The Marriage Pact: A Baby Romance

by Tia Siren

  I just wanted someone to appreciate me.

  I got into work and had to help Luna with the flood of customers that decided to come in today. A few children kept digging their hands into the buttons while their mothers debated on whether or not to purchase the erasable colored pencils or the regular ones.

  A couple of flamboyant men came in wanting a pale pink yarn instead of a bright pink yarn. When I showed them the five choices of pink we had stocked, they, of course, needed a shade in between petal pink and rose pink.

  Then, a group of elderly women came in wanting more cotton-silk blended yarn than we had in stock and got huffy whenever I told them I could back order them some. By the time they walked out after ordering two hundred dollars’ worth of yarn we didn’t have, I had to sit down and take deep breaths. My world was spinning, and my eyes were fluttering shut with exhaustion. That was when I felt Luna’s hand come down onto my back.

  “Didn’t sleep well?” she asked.

  “No,” I whispered.

  “Should’ve called in sick,” she said.

  “You would’ve killed the yarn snobs had I not come in.”

  “Eh, I’ve lived my life,” she said, shrugging. “Why don’t you take the weekend off?”

  “I can’t afford to take the weekend off,” I groaned.

  “You’ve got vacation.”

  “Not paid vacation, Luna.”

  “I could make it paid vacation,” she offered.

  “I’m not leaving you here alone all weekend with the store on one of the busiest times of the year we have.”

  “If I tell you I’ll consider the website, will you take the time off?” she asked.

  I looked up at her with wide eyes, and the smirk that crossed her face caused me to giggle.

  “You are insane,” I said.

  “You’ve worked with me for three years, and in that time, you haven’t called out once. The only time you’ve missed work is when you came in with a fever and said you could isolate yourself to the back. Go home. Take some time. Get some rest.”

  “I can’t afford it,” I sighed.

  “I’m paying you for your vacation time, and I told you I’d consider the website. Take the deal and go home, Ash.”

  “But this is—”

  “Girl, my niece just moved into town. It’s why I haven’t been here much these past couple weeks. She’ll come help. Been thinking about hiring her anyway. Go home now.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll fire you!” Luna shouted.

  “Fine!” I exclaimed.

  To be honest, I was grateful for the break, and it made me feel better that someone would be here while I was gone. Luna was getting up in her years, and I saw her glasses were a bit thicker than usual.

  I figured I could take the money Luna would be paying me and decompress a bit. Splurge on some decent bath salts, maybe take myself to that deli place uptown that I had the money once to eat at. They had the best salad ever, and it was even more wonderful when I slathered it in their homemade dressings. Mason pulling the stunt he did and cutting me from his ‘world’ pissed me off more than it should, and I could already feel my body relaxing at the thought of a nice, hot bath.

  I grabbed my purse from underneath the counter and started for the exit door, and when I dumped out onto the street, I made my way to my beat up sedan. It made me so angry that simply being in that car made me think of him, and there was a moment where, if I closed my eyes, I could even smell him.

  But when I got to my car, I saw a limo pull up and block me in.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You privileged mother—”

  The door opened, and I knew exactly who it was. Mason stepped out of the back of the limo. My heart was thundering in my chest, and my hand was clenching down onto my purse. Our eyes finally connected, and a slight smile crossed his lips.

  “You son of a bitch,” I whispered.

  “Would you like to go for a ride?” he asked lowly. “I’d really like to talk.”

  “That phrase didn’t go over so well last time,” I choked out.

  Tears were rimming my eyes, and I saw an essence of hurt roll over his face. I knew right then and there that I would get into that limo with him, if only to spend a little more time with him before ‘the reality of our relationship’ set in.

  I got in and felt Mason lightly press his hand into my lower back. I cursed my knees for growing as weak as they did. I slid in and drew a deep breath through my nose. When the limo pulled out onto the main road, I had to close my eyes and block images from rattling my common sense. Pictures of his dick between my lips and my ankles locked around his head shot shivers up my spine. The hair on my arms began to stand on end, and I knew I was in a lot of trouble.

  “I’m sorry, Ash,” he began.

  “You should be,” I whispered.

  “The things I said to you were not right. They’re truthful, but they hold no bearing on what we should do with our lives.”

  I turned my watery gaze toward him, and the hurt ricocheted across his face again. I felt his hands wrap around mine, and a tear slowly barreled down my cheek as his eyes danced across my face.

  “There’s so much I want to tell you. So much I want to just blurt out in order to excuse what happened the last time I saw you. But the truth is, I was just a dick.”

  All I could really do was nod because my entire body was rooted in shock. Mason was touching me. After days of not hearing from him, I was in the backseat of his limo, and he was touching me.

  And it felt so damn good.

  “Come with me for the weekend,” he said.

  “Wait. What?”

  “Come away with me. Give me the weekend to prove that I’m serious about you, and about this. Ash, throw caution to the wind with me, and let me show you exactly what it means when I dedicate myself to someone. Let me show you how happy I know we could be.”

  I felt my eyes grow wild, but I took stock of my body. I was leaning into him, and I could feel his breath pulsating on my lips. The truth was, I felt beautiful around him. Beautiful and safe, and when he wasn’t comparing our life circumstances and our bank accounts, I felt important to him.

  Like I mattered to him.

  Like my happiness mattered to him.

  And hell, Luna just gave me the weekend off.

  “You buying, hot stuff?” I smirked.

  “Always,” he said.

  “I guess I could go on a little adventure.”

  “Wonderful,” he said, smiling.

  He told the driver to go ahead, but I realized he was heading out of town and not stopping by my place.

  “I gotta go get my stuff.”

  “No, you don’t,” he said. “I mean it when I told you I thought we had something. When you’re with me, you’ll be taken care of. Just trust me, one last time.”

  He slipped his arm around me, and it felt so natural to be in the crook of his body. I nestled into him and watched the city blow by out the window, wondering where in the hell I was being taken. And then I realized it didn’t matter. As long as Mason was near me, I’d be all right with just about anything.

  Just about.

  Chapter 21

  Mason

  God, it felt so good to have her in my arms in the back of that limo. I just knew she was gonna turn me down and send me on my way the moment I stepped out of that limo. And I wouldn’t have blamed her, because I was a fucking dick the last time we saw each other. I threw her life in her face and challenged everything she’d used to build her life like it wasn’t good enough.

  I was a fucking idiot.

  I wasn’t letting her get her clothes because I honestly didn’t plan for us to need many. If she needed clothes, I’d take her shopping. If she needed shampoo, I’d run and go get it for her. This weekend was to show her two things: as long as she was with me, she was protected, and if she needed anything while she was with me, I’d take care of it.

  Always.

  “Where’re we going
, Mason?” she asked.

  She was laying on me and looking at the limo window, and I couldn’t help but run my hands up and down her arms. I wanted to know everything she was thinking. I wanted to know her passions and hatreds, the people she loved and lost. I wanted to know about her family and how her and Frank met, and I even wanted to hear about her exes. I wanted to know why the hell she was at that idiotic play that night, and I wanted to tell her all about my father.

  I wanted her to know my life, and I wanted to know hers in return.

  “Just be patient.” I said down at her.

  “Is it somewhere exotic?” she asked.

  “As long as you’re there, yes.”

  “Come on, Mason.” She said.

  “I am, Ash.”

  She cuddled into me while we sped out of town, and I couldn’t help but revel in how it felt to have her next to me. Her body was so comfortable and so warm, and I was so ready for this weekend with her to start.

  Maybe, if she didn’t have to work Monday, I could convince her to make it a long weekend, but for now, I would be content with just having her until Sunday. Ash never did shit like this. Everything had to be planned, and everything always had to fall into a rhythm. But the kicker was that, even if she planned an entire weekend for herself, she’d throw it all away the moment someone needed her. Her heart was open for everyone in her life, but she always made herself last.

  She was always last in her life, and she needed to be shown that she didn’t have to be last. I was going to spoil her and make sure she understood that I would always put her first.

  As long as she was with me, she would always come first.

  I had the entire weekend planned out with her in mind, and I hoped to god she would enjoy it. The limo was rushing by the scenery of the desolate roads outside of town, and when we started passing signs for the airport, she cocked her head up to me with a frown on her face.

  “I don’t have a passport, Mason,” she said.

  I chuckled lowly and bent down to kiss her forehead. She knew me well, and eventually that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I would want to take her on her weekends off and whisk her away to places around the world just so I could watch the reflection of the world’s wonders through the eyes of someone who’d probably never even left L.A.

  “Then we’ll have to remedy that sometime soon,” I said into her skin.

  “I won’t need one today, right?”

  “Nope. But how do you feel about helicopters?”

  She shot up just as the limo made a turn and came to a stop around the backside of the airport. A helicopter came into view with my family’s name plastered onto it, and when the driver opened her side door, I watched her jaw drop to the floor.

  “You have a fucking helicopter?” she asked flatly.

  “I do. Come on.”

  I took her hand and pulled her toward the helipad. We got up to it, and I ushered her inside. I helped her outfit herself with a helmet and headset and buckled her in. When I was satisfied with the fact that she was strapped in and safe, I went to work on my own harness and helmet. I could tell she was nervous by the way she gripped her clothes, and I slid my hand into hers and let her hold it tight.

  “It’s all right,” I encouraged. “It’s gonna be fun.”

  “I’ve just never been in one before,” she said.

  “You two ready?” the pilot asked.

  “Whenever you are, Lyle!”

  “Thank you so much for the ride, Lyle,” Ash said politely.

  “Anytime, beautiful.”

  “Hey, now,” I said. “Watch it, Lyle.”

  “Just admiring the view,” the pilot said.

  “Well, why don’t we go ahead and take off so we can enjoy the view, too?”

  “I wasn’t talking about L.A., sir.” Lyle said.

  I saw Ash blush, and I wrapped my arm around her. She sank into my body, and I kissed the top of her head. I could see her eyes screwing shut while the helicopter took off from the ground. We were going to fly up the coastline of California, all the way into Big Sur, and I wanted her to take in the beauty of the place where she lived.

  I knew sometimes life could really bog her down, especially since she came in last in her own life, and I wanted to show her that the world was beautiful, Even if it was just the world outside her apartment.

  “Ash. Look.” I pointed at the ocean.

  The way we were flying over it allowed us to glance out over the city, and pretty soon, she ripped her body from mine and threw herself up against the window. I watched her eyes light up while the waves of the ocean reflected in her big, green eyes, and I couldn’t help but reach out and run my fingers through her vibrant blue hair.

  “You dyed it again,” I mentioned.

  “Yeah, I needed to use up the rest of the blue,” she said mindlessly. “Mason! Look!”

  There were some dolphins jumping way off the coast in the distance, and I felt the helicopter lean out towards the water.

  “Let’s go get a closer look, shall we?” Lyle asked.

  “Look at the dolphins, Mason!”

  The happiness on her face and the way her eyes lit up was nothing short of astounding to me. I took these things for granted on a daily basis, honestly. I didn’t know how many times I flew over this coastline up to Big Sur where we were headed, and I’d never gotten this much joy out of it, no matter who I flew with. My mother usually took naps, and Winston always wanted to jump out and into the water, and I honestly never flew over it unless I had to.

  “My god, it’s beautiful up here,” Ash said.

  We rode up the rest of the coast, and I saw the helipad come into view. I felt Ash press back up against me before she slipped her hand into mine. We descended onto the massive red “X” and I helped Ash get out of all her gear. We disembarked, only to get into another limo that would take us to our hotel. I’d booked a wonderful suite for the entire weekend that would let us watch the sun rise over the ocean waves of the area for the next couple of mornings. There was even a hot tub on the penthouse balcony that I couldn’t wait to get Ash in.

  I started wondering if I could get her in naked, and the idea quickly shot to my dick.

  “Holy shit,” she whispered when we entered the hotel.

  I nodded to the front desk who ushered me in without even walking up to it, and I could see the excitement flash in Ash’s eyes as we headed for the elevator.

  “Aren’t we gonna check in?” she asked.

  “No need to,” I offered.

  “God, I could get used to that,” she said. “I hate checking into hotels.”

  “If I have it my way, you’ll never need to check into one by yourself again.”

  “I like the sound of that,” she said.

  We stepped into the elevator and rode it all the way to the top, and when the elevator stopped, I had to slip a key into a port and turn the knob to open the door. When the doors flew open, the luscious smells of dinner wafted up our noses, and I saw Ash lick her lips in response.

  “Hungry?” I asked.

  “I didn’t even realize I was until now,” she said.

  “Come on. Let’s eat.”

  I guided her through the luxurious confines of the suite, and I hoped to god we never had to leave it. I only had a weekend with her, and I wanted her all to myself. When she saw the dinner out on the balcony, she practically took off running.

  The room was filled with plush furniture and crystal glasses, and an ice cold bottle of fine red wine was chilling on the kitchen island to my left, with two chilled crystal glasses sitting next to it. Our room was outfitted with a California king-sized bed and silk sheets I had no intentions of keeping clean. The bathroom had both a massive jet bathtub and a walk-in stone shower that acted as its own steam sauna if you wanted.

  “There’s a fucking hot tub out here!” I heard Ash yell.

  I threw my head back and laughed before I headed out to the balcony. The sun was just beginning to set over the waves cr
ashing against the massive rocks that sat below our balcony. She clenched onto the railing, and her eyes sparkled with the setting sun. I slid my arms around her waist and held her close to me. Her hands dropped and linked with my fingers, and her head pressed back into my chest. I swore this moment couldn’t get any better than it was.

  “It’s beautiful, Mason,” Ash said lowly.

  “A beautiful scene for a beautiful woman.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course,” I said.

  “Are you apologizing, or showing me what I could have with you?”

  “Could it be a little of both?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I guess I wouldn’t mind that.”

  Her body began to sway side to side, and I held her close and followed her movements. I never wanted to forget this very moment. I didn’t want to forget how she felt in my arms or the look in her eye as the setting sun splattered oranges and pinks all along the sky. I never wanted to forget the relief I felt when I realized she would accept my apology. I never wanted to forget the moment we both ignore the amazing dinner sitting on the balcony just to be in one another’s arms.

  “Ash,” I said.

  “Shh,” she urged.

  She turned around in my arms and fluttered her gaze up to mine. Her arms slipped around my body and held me just as close as I was holding her.

  “Kiss me, Mason,” she whispered lightly.

  I raised my hand and brushed some hair back behind her ear, and I found myself lost in her eyes. Her lips were plump, and her cheeks were blushed with anticipation. The sun slowly darkened the sky behind her thick body, and the food slowly cooled beside us. I reached over to the table and plucked a grape from the table. When I held it to her ruby red lips, she wrapped them around my fingers, sucked the grape into her mouth, and made a show of slurping it and its juices down.

  “Jesus, Ash, what are you doing to me?” I whispered.

  “Everything if you’ll kiss me,” she said.

  So, I dipped my lips to hers and pulled her body up to mine. Her voluptuous tits pressed into my chest the moment her lips connected with mine. My arms scooped her up into her tip toes, and her grip tightened around my neck. When she finally allowed me entrance between her lips, she tasted as sweet as the grape she’d just eaten. I groaned into her mouth when I felt her hips grind into me, and my dick was growing against her body, as the twinkling sky of the Big Sur ocean backdropped our kiss.