by Alexa Riley
Me: Oh, Captain!
I laugh a little at not knowing Captain’s real name.
Oz: Captain?
Me: Oh...there’s something you don’t know? You don’t know all about Captain?
I can’t help myself from teasing him. Maybe he’s right. I do like when he goes a little caveman possessive because I seem to find myself poking at him when I get the opportunity.
Oz: I’ll come down there and find out.
Me: No! Paige and I call Ryan Captain because he kind of looks like Captain America. Don’t come down here.
I try to inject as much emotion into the last line as possible. I know it’s only a matter of time before people find out about us, but I need a few more days to get my bearings.
Oz: Do you find Captain America attractive?
Yeah, like I’m answering that loaded question.
Me: No one is hotter than you.
I avoid that question, but it’s true. Captain America can be hot, but he’s got nothing on Oz.
Me: Promise you’re not coming down.
Oz: Promise. Promise me you’ll stay in for lunch but have dinner with me tonight.
I already planned on staying in for lunch, hopefully with Paige so I can get some gossip about Eric losing it on Captain and failing a drug test.
Me: I’ll stay in, but let’s see how the rest of the day goes before I agree to dinner. You have this thing where you like to make me mad. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Oz: I spent all weekend making you unmad. I remember you rather enjoying it.
He did spend the whole weekend make me unmad. On every surface of his home. The reminder makes me tingle. I’ve gone from virgin to sex fiend. It’s crazy how fast life can change.
Me: I’ll think about it.
I drop my phone onto the desk. I have a feeling I’m going to crack. Even more so if he shows up at my door doing his whole caveman act. I smile and get back to work.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mallory
* * *
The past two days have been pure bliss. Every day I walk to work with paige, and Oz follows behind us, always keeping watch but still giving me space when I ask for it, even if he doesn’t want to. Then every night, Oz takes me out to dinner and then back to his place to make love to me all night until I’m too exhausted to climb from his bed back to my own.
My days are filled with lots of work, and Linda has been praising Skyler and me for keeping up with the workload, even though Eric is gone. Skyler rolled her eyes after Linda walked away, saying we’d been doing his work from the beginning. But it’s nice to know that our hard work has been recognized.
Wednesday morning, I sit down at my desk to find a hot coffee waiting on me, a note beside it. Oz had to come in early for a meeting, so it was Paige, Captain and me walking into work today.
Picking up the note, I recognize his impeccable handwriting and a stupid grin spreads across my face.
This is almost as sweet as you, and almost as hot.
I can still smell you on my fingers.
Love, Oz
My face burns so brightly I think I might set off the smoke alarms. Jesus. How can a few words send me into a state of molten need? He’s too good at melting me. Grabbing my phone, I shoot him a quick text.
Me: Thank you for my coffee, and for making me blush.
His response is immediate, making my goofy grin even bigger.
Oz: It’s my life’s goal. To worship you and make you smile.
Me: Success!
Oz: I’ve mentioned this before, but every Wednesday I have lunch with my mother. I’d like for you to join me today, Mallory. Please.
I pause with my fingers over the letters, unable to come up with a response. He’d asked me once before all the drama happened, and I thought it was a joke. This is a big step. Meeting his mother? Am I ready for that?
Oz: You’re my life forever, baby. I’d like for her to meet the woman I’ve been telling her about.
That snaps me out of my haze.
Me: You’ve been telling her about me? What did you say?
Oz: How incredibly smart you are, and how stunningly beautiful. And how we promise to give her 10 grandchildren.
Me: 10?! You did not say that!
Oz: You should probably come to lunch and correct me then.
I shake my head smiling, and then give in. I know what I feel for Oz, and I know what he feels for me, even if we haven’t said the exact words out loud. He’s it for me, so I know it’s going to happen at some point.
Me: Okay.
Oz: You continue to make me the happiest man alive.
I send a kiss emoji and place my phone on my desk. I smooth my hands down my light blue linen dress. Summertime in New York is hell on heat, so I wore something that was cooler, but now I’m wondering if it’s appropriate for meeting Oz’s mother. An off-white ribbon ties around the waist and I absentmindedly adjust it. I’m wearing cream wedges and my hair is pinned up, now that the freaking hickey has faded on my neck. Thank God, I never would have agreed if that thing was still there.
Taking a breath, I try to relax. It’s going to happen at some point, so it might as well be today. And I’m wondering if Oz didn’t mention it until now so that I didn’t have enough time to change my mind. He knows me far too well.
Skyler comes in wearing a royal blue blouse and white, high-waisted slacks that cling to her slim legs. She’s got her stick-straight dark hair pulled back in a severe ponytail and greets me as she hangs her bag up.
Leaning over our cubicle wall, she looks at me. “Who died now?”
I laugh because I swear she’s said that to me every day before Oz and I finally settled all our drama.
“No one yet.” She cocks her head to the side and I continue. “I’m meeting the mother.”
Skyler makes a sound only dogs can hear and does a kind of happy-clap jump. I don’t know how she does it in her shiny black stilettos, but I roll my eyes and try to bite back a laugh.
“I don’t usually go all girlie, but this is exciting news.” She walks around the wall and sits on the edge of my desk, putting her fists under her chin like an expectant child waiting on a story, and that makes me burst out laughing.
“Shut up! You’re supposed to be the friend that doesn’t care.” I playfully knock her arms out from under her.
“I’m trying to be supportive,” she says on a fake huff, and walks back to her side of the cubicle. “Hey.”
I look up and see her watching me.
“That’s really a big deal, and also really cool that he’s asking you to.” She shrugs a shoulder like it’s hard for her to get serious about our personal lives. “I think if he’s good enough for you, then you should give it your all.” With that, she moves back away from the wall.
I take a sip of my coffee. Unsurprisingly, it’s exactly how I like it. A lot of cream, a lot of sugar and a dash of cinnamon.
It’s perfect. And so is Oz, in his own way.
Pushing my fears aside, I get to work, knowing that dwelling on it doesn’t change a thing.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mallory
* * *
Oz arrives at my desk before noon, and I hear Skyler on the other side of the wall humming the Jaws theme music.
“Dun dun. Dun dun. Duh duh duh duh.”
Oz raises an eyebrow at me, and I shrug. I put my hand in his and he leads me out of our department and onto the elevator.
“You’re nervous?” he asks, lifting our joined hands and kissing my wrist.
My pulse is fluttering there, and that’s how he knows.
“A little,” I confess, giving him a smile. “I’ve never done this before.”
He rubs my knuckle
s against his short stubble and looks at me with those beautiful sapphires of his. “Me either, baby.”
It’s then that it occurs to me he might be nervous, too. I know his mother is important to him, and he probably wants us to get along. He’s never felt this way about anyone but me before, so he’s obviously never brought another woman to lunch to meet her. Having this knowledge is kind of empowering, and it’s as if my focus has turned from myself to Oz. I can do this for him. I can make this first meeting as hard or as easy as I want it to be, and for Oz I will put his own fears to rest.
“I hope she likes me,” I say, and this time I put some determination into my voice. Thinking about this being a big moment for the both of us goes a long way to calm my nerves.
“She’ll love you.”
His words are final as the elevator goes to the bottom floor and the doors open. Oz leads me through the lobby, but instead of exiting the building, he turns me by the security desk and I realize we’re headed to the garden. My garden.
Oz opens the door for me and I walk through, remembering my first time in this space. The weather is beautiful today, and the shade from the wisteria flowers helps to keep the garden cool. Oz takes my hand and leads me down the stone path until we wind around to the open grassy area.
I look up to see a beautiful older woman sitting on the bench. A table, like the one laid out when I was here before, is placed in front of her with two chairs opposite.
She stands as soon as she sees us and takes a step around the table. She’s wearing a soft yellow pantsuit with brown wedges. I can even see the tips of her pink toenail polish peeking out of the peep toes. Her hair is to her shoulders and a beautiful salt-and-pepper. Her smile is easy, and she has the most beautiful dark green eyes.
She walks toward us, opening her arms, and I’m shocked when she comes straight to me and takes me in her arms.
“Mallory, it’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”
Her mothering embrace seeps into me, and for half a second I feel like I could burst into tears. All of my emotions are on the surface, and it’s as if I’ve been thrown back into my childhood and I need someone to hold me.
Her arms are strong, but her hold is gentle. After a moment, I embrace her back. It’s a little like the first time I met Oz. Like I’ve been waiting my whole life to get to this moment.
“Mom, this is Mallory. Mallory, this is my mother, Vivien Osbourne.”
She pulls back and extends her arms while still holding on to me. She looks me up and down, and I swear I see something like a tear in her eyes.
“Well, aren’t you beautiful,” she says, making my stomach warm.
“Thank you, Mrs. Osbourne.”
“Vivien,” she corrects me, and then leans in a little to whisper. “Or Mom.” She gives me a wink and then one last squeeze on my arms before she releases me and gives Oz a kiss on the cheek.
“Shall we?” Oz motions to the table.
We all sit down, Vivien taking a seat on the bench, and Oz and I across from her. He takes my hand right away and suddenly I feel completely relaxed.
There’s a spread of food before us; each of us has a salad, then there’s a small tray of sandwiches and a plate of fruit and cheeses. Vivien goes about serving me a plate of food, and then makes Oz one before filling her own.
I take a drink of my tea and brace myself for the questions.
“Mallory,” Vivien says, “I know everything there is to know about you, except why in God’s good name you’d choose to stay with my son.”
The laugh bursts from my lips before I can hold it back, and Oz stiffens beside me. Vivien rolls her eyes at her son.
“Excuse me?” I say, trying to buy some time.
She eats one of the small sandwiches and gives Oz a wink. When she’s finished chewing, she waves a hand around the garden.
“He built this three years ago. At the time, I knew about you, but I didn’t realize his obsession. Then as time went on, I began to understand, and I tried to get more and more out of him about you. Could see what you meant to him. It started to change him. I had hoped that one day you would see this place and fall in love with it.” She takes a drink of her tea, and then continues. “I think any mother would worry about her son if they were given this situation, but I knew a long time ago that Miles was different. When he made his mind up about something that was that. There was never any changing it. And I knew the day he told me about you, that you were it for him. I hoped that when you knew the truth that you would stay. And here you are.” She gestures to where I’m sitting. “So I guess I want to know why.”
“It’s a fair question.” I begin to answer and sit up a little. “I think anyone who would look at Oz’s—”
“Oz?” she asks, smiling and looking at the two of us.
“A nickname,” Miles answers, and I continue.
“Yes.” I laugh, trying to hide my blush. “I think, on paper, what he’s done without my knowledge could be seen as strange, but when I met him and began to see what I meant to him, how could I turn him away? So many women go their entire lives without feeling a fraction of the attention and devotion Miles has shown me.”
A somber look crosses her eyes and she nods in agreement.
“I’m sure our relationship sounds crazy, and it may very well be. But to have a man so consumed with my happiness and with giving me the best in all aspects of my life, why would I not give in to him? Sure, at first I was upset, because I felt deceived, but as I’ve grown to care for Miles—” I turn, looking into his deep blue eyes “—as I’ve grown to love him, I know that it came from the best and brightest part of his heart. He’s given me something I’ve never had before.”
Oz lets go of my hand and reaches up, grabbing my face with both of his. He places his warm lips on mine, and with them he’s telling me everything he feels. I know Oz loves me. I’ve known it since the beginning. But speaking it out loud locks something into place for us. A final commitment to each other.
He doesn’t deepen the kiss, pulls back a little and rests his forehead against mine.
After a moment, he moves away and grabs on to my hand again. Vivien sits with a gigantic smile on her face, and I let out a laugh, a little embarrassed at the intimate moment in front of his mother. This is all surreal, but it warms everything inside me, like this is the beginning of the family I’ve always wanted.
I rest my hand on my lower belly, thinking of how true that thought might be. This could very well be the beginning of my family. And instead of scaring me, the idea makes my heart grow with love. To have a baby with Oz, to have Vivien as a mother...it’s almost too good to be true.
We spend the next hour talking about me, which is embarrassing, but Vivien goes easy on me, asking about my job with Osbourne Corporation and school. When I mention Paige, she gets a soft look in her eyes, and then she glances over at Oz.
“I met Paige a few years ago when Miles found her. She didn’t like me at first, and I understood why. The two of them share a father, but he was very different in their lives.”
Vivien looks away to the small waterfall and lets out a sigh.
“Paige’s story is not mine to tell. But I can tell you about Alexander Owens.”
Oz sits forward a little as if he’s uncomfortable, and then stands. Vivien watches him as he walks over to the waterfall, looking at the little pond below and watching the koi fish swim.
“I was eighteen when I met Alexander. I came from a middle-class Midwest home that was very religious. I was an only child and my parents were extremely strict with me. The only time I was allowed to go to social functions was when it involved the church. That summer our church had a weeklong festival fund-raiser, so I was expected to participate. I was in charge of selling pies, and before closing one night, he walked up. I was smitten with his good looks and charm right away. A
lexander was the kind of man I’d never seen before. Smart, wealthy, and said all the right things. He was older than me at twenty-five, and to an eighteen-year-old girl who’d been sheltered most of her life, he looked like a movie star. He knew exactly what to say to my father to get him to agree to let him see me.
“The first few times we were allowed to be together we were chaperoned. It sounds old-fashioned, but my mother thought since he was so much older than me, that it would be for my own benefit. I think maybe deep down, she knew what Alexander was after.”
Vivien has a faraway look in her eyes, but continues.
“I made a promise to sneak out one night and meet him at the park. He picked me up in a brand-new car, and I felt like Cinderella. But there was something different in him that night and as soon as the door shut behind me, I knew I’d made a mistake.”
Vivien looks down at her hands and lets out a sigh.
“I was too ashamed to tell anyone what he’d done. I’d said no, and tried to stop him, but he was so much stronger than me. I knew no one would believe me. I was a young girl that had sneaked out, and he was so charming and knew how to make people believe him. I’d hoped after that night he got what he wanted, and would leave me alone. I avoided seeing him, and tried to forget the rape. When I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t have any options. I sat down and told my parents, and I explained what happened. But they didn’t believe me, just as I had assumed. They contacted Alexander and said he had to marry me, and he agreed. I didn’t want to, because I knew what kind of man he was, but they said if I didn’t that they’d kick me out. I had no real education and no money, but I still refused. I would have rather lived on the streets than go to him willingly. I was surprised that he agreed to the marriage, but I think he liked the idea of control. So when I said no, all it did was whet his appetite.”
My heart breaks for her, knowing there are so many women who have gone through terrible things like her, and have no choice.
“When I held my ground, he threatened to take the baby. It was his only bargaining chip, and he used it. So I thought that if I went along, that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. He had money, so I knew our baby would be provided for, and I told myself that I would make it work. I knew there was something about his business dealings that wasn’t honest, but I ignored it. Looking back, I wish I’d fought harder.”