Fighting For Love - A Standalone Novel (A Bad Boy Sports Romance Love Story) (Burbank Brothers, Book #5)

by Naomi Niles

  We went for ice cream afterwards and then back to the apartment. I’d had decorators in and they built a sort of safari treehouse for Kirk. His bunk was raised, with safety bars, but he could climb all over it. There was a knotted rope he could shinny down and beneath the bunk was a small wonderland of kids’ toys. He instantly fell in love. I remembered to get him some clothes, gave him a bath, and he fell asleep on the area rug in the center of his room, a toy clutched in each hand. I lifted him into bed and kissed him on the cheek.

  My life was complete … almost.

  Chapter 22

  Meli

  The initial visit for Kirk with Blake had gone much more smoothly than I could have ever imagined. I could tell that Blake was not holding things against me any longer and that made me very relieved and happy. He had put me at ease by inviting me to stay for dinner and I felt utter relief that he wouldn’t be taking Kirk out of state. I had to learn to trust Blake. He wouldn’t do things that hurt our son; I knew that in my heart.

  I was getting ready to leave and go pick Kirk up when I saw Blake’s number come up on my cell. My heart was hammering a little, I had to admit.

  “Hello?”

  “Bring your bathing suit and don’t eat first.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Just do as I ask, would you, Silver?”

  “Okay, let me grab that and I’m on my way.”

  “Oh, and bring Kirk’s, too.”

  I shrugged and went off to gather the items before heading toward the restaurant. They were waiting for me in the parking lot. Kirk had a huge smile on his face and I realized how much I missed him, and Blake.

  Blake walked to a black SUV and opened the back door, lifting Kirk inside and buckling him into a booster car seat. He opened the passenger door and with a wide sweep of his hand, motioned to me to enter.

  Without questioning him for once, I did as requested, and soon enough we were riding through the Louisiana countryside. There was an undeniable charm as we passed beneath boughs draped in moss and past old mansions of another time when architecture was stately and their grounds were works of art. Shrubbery and plantings were carefully manicured, although it was obvious they’d been far more glorious at another time. This was not where I’d been brought up, but it definitely exuded such a strong sense of history that you felt included.

  Blake was signaling a left-hand turn and pulled into the circular drive before one such stately mansion. Unlike many of the others, this place had been meticulously maintained. Its covered porch roof was held atop eight massive, fluted columns. Deep windows banked the front on the first two floors. Roses ascended lattice on either end of the porch and the home was perfectly symmetrical.

  Blake pulled up to the door and shut off the engine. “We’re here,” he announced, looking around at Kirk.

  “Where?” Kirk’s question was simple and direct and identical to my own.

  “Do you like it?” Blake’s enthusiasm was infectious.

  “It’s really big, Daddy,” Kirk bent forward to look upward through the window.

  Blake was staring at me and I realized with a start that he was waiting for my opinion. “What?” I asked him.

  “What do you think, Silver?”

  “I think it’s a magnificent specimen of the old south and I agree with Kirk, it’s huge.”

  “Huge enough?” He was persistent in his questioning.

  “For what?”

  “Come inside.”

  “Blake, what are you talking about? You can’t just walk into someone’s house.”

  “It’s okay, I have the key,” he grinned and held up a keyring.

  I could tell we were going to have to cooperate with whatever scheme he was up to in order to get through this, so I acquiesced and got out as he opened Kirk’s door, unbuckled and lifted him out. We approached the front door through a neatly-edged driveway of white crushed shells and Blake unlocked the front door and pushed it wide.

  The interior was breathtaking. A high-ceiling rotunda formed the foyer and a broad staircase leaned against both walls and ended on a mezzanine with floor-length windows overlooking the back of the property. From where we stood, the house seemed to be a direct mirror of itself from left to right. To our right was a sitting area with banking fireplaces and to our left, the same space was dedicated to being a study. As we moved throughout the house, the rooms were identically opposed and simply allocated to individual functions.

  “Well?” He was asking me again.

  “Blake, spill it now. This is getting to sound like a game.”

  “Not yet. Let’s grab those swimsuits,” he grinned and turned to go out to the car, returning with our clothing. He motioned to the back of the house and we found a massive in-ground pool with a slide and water features. He pointed to a small building to one side. “Kirk, run in there and get changed.”

  Kirk grabbed his trunk and skipped off to the building, reappearing a few minutes later in his trunks with his shoes and socks on. “Son, you can leave the shoes and socks behind.”

  Kirk looked to me for permission and I realized he’d seldom run bare-footed. I’d taken him for swimming lessons at the YMCA, so I wasn’t worried about that, but this was a wholly new experience for him. I nodded and laughed, encouraging him to jump into the water.

  Blake handed me my suit and I followed Kirk’s lead and emerged to walk to the edge and test the temperature. It was perfect. Somehow I knew Blake had already made sure of that.

  I dove in and Kirk was laughing and paddling toward me when I surfaced. Blake emerged from the pool house in his trunks and joined us. I admired his physique as he dove in and felt a stirring in my feminine parts.

  For more than an hour we swam, splashed one another, raced, and played with the pool toys. I finally had enough and exited, grabbing a towel from a stack sitting on a wooden rack near the pool house. It was huge and I wrapped myself completely and snuggled back onto a chair. Blake was tossing Kirk into the air to land in the water and Kirk was squealing with delight. I was experiencing an inner sense of peace and stability unlike anything I’d ever known. I felt like I didn’t want it to end.

  Blake set Kirk on the pavement and patted his bottom to urge him to get dressed. He grabbed a towel and sat next to me.

  “Here’s what I want,” he said simply. “I have an option to buy this house, contingent on what you and I decide right here and now. As you might have noticed, this house is identical, east end and west end. Just like the ranch house was. What I’m proposing is that you and Kirk move in one end, and I will take the other. We’ll each use this as our company headquarters and have offices and a shared conference room. That way I can be with him, and you, and we can make sure he always has at least one parent available … sort of make up for the lost time.”

  I opened my mouth to begin to protest and he held up his hand. “Just a minute, before you shoot me down. I know you have a house and you can keep it or sell it, as is your choice. Maybe you’d like to donate it to charity as a home for unwed mothers … there seemed to be a few of those I saw as I drove past. We will share title on this house even though I pay for it with first right of refusal if either party wants out. This is not a move on you for sex; it’s an invitation to give Kirk a sense of family and unity. I will have your back and you will have mine. You’re strong, a survivor, and I trust your instincts. We will be his parents; nothing more, unless you want it otherwise. You know that I do. What do you say, Silver? Will you and Kirk live here with me?”

  I could tell he was holding his breath. I turned away from him and watched Kirk come out of the pool house, his wet bathing trunks dripping down the front of his otherwise dry shirt. My instinct to protect him was the strongest emotion I’d ever experienced. I turned back toward Blake, and nodded.

  Chapter 23

  Blake

  We moved into the new house within four weeks. I’d hired decorators to rush through some updates and design choices that we wanted, leaving Silver to specify wh
atever she wanted. As for my side, with the exception of floral wallpaper in my bedroom, I just told them to do the same for my side. I trusted her taste and hoped one day it might be a single household.

  Silver seemed very happy and laughed more than I could remember hearing. We transferred Kirk to his new school and got him settled. Then came relocating the business offices, which wasn’t as big of a deal as I’d thought it might be. We were both highly computerized and it was little more than carrying in the laptops and printers.

  I was careful of Silver’s feelings in working out the details. I knew she wanted to be independent and therefore I stood back and let her make the decisions. I had all I wanted just in having her nearby.

  Kirk began making friends and often invited one or two to come home with him after school to swim and play. It was a good, honest childhood for him.

  We started out overly cautious of one another’s areas in the house. I knew Silver stayed to her sitting room and watched television or read. I never intruded. The only truly common area was the kitchen as it was impractical to duplicate that in a house that size.

  It felt like when we were living in Dallas again and I never thought we’d get there. We cooked together, ate together, went to teacher/parent school conferences and shopped together. We had acres of extra property, so I had a white, modern barn built and bought two horses, one for Silver and one for me, and a pony for Kirk. I took him to rodeos and he learned to twirl a rope.

  Our businesses were exploding. Silver opened four more restaurants in the ensuing six months and I opened six or seven. We began to exchange business confidences and make joint decisions. It was the perfect partnership.

  Sarah had moved in with us. Just as I’d suggested, Silver donated the house for a woman’s shelter and that left Sarah with nowhere to go. There was plenty of room to create an apartment for her in the lower level and she looked after the house somewhat and after Kirk to earn her keep.

  I had just closed a new store in New York City—a long-desired target—and to celebrate, I asked Sarah to stay with Kirk and invited Silver to dinner. She had smiled shyly, but accepted.

  It turned out to be a night to remember.

  Chapter 24

  Meli

  I’d found a silvery-blue silk dress in a shop on my travels and since it accented my coloring, I bought it for that eventuality when I would go out. That night came when Blake invited me to dinner to celebrate his newest store.

  I pinned my hair up high on my head and fastened it with silver pins. I found silver heels with just the right height and wore a diamond tennis bracelet as my only jewelry.

  Blake had purchased a new Mercedes, and although he had my Escalade shipped to our new house, we chose to drive the Mercedes.

  He had chosen a seafood restaurant on the coast. It was a gorgeous night and the moon roof was open on the car. He had turned on sexy jazz on the sound system and he drove slowly so we could hear crickets and bullfrogs from the bayous as we drove.

  When we reached the restaurant, the waiter showed us to a table that was isolated somewhat from the rest. The top of the table was strewn with white rose petals and a bucket with iced champagne awaited us. The champagne flutes were crystal and sparkled in the candlelight. There were lights from boats on the water and the effect was magical.

  We had eaten and were sipping chicory coffee when Blake began talking, but in an unusual tone.

  “Silver, I have a story I want to share with you. I hope you will let me tell you about this as it’s important to me that you know,” he began.

  “Go ahead, Blake,” I encouraged him.

  “When I was a kid, I had four brothers: Baldwin, Bixby, Blaine, and Burton. We were quite a five-some; and not always with the best reputation. When we weren’t fighting with each other, one would pick a fight with a stranger and the rest would back him up. My parents weren’t around much and pretty much washed their hands of the lot of us. Since I was the eldest, it became my job to keep everyone in line as best as I could. I generally did a pretty good job of it, as long as I wasn’t involved in the tussle.

  “One night the five of us decided to camp out at the back of the property. There was a pond there; which more or less doubled as a septic pond, so it wasn’t fit for fishing or swimming. But it was as close as we could get to water in our part of Texas and we weren’t picky.

  “Blaine had lifted a tent from the hardware store in town and we put it up after dark where the folks wouldn’t be able to see it. We built a fire and sat around it, drinking beer. I think I was about sixteen at the time. We got to telling dirty jokes and Bix, well, he had the best memory and was full up of them. So, he was telling one about a naked girl who got caught in the bathroom with a boy and I think he forgot most of it so he was sort of making it up as he went along. He was sort of a bully and always picked on Burton, the youngest. Burt was finding himself and starting to come back on Bix when he did this. Bix used Burt’s name in the joke and the rest of us were rolling because the idea of young Burt being with a girl was hysterical.

  “Anyway, Burt got pissed, I mean really pissed at Bix, and came up off the ground and rammed Bix in the chest with everything he had. He knocked the wind right out of Bix. That got Bix pissed and as soon as he could breathe, he launched himself on Burt. It was dark and they were shoving out of the reach of the campfire light. I told them to stop it but then just sat back and laughed… figured they needed to get it out of their system.

  “I could hear the fists thumping and then I heard a splash. There was some more splashing and then Bix was calling out Burt’s name. His voice had changed; it was scared, really scared and desperate sounding.

  “I jumped up and ran in the direction of his voice. We didn’t have a flashlight and it was a dark night. I finally found Burt … kicked his body by accident as I waded around. Bix had shoved him and he’d hit his head on a rock probably because there was some blood on him as we pulled him out, but he wasn’t breathing. I did what I could remember as CPR, but it wasn’t good enough. Burt never came to and by the time we got him up to the house, he had turned blue and you could see by looking at him that it was all over.

  “My folks both blamed me, because I was the eldest and supposed to be responsible for all of them. Dad hauled off and knocked me in the head and Mom refused to talk to me for years. My name wasn’t to be spoken in the house and even my brothers blamed me, although they knew it wasn’t my fault. Bix never stepped up and said a word.

  “So … I left home at an early age and made my own way in the world. The rodeo was all I knew. For a large part, it’s still all I know.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. That wasn’t fair to you.”

  “Life isn’t fair, Silver. That’s what I want to share with you. I know you’re carrying around a sense of responsibility for the entire world, but most of all for yourself and Jill. You shouldn’t have ever been put in that position. You got through it and you brought Jill through it safely, too. You kept the both of your out of the system and stuck together. That takes guts and intelligence. You did it. But there’s no one threatening you now. No one even need know about it if you don’t want it out there. It’s gone … forgotten. For the most part, it only still exists in your mind anyway.”

  I could feel the resistance rising along my spine. I never wanted to talk about those times. He could see it on my face.

  “Silver. It’s gone. Forgotten. Never to be brought up again. As far as Kirk is concerned, you grew up here in Louisiana. He’ll never know the difference.”

  I had to admit, his words had a certain positive motivation to them. Perhaps I had been carrying around old wounds too long. Perhaps I was making others pay for them. Either one was unacceptable. I didn’t hold grudges against others like that. Why was I holding one against myself?

  He had put his hand over mine. I nodded in agreement with his words. “You’re right,” I told him. “I think I’ve known it for a long time and just didn’t want to admit it to m
yself. It’s gone. Forgotten. Never existed.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said and leaned forward to kiss me in approval. When his mouth hit mine, it was as if electricity had fired through both of us.

  He pulled away in shock and we stared at one another. In that second we knew we had been fighting the inevitable. We had delayed what was certain to happen eventually between us. I knew Blake wanted me; but more importantly, I knew I wanted him and I was not only good enough for him, I was the best woman he could possibly have.

  There had been something deep and knowing in that kiss. It required no discussion. No contemplation.

  Without a word, Blake threw three hundred-dollar bills on the table and got up, taking my hand and drawing me behind him as we left the restaurant. He drove swiftly, but masterfully through the night air, lightning bugs hovering over me as I lay my head in his lap, stroking him with hunger.

  He pulled into our drive and stopped in front of the porch, pulling me up and into his arms. His hungry mouth searched my every inch and I felt him hard beneath me. He was breathing hard and wanted everything I could possibly give him. It was not enough.

  He was out of the car and before I could get my door completely open, he had forced it wide and lifted me out. He carried me up the steps and into the house but we did not turn down my corridor, but his. It was the first time I’d seen his side of the house and I was touched to see that it matched … that is until we entered his bedroom.

  There was gorgeous, mahogany paneling and a plaid comforter on his massive bed. It was a man’s bed and the room held the scent of fresh shaven chins and sexual tension. Blake set me on the floor long enough to pull my dress off and I kicked off the heels. Both of us now naked, he picked me up again and as if I was made of glass, he laid me on the bed and his mouth began its journey upward from my knees.