by Brooke May
One result, for a law firm, grabs my attention with the name Jacqueline Cunningham. I’m not sure why, but I click it. The picture I find would knock me on my ass if I wasn’t already sitting. There is an older version of Katie staring back at me with a wide, welcoming smile.
“Holy shit—”
“Hey, C! Are you ready to go yet?” Scott yells from the other room, pulling me from my endless searching. Glancing at the clock, I see I’ve wasted a lot of time looking online because it is almost noon. I close the screen and scrub my face as I grab my keys and shades.
“Let’s get this stupid pool party done with,” I grumble as I pass Scott.
“You call tons of hot chicks in barely anything stupid? What the fuck, man?” He laughs.
XOXO
SITTING HERE AT this stupid fucking party makes me wish I could drown away in booze. Scott is having the time of his life attracting girls to potentially keep him happy through the rest of our week here. I’m in a lounge chair and watching the empty wave pool like it is the best fucking thing since Betty White.
I’m repulsed by how many skanky women Bob has at his party and not a single one of them is my Katie or his girlfriend. All these women are nothing but skin and tiny bones. Why do they think they are sexy when you can count all their ribs? Some of them are so flat that if it was all right with society, they probably wouldn’t need to wear bikini tops. I roll my eyes in disgust and slam back more water. I had to go to the concession stand to get the fucking bottle; Bob only supplied liquor.
“Predator!”
Please God, make them go away.
I look at the heavens as this girl—Maya, Taya, whateverya—comes over to bug me again. “Do you want a drink?” Her fake pouty lips reveal a crazy-ass creepy grin that makes me shiver in discomfort. She makes Amber and Lizzy look like kittens.
Ha! I haven’t seen those two in years. Someone had told me they went on to greener pastures once they realized Scott and I wouldn’t give into them.
“I’m good.” I wave my almost empty bottle in her face. “I’m okay over here. Go away.” I tried to be nice, but fuck, this woman wouldn’t get the hint. Her first mistake was calling me Predator. I hate anyone to refer to me as that outside the ring. Unless you are in the training ring with me, and she isn’t.
No wait, her first mistake was thinking I would be interested in the first place. I haven’t been with a woman, let alone been seen with one, since Katie. Yet every woman who approaches me somehow thinks she has something special to change my mind.
Hard to be special when you give it up to anyone with a dick.
I haven’t made it a secret that I don’t want a relationship or anything when it comes to women. I’ve held onto the hope of reuniting with Katie for so long that if I ended up a lonely old man, I would be okay.
“Not fucking happening,” I mutter more to myself, but she catches it.
“Come on; we could have a lot of fun together,” she purrs and tries to sit with me. I push her back with my knee, and she ends up sitting on the ground next to me.
I look her over real quick through my shades; that way she can’t see me. She could easily pass as a minor. Hell, a high school freshman. I shake my head and purse my lips. “Not. Fucking. Happening,” I say louder. Even if I were interested, I would break her in two.
“Aw, where is the adventure?”
“With my dick.” I grunt. She is confused and tilts her head to the side attempting to look cute. It doesn’t work. “Which is with the love of my life, along with my heart.”
Her nose wrinkles in disgust. “And why isn’t she here?”
I throw her off with a devilish grin. I love pulling this over on vulture-like women, nothin’ but gold diggers. “Who said anything about a she?”
I start to laugh more to myself as she scrambles to get up and stomps off like the child she is. Nothing like throwing the gay card out there to get a woman off my trail. Women do it all the time to discourage unwanted male attention, so why the hell can’t a guy do the same?
Readjusting myself in my seat to get comfortable again, I drop my head back and try to ignore all the damn cackling and idiotic conversations going on around me. Other fighters flirt with the girls and even some with their wives sitting right there watching. It truly disgusts me. You marry one person; you stay committed to that one person for the rest of your damn life.
“Enjoying yourself?” I am man enough to admit that I would like to weep when Bob sits down in the lounge next to me.
Can I please be left alone?
I lift my shades and see a girl perched on his lap.
“Where’s your friend who was at the fights last night?” I try to sound bored and uninterested, but I’m really interested. Wherever that girl is, I’m betting Katie will be there too.
“I don’t have a clue.” He shrugs and openly squeezes the girl’s barely-there tits.
Pervert.
“Why do you ask? That’s the second time you’ve brought up Beth.”
Beth? That’s her name? Now, I need a last name.
“No, we brought up K.C.,” I comment. I strongly dislike calling her that. She is so much more than that simple name.
“Oh, well, I’m not sure what they are up to today.” He laughs.
“Aren’t you dating Beth?” I arch a brow, questioning him. This man is probably one of the biggest douchebags I have never had the displeasure of meeting.
The girl seems a bit taken aback, but he kisses her bare shoulder and shakes his head. “We have a certain arrangement. I give Beth what she wants as long as she keeps me happy.”
He says that with pride?
Fucking douche.
“Apparently, she isn’t keeping you happy enough, big daddy,” the girl on his lap chimes in.
“You want to keep me happy?” His voice drops as he talks to her. I’m out of here. Men who want their women to call them daddy have issues. I’m sorry; there is no way in hell I would ever want anyone but my children to call me daddy.
I stand and leave the old pervert to his young girl. What the hell is Katie’s friend thinking by being with this idiot?
I go to take another drink and find my water gone. “Fuck.” I toss it into a recycling bin and decide I need a break from the park, heading out to the concession stand. With only alcohol in here, I know I won’t have any luck finding water. Scott can enjoy all of that; I have a championship to defend. I walk around the back of one of the slides and stop in my tracks as I watch the sexiest, roundest ass shake as it walks in front of me toward the concession stand.
“Fuck me.”
She’s here.
I feel giddy, like a kid, seeing Katie right in front of me. “Damn.” I cock my head to the side and watch her body move under the black bikini. I can’t help the grin that crawls to my face. “I’ve got you now, panda.”
With the same stealth I use in the ring, I walk up behind her and stand there just watching her for a few moments. My fingers itch to touch her smooth skin. She still smells as good as I remember, and I just want to groan and bury my face in her neck and never come up for fresh air again.
I see her body tense when she realizes I’m close. I always loved that when I came up to her, her body instantly knew its other half was near. It makes me possessive, lethal, and hard as fuck.
“Still black and white and now even sexier all over,” I whisper slowly into her ear. She lets out a small gasp. “Talk to me, Katie,” I plead. “Turn around and let me see you.”
And when she does, I’m taken aback. Her body has changed all right. I knew her ass and tits had changed, but her once-perfect stomach is now marred with two stretch marks on either side. Not that it even matters because she still fucking beautiful to me. She still steals my breath with her eyes and warms me with her gorgeous and now several inches longer hair.
And I’m fucking hard.
I almost have her when that stupid bitch Maya/Taya finds me and ruins everything. I watch Katie storm off to a diff
erent part of the water park.
Oh no, you aren’t getting away this time.
“You lied. You’re not gay,” she slurs at me.
“Back. The. Fuck. Off.” I grab her and forcibly remove her before taking off after Katie. I follow her swaying ass to the kiddie pool area. She goes through the gate, and I’m just about to follow when I stop, flabbergasted.
“What the fuck?”
Chapter Six
Chamberlain
ALL THE QUESTIONS I had floating around in my head—why did she run or why didn’t she ever try to contact me—went out the window as I watch a little girl run into her arms. Only a dozen more replaced them.
Who is this little girl with long blond hair and a smile that matches Katie’s?
Is Katie married?
Is that why she was sent away?
What the hell have her parents done to us?
No, none of this is possible.
I refuse to believe most of the questions I now have bouncing around in my head.
“Mommy!” I hear the sweetest little voice scream out as Katie and her friend, Beth, go after her in the pool.
She’s a mom.
Strangely, I don’t feel angry about another man having a child with her because something about this little girl pulls at my heart. When her hair was partially dried, it is the same shade as her mom’s; she’s tanner than Katie used to be yet matching her now like they spend a lot of time outside, and I bet anything that her eyes are the same bright ice blue as Katie’s, eyes of an angel.
I watch them play around in the pool from the shadows and smile at the joy this little girl has brought to my panda. I knew Katie would be an amazing mom, and she’s sure proving it. That little girl has the unburdened smile that only one can get from being loved each and every day and wants for nothing.
I’m a stupid bastard for not telling Katie I loved her the moment it hit me. I have to rectify that and soon. I continue to watch them as they exit the pool and get ready to leave. Panic starts to set into my chest. I cannot let her leave yet, not without talking to her.
I’m lost in my head when I realize three sets of eyes are looking at me. I freeze, immobile and unsure of how to talk to her without upsetting her in front of the little girl.
Do something, Lawrence!
Katie quickly collects her daughter and tries to rush past me. Instinctually, I reach out and lightly grab her arm. “Katie?”
I don’t know what I’m going to say if she does talk to me. I just need to look at her, look at the beautiful face of the woman I love so much more than I ever thought possible. I don’t want her to leave, but at the same time, I want her away from Bob’s orgy going on across the water park.
Her friend gasps behind her, but my gaze doesn’t waver from Katie. The small head of blond hair lying on her shoulder lifts. Her eyes slowly open and blink several times, but all it takes is that first glance. That one glance to cause my breathing to pick up as I look into deep blue eyes that mirror my own.
It’s not possible.
“Are you my daddy?” she asks sweetly, her lips forming a little pouty bow as she regards me closely.
Well, fuck me; the air is knocked from my lungs. I can’t take my eyes off this beautiful little girl, who looks just like a little angel, a princess, a mini version of her breathtaking mom. Everything about her is Katie; her blond hair, the tiny little body, and even her ears and nose are just like Katie’s.
My eyes dart quickly to Katie’s left hand holding the little girl’s bottom and see no ring on her ring finger, not even a tan line from one. Relief floods me.
Oh, thank God.
I look back at the little girl still watching me warily. Her eyes and her pouty little lips are so much like mine, like my mom’s. She looks like her mom, but she also looks like mine.
She’s mine.
Something sharp hits me deep in my chest. A sense of pride washes over me along with a sudden wave of anger. In my daze, my hand falls to my side and is now clenching into a fist with the other.
Katie left me when she was pregnant?
Why in the fuck didn’t she ever try to tell me?
She knew how much I wanted a family.
“Rest your head, baby doll.” Katie hushes her, our daughter, and pats her on the back before starting to walk away. “Good-bye, Chamberlain.”
“Not so fast, Katie!” I shout and stomp after her. “I want some answers.” I grind my teeth as I continue to chase after them. “Katie!” I must look like a deranged man, but I don’t care. I want my woman and now my daughter.
I hear a sob break through the otherwise silent air and my heart wrecks.
Shit.
“Way to go, asshole.” Katie’s little friend, Beth, shoves past me and rushes to her friend’s side while shooting daggers at me.
I’m the bad guy?
“That’s rich; she was everything to me, and then she was gone!”
They both stop their hasty retreat and slowly turn around. The look they share tells me all I need. I said that aloud, not to myself.
I feel like an ass as I see the tears stream down Katie’s face and our little girl trying to wipe them away. Her nose is scrunched up as she focuses on her mom. Katie is all this beautiful little girl has ever known. And even at her young age, three maybe, she takes care of her mom.
Beth surprises me; gone is the death glare and now, she looks smug.
“I freaking knew it!” she shouts with a smile. This only snaps Katie out of whatever is going through her head, and she turns to leave again.
I pass Beth, who is grinning like a loon, and head after Katie and my daughter once more. My blood is boiling. I don’t even know my daughter’s name. I don’t know her birthday, her favorite color, what her favorite thing is—I don’t know anything.
Katie stops at a little car, nothing like her Volvo. Her little Honda fits her better, and it’s newer condition relieves me a fraction. It tells me she isn’t struggling too badly by herself. I just hope it starts.
She quickly puts our daughter and their bag into the backseat, making sure to reassure the little one that she is okay before she shuts the door a little harder than necessary and turns a murderous glare on me.
“I want answers,” I say calmly as I can, trying to rein in my temper and the growing desire to slam her against the car and kiss her with everything I have. “I think you and I both have a lot to say to each other, and I would really like it if you would cooperate.” I don’t take my eyes off her. She takes two steps to me, progress. “Now, Katie,” I grit out.
Shocked at my tone, she takes a step back, shaking her head. “I can’t … I-I-” Visibly shaking, she opens the driver’s door and gets in. She speeds away with little care while I’m left standing there in complete confusion.
“What the fuck?” Bending over, I shove my fingers into my hair and pull. What the hell could have happened to her to make her so scared of me now? If I ever see Douglas or Carol Cunningham, I’m going to lose my shit for the damage they’ve done to her.
“I so fucking knew it.” Beth’s voice pulls me out of my musing. I stand back up straight and turn my head to watch her walk up next to me. “I’m Beth, by the way.” She extends her hand, and I shake it.
“Chamberlain.”
“Oh, I know who you are. I know all about you.”
I’m not sure why, but I’m shocked. If she is talking about me, then maybe she still feels something for me. “She’s told you?”
“Oh, yeah.” She nods with a shit-eating grin. “Everything. And I knew that something at the end of your and Katie’s story didn’t add up right.” She shakes her head.
“What did she say happened?” I turn to fully face her.
Biting back her grin, Beth shakes her head again and digs something out of her bag. “Not happening.” She finds what she is looking for and pulls out a gold card. “It’s her place to tell you. This is where you will find her tomorrow night. She works then.” I grab the card and lo
ok down, instantly becoming angrier than I have ever been. “Good luck.” She pats my arms and walks off, leaving me with the fucking card.
This can’t be right. Why would she work at a place like this?
She’d better not be dancing.
“Who the hell was that hot little number? I don’t remember seeing her at the party.” Scott decides to finally come looking for me. Perfect timing, as usual. “I think I need to make my presence known with that one.” He stops next to me. “What ya got there?”
The General’s Gentlemen’s Club
“I never came across that one in my search.” He reads over my shoulder. “Is that where Katie works?”
“Not for fucking long.”
Chapter Seven
Katie
I’M A COMPLETE mess. Not only are my feathers in a bunch from my run-in with Chamberlain yesterday, but also because it took me forever to pry my poor sick baby off my leg as I left for work. Every chance I get, I rush back to the dressing room to check my messages to make sure Marissa is doing all right. I loathe leaving her when she doesn’t feel good, but I know my aunts will take good care of her for me. I’m pretty sure she has an ear infection, which means I need to get her into the doctor’s office tomorrow. I just hope I can get her in before my interview.
At least, there was a silver lining today. This afternoon, I received a call from one of the elementary schools asking me to come in tomorrow for an interview. After looking over my application, resume, and my college transcript, they were impressed. Fingers crossed and a prayer said that I get this job. I don’t know how much more I can take of The General’s and the grabby men.
Tonight is even more stressful with a private party in the back room. More than once tonight, I’ve been asked to climb up on the stage and dance with the other girls. My inner cheek is bleeding at this point from biting down and forcing a smile to nicely decline. I’m not an entertainer here; I’m a server. I just hope I won’t be for much longer.
Beth is working with me tonight. Normally, she and I rarely see one another until the end of the night, but tonight, she is by my side and letting me sneak away to check my phone.