Absolutely Mine: Married in Vegas novel

by Laine, Terri E.

  “We can make this work, Jilly. I don’t want to let you go.”

  Though he’d said all the right things, my heart didn’t forget the last time he’d said and done the right things only to retract them in the morning. We’d both been drinking then and now. He would realize this in the morning.

  Only this time, I wouldn’t be there for him to break my heart by agreeing with me. I slipped away in the cover of darkness, or so I thought. The blackout shades were good. It was morning. I hadn’t brought a lot, but I showered in tepid water and changed under the light of day.

  After a long wait, I got into the only working elevator with a crowd of people speculating on what happened and when full power would be restored.

  My phone still had some charge and I took an Uber to the airport, which had power. After trying several airlines, I managed to wrangle an overpriced ticket on a bargain airline leaving in a few hours. I’d figure out how to pay for it later. I convinced myself it was an emergency. Flying back with Eddie was a big fat no. He would talk me into a dream that would only turn into a public relations nightmare for him if I didn’t stick to my guns.

  While I waited for my plane, I contacted a lawyer and told her my story. After sending her a retainer online and the annulment document I’d had, she assured me she’d file a complaint, seeking an annulment on the grounds we’d done it years ago.

  When I got back to my apartment, I considered my financial future. I had no job and no prospects of one. I started my job search, hoping I wouldn’t have to hit up my sister for a loan.

  Eddie called several times, but I’d let it go to voicemail. Like the chicken shit I was, I didn’t answer. He hadn’t come over either.

  There were still no words as to what happened in Vegas. Whatever it was, it hadn’t been localized to our hotel but the entire city. Words like rolling blackouts or even terrorism had been tossed around. I, on the other hand, hadn’t cared much. We’d survived, though my heart hadn’t.

  I wasn’t at all surprised when my sister Chris showed up a couple of days later.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Mom is worried.”

  Mom was always worried, and the last thing she needed was my problems added to her own. Though I would call her when I was mentally ready.

  In reply to my sister, I squirted Cheez Whiz onto a saltine cracker and shoved it into my mouth. It wasn’t exactly the healthiest of choices if I ever had a desire to look like my bombshell of a sister. But I hadn’t left the house and was surviving on what remained in my kitchen.

  “You’re not going to answer me?”

  I didn’t. I made Mount Vesuvius out of processed cheese and stuffed it into my mouth. It was slightly disgusting, but oddly comforting.

  “Okay. How about I tell you what I know and you nod if you agree?”

  When I kept quiet, feeling like a petulant teenager, inwardly I argued to myself I had a broken heart and could cry and act stupid if I wanted to.

  She lifted a finger. “You got fired.” She lifted another. “Eddie hired you.” A third finger appeared. “You went to Vegas with Eddie.” She snapped out a fourth. “He went to court and annulled his marriage to Chelsea. Good riddance.” She muttered the last. “But it all didn’t make a lick of sense until I found out from today’s headlines that you and Eddie are married.”

  I closed my eyes, feeling sick.

  “And here I thought I’d been the one with secrets,” she said.

  She did have some big ones, which is why there was not a lot of judgment from her.

  “Is it true?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said after swallowing the bile that threatened to make an appearance.

  She exhaled loudly, sat next to me on the couch, and wrapped her arms around me.

  “It all makes sense now.”

  “What exactly?” I asked.

  “Well, for starters, I’d thought Eddie was protective of you because you were like a little sister to him even when you were being a bitch. But now, I can see the jealousy that simmered there. Poor boy. And I’d made him promise to stay away from you.”

  While she sounded amused, I yanked myself away.

  “What?” There was a sharpness in my tone that flattened her smile.

  I was not appeased by her long-suffering sigh. “He made me promise that I not date his brother, so I made him promise not to make a move on you.”

  “And you did that why?” I asked, remembering the little comments Eddie made that I’d ignored.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t think it was a big deal considering how you’d acted like you hated him. You never told me different.”

  I deflated. She was right. I had acted like a bitch toward him because I hadn’t wanted anyone to know about my foolish crush. It seemed the joke was on me. If I’d confided in Chris, she might not have made that deal. If he had liked me, maybe things would have been different. That was something I would never know.

  “It doesn’t matter. I just hate that people are prying into his personal life.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “I don’t have a job or a career that can be damaged by this.”

  “Yeah, but you’re in love with him.”

  I glanced up at her and opened my mouth. I wanted to lie, but outside of withholding the truth, I didn’t lie to her ever.

  “I’m in love with him and maybe I always will be.”

  She gave me a comforting squeeze. “Take my advice then and don’t wait. Talk to him. Time is precious, and the way he’s been on me to fly home and check on you, I would say he’s in love with you too.”

  Chapter Eleven

  I didn’t exactly take my sister’s advice. Things heated up on social media. Being the brother of one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and a lawyer for many other superstar athletes, the world took notice of Eddie’s activities. Reports of his movements and who he’d been seen with were reported daily. Everyone was looking for me. For over a month, I hid in my apartment ordering what I needed online, including groceries.

  My landlord’s manager had let it be known that I’d had a small group of reporters waiting on me in the parking lot. That’s when he informed me if not for my rent being paid through the next month, he would consider evicting me.

  Eventually, another scandal took the media’s attention away from Eddie McCabe who was now single. When that legal document arrived, I’d cried while eating gelato.

  The time had come that I couldn’t avoid him anymore. Even though I’d sent him a message weeks ago saying I needed time, I wasn’t sure of my reception when I texted to meet him.

  The reply came back asking me to meet him at his place. The thing about text was I had no idea if he was happy or resigned to see me.

  I’d been to his gated estate before, so I didn’t need directions or the code to get inside. He really should change it, I thought as I pulled forward. But quickly remembered, it wasn’t my concern.

  I parked at the circular drive up front. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be there and wanted to have the option of a quick exit if things went south.

  The doorbell chimed as if calling a butler for how regal it sounded.

  When the door opened, I wasn’t able to conceal my shock. Chelsea stood there as if she owned the place. Despite all the reports that had played out in the media made by her girlfriend admitting to their conspiracy in order to get paid or so Chelsea claimed, it appeared that Eddie had forgiven her.

  It took strength built by the wall I was erecting around my heart to ask, “Is Eddie available?”

  Her coy smile suggested all manner of places he could be waiting for her return. I choked down the sarcasm and tried to remain calm. Why would he tell me to come over if he had company? It was the middle of the day. Did he want to rub it in my face that he’d moved on?

  “He’s not here right now.”

  The wheels began to turn in my head.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “To surprise h
im, of course.” She said it like it should be obvious.

  “So, he doesn’t know you’re here?”

  Though she didn’t move, I felt her spine stiffen as she lifted a stubborn jaw.

  “Sweetie, give it up. Trust me, you’re not his type. My only competition is this Jillian woman.”

  I wanted to laugh. She had so dismissed me as a threat. She had no clue I was Jillian, not that she’d bothered to ask my name when we last met.

  “Aren’t you into girls?” I asked, confused by this woman’s audacity.

  “I like boys too. That’s why I was the one getting pregnant. Besides, Edward is a good man. I told Tracy as much. It’s the reason she took our story to the papers. I’d broken up with her to make things work with Edward.”

  I was so taken aback by her openness, I didn’t hear the car pull up.

  “Do you honestly think Eddie wants you back?”

  Was she delusional? She used him and he knew it. How gullible did she think he was?

  “Edward,” she said, all teeth and boobs, as she stood so they were on predominant display in the size too small shirt she was wearing.

  His chest met my back as his hand possessively landed on my hips.

  “Jillian,” he said and nuzzled my neck before placing a soft kiss there.

  Chelsea lost all color, making her spray on tan appear sickly.

  “What are you doing in my house, Chelsea?”

  He may have sounded calm, but there was an underlying menace that gave me the chills.

  “I—uh—wanted to surprise you,” she sputtered, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. “I—uh.”

  “I want you out of my house and give me the keys,” he said.

  “But the surprise,” she said.

  “Now or I’ll call the police and have you arrested. There is a court order.”

  She smoothed a hand down her hair. “You can’t mean that. You love me.”

  “I never told you that,” he said.

  Though I couldn’t see his face, I imagined the frosty gaze he sent her.

  “Now,” he said, this time more forcefully.

  She reached for something, which turned out to be her purse from a side table.

  “You’re making a mistake,” she said, holding out the keys.

  When he made no move to let me go, I plucked them from her hand. He shifted us so that she could leave. She got into the car that had been parked a few feet from mine. The Lexus was new and I’d assumed it had been Eddie’s even though it wasn’t his style. I never once guessed it had belonged to her.

  “I need to change the gate code,” he muttered, something I’d thought about when I’d used the code. I followed him in as he continued to speak more to himself than me. “And the locks will be changed tomorrow. I don’t trust that she doesn’t have yet another set.”

  Then he spun, caging me against the door. His mouth was there slanting over mine, tongue sliding across the seam of my lips, seeking entrance.

  I gave in to the power of his lure and wrapped my arms around his neck. His hands slid down my back to cup my ass until I realized what he wanted. I hopped and wound my legs around his waist. It was sexy as hell he could carry me without any struggle.

  With my eyes closed, I felt us going upstairs and opened them when he came to a complete stop. Immediately, I saw the problem. There were rose petals everywhere but especially the bed. I released my hold and slid down his body until my feet touched the floor.

  “Wow,” I said, trying not to laugh.

  He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Some surprise.”

  There was an open bottle of champagne on one of the night tables. There was no way in hell I was drinking that. Who knew if she’d spiked it? After talking to her, I couldn’t be sure.

  “I can help you clean it up,” I offered, taking a step toward the bed.

  He snagged my hand. “No.” Then he picked me up and I had a feeling what he was planning.

  I squirmed against his hold and giggled as he only held on tighter.

  “What do you think would be the biggest fuck you to Chelsea?”

  I laughed as he tossed me onto the bed, stalking toward the place I landed.

  The four-poster was massive and I started to think about him screwing her in this very bed until he covered me. His weight, along with his kiss, stole my breath and I forgot about Chelsea. Whatever he’d done with her hadn’t been recent. The room, outside of the explosion of flowers, appeared like it was cleaned on a regular basis. He had the right idea about the fuck you to her.

  He swept my shirt off like a man determined to get to my breasts. But it wasn’t my bra he went for. My jeans were next, which required him to move off the bed to get them down my legs. He’d taken my panties with them, so I lay bare when he wedged himself between my thighs. He mapped a path from my inner thigh to my clit, but only blew a stream of warm air over the sensitive nub.

  “Damn you,” I cried out.

  That elicited a chuckle. “Patience, my Jilly.”

  Patience? Now he was the mad one. It had been far too long since I’d had sex to have any type of control. Need was crawling under the surface of my skin with an urgency that had me reaching for his head. He was quicker, grabbing both wrists and holding them just above my head.

  “Good things come to those who wait,” he teased.

  “Yeah, if you wait any longer, I’m going to hate you,” I protested.

  His dark chuckle fanned over my sensitive nub and I arched my back in response. I needed more and he granted me a flick of his tongue.

  “If you don’t stay still, I’m going to take a cold shower,” he said, lazy eyes in contrast with the smirk on his face.

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Try me,” he said, and didn’t move as I ached with want.

  “Fuck you,” I spat, trying to play at being unaffected.

  “I’m trying to, sweetheart, if you’d let me.”

  “You just have to have your way.”

  His eyes held mine, all amusement gone. “You made me wait. Now it’s your turn.”

  I let my head fall back. He had me there. When I finally relaxed, he went back to turning me inside out with licks, nips, and flicks of his tongue. Not to mention the two or maybe three fingers he had buried inside me readying me for his fat cock.

  I bit my lip and tried to stay calm, but it felt too damn good. I let out several mulling sounds of pleasure as he pumped those curled fingers inside me to stroke over that magic button on the inside.

  “Please,” I finally said, unable to stop my hips from leaving the bed as I arched my back.

  “All you had to do was ask,” he said, with a promise that hinted for a thorough fucking to come.

  He used his knee to wedge open my legs. Without preamble, as he’d certainly done all the work to make me wetter than sin to be ready for him, he sank into me. Relief, as all my cylinders were firing in promise for the best damn orgasm of my life to come.

  Corded muscles in his neck and arms bulged as he held himself deep inside me for a second longer than I thought possible for either of us. Remembering his words, I gave him my own.

  “Fuck me.”

  It turned out to be the permission he’d been waiting for. He released my wrists, sat up, caught my legs under the knees, and angled me so he could hit bottom as he powered. This thrust made me moan and beg. More, harder, faster, yes was my mantra until I screamed his name. He came hard soon after.

  We lay in a tangle of limps, him half on top of me. It was as if he wanted to make sure I couldn’t get away.

  “I think I have petals in my ass,” I said when I could speak.

  He laughed. “They are in your hair,” he said.

  I caught a handful and tossed them at him. He rolled away, finally freeing me. When I sat up, I knew before he pointed, my sweat cooling back was covered in petals.

  “Not funny,” I said on a laugh. “Your crazy ex-wife did this.”

  He sobered some. “Not ex-wi
fe. According to the State of Nevada, we were never married.”

  That only reminded me of our situation.

  “What did you mean by court order?” I asked.

  He hissed out a breath. “She’s been more than a little nutty. I got a restraining order.”

  “She broke it,” I said, drawing my knees to my chest and curling my arms around them.

  “That she did. And if you weren’t here, I might have called the cops. But it was worth it not to.”

  His gaze swept over me.

  “You wanted to talk to me,” he prompted.

  There was something I needed to know first.

  “I’m in love with you,” I admitted. “I probably always have been and always will be.”

  I finally told him what I’d told my sister weeks ago.

  He wasn’t exactly shocked. He just looked thoughtful. His silence prompted me to continue.

  “I know I probably don’t have a right to ask because we’ve never even been on a date. But I need to know one way or the other how you feel about me.”

  He reached into the side table drawer nearest to him before he moved to sit beside me. He unclasped my hands from around my knees. Then he kissed my knuckles one at a time as he spoke.

  “Date.” He chuckled. “Maybe not formally, but there have been plenty of times the two of us have been out together alone. Like I’ve taken you to half a dozen movies at least when your mom or sister couldn’t take you.”

  That was true. Despite my attempts at being hateful, he would volunteer to take me to the Marvel movies Mom and Chris had no interest in seeing.

  “And I’ve taken you out to eat more times than I could count. Hell, I would hold your hand and tell you it was to get you across the street just so I could. But no, I never asked you on a date, though we’ve been on plenty.”

  How had I forgotten? Then again, my feelings for him were based on all his actions over the years.

  “That was kid stuff,” I countered.

  “To you. But to me, every time, I fell a little more in love with you.” My heart melted in my chest. “Jillian, since you’ve shut me out, I’ve had nothing but time to examine why I’ve never really had a serious girlfriend.”