Attraction Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by J B Heller

  “Where are we going?” I asked as he maneuverer his car through the dark streets.

  He shrugged, as he did quite often I was noticing. “Somewhere special. This is going to be another one of our things.”

  A tingle started low in my belly, I loved the way he treated me. Like I was precious. Like I deserved to be treated to nice nights out, and breakfasts on the beach. This man had made a swooner out of me. I didn’t even know if that was a word, swooner, one who frequently swoons. That’s what I had become.

  Kai held my hand as he drove, and it felt nice, it felt natural. Like he’d been holding my hand for years. I waited patiently for us to arrive at our destination, then I realised we were heading for Gabe and Ivy’s place. “Are we going to pick up Gabe and Ivy? Or are they coming with us?” I asked.

  Shaking his head Kai said, “Nope.” And kept driving right past the turn off to their house.

  Not five minutes later he pulled up on the side of the road and turned off the car. We were at the park. Our park. My eyes filled with tears when I noticed the trees were filled with fairy lights and a small two-person table had been set under them. I turned my gaze back to Kai, “You did all this, for me?”

  His expression was unreadable. Then he nodded, “Yeah Mia, I did it for you.”

  I threw my upper body across the centre console and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders. “Thank you.” I whispered as my emotions began to bubble over and tears leaked down my cheeks.

  He brought his arms up and held me tight as he stroked my hair down my back with one of his huge palms, “I’m glad you like it. I want this place to be a happy memory for you. Not somewhere you stayed when you had nowhere else to go.”

  Violent sobs wracked my body now, he was too good for me, but I couldn’t let him go. I needed him now as much as I needed the air I breathed.

  Kai moved his hands to my hips and lifted me over and into his lap then took my tear streaked face in his hands, “Somehow your presence in my life is pushing the darkness that plagues my soul away, I want to do that for you too.” He said, his voice whisper soft then he kissed me and I felt it all the way down to my toes.

  FOUR MONTHS LATER...

  It was hot. Really, really, really hot. I fanned myself with one of the files I was supposed to be putting away as Ivy entered the main area of McLeod Investigations Inc. “I got you some cold water,” ,she said as she put two pump bottles on the corner of the desk we now shared.

  “Thanks, I’m dying. Tell me it’s not just me and that it’s hotter than hell today. Is the air con broken?” I asked.

  “The air con is working fine. It’s your hormones.” She laughed softly.

  “Ugh, hormones suck,” I complained on my way back to the desk to retrieve the water she had bought in for me.

  “You should be drinking more. I restocked the fridge this morning, so there’re a lot more cold drinks in the kitchen for you now,” Ivy told me as she busied herself with her own stack of files.

  The boys had been busy the last few weeks. Nothing too big or dramatic, just lots of little cases. Meaning, lots of paperwork. I swallowed down half the bottle in one go. Instantly wishing I’d gone a little slower when Nugget obviously woke up and cracked me one in the ribs for dowsing him with cold water.

  “Sorry, baby,” I said as I rubbed the spot he’d just bruised with one hand and patted what I thought was his little butt with the other.

  “She beating you up again?” Kai’s voice filled the room, and my heart fluttered.

  “HE,” I corrected as I turned around to face him. “Got a fright when I skulled half a bottle of cold water,” I said.

  His smile widened. He loved to torment me about the sex of our Nugget. He was definitely a boy since a girl wouldn’t beat their mother from the inside out. That was my theory anyway. The sonographer couldn’t tell us the sex when we went in for my scan the other week, so it was going to be a surprise.

  Kai’s arms circled around my waist when he reached me, and he greeted me with a hot kiss. I melted into him, but he pulled away all too quickly for my liking. I was insatiable these days. We had sex at least twice a day— more if I got my way. But Nugget liked to make his presence known at the most inconvenient times lately.

  “How you feeling today?” he asked, his forehead leaning against mine.

  “Hot,” I told him, and he smirked. I slapped his shoulder. “Not like that, you pervert. Like heat hot. You know, like a burning inferno.”

  He bounced his brows. “I have that effect on many women, Pretty Girl.”

  I threw my head back with laughter. “You wish,” I said, but he was totally right. I saw the way women watched him when we were out, like they wanted to be right where I was. I still pinched myself some mornings to make sure this really was my life now.

  Mia and I had fallen into sync so naturally when we first moved into the unit it proved we were on the right track. That we were meant to find each other, and Nugget was meant to be my baby.

  Whenever I looked at her, all I felt was love for her and Nugget.

  But lately, I’d been filled with a sense of unease. Like something was lurking, waiting to take them away from me. I couldn’t let that happen. After years of dwelling on the outskirts of the living, I’d finally joined them, and I couldn’t go back. If I lost them, it would ruin me.

  Every day, I thought about Kelly. Every night, I dreamt of her. And every second of the day, I missed her. My little sister had been my responsibility, and I’d failed her. I’d also taken Tessa under my protection, and I’d failed her, too. I couldn’t fail Mia. But I feared I would.

  The thing with tragedy is it rarely happens when you’re ready for it, or when you’re expecting it. No, it sneaks up like a thief in the night, takes what you hold dear, and rips it from you with no regret and no remorse. It leaves only grief, fear, and guilt in its wake.

  You never forget. You’re forced to live with the memories of what once was.

  Once, I had a little sister who worshiped the ground I walked on. Who looked up to me and admired me. Once, I was a big brother who was too careless.

  Once, I had a dear friend who reminded me of my little sister. Who looked to me to keep her safe when her world was set on its end. Once again, I wasn’t careful enough.

  I had failed them both.

  Instead of trying to fight the overwhelming sense of doom coming our way, I embraced it. This time, I would be the victor. Tragedy would not destroy my life again.

  “What are you thinking about?” Mia’s sweet voice filled my ears and pulled me from the dark place I’d found myself in again.

  I shook my head, clearing it. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  “Well, I do worry. You’ve been doing this a lot lately. Zoning out and then acting like nothing’s wrong. Talk to me,” she pleaded.

  I closed my eyes. I didn’t want her worrying about me. It was my job to worry about her. I blew air through my nose. “It’s not that anything’s wrong, it’s just that I’ve been getting a bad feeling about something lately, and I can’t put my finger on what it is. It’s nothing to worry about, okay.” It was something to worry about, my gut was never wrong. But Mia didn’t need to know that right now.

  She pouted and huffed, “Fine.”

  I took her hand in mine and swept my thumb across the back of it. “What’s the matter, baby?” She rarely pouted. She was always upbeat and happy, like all the time. I was waiting for the bitchy hormones to kick in, but it hadn’t happened yet.

  She chewed her bottom lip then said, “I’m sick of being horny all the time.”

  Laughter tore from my chest, and I pulled her onto my lap. “I’m not,” I said as I began teasing her with gentle, feather-light kisses along the column of her throat. She squirmed in my lap, and I gripped her hips hard, pressing my fingertips deep into her soft flesh. I loved the way her body had changed as the pregnancy progressed giving her ample curves and fuller tits.

  I ground her down on my ha
rd cock, and her head fell back with a moan. “Fuck, baby,” I murmured. She could get me so worked up in such little time. “I need inside—now,” I said at the same time as my hand slid up her flowy skirt and into her core. She was wet and hot, and I couldn’t get enough.

  Like lightning, I pulled my hand back out and sucked her sweetness from my finger before undoing my pants and shoving them down my hips until my cock sprang free from his confines. Mia lifted up on her knees as I moved the fabric of her underwear aside and then slammed down on my cock.

  Both of us groaned with the pleasure of our connection.

  “I can’t decide. They’re all so beautiful,” Mia said as we walked down the cot aisle of Baby Barn.

  “Which one is your favourite?” I asked her. I really didn’t care too much which one we got as they all looked safe and sturdy. That was all I was concerned with.

  Straight away, she pointed to an old-fashioned teak cot and change table set at the end of the row. “That one, but it’s three thousand dollars. That’s ludicrous.”

  Nothing in here was cheap, but I wasn’t worried about the cost as long as it ticked the boxes I didn’t care how much it cost. “We’ll get that one, then. You like it, I like it, and the money isn’t an issue, Mia. Besides, it’s good quality so we can keep it for the next one.”

  Mia went stock still beside me. “What? Is it the baby? Do you need to sit down? A drink of water? What do you need, baby?” The closer we got to the due date, the more cautious I was about everything.

  “Nugget is fine, I’m fine, settle down,” she said, exasperation filling her face.

  “Well then, what’s wrong? You froze up on me.”

  “You said—” she looked down and gave her rounded belly a rub, “we’ll keep it for the next one.”

  My face scrunched up. “Is that a bad thing? You can get a new one for the next one if you really want, but you’re the one concerned about the cost, not me.” I didn’t get what her problem was.

  Her gorgeous smile lit up her face as she shook her head at me. “We haven’t talked about having more babies or how many you want or any of that. You just took me by surprise.”

  “Oh,” I said. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. “I’d just assumed we’d have a bunch of babies together.”

  Her eyes widened. “A bunch? How many is a bunch? I think we need to have this conversation right now.”

  I scratched my head. “I don’t know.” I shrugged “However many you want. I’m not fussed.” She was blinking at me but not speaking. “Mia? You with me on this, Pretty Girl?”

  “You, you want to make babies with me?” she asked, her voice so quiet it was only just above a whisper.

  I didn’t know why this was such a big issue. I just assumed she knew I was in this for the long haul. We were starting a family and building a life together. How much more serious could we get. “Of course, I do. I want it all with you— the house, the kids, the wedding. All of it.”

  Mia went pale and started to sway. “Fuck! Mia, are you okay?” I said as I took her shoulders in my palms and led her towards a chair at the far end of the aisle. Once she was seated, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees while she took deep steadying breaths. “Mia, talk to me baby. What’s going on here?”

  She exhaled. “You want to marry me? And make more babies with me? Like…” She blinked back the tears I could see forming in her gorgeous doe like eyes. “Like a real family?”

  I crouched down between her legs and looked her dead in the eye. “I. Want. It. All.”

  Her tears spilled over her lashes and slid down her cheeks as she sobbed and threw her arms around my shoulders. “Oh Kai, I love you so much.”

  I froze. We hadn’t uttered those words to each other yet. I knew she felt it for me, and I sure as hell felt it for her, but we hadn’t said as much. I wrapped my arms around her expanded waist and rested my hands on her lower back. “Pretty Girl,” I murmured as she pulled her face back a fraction to look at me. “I love you, too. So…” I shook my head and closed my eyes for a moment as I was overwhelmed with emotion for this woman. “So damn much, baby.”

  Her lush lips slammed against mine in a possessive kiss that told me she felt everything I did just as fiercely. I hadn’t expected this moment to take place in a baby store, but I wouldn’t change it.

  When she pulled away, we were both panting and ready to go a round, but we were definitely not in a place where I could make that happen. We’d gotten adventurous a couple of times over the last few months, but not even I would have sex in a baby store.

  I stroked her wet cheek with the pad of my thumb. “When we get home, your arse is mine.” I growled and she blushed. “But for now, let’s get the baby a bed.”

  With my help, Mia got to her feet, and we found a saleswoman and told her which cot set we wanted. She rang it up and then asked if there was anything else we were interested in. “I don’t think so,” I told the woman behind the counter. Then I turned to Mia, who was gazing over at the swing section. “Mia, you want to get one while we’re here?” I asked her.

  Her eyes were still glassy when she turned her attention back to me. “Would that be alright?”

  I frowned. “Of course.” I held my finger up for the saleswoman to wait as we walked over to the swings and picked one out. “Anything else you want, baby?”

  She chewed that bottom lip that I loved so much. “Maybe. Could we look at the prams while we’re here?”

  I took her hand in mine and strolled over to the prams. And holy shit, I didn’t know there would be this many to choose from. I looked around not knowing which one would be the most structurally sound as well as easy for Mia to manoeuvre. I saw one the same as the twins’, but we didn’t need anything like that. There had definitely been only one baby in the first and the last scan we’d had.

  Then I saw the model down from the twins’, a Strider Agile, single seat. Perfect. I pointed it out to Mia. “This one should be good. Ivy has it for the twins in the double. And it comes in a few different colours for you to pick from.”

  Mia picked the cool red one and back to the counter we went. I was just thinking how this was a lot easier than shopping for the unit when we’d moved in when Mia asked, “What about the cot sheets and that kind of stuff?”

  I stiffened. “No, nope, I’m not buying sheets ever again. You can go with Ivy to get them.”

  Mia giggled beside me, and I glared at her. “It’s not funny. I still don’t know how you women can spend all fucking day in a shopping centre. In and out, that’s how it should be. None of this day trip shit,” I grumbled.

  I arranged to have everything delivered the next morning and paid the bill. Baby shit was expensive. But worth every penny spent just to see that smile on Mia’s face.

  I opened the front passenger door to my truck and put my hands on Mia’s hips to help her up when she turned in my arms and said, “You’re off the hook. I can manage without you for the little stuff since you came with me for the big stuff.” She tilted her head up to smile at me, and I bent down to kiss her soft lips.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I still had difficulty believing this was my life. It didn’t matter how right it all felt, how perfect the nursery looked, or how much I felt at peace here, I would always feel like I’d stolen someone else’s life.

  Kai was perfect. He took care of me, but he didn’t control me. I made my own choices. I went out with the girls when I wanted, and I slept all day if I wanted. If I had slept through making Trent’s breakfast… I shuddered, I didn’t even want to think about Trent. But he kept creeping into my thoughts.

  His words would echo in my head whenever I was alone. “You’re nothing.” “I own you.” “When will you learn, Mia, nobody else will ever want you.” “You’re right where you belong.” You’re lucky you have me.” “You’d be nothing without me.”

  Tears filled my eyes. There was a constant battle going on inside my head. One part of me was trying to convince
myself I was worthy of Kai’s love. And the other was laughing in my face, reminding me of everything Trent had told me.

  When he’d first started getting mean, I’d gone to my mother thinking she would surely tell me he was wrong about me. But I should have known better. Why would a woman who never wanted me, help me? Eventually, I started to believe him. My own mother didn’t love me, so that proved he was right. If she couldn’t love me, who could. I was lucky I found him.

  I wanted more than anything to deserve this new life I was making with Kai, so I worked hard to show him I was worth it. I worked four days a week for Gabe, and I made sure our unit was spotless on my day off.

  But now that I was the size of a small elephant, I was struggling to keep up. I was thirty-one weeks, and not only was my belly huge but my ankle’s had merged with my calves, and my boobs sat up near my collarbone.

  I sat in the rocking chair Stella and Bray had bought for Nugget’s nursery and put my feet up on the matching footrest. They were puffy and jiggled when I walked. Pregnancy was not at all glamorous.

  The cot we’d picked out was set up against the far wall with the change table up against the end of it. Kai had installed blackout blinds over the double window that looked out into our little courtyard. And my rocking chair sat in the corner by the window.

  Ivy had given me three sets of sheets and a gorgeous quilt with butterfly’s flitting all over it. I’d frowned when she handed it to me and said, “But I think Nugget is a boy.”

  Ivy had smiled and pulled another quilt out of the bag she had brought with her. “I got this one, too, in case you’re right. But my money is on a girl,” she said with a sweet smile and a wink. The second quilt had jungle animals scattered across it. The sheets were unisex, but since Ivy had given me the butterfly quilt first, that’s the one I used to make up the cot.

  Dex said Sloan had gone a little nuts in the baby clothes section at Target, and I believed him when Sloan dropped two bags full of clothes at my feet. “They were all cute. Nobody told me it would be so hard to pick just a couple of little outfits. So I got all the ones I liked. You are having a girl, aren’t you?” she’d said as she started pulling clothes out of the bags to show me.