His lips cover mine as I finish the last words, and he kisses me sweetly for a moment before pulling back. “I don’t know what caused you to tell me that, but thank you. You have no idea what that means to me. I’m glad that you now know what love is, but I’m even happier that it’s with me.”
“I wanted you to know that you actually mean something to me. That I’m not just a girl who likes having you around.”
“I never thought that for a second, baby.” He pulls me closer to him. “You know, we will have the house to ourselves tomorrow.”
“Mmm, what does that mean?”
Chuckling, he kisses my forehead. “That we can talk more.”
“Sorry that I woke you up tonight.”
“Don’t apologize for that. It was worth it, and I’m here anytime you need me.”
“You’ll never know how much you mean to me.”
“I think I have an idea.”
“You know what?”
“What?”
“I’m the one that always wants to have sex in this relationship. Why the hell do you not want to?”
He throws his head back laughing and pulls me even closer. Taking my hand, he leads it up over the bulge in his pants. “Self-control, sweetheart. Trust me, I want you a lot more than you could dream of.”
Smirking, I trace the outline of the bulge. “I could change that…”
Groaning, he takes my hand and brings it up to his lips. “Not yet.”
“Ugh. Luke Roberts.”
“Abbey Cartwright.”
Running my hands through my hair and growling, I leave the room. “Go to sleep.”
I am filling up a glass with water when I’m pulled away and spun around
He takes the cup out of my hand and sets it on the counter. His lips come down on mine in full force. He roughly pushes me against the counter, making me moan. His hand slips under my shirt and tugs on my nipples.
He pulls away and places his hands on the counter on each side of my body. “You think I don’t want to take you right here, right now? I do, and I can prove it to you. Don’t get frustrated and leave, because I’m just as frustrated.”
My brain is still reeling. There’s a cough and I turn around to find Will raising an eyebrow. “I’d really appreciate if you two don’t have sex on my counters, because I will then feel a need to replace them, and I don’t have money for that. Take it to the bedroom, and there’s condoms in the bathroom.”
I cover my face and sink down to the floor.
Luke mumbles “Can you blame me, she’s so fucking frustrating?”
Will chuckles “Hey, you signed up for it, man. I’ve known her all my life.”
Then I feel myself being lifted. I’m thrown over Luke’s shoulder and carried to my room.
He tosses me onto the bed and takes off his shirt and pants. I’m still sitting there in stunned silence. He sighs and lifts my shirt over my head. I pull myself together enough to stand up and take off my pants and put on the t-shirt he throws at me before we get in the bed.
“I love you, Abbey.”
“Love you, too.”
Chapter 21
I wake up the next morning to the smells of breakfast as Luke comes in, carrying some food and orange juice.
“Morning, babe. I brought you some food.”
“Morning. Looks good.”
“Eat up. We’ve got the house to ourselves, and we’re doing something other than sitting on our asses today. “
“But that sounds so good, and then maybe some make up sex. That would just be Christmas, ya know?”
Growling, he shoves a plate in my direction. “Eat.”
“So, that’s a yes?”
“If you eat all of that, it’s a maybe.”
He smirks at me as I eat, making quick work of the omelet and toast. Once I’m done, I hold up my plate to him. “I made a happy plate.”
He takes the plate from me and sets it to the side, handing me the glass of orange juice. “Your appetite has come back full force.”
“So?”
“It’s a good thing.” He grins. “Now go get your ass in the shower, you stink.”
“You love me.” I quip while snubbing my nose at him.
“You’re lucky I do, or I would’ve kicked you out of bed by now.”
“Yeah, right. You think the sun shines out of my ass, thank you very much.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Well, if I stink, I think I’ll just make sure I keep my stench away from you.” I stick out my tongue while jumping out of bed.
“Do that, please.”
“Hmmph,” I shrug. “I was going to invite you to join me in the shower, but I guess not.”
With that, I walk with purpose to the bathroom, swaying my hips. I close the door and lock it. There’s a knock a minute later as I turn the water on to warm up. “Abbey, I was just kidding, you smell fine.”
“I’m still not letting you in. You get to suffer.”
There’s a thump as his forehead hits the door. “Baby…”
Giggling, I manage to get out “Kiss my ass.”
“I would if you’d let me in,” he groans.
“Sorry, honey.”
He snorts at that, and I get in the shower.
I’m brushing my teeth after getting toweled off and dressed when I hear a knock at the door. I’ll let Luke take care of that.
I hear two voices inside as I finish up, moving down the hallway. Opening the door, I find two men outside the bedroom.
Squealing, I throw my arms around Turner who is thrown back a couple of steps by my weight.
He pulls me away and plants a kiss on my lips. “Hey, darling.”
“Hey, yourself.”
We both turn our attention to Luke, who coughs. “If I’m interrupting something, please let me know and I’ll leave.”
I try, but fail, not to laugh, making him turn on his heels to leave.
Running forward I grab his arm, jerking him to a stop. “Luke, stop it!”
“Some random guy just comes in here and kisses you. I’m sorry, was I supposed to jump for joy?”
“Oh for God’s sake, Luke, I’ve known him since I was five! On top of that he is very gay, and has a wonderful boyfriend named Michael. Calm down.”
“You’ve picked a good one, Abbey, and he’s quite the looker.
“A sight for sore eyes, right now.”
Luke seems to find his voice at this point. “So he’s…”
“Yes, Luke, I’m gay. My boyfriend is in the car if you’d like to meet him.”
“No, I’m good. I’m sorry for overreacting there, you just came up and kissed her, I didn’t know what to think...”
“No big deal, I get it. I’m just glad you didn’t punch me. I just wanted to say hi to you before I went to my parents’ house for Christmas.”
“Ah, okay. Well it was great seeing you!”
“Same to you, darling. Nice meeting you, Luke. Take care of my girl.”
“Nice meeting you, and she’s my girl now.”
Turner laughs and gives me a hug before leaving.
Once he’s gone, I head to the bedroom to grab a hair tie.
“Abbey, are you mad?”
“No, not really. I just think you should’ve asked me. You almost walked out again.”
“I wouldn’t have walked out. I was walking away from the situation so I didn’t punch him in the face.”
“Okay. Well, what are you wanting to do today?”
“I wanted to spend some time around town here, and maybe up to your cabin.”
“Alright, put some shoes on and I’ll get the car started. Mason left me his.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Sighing, I slip on my shoes and try to brighten my mood. Even though it was comical, and I know I’m overreacting, it just hurt a little bit.
I turn up the radio when I get in the car, destroying all hopes of conversation for him. On the way into town, I look ou
t the car window at the woods, imagining what life would be like to live out here again. To be loved, happy, and content with a man who had trust in me, unlike the guy sitting beside me. How could he think I would cheat on him?
Fucking idiot. I’ve been miserable with a miscarriage, I didn’t even have time to think about getting with another guy. He needs to grow the hell up. Reaching up, I turn off the radio. We are going to sort this out right now.
“Pull over, Luke.”
“Why? We are almost there.”
“Now.”
He immediately stops the car and turns to look at me. “What’s the problem?”
“Why the hell did you just assume I was cheating on you? Do you have no trust in me? I was freaking dealing with a miscarriage, like I’d have time to go out and fuck some other guy. Do I look like the girl who would do that?”
“No, but the guy kissed you on the lips, Abbey. I’m sorry, but that looks pretty incriminating to me.”
“You didn’t even ask a question, you just turned around and left like everything you ever said to me was just to keep me happy. Does any of this relationship mean anything to you?”
He rubs the back of his neck while scowling at me. “Of course it means something to me, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. Don’t even think that. I walked away because I wanted to shove my fist through his head, and you laughed at me.”
“No, I didn’t laugh at you, I was laughing at your deduction. It was a stupid ass one, it was still funny, and it masked the hurt that came up when you assumed. I would have rather you pulled him off me and punched him in the face.”
“So you could just go off on me for punching him?”
“At least I would’ve known you were willing to fight for me instead of walking away like always.”
“Well, Abbey, I get so damn jealous sometimes because I love you so much that it’s easier for me to walk away. Do you think I want to get hurt? I don’t, so I avoid it. I hate that you have the ability to make me feel so much, but you do, and I’m dealing with it.”
“And you can’t do the same to me? We’ve talked about this before. You should know!”
“Well, I can’t look at you without thinking about my sister a lot of the time, so it’s a hell of a lot harder.”
“You still blame me. You said you didn’t, but you do.” Taking a deep breath, I unbuckle my seatbelt, waiting for an answer.
“No. I don’t blame you for her death, but you are the last person who saw her alive, so it gets hard knowing you were in there. I’m sorry if you don’t understand that, but that’s how I’m dealing with it. And then to add to it, we lost a baby. Our baby, because of all the stress you were caused by me, so I feel the blame for that. I’m sorry if I’m a little short, but all of this is killing me.”
“Why don’t you talk about it with me, then? You know I can tell you everything about either of those circumstances, and it was not your fault about the baby, it was mine. I let the stress overwhelm me, even when I knew I was pregnant. I should have controlled it better.”
“But I should’ve been there. I would have if you had told me.”
“Well, I’m sorry that I didn’t want an angry man who blamed me for his sister’s death near me when I was pregnant with his kid. That would be scary as hell. My bad, I’m sorry, but I can’t go back in time.”
“And that! You hide your feelings behind sarcasm. Maybe at one point you could be truthful instead of a heartless bitch.”
The sound of my palm hitting is loud in the car.
“Well, I’m going to take my heartless bitch self back to the house. You do the shopping you need to. I’ll walk home.”
With that, I exit the car and head in the opposite direction. I’m glad we are only ten minutes from the cabin. He just doesn’t know how to get there from here. Making my way up the hill, I realize I left my purse in the car, but I refuse to go back and get it. The trek to the cabin is all uphill, so it’s going to take me longer than ten minutes to get there.
Heartless bitch my ass. I’ll show him heartless bitch; watch me not care anymore. He had no fucking right. None at all. My sarcasm is part of me, and either you deal with it or you don’t. He’s made his decision, and now I’ve made mine. I don’t even have tears to cry. That asshole.
Finally seeing the cabin, I pick up my pace. I locate the spare key under the rocking chair and open the door. It’s just the same as it was when I left Mason and Luke here.
I head to my room and slip into some sweats and a cami. Back in the kitchen, I find some crackers, which I gladly start devouring.
A glowering Mason knocks at my door a couple of hours later while I’m watching TV.
“Well, hello, Mason. Funny to see you here.”
“We called a search crew out on you, Abbey. Why the hell would you do that?”
“I don’t know, probably because your best friend called me a heartless bitch.”
“He was mad. People say stuff out of anger.”
Shrugging, I close the door some. “Well, now that you know where I am, call off the search party and leave me alone.”
“Like hell I will.”
“I’m serious. Stop. Leave, Mason, you aren’t welcome here.”
“Is there even food here?”
“Yeah, I just got done eating. Now leave.”
I slam the door and lock it before heading upstairs to a room I haven’t visited in a long time. Some people call it a playroom, but to me it’s just a room to have some damn good sex in.
Walking in, I see the room is just like I’ve left it, aside from a new coat of dust on everything.
Walking over, I run my hand across the silk sheets on the bed, the dresser, and the objects hanging from the wall, all directly related to someone’s pain or pleasure. I sit down on the bed, taking in everything that’s in here from the rope to the canes.
I sigh and lay back on the bed, huffing. Maybe it’s time I become emotionless again, except to the pain and pleasure coming from a Dom… maybe it’s time. I close my eyes, debating if I’m going to make that phone call or not.
Chapter 22
Turning around I stare at the house, knowing that once I enter, I’m going to be bombarded with people and questions that I don’t want to answer. I’ll have to get Luke alone before we can talk.
I walk up to the door as Mason steps out, fuming. “What the hell? How did you get here?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Abbey, you didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t, now let me in.”
I walk through the house, waving slightly to Will and the kids and head straight into my room to find Luke on the bed, staring at his phone. His head snaps up as he looks at me.
“Let’s go; we need to talk, but not here.”
“Abbey—“
I hold up my hand, stopping him. “Later. Let’s go.”
Grabbing my purse and phone off the bed, I walk out the room. I grab the keys to Will’s spare car off the hook by the door as I start to walk out.
“We’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Alright. Be careful with my car.”
Luke silently gets in the car and I pull out of the driveway, heading up to Nashville. It’s a thirty minute drive, and it will be completely silent. “When we get there, we can talk. We are not having another conversation in the car.”
He gives me a stiff nod and we drive into the dark night until we hit the bright lights of Nashville. I take the exit that leads to the Opryland Hotel. Luke and I ogle over the lights as we pull in. They are always so gorgeous.
Once we’re inside, I go up to the front desk and register for two rooms that are connected. Luke is standing beside me, just watching. The lady nods and hands me the keys.
On our way up, he breaks the silence. “So, you’re pissed at me?”
“Not anymore.”
“Then why the shortness?”
“Because I wanted to have this conversation where we can talk without interrupt
ions or family eavesdropping.”
“Right.”
We walk into the room and he takes a seat on the couch while I sit on the ground across from him.
“Calling me a heartless bitch was uncalled for.”
“So was our entire argument.”
“No, our argument was called for; in fact it was necessary. It showed how little you actually trust me.”
“No, it showed how jealous I was, and you throwing it in my face caused me to lash out.”
“Why couldn’t you just talk to me?”
“Because being jealous is a good trait to show.”
“So?”
“I just didn’t want you to think any less of me than what I’ve already proven to be.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, shut up. You are causing more problems by thinking that. Where’s the guy I met at the cabin in August?”
“He fell in love with you, and you put him in his place.”
“I want him back. I want the cocky and adorable jerk back. The one I fell in love with before all of this shit happened.”
“And I want the flustered smartass back."
“Yeah, well, the last time I was a smartass, someone wasn’t happy with me”
“I can work on it. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you. I do trust you.”
“I trust you, too. But there’s one other thing.”
“Hmm?”
“We need to do more than stay in the house and have sex.”
“But I like sex,” he chuckled.
“I like it, too, but getting to know each other better is important. We need to know if this is ever going to work out.”
“Fine. Are you wanting to stay at Will’s house still or go back to Rhode Island?”
“I don’t think I’ll end up going back to Rhode Island.”
He’s taken aback by this statement. “What do you mean, not going back?”
“I don’t have a job there anymore. I have no family or anyone to go see besides Nicole, but she’s usually at book signings or some kind of function anyway. I want to be around family and friends now.”
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