by Sam Crescent
In the weeks that followed she never heard from Felicity again. When they went to social functions, no one sneered her way. If anything, they gave her a wide berth, for which she was thankful.
Her and Jack’s relationship was always filled with speculation, but she didn’t pay it much mind.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that she’d been with him for several months, and still she’d not told him she loved him. But all he’d done was show her with actions and words that he completely loved her. The ring he’d placed on her finger felt heavy to her, and that was why she was standing on a Friday evening in an elevator at his office, waiting to go up to his room, when all of a sudden it just stopped.
Frowning, she began to press the button but nothing. There was no power and the lights went out, and then a safety light came on. Pressing the buttons again, she began to panic.
“No. No. No. No.” She didn’t like confined spaces, and now the stairs didn’t seem so bad.
Her cell phone began to ring, and she reached for it. Jack’s name flashed across the screen.
“Hello,” she said.
“It’s me, Rachel. The elevator has broken down.”
“I know, it’s me. I’m inside it.”
“I can see you.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she rubbed at them, trying to clear her mind. “I was coming to see you, and I didn’t feel like taking the stairs.” She closed her eyes, really not needing to see the confined space right now. She’d watched a lot of movies where the woman dies in the elevator, and of course she didn’t like to be trapped inside one.
“I’ve already got men working on it. They think it’s just an electrical fault that is easily fixed.”
“Erm, Jack, er, I have a problem.”
“What is it?”
She sobbed. “I don’t like elevators, and I don’t like being trapped.”
“You’ll be fine. I’m not going to go anywhere. I’ll talk to you throughout. Look at me on the camera, Rachel.” She turned her head left then right, turning in the direction he wanted her to. “I know you can’t see me, but you keep looking at that camera, okay?”
She nodded.
“What were you coming to tell me?” he asked.
“I don’t want to tell you over the phone.”
“Look at me.”
She didn’t even realize she hadn’t been.
“Tell me.”
Could she wait another moment to tell him? Did she want to tell him?
Yes, she really did.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I know you’ve been patient with me, and I wanted to tell you in person but seeing as I can’t do that right now, and this spoiled it, I’ll tell you now.” She took a deep breath. “I love you.” The moment she said the words, she couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve been so scared to tell you, and now that I have, it feels so amazing. I love you, Jack. I should have told you ages ago, and I’m so sorry I waited this long.”
She heard him chuckle. “Is it too soon to ask you to marry me?”
“It’s not too soon at all.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
“Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you, and I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Sign a pre-nup, or whatever it is rich folks do.”
He burst out laughing. “I know you’re not after my money, babe.”
“I’ll never be after your money. I only want you.”
Suddenly the elevator jerked, and she gasped.
“It’s fine, Rachel. They’re starting it up. The guys are nearly done.”
Closing her eyes, she listened to Jack as he kept on talking, and she needed that. She needed to hear his voice so that she could focus on not being in the elevator.
The cab began to move, and she let out a little gasp and chuckle. It wasn’t long before the elevator doors were opening and Jack dropped his cell phone, pulling her into his arms as he slammed his lips down on hers.
He sank his fingers into her hair, and she melted against him, knowing there was no way she could ever not love this man. He may have started out life being an asshole, but that wasn’t who he was now, and the man she was with now, she loved more than anything.
“Tell me,” he said.
“I love you, Jack, and I will marry you.”
“Fuck, baby, I love you so much. I’m not going to wait around forever either. We’re getting married straight away.”
She burst out laughing, wrapping her arms around his neck and knowing she’d never be alone again.
Epilogue
One year later
“You know I’m a prince charming,” Jack said.
“How are you prince charming?” Rachel asked. They were lying in their living room, completely naked, and the only light that came was from all of the candles around them.
Pressing his hands against her rounded stomach, Jack smiled, kissing her temple. “I found you, the penniless wench, and turned you into a princess.”
The sound of her laughter filled the air, and he tilted her head back, kissing her lips. She moaned, and he swallowed that sound as well. “You drive me crazy,” she said.
“Not nearly as crazy as you do.”
That night she’d been trapped on the elevator he’d taken them straight to Vegas and married her. He’d broken convention; no pre-nup, no big wedding, no fake friends there. It had been him, Rachel, and a couple of witnesses. That had been all, and to this day it was the best thing he’d ever done.
From that moment, he’d made sure to take her without a condom. Every chance he got he’d fucked her, wanting them to start a family. His dream was only a few months away. Her stomach already swollen, and he wouldn’t allow her to hide from him either. He wanted to see every single part of her body all the time.
He moved his hands up from her stomach to cup her heavy tits.
“Your mind is always in the gutter,” she said, arching up.
“Then that makes both of us. I can’t get enough of your curvy body.”
She tilted her head back. “You don’t think it’s fat?”
“No, I think you’re perfect, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He’d lured her into this room, playing music, and reminding her exactly how much he loved watching her strip.
His wife she may be, but in their house, she had promised to love, honor, cherish, and to strip for him. He intended to keep her to her own word. After all, he’d promised the same, and now instead of watching, they danced for each other.
A couple of months later, Rachel gave birth to the first of three sons. Their family complete.
The End
www.samcrescent.com
Other Books by Sam Crescent:
www.evernightpublishing.com/sam-crescent
If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:
Taken by Gwendolyn Casey
Hard to Get by Sam Crescent and Stacey Espino
Daniil by Khloe Wren
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
THE NANNY AND THE PLAYBOY
The Nannies, 1
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
“What the fuck am I supposed to do with a kid?” Wayne Myers stared at the floor of his office where social services had just dropped off his son. Yeah, he was getting a DNA test all over that shit as he wanted fuck all to do with this kid.
Running a billion-dollar corporation didn’t give him time to deal with a four-year-old. The boy in question, Timothy, was sitting on his office floor, running a car along the edge of his building.
“What would you like me to do, sir?” Frances asked.
He glared at his PA, and wanted to tell her to take the damn kid herself. The woman was fifty years old and had a gazillion grandkids. “I want testing. I want proof that he’s … even mine. I don’t have time for this shit, and while you’re at it, get me someone who takes care of kids. A babysitter or somethi
ng. I don’t have time to deal with him.”
For a split second, he saw the disappointment on Frances’s face before she hid it. He didn’t care. He wasn’t a man who dealt with these … problems.
He didn’t even know who the woman was, only that she’d been killed and his name had been related to her. Four years ago, he was supposed to have knocked up some woman, and Timothy was the result.
Staring at the kid, Wayne watched as he drove a single car around the edge of his office. Providing the kid stayed quiet, he’d be able to work. Moving behind his desk, he sat down and just stared at his computer screen.
Women were a source of entertainment for him. He used them for what simple pleasure he could have. The women he’d known were the kind who were always trying to further their careers, gold-diggers, or spinsters.
There was a knock on the office door, and he watched as Timothy looked up with a huge smile on his face, only for it to disappear as soon as James entered the room.
James was Wayne’s friend.
“Well, Frances told me the good news,” James said, closing the door behind him. “What happened?”
“I was pulled out of a meeting by a social worker who dumped him here with a black bag. They’d been trying to contact me, but I wasn’t answering. As if I’d answer any damn call from some social service department. I have no need for them.”
James bent down, smiling at Timothy. “Hello, little man. I’m James.”
Timothy looked at James’s hands and shook his head. “Mommy said I wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers.”
His speech was so clear even for a four-year-old.
James laughed. “Your mother was so right. Don’t worry. We won’t be strangers for long.” He ruffled Timothy’s hair and moved toward the seat in front of Wayne’s desk. “You’ve got an intelligent one.”
Timothy went back to driving his car along the edge of the building.
“It doesn’t matter what I have. A few tests will show that the woman is wrong and that kid isn’t mine.” He glanced at his friend to see James staring at him. “What is it?”
“I’m just shocked at how disgusted you look. Is it really so abhorrent to think of having a child?”
“There’s no way I have a kid.”
“So what’s the story?”
“His mother’s dead, and now they’re trying to dump the kid on me.”
James glared at him, pressing a finger to his mouth.
Wayne shook his head. “What is it?”
Instead of answering, his friend got up, going toward the door. “Frances, so sorry to be a pest. Could you take little Timothy for some soda and a sandwich? I bet he’s hungry.”
Wayne didn’t stop James from ordering his PA. Frances came in, smiled at Timothy, and led the little boy away.
“What the fuck is your problem?” James asked, closing the door.
“What have I done?”
“That boy is clearly missing his mother, and you just come out and say she’s dead? He’s already with a strange man that everyone is claiming is his dad, but you can’t even crack a smile! Can’t you think of the kid’s needs for once?”
“It’s a trick. To try and get money out of me.”
“For crying out loud. You had one woman try to extort money out of you for a pregnancy that wasn’t there. This boy is an innocent. He’s not here to get anything out of you. He doesn’t even want you. He’s as far away from you as possible. Can’t you see that?”
Wayne looked at the space that Timothy had been in. It was as far as he could go.
“You really need to take a good, long look in the mirror. When did you become such a cold, unfeeling bastard? I get that you keep the women at bay because a lot of them just want your bank balance. But that boy is a baby. A kid. Have some damn feelings.”
Shame washed over Wayne. From the moment the social worker dropped Timothy off, he’d felt like he’d been burdened with a curse.
He’d not thought about what the boy was going through. He wouldn’t think of Timothy as his son.
“I … apologize.”
“You can save that shit for Timothy.”
“Why do you care so much?”
James snorted. “You’re for real right now. You know, I’m actually ashamed that I’ve been your friend for so long. I can’t believe for a second that you’re thinking like this. He’s a boy, Wayne. A kid and an innocent, which is how every boy and girl start out. Think about that the next time you’re glaring at him.”
His friend headed toward the office door.
“Where are you going?”
“Far away from you right now because I don’t want to be in your company.”
James slammed the door closed and Wayne sat back, running a hand down his face. He’d been a bastard, and he knew it.
Kids were not something he ever thought of having.
He had learned a long time ago that children were just pawns to be used, and he had no interest in bringing children into an uncertain world.
Wayne rubbed at his eyes. For the first time in his life, he felt tired, exhausted, and he didn’t know what to do.
When it came to running a billion-dollar company and being responsible for people’s jobs all over the world, he knew what to do. Put a four-year-old kid in front of him, and he was struggling. He didn’t know what to do or how to do it.
He was screwing everything up, and that wasn’t good. Timothy wasn’t to blame, no matter what happened, and Wayne had become a monster and treated him as if it was all his fault. He knew absolutely nothing about kids or what to do with them. They were not part of his life or his future.
His empire was what he cared about. Not sniveling little brats.
Timothy hadn’t been crying, though. No, because Wayne had been shouting, the little boy had been scared, and now he felt like the world’s cruelest man. He wasn’t a bad man. He just wasn’t a dad.
There was no way he knew how to be a dad.
His own dad hadn’t been around, and neither had his mother. Everything that he’d earned, he’d done it himself.
This was his life, and he didn’t have time for a kid that wasn’t his. There was no way Timothy was his, and as soon as he could, he was getting rid of him. He bagged his dick up every single time he was with a woman, and he never used condoms that were provided by the woman. There were a few rules he lived by, and he wouldn’t change, not for anyone.
Wayne tapped his finger on the desk.
Until he could prove Timothy wasn’t his, he needed to do something so that he didn’t have to deal with this kid.
A nanny was ideal, so he did a quick internet search and began to track down the perfect woman or man to take the job.
Being a wealthy businessman, he’d learned that throwing money at a problem always helped to fix it no matter what.
Within ten minutes, he’d lined up six nannies to interview, and all of them came really cheap.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard having a kid after all.
****
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to let you go.”
Temperance Michaels had expected the news for the past couple of days now, so it wasn’t all that much of a shock.
She’d been with the Thompsons for nearly three years, long before Robert married his current girlfriend, who couldn’t stand the idea of another woman being more important to his kids. What Catherine didn’t understand was that kids didn’t give a shit if you were an ex-supermodel or a world-famous singer, or even if you’re starring in the next big blockbuster.
Children cared about if you were going to turn up at their plays, or love their artwork, help them with homework, being there all the time, no matter the time of day or night.
Staring at Robert, her employer, she nodded.
There was no point in ranting or raving.
She didn’t believe in violence, nor did she believe in making a scene.
“I’m really sorry. It … didn’t work out.”
Robert was a very good-looking man, and he’d flirted with her a few times when she first came to live with him. From the start, she made him aware of her own boundaries, and how she wouldn’t be his little plaything when he wanted it.
“I will pack my things and leave immediately.” It would kill her, leaving the four children that varied in age from fourteen to four. Damn it, even now she was close to tears.
Robert and Catherine Thompson didn’t know what treasures they had.
It was easier to leave than to stick around as children tended to cause a scene, and parents always got angry, and she didn’t want them upset any more than needed.
“You’re not going to argue?” Robert asked. “Demand to know why?”
“I know why I’m leaving. There’s no need to bring it up. You want me gone, fine.” His latest wife wanted her gone.
Three days ago, Catherine had watched Robert’s youngest daughter Britney launch herself into Temperance’s arms and show her the new box that she’d made along with spelling out words they’d been practicing. When Catherine had tried to get a hug, Britney had pulled away and frowned at her.
From that moment on Catherine had made Temperance’s life difficult. New rules had come into effect that meant Temperance had to stay away from the kids for a period of time. They were stupid rules, but she had to remember that the Thompsons were her employers, so she didn’t argue.
She did her job to the best of her abilities, even if she was spewing hateful words in the back of her mind.
Catherine had hated her because as far as the other woman was concerned, Temperance was too fat for anyone to like. In fact, when she first met Robert’s latest girlfriend, Catherine had even tried to apologize for the kids’ behavior using the excuse that they could be cruel. There had even been a hint that Temperance should go on a diet.