Hypocritically Yours: A Standalone Age-Gap Romance

by Hayley Faiman

  “Why?” I ask.

  He smirks. “The phone, how did you think we found you?”

  My lips twitch into a small smile. “I don’t think Danny was smart enough to search me for it. I shoved it in my pocket when I was getting dressed. I hoped it would work.”

  Leaning down, he touches his forehead to mine and closes his eyes. “It did, Tennessee.”

  “She’s gone?”

  He hums. “She’s gone, and she’s going to be gone for a good long time. You’re here, I’m here, Holden’s here, and we’re all going to be together for a good long time.”

  Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around his wrist and squeeze. He lifts his head from mine, his amber gaze connecting to my own.

  “I’m ready to marry you now, baby,” I breathe.

  His lips turn up into a grin. “Thank fuck.”

  Wordlessly, he dips down and his lips touch mine. His kiss is soft and gentle, it’s perfect for this moment and I realize that that’s just Landry—perfect for me, for my moment in life, forever.

  It doesn’t matter that he’s forty years older than me. It doesn’t matter that he lived an entire lifetime before I was even born. None of it matters because what I feel for him is real. It doesn’t have anything to do with money or status. It doesn’t have anything to do with wants and desires of material items.

  Landry Astor is just—mine.

  And I am just his.

  Made for him, just as he was made for me. Nothing else matters, but the love that we share, the way we share it and our family.

  Life is ugly and cruel, and I refuse to allow those parts to rule me for another moment. I want the happiness that I crave with the man that I need, and that’s him. I’m sure we’ll get a lot of dirty looks and whispers, but at the end of the day, the people looking and whispering are just ignorant. They don’t live in our house, they aren’t privy to our love and devotion. They simply just do not matter.

  The only thing that matters is this love we have. This life we share. This future we are building.

  Epilogue

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  TENNESSEE

  I can remember exactly how I felt the last time I held one of the plastic tests in my hand. It was fear and anxiety. I don’t feel either of those things this time, and I know that’s because my circumstances are infinitely changed.

  I’m no longer a terrified twenty-year-old girl in college. Now, I am the office manager and personal secretary to my husband, Landry Astor, for his new business LoneSTAR Investments. I have a great job, a beautiful toddler, and a husband who loves me. I may be young, but I have everything I have ever wanted in life.

  Everything.

  My phone rings and I jump as I glance down at the screen. Speak of the devil himself. With a smile, I reach for the device and slide my thumb across the screen.

  “Hello, Mr. Astor, how can I be of assistance?” I ask.

  He snorts. “I can certainly think of a few ways that I need your particular touch,” he purrs. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I can’t hide my smile, even if it is just for me. Glancing down at the test in my grip, my smile widens even more. “I’ll be right there, sir.”

  Ending the call, I shove the test into my purse, slip off my panties as well, and make my way out of the restroom. The great thing about the new office building is that the bathroom for our floor is just for me and Landry, nobody else.

  Julie didn’t come with us, in fact, Landry discovered that she never called IT the day that I was kidnapped, mainly because Susan had paid her not to. Susan had paid her for a lot of things, including spying and feeding her information about our day-to-day activities. Susan had been involved in what happened to Lucinda. Susan is disturbed, greatly.

  I don’t know what the master plan was for that, but I’m glad that it never truly came to fruition. Honestly, I think that since the situation with Holden’s birth father didn’t work out, Susan wanted a backup to her backup plan.

  Fortunately for us, none of her plans came to complete fruition. Unfortunately for her, she’s going to be spending the rest of her life in jail. It’s where she belongs and hopefully where she’ll stay until she dies or is too old to try her hand at the act again.

  Aggravated kidnapping is no joke and she was charged with three counts, each holding a life sentence. Susan Astor will not breathe free again. Not ever. Neither will my own birth father. It’s where they belong, locked away and stripped of their comforts.

  My mother, Holden, and I survived, but we all three will have internal scars that will last a lifetime. It took months for Holden to go back to the childcare center at the office. Though the place has changed, all of the childcare employees came with Landry to the new building. Holden wasn’t ready though, and I didn’t push him.

  Thankfully, we were still setting up the new office, so he was able to hang out with me and Landry on our floor. He wasn’t a bother to anyone, plus, I wasn’t ready to let him out of my sight anyway, so it worked for me too.

  A few weeks ago, he decided he was ready. I think that we’re all ready to get back into the swing of things. Susan and Danny both took a deal, so it was nice not having to go through the trauma of a trial.

  Though speaking at their sentencing, hearing my mom speak as well. That was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever had to do. I’m lost in thoughts of the past as I slip inside of Landry’s office. I don’t say a word as I simply close the door behind me and stand there, breathing.

  “Honey?” he calls out.

  Jerking my head, I look up into his eyes and give him a small smile. This is supposed to be a happy day. I am not supposed to be thinking about my past, about what happened, about any of that. Susan and Danny do not own this day, just like our wedding day, this is about me and Landry.

  Flipping the lock behind me, I slowly make my way toward him. Setting my bag down on his desk, I look over to it, then to him. He’s turned his chair to face me, his own smile playing on his lips as he watches me.

  Hitching up my skirt, I straddle his lap. Immediately, his hands wrap around my hips as he tilts his head back to look up at me. His lips are curved up into a grin beneath his beard. Leaning down, I touch my mouth to his and decide that I’ll tell him later.

  Right now, I want my husband inside of me. I need him to chase away those bad memories. I know that he will, he’s taken great care to do just that over the last six months. One of his hands leaves my hip and I feel his fingers between my legs.

  “Tennessee,” he rasps when he discovers that I’m sans panties.

  Gripping his shoulders, my breathing comes out in pants as he begins to play between my legs. I want him inside of me right this very second. I don’t want to wait, I need him—I need to feel him.

  Sliding the palms of my hands down his chest, I reach for his pants and start to unbuckle him. His fingers continue between my legs, sliding through my folds, applying pressure against my clit, then pumping in and out of me before starting the pattern all over again.

  Closing my eyes, I rest my forehead against his as my hips roll and I try to keep from coming. I want this to last. I want this moment to take all afternoon. I’m celebrating, even if he isn’t, yet. I am.

  Wrapping my hand around his hard length, I stroke him as I ride his fingers. “Fuck,” he hisses.

  “Landry,” I whimper.

  He grunts, then his hands disappear. I don’t wait for him to instruct me. I don’t need to hear the words. Aligning his length with my center, I sink down all the way until I’m fully seated and he’s completely inside of me.

  Lifting my head, I let out a sigh, but I don’t move. I love the way he feels inside of me. Filling me, stretching me, just being part of my body. Landry’s fingers grip my waist while his other hand lifts to my lips and I feel his fingers slide along my mouth.

  Slipping my tongue out, I taste myself on his fingertips with a moan. Only then do I begin to ride him. He watches me, his gaze never leaving mine. Two of his fingers slip inside o
f my mouth and I suck on them as I ride.

  His hand leaves my hip to tug open my blouse. I hear the buttons pop, but that’s something I can figure out how to deal with later. It doesn’t matter right now. Grinding down against him, I feel myself climbing higher and higher toward my release.

  Landry’s lips wrapped around my nipple and he sucks me in, his teeth sinking down against my sensitive flesh before he tugs.

  “Harder,” I whimper. I’m on the edge, so damn close I can practically taste the orgasm.

  He lifts his head from my breast, his eyes finding mine before he speaks. “I want to watch your fingers work that pretty clit,” he murmurs before he goes back to giving all of his attention to my nipples.

  I do as he suggests, as he wants to see. Though, I mostly do it because it’s what I want too. With my hand between my legs, Landry’s mouth playing my nipples and him inside of me, my head falls back and I ride him. My hips buck, they roll, and it doesn’t take me long to find my release.

  Letting out a cry, my entire body trembles as I come. He lifts his head from my breast as his hands wrap around my hips and he uses me to jack himself until he comes deep inside of me with a low roar.

  Falling forward, I bury my face in his neck and inhale his scent. A scent that I’m so familiar with after almost a year and yet, I can’t quite ever get enough of it. I hum against his skin, then I ask him to grab my bag on a breathy sigh.

  “Can you open it, please?” I ask. “Find my phone? I need to send a text and check on Holden,” I lie.

  He grumbles, but does as I ask. Sitting up, I clench around his length causing him to grunt as he reaches for my bag, opening it. He’s not like most men. Purses don’t terrify him. He reaches inside and pauses.

  “What’s this?” he asks, pulling out the pregnancy test.

  I’m so glad that I bought the digital reader one, because tears fill my eyes and my throat constricts. There are no words. Not a single one as he looks down at the little stick.

  “Tennessee,” he finally rasps as he lifts his gaze up to meet mine.

  My lips shakily turn up into a smile. “I’m pregnant, baby,” I breathe.

  Without a word, he drops my bag and the test before his hand fists the back of my hair and he tugs my head forward. His lips devour mine and I don’t know how he does it, but he does and before I realize what’s happening, I’m riding my husband again in a second celebration.

  LANDRY

  Walking into the building, I wonder if I did the right thing by turning away from it all, by giving it to that bitch, or not. Walking past reception, I notice the brunette sitting behind the counter. She looks absolutely nothing like Bethie, who sits behind the reception desk in my building. I let out a chuckle as I make my way toward the elevator bank.

  The elevator door opens and I slip inside before reaching for a button and close my eyes with a sigh as it climbs. It doesn’t take long for it to rise to the floor I’m going to get off on. When the doors open, I slip out and make my way toward the office.

  There is no secretary, she must be gone to lunch, or maybe for the whole day, I’m unsure. Lifting my hand, I rap my knuckle against the closed door. It’s an odd sensation, knocking on a door that just a mere six months ago was my own.

  “Come in,” a deep voice calls on the other side.

  Slipping into the room, I close the door behind me with a grin and lift my gaze up to meet the man behind the desk.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  I can’t shake the smile. Since finding out about the baby, I haven’t been able to stop smiling. Then there’s this moment too, it’s all too much. My son, sitting behind my old desk. Running Astor Investments, the way it always should have been.

  “A couple of reasons, but right now I’m looking at the position my son should have always been in. I wish I would have been able to hand it down to you,” I murmur as I walk over to the chair and sink down.

  He smirks. “You act like you would were just going to let me take over whenever. We both know that isn’t the case,” he points out, arching his brow.

  “I would have,” I grumble, though I’m not exactly sure.

  I’m a bit over the top when it comes to controlling my business sometimes. It’s a downfall, and yet, it’s also served me well in life, at least in business and up until this point. Clearing my throat, I shift in my seat, causing him to chuckle.

  “I’m sure you would have, Dad… you know, after you died.”

  Rolling my eyes, my lips twitch into a small smile. He’s probably right, but I’m not about to tell him that. Instead, I shrug a shoulder. Lifting my eyes, I smirk at him.

  “You called me here, said you had something big?” I ask.

  I’m chomping at the bit to tell him my news, but I won’t, not today. I don’t want to rain on him and whatever it is he’s excited to tell me. My news can wait, this is his golden hour.

  “I do,” he offers with a grin and a nod.

  I wait for a moment, but he doesn’t say anything right away. “Are you going to tell me?”

  He stands to his feet, straightening as he takes a step back from his desk, I watch him walk around to the front, then he leans back against it, his chin dipped slightly as he watches me, his lips slowly curving up into a grin.

  “I didn’t want to jinx it, so I didn’t say anything when it was all happening,” he begins. “But it’s all been notarized, it’s all final, it’s really real,” he breathes.

  “Laurent,” I snap.

  He chuckles. “She signed it all over to me. The building and the business, it’s mine. She’s selling the house to have income for whatever she needs in there. But she’s liquidating everything.”

  “What did she charge you for this gift?” I ask on a growl.

  Knowing Susan, she would fuck over her own child. She would not be above it at all. Not in the slightest. He laughs softly, shaking his head.

  “Maybe finally getting caught has done something to her cold, dead heart. Whatever the reason, I didn’t question it. She gave it all to me. Just one stipulation, you can’t run it, ever.”

  Letting out a guffaw, I can’t hold in the laughter, a true belly laugh takes over. I have to give Susan something, she has been bitter until the end. Laurent laughs as well, then his eyes focus on mine and his face loses all laughter.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing, Dad,” he admits on a whisper.

  My lips twitch into a grin. Standing to my feet, I reach out and wrap my hand around the back of his neck and touch my forehead to his. I forget sometimes that he’s only thirty. He’s at the age where he is ready to take control of his life and yet, he hasn’t had to really.

  Laurent has worked for me for years, but he hasn’t had to truly lead. I’ve always been at his back, guiding him to the right path, a path that I think he would excel in. He’s never really broken out and done anything on his own, not like this.

  Clearing my throat, I lift my head and look into his eyes. They match mine, though they’re younger and haven’t lived the life that I have, they’re the same shade and right now they’re full of nervous excitement.

  “I will be here for you if you need guidance, but Laurent, you can do this without me. I can’t hold your hand. Not in this. You’ve had an education, the best. You’ve had the training—also the best,” I say with a grin. “You can do this and you will succeed.”

  ONE MONTH LATER

  TENNESSEE

  Tonight is the night. Friday morning we had our first checkup. The baby is real, it’s there, and I saw it on the screen. I even have a little blobby picture to prove it, to stare at, to dream about. But tonight, we’re telling the family.

  When we married, Landry told me how he enjoyed the tradition of Sunday family dinner night. I couldn’t stomach having the exact tradition as that woman, so I improvised. We have been doing Sunday brunch since the wedding reception, which happened to be just that.

  With my back to the doorway, I am busy plating all of the food. Som
e of it I had catered, but I try to make as much as I can. I enjoy cooking and baking, and unless I’m busy with work or not feeling well, I try to make at least eighty percent of the brunch myself, every week.

  “Fuck,” Landry growls.

  I feel his head press against my back, his hand lifts, he slides my hair off of my neck, and touches his lips there. My entire body breaks out in goose bumps from his touch. His hands slip around my waist and I feel his palms press against my stomach.

  “Landry, I need to finish this,” I breathe.

  He hums against my neck. “We have a little time. Holden is still sleeping. Nobody is here yet,” he mutters.

  His lips touch my neck with each word that he mutters. Then one of his hands slides down the front of my dress, bunching the fabric as he glides it up my thighs and hips until my entire ass is exposed to him.

  Gripping the counter, I tilt my ass backward, wanting… no, needing him inside of me. He chuckles as he takes a step back then slides my panties down my legs. They land at my ankles, and without a single word, I spread my legs and tip my hips even more, my silent invitation for him to fill me.

  “Mrs. Astor, you’re already wet,” he coos.

  I love it… I mean, I absolutely adore it when he calls me Mrs. Astor. I didn’t think that I would, considering the last Mrs. Astor, but to me, she was always just Susan, so it doesn’t bother me at all, and the way his voice dips when the words leave his mouth—breathtaking and soul-shaking all at the same time.

  The teeth of his zipper sliding down fills the room and I can’t hold back my whimper. I need him. I need it. I want everything and I want it right this second. Thankfully, he doesn’t make me wait.

  I feel the head of his length press against my center and I let out a satisfied sigh as he buries himself inside of me with one swift move. The hand that is still on my stomach slides up to wrap around the front of my throat.

  Gently, he guides my body up slightly, just enough that as he leans over, he can touch his mouth to the side of my neck. His lips suck, his tongue licks, and his hips thrust. It is exactly what I need.