to take care of a kid? What if something happens to him?

  I let all of those go out of my mind for good. The truth is, anything could happen. God forbid Jason was taken from me tomorrow by a freak accident. Or I was taken from him, say a shark ate me up. If that happened we’d know we had love in our lives and it wasn’t a mistake.

  None of this is a mistake. If a baby comes out of it and nothing else, then that’s great too.

  No more what ifs!

  Jason gives my shoulders a squeeze. “What if your parents can’t accept me?”

  I roll my eyes. It seems Jason has a lot of what ifs too. Crap!

  “They will.” I kiss his chest. “I’ll make them be nice to you. Don’t even let that worry you.”

  “I don’t want you to have to make them. I want to win them over on my own. Don’t make them accept me. Promise me you’ll let me do it,” he says.

  “Fine. But don’t expect them to welcome you with open arms or smiles on their faces. There will only be frowns, and my father might throw a punch at you. He’s old, and you’ll have to let the punch connect so he won’t feel worthless. Or I can just tell them I’m with you and they need to get over themselves.” I pat his chest and he sighs.

  With a deep breath, he says, “Okay. You let them know we’re together and there’s nothing they can do to stop us and then I’ll make them love me. They used to like me, I think. Did they like me, Britt? Or was that all in my mind?”

  “Are you kidding? Mom loved you. I think she took what you did harder than I did. I hid most of the cheating from them both. The last one couldn’t be hidden, though. Sorry,” I say as I look up at him. “And Dad liked you a lot, too. You can do it. You can get back into their good graces. I have faith in you.”

  With a smile, he says, “I know you do. I can see it in your eyes. I love you, and I’m going to make you happier than you ever dreamed possible.”

  With a kiss, he ends his sentence and I cross my fingers that this is all real and what he’s saying will come true.

  Can things really go right for us?

  Chapter 10

  JASON

  The last day of our trip has come. Tomorrow we’ll be going back to the real world and tonight I’m hoping Britt tells me we can fly straight on to Vegas.

  We’ve gotten along fantastically. If she tells me we should wait, I don’t know how I’ll take it. So, in trying to make sure I hear a yes from her, I’ve had some special things flown in and am picking them up at the front desk.

  A few surprises, like my grandparent’s antique wedding rings that I had Mom send me. I think that will be sentimental to her and better than something with no meaning behind it.

  There are also supposed to be some other things in the package too. I had Donovan get some things I’ve kept of hers all these years and I hope that shows her she’s always held a special place in my heart.

  Granted, the special things are a pair of panties, a bra, and one shoe. I lost the other one somewhere along the way but managed to hold onto those things and a handful of love letters she wrote me back then.

  I kept them all in a shoebox and forgot I had them in the top of my closet at home. But with grappling at what kind of sentimental things I could use to get her to decide to let me change her name, I recalled those things.

  As I enter the reception area, I see a tall, thin woman behind the desk. She smiles at me. “Hello. What can I help you with today?”

  “I was supposed to get a package for Jason Brennan. I hope you have it. We’re leaving tomorrow,” I say as I look at her hopefully.

  She nods, and I let out the breath I was holding. She picks it up from behind the desk and taps her long fingers on a note on top. “It seems you need to make a phone call to a man named Donovan.” She points to a small room off to one side. “You can use the courtesy phone in there if you’d like, Mr. Brennan.”

  I take my package and, after telling her thank you, I go to make the call and have to wonder what the hell he could have that’s so important. It has me feeling nervous, and I hate feeling like this.

  Especially when I feel so damn nervous already about what Brittany is going to tell me in a little while. Putting the package down, I pick up the phone and make the call.

  “Finally,” Donovan answers the phone.

  “Nice greeting, Donovan. What’s up?”

  “Are you sitting down?”

  I sit down and say, “Now I am. Hurry up. You’re freaking me out.”

  “Then get ready to really lose your mind. A lady showed up at your penthouse,” he says.

  “That’s no big surprise, Donovan,” I say as I let out my breath.

  Damn it! I’m on pins and needles here!

  “The surprise is what she held in her arms. It was a baby, Jason.”

  My wheels slow to a crawl as I try to figure out what the hell that has to do with me. “So?”

  “So, she said it was yours. Her name is Beatrice. She’s from …”

  I interrupt him. “She’s from New Holland, Texas. I know who she is. Number twenty-six, and that kid isn’t mine. I never have unprotected sex, and all of my women take oral birth control too. She’s lying.”

  “She came with an order for you to appear in court in Texas on Wednesday. If you’re not there, then she said the judge, who is a dear friend of her family’s, will grant her child support from you. So you better make that your next stop.”

  “How can she get away with just saying the kid is mine and getting child support?” I ask as I hold my head in my hands.

  “I’m not sure. I can call your lawyer and have him meet you down there in New Holland for the court date.”

  “Do that. Fuck! This messes up everything I had planned,” I say with a groan.

  “What did you have planned?” he asks.

  “Vegas. I wanted to leave here and go to Vegas and get married to Brittany.”

  “Oh, man, that sucks. Well, maybe after the hearing you can do that.” He sighs. “If she’ll want to marry you after she finds this out.”

  “Thanks for the information, Donovan. I guess we’ll be taking a detour through Texas to straighten this shit out.” I hang up and want to go choke that damn, lying woman who’s trying to mess up my life at the most inopportune time possible for me.

  The crystal-clear water and the cool salty breeze do nothing at all to calm my now extremely frazzled nerves. When I walk up to our bungalow with the package in my hand, Brittany looks up from the book she was lying on a lounge chair on the porch, reading.

  “What do you have there, honeybuns?” she asks me.

  Taking her hand, I lead her inside as I debate on asking her this right now or telling her about my problem. I settle on asking her first. I need her by my side for the other thing, anyway.

  I hand her the box. “Open it.”

  She sits on the little sofa and pulls the brown paper off the package and smiles when she sees the old shoe box then says, “An old pair of Nikes. How thoughtful.”

  “Open the box up and hand me the little box on the very top. Then look a
t the rest of the things.”

  She opens the top and hands me the little jewelry box and smiles as she does. “That looks like it has a ring in it.”

  “Can’t put anything past you, can I?” I chuckle. It’s forced, but I fake it for her sake so this can be a great memory for her.

  It will always have some bad in it for me, but I can’t make that ruin it for her.

  She pulls out her old bra and smiles. “I always wondered where this went. I guess it was left in your truck.”

  I nod and point at the box. “There’s more.”

  She pulls out the panties and wrinkles her nose. “Even these? My God, what did I have on when I went back inside my house?” She pulls out the one sandal. “I left without one shoe, too? Was I drunk that night?”

  “On me.” I lean in and kiss her. “And you left both shoes. It was me who lost one sometime or another. I’ve moved a few times and somehow one has disappeared.”

  She laughs and picks up the letters. All are folded into neat little shapes. “You saved all this, all these years?” The tears start flowing in slow trails over her pink cheeks. “I never in a million years thought you would save anything of mine.”

  “I loved you. Of course I kept everything I had to remind me of you, sugar britches.”

  “I tossed anything that reminded me of you. Every last thing.”

  I move down on one knee in front of her. “That’s okay. I don’t blame you.” I open the small box and show her what’s inside. “These were my grandparents’. They passed away a few years ago. Mom asked me on my thirtieth birthday if I wanted them. I told her no at that time. I told her I wasn’t getting married. Ever!”

  She laughs and I love the sound. “Not ever, huh? Just like me.”

  I take her hand in mine and hold it to my heart. “Brittany, I’d like to use these rings in our wedding. And I’d like to officially ask you to become my wife, forever. Do you think that’s something you’d like to do in the near future?” I take out my grandmother’s solitaire diamond engagement ring and wait for her answer.

  After what seems like forever, she speaks, “Jason, I would love to become your wife in the very near future.”

  “Thank God!” I say as I breathe out. I take her hand and run the ring up her slender ring finger and find it fits perfectly. “What do you know about that, pumpkin?”

  “I guess it was meant to be, huh?” she asks. “Do you think we can really do this, Jason? Do you think we can really be what each other needs for the rest of our lives?”

  “I do,” I tell her, and pull her to kiss me, sealing the deal.

  Nothing has ever felt more right in my life. And I feel better than I ever have, although there’s the heavy burden of what I’m up against now.

  I end the kiss and she looks at the ring and then says, “So tomorrow, straight to Vegas, then?”

  I bite my lip. “Well, we have to make a little stop in Texas. In three days, I need to be somewhere. It just came up.”

  She pulls the other two rings out of the box and holds out my grandfather’s gold wedding band. “Let’s see if his fits you.”

  I hold out my finger and she runs it on and it fits perfectly too. “Wow! This really is meant to be,” I say.

  She runs her arms around my neck. “Take me to bed and show me how every night of my life will be spent as Mrs. Jason Brennan.”

  I pick her up and carry her to the little bedroom and wonder when the right time is going to be to tell her this pretty bad news.

  As I’m laying her back on the bed, she looks up at me. “I cannot wait to tell you that you’re going to be a father, Jason. I can’t wait to see the look on your handsome face when you hear those words for the very first time.”

  Interesting she should say that.

  Nope, I won’t be telling her tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

  Maybe not ever. Does she really have to know about this?

  Game Changer Part Three

  Chapter 1

  BRITTANY

  Waking from a sex coma on the private jet taking us to Texas has me looking into my fiancé’s gorgeous blue eyes and wondering how this all happened so fast. It’s been a week, and here I am, engaged and ready to marry this man.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he murmurs. “Did you sleep well?” His lips graze my cheek, igniting a slight burn.

  I guess I have a bit of whisker burn from the stubble on his face and all the kissing we did before exhaustion overtook us and we fell asleep.

  “I slept like the dead. I’m surprised to see you awake.” I take his hand and hold it against my chest, near my heart.

  He’s back in my heart. All of it.

  I can feel the comforting sensation of having faith and hope in this man once again. When he slipped the engagement ring on my finger, I let the doubts fly away. There’s no room for doubts if this is going to work. And I want this to work more than anything I’ve ever wanted.

  “I checked the time.” He turns away from me and gets off the bed. “We’ll be landing in Dallas soon. I’ll rent a car and we can stay in Dallas until my meeting on Wednesday. The place I need to go is about forty minutes away from the east side. You can stay in the hotel while I have the little meeting. Then I’ll come get you and we can go visit our parents.”

  I turn over on my side and prop my head up on the pillows and watch him going through his suitcase to find something to wear. “What’s the meeting about?”

  He stops and makes that deer in the headlights face and I know the meeting may not be a real meeting. His body tenses and every muscle stands out. “Oh, nothing, really. I’m going to take a quick shower. I’d ask you to join me, but you distract me and we need to hurry up. The plane should be landing in twenty minutes.”

  I let him get in the shower. Then I get out of bed and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and look at the rat’s nest that’s now my hair. “You really did a number on my locks, luscious.”

  “I saw that,” he says with a chuckle. “Medusa doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

  After I rinse out my mouth, I pull the little shower curtain back. “I’m getting in. Try not to get distracted.”

  He looks me up and down and growls. “Too late.”

  With a laugh, I bump him with my hip and knock him over a little so I can get my hair wet. “Well, control yourself. I’m already going to look less than fantastic when we go inside the airport and being that this is Dallas, I may run into people I know.”

  “Do you have any of your boy toys in Dallas?” he asks as he rubs shampoo into his dark hair.

  “All of my men are in New York.” I hold out my hand. “Would you please put some shampoo in my hand? It’s behind you and if I have to get it myself, I may cause you even more distraction.”

  He obliges me, but has a frown on his face. “Let’s stop calling them your men and my women, okay? I’d like to think I’m your only man and you are my only woman.”

  “Great. I like that way of thinking, myself.” I massage the shampoo into my hair as he rinses his out. “So, this meeting, what time is it?”

  “Early. You know, one of those first thing in the morning things. Maybe over breakfast, I guess.” The way his eyes look everywhere but at me has my brain doing flips to get me to see he’s up to something.

  “Is it about your app?” I bump him again, making him move so I can rinse out my hair.

  “Sure,” he says, as if that sounds convincing at all. “My app. It’s about that.”

  “And it’s outside of Dallas?” I ask as I hold out my hand. “Some conditioner, please.”

  He pours some into my palm. “Yes. I’m done in here.” He kisses my nose then gets out of the shower and away from my questions.

  I hurry to finish showering and hop out of the shower, wrapping a towel around me and finding him buttoning up his shirt, already dressed. “Would you grab me a bra and panty set and a little dress, baby?”

  He nods and grabs them out of the suitcase and lays them on the bed. “I’ll be in th
e cabin. I think there’s something to eat in there. I heard some noise a minute ago.”

  “You and food, Jason. You have such an appetite.”

  “I did have a few hours work out earlier, baby. Jeez! And you need to eat too. I’ve only managed to get about three pounds on you and I wanted to get ten in this week.”

  “Trying to fatten me up so no other men will look at me, Jason?” I ask as I pull my panties on.

  He watches me with his jaw clenched. “You're making me nuts. Get dressed. Then we can talk. You’re making it very hard to think about anything other than getting you back in that bed.”

  He leaves the room and I still don’t know what he’s really going to be doing on Wednesday morning.

  Maybe it’s some kind of surprise for me!

  I shake that thought off. It most likely has nothing to do with me. It most likely has to do with one of those women he has on his app. And now I’m kind of pissed, and not in a very great mood any longer.

  After I dress, I go into the cabin of the jet to find Jason scarfing down some kind of pie. “What do you have there?”

  He looks at me with a grin. “Apple pie. Come sit with me and let me feed you.”

  I sit next to him and he places a bite in my mouth. I’ve decided arguing with him about eating is futile. And food has never tasted so good as when he’s placing it in my mouth.

  Only three bites in and the older woman, who is the stewardess, comes out of a little door. “Sorry, I have to put that up. We’ll be landing in just a few minutes. Take your places and put on your seatbelts please.”

  Jason gets up, pulling me along behind him. “Don’t worry. I’m getting you something to eat in the airport. You have to be starving.”

  I’m not so much hungry as I am curious about his damn meeting, but he seems more intent on feeding me than letting me in on the true nature of this meeting.

  Gently pushing me to take the seat next to the window, he leans over and latches my seatbelt. A quick kiss to the top of my head and he sits down next to me.

  I realize he can’t get away from me now. “So, who is this meeting with?”