by Alison Mello
I love you Bella and promise you that we will fix everything soon. Please be patient and don’t give up on us. I’ll see you tonight.
Derek
I lie down, holding the note to my chest as tears run down my face. I want to go home with him tonight, and I’m hoping he’ll let me. My place no longer feels like home. It feels cold and empty. It’s not the same without him in it. I can’t wait to see him tonight so I can tell him I love him and I’m ready to fix things. I hope we can talk about the upcoming shoot and come to a compromise because as much as I love him, I’m not sure I can pass on this opportunity. I wonder what I’ll do if he asks me to.
“Good morning.” When I look up, Patty is standing in the doorway. “I wasn’t sure if you were awake, but I see you found Derek’s note,” Patty says with a smile.
“I did, and I’m so hopeful that we can work through this photo shoot dilemma. I love him so much, but I’m not sure what I’ll do if he can’t get over me doing this shoot.”
“Talk to him before you stress yourself out. I think he realizes how important this is to you. He’s just having a hard time dealing with it because of this guy, and that’s understandable,” she says with a small smile. I nod, not knowing what else to say. She’s right. He has a valid reason to be concerned, but I’m a strong woman, and I won’t let some crazy guy get in my way. “Come on, Carter is making us breakfast.” Patty nods toward the kitchen.
“He cooks now?” I ask, a bit leery.
“Yes, he cooks and quite well too.”
She leaves the room to give me a minute. After placing my note back on the nightstand, I grab my robe and saunter into the kitchen to see what Carter and Patty are up to. Sure enough, Carter is in the kitchen cooking us breakfast and Patty is making me coffee. I take a seat at the snack bar as she places the cup in front of me.
“Thank you guys for letting me spend the night. It’s not the same staying at my place now.”
“I know what you mean,” Patty says as she sits next to me with a cup of her own.
Carter places a plate in front of me and says, “You’re welcome here as long as you like. I hope you know that.”
“Thanks, Carter.” We all fall into a comfortable silence as we eat our breakfast of scrambled eggs with veggies, roasted potatoes, and turkey bacon. Patty is right. He can definitely cook.
“Carter, this is delicious. Thank you so much.”
He smiles at me. “You’re very welcome, and I meant what I said. You’re welcome here as long as you’d like.”
I nod my head but look down at my plate. I’m lucky to have such good people around me. I notice there is a sudden silence in the room, and it feels a bit uncomfortable until Patty says, “We should start getting ready. Mom is a mess over this and will be here early to see you.”
I give her a small smile as I rise from my chair with my plate and cup. I rinse them and place them in the dishwasher.
I wish my own mom cared as much as Sandra does. I’ve wanted to call her so many times over the last few days, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She’d probably just say, ‘I told you so,’ and that would just upset me more.
Deciding now’s not the time to think about this, I push my depressing thoughts to the back of my head and jump in the shower. I want to look my best when everyone gets here so it isn’t obvious how much this is starting to affect me.
***
Patty and Carter have been amazing all day today. They’ve been trying to keep me occupied by letting me help them with little things to prepare for everyone’s arrival. Whenever they see me thinking too much, they pull me into their conversation. It’s been great because I think I’d be sitting at home crying, and that wouldn’t be helpful.
The phone rings, and Carter runs to answer it. People must be arriving because he tells the door man to let them up. He opens the door and let’s security know that our guests are starting to arrive. As he finishes the conversation, Sandra and Richard appear. She walks through the door and practically runs to me. She wraps me in the biggest hug.
“How are you, darling?” she asks as she holds my cheeks in her hands, looking into my eyes.
“I’m okay. I’ll be better when this is over,” I answer honestly.
“Hopefully that will be soon,” Richard says as he approaches them. “I’ve spoken with the police to get an update on this, and they are closing in on him. The video they got from the photo studio was not the best, but since they were cooperative and gave the police the guy’s name, the police were able to begin the process of tracking him down. Of course he’s hiding out somewhere, but they’ll get him.”
“I hope so. I’m tired of living like this. It’s causing issues between Derek and I, and I don’t like it,” I tell Richard and Sandra.
“What do you mean, darling?” Sandra asks.
I sigh. “We got into an argument over my latest contract. He doesn’t want me to do it because of my stalker, but this contract is a model's dream. I can’t give up this opportunity because of this guy.”
“What is it?” Sandra asks me, concerned as she walks me to the couch.
“Centerfold of the swimsuit edition of Maximum magazine. I’ll be in their calendar too.”
“Darling, I can understand that this is a dream for you and I congratulate you on reaching a goal, but you have to understand his fears. If you two are going to be a couple, you have to discuss these things and come up with a compromise,” she says in the sweetest voice.
“I’m hoping we’ll be able to talk soon and do just that.” I look down at my fidgeting fingers. “I think I shocked him when I told him, and then when he got upset, it got me upset and I just ran out,” I say, continuing to look down.
Patty joins us on the couch and the men stay in the other room, giving us space for our girl talk. “I’m sure now that you two have both had some time apart to process this and your feelings for each other, you’ll be able to talk about it more openly and work things out,” Patty says, placing her hand on my leg.
“I hope so. I miss him so much.”
There’s a knock on the door. It’s Claire and Troy. We all get up to greet them, and just as we’re finishing, Mia and Jackson show up. Every time there’s a knock on the door, my heart skips a beat as I pray it’s Derek, but he hasn’t shown up yet. I’m getting worried because it’s not like him to be late. Of course he could be circling around to make sure he wasn’t followed.
Carter must sense my concern because he walks up to me and whispers, “Relax, he’ll be here.”
I look up at him. “I’m worried about him.”
“I know.” He says nothing more; he just walks away. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down as everyone continues on with their conversations. I take a walk to the window and look out, silently praying that he’s okay. I never realized how beautiful the view is from here. I continue looking out the window, trying not to worry. It’s not really working.
I’m so deep in my own thoughts I hadn’t noticed Derek was approaching until I felt his arms wrap around my body. I take in his scent. I smile even though he scared the shit out of me. Turning in his arms, I wrap mine around his neck as he holds me close.
He whispers in my ear, “Sorry I scared you.”
“That’s twice today you’ve scared me,” I tell him with a giggle, just happy to see him.
He looks down at me, confused.
“You’re late and you scared me when you snuck up on me.” I pout, and he laughs as he lowers his lips to mine. When our lips touch, it feels like lightning struck my body and brought me to life. I pull away. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too, baby,” he replies. “I’m sorry I freaked out on you, but I’m scared.”
“I know. Can we at least talk about it?” I ask, hoping he’s not going to tell me no.
“Of course we can, but not tonight. I want to just enjoy a night with you.”
I bite my lip as I smile. “Does that mean I can come back to your p
lace tonight?”
“No, but it does mean I’m staying here with you.”
My face lights up. “Really?”
He nods as he laughs.
“Come on. Let’s join everyone else for dinner. They’re all waiting on us.”
We walk to the kitchen hand in hand as everyone makes plates and heads to the dining room to take their seat. We’re the last to be seated, but we jump in on the conversation that’s taking place about Carter and Patty’s home. They’ve started looking at architectural firms to hire someone for the design of the house. They’ve narrowed it down to three, and they’re hoping to pick someone in the coming weeks. They really want to get moving on the construction of their home before summer rolls around, and since Jackson knows a few contractors from the banking business, he’s already been talking to a few of them about timing. Now they can make a decision as soon as they choose the architect.
Poor Patty has a million questions being thrown at her: how big of a house do you want? How many bedrooms? Where will you build it? I feel like she’s been trying so hard to answer everyone’s questions, she’s barely eaten. However, she’s so excited she doesn’t seem to mind. They placed a bid for the piece of land they wanted on Friday, and the owner has until Monday to decide. Hopefully, the owner will accept and Carter and Patty will no longer have to worry about where their home will be.
I try to give her a break by changing the subject. “Patty, dinner is delicious, as always.”
“Thank you. I really enjoy cooking and having everyone over, and now that Carter is helping cook more, it’s even easier.”
“He made us the best breakfast this morning. I was impressed,” I say. Poor Carter actually blushes as he looks down at his plate.
“That’s my boy,” his mom says, making it even worse. Patty and I giggle as he tries to hide his rosy red cheeks.
“I like helping her cook, and eventually she’s going to need more help anyway, so I might as well get used to it.”
“Why is she going to need more help?” Sandra asks, concerned.
“We want to have a baby at some point, Mother. It would be nice for him to be able to help out while I deal with the baby.”
“Please don’t rush it, Patricia. You’re both young and need to live a little first,” Sandra says with a bit of panic in her voice, which shocks me. I figured she’d be pushing Patty to get a move on.
“Mother, we’re not rushing it, but I’m going to have a baby and hopefully sooner rather than later. Carter is almost six years older than me, and that’s our decision.” Patty grins. “Besides, I figured you’d be thrilled to become a grandmother.”
“Oh without a doubt, but I don’t want you to rush either. You’re newly married. You should be enjoying yourselves.”
“We did, on our honeymoon.”
Patty bites her lip and wiggles her brows at her mother, knowing it’s going to make her blush. Sandra is too proper to talk about stuff like that, especially at the dinner table.
Sandra becomes all flush at the thought of her daughter having sex and gives her a dirty look for bringing it up while most of the table just chuckles. “Patricia, this is not the time or place for that kind of talk.”
“Oh mother, stop. How else do you think I’m going to create your grandbaby?”
“I think your mother knows how the baby will be created. It’s discussing it that bothers her,” Richard says, coming to his wife’s rescue. I start to giggle as I get up to begin clearing the table.
Once everything has been cleaned up, we all settle in the kitchen. Patty spends some time showing off pictures from their honeymoon and talking about how romantic it was. I’ve already heard all of this and I’m kind of glad because I can’t keep my eyes off of Derek.
Her parents finally decide to call it a night. It’s been nice seeing everyone, but I’m anxious to spend some time with Derek. We’ve been sitting at the snack bar talking with Patty and Carter for about thirty minutes now, and I’m dying to go to bed.
I’m glad when Patty finally says, “Come on, Carter. Let’s get some sleep so they can have some time to themselves.”
We say goodnight and go to the spare room, where I’m actually feeling a bit nervous. I’m not sure if it’s because we haven’t spoken much since our argument or what, but it feels off.
“Come here, baby,” Derek says as he sits on the side of the bed. “What’s wrong?”
“I guess I’m just nervous because I don’t know where we stand.” I look down at my fingers as I fidget with them. It’s a bad habit of mine, and he knows it so he places his hand over mine. When I stop his thumb goes to my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.
“I love you, Bella. I meant every word I said on your social media wall. We had a disagreement and took some time apart to calm down. That’s it. I never considered us broken up, and I hope you didn’t either.” I shake my head. I don’t want him to think I’ve been with someone else, because I couldn’t. I never stopped thinking about him.
“You hurt my feelings pretty bad.” I want him to know how I felt.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I lost it when I thought of you on that centerfold with this freak drooling over you, but then I realized it was more than just that. I was jealous, and I’m sorry. I was not only angry over the idea of this freak, but every other guy who is going to see what’s mine. What I realized after I calmed down is that it’s them who should be jealous. You are mine, and I get to have you every night. I get to touch you, kiss you, and make love to you while they get a picture. I get the real thing, and that’s way more important to me.” He leans in to kiss me, and then says, “Can you please forgive me, Bella?”
I give him a huge smile. “Of course I can. Now can I come home?”
“Home?” He looks nervous but excited at the same time. “Like you’re agreeing to move in with me?” He says it so fast it’s almost like he’s afraid if he doesn’t get it out, I’ll change my mind.
“One of the things I realized is that home is being with you. My house was so cold and lonely without you. I need you, and I want you in my life.”
“Yes, you can come home.” He kisses me again. “Let’s get some sleep, and you can meet me at the house in the morning, but I think it’s important we ride separately.”
We both lie down with him spooning me, and I quickly drift off.
Chapter 11
Bella
Derek and I had the most amazing night together, and all we did was hold each other and sleep. I’m still not able to tell him exactly how I feel about him, but I think he gets it and knows that I love him. I’m watching him sleep, as he often does to me, and it’s quite cute. He looks tired yet peaceful. This is probably the best night’s sleep he’s had since I left. I know because I haven’t slept well either.
As his brows furrow, I lean down and place a gentle kiss where the V has formed on his forehead. He moans and stretches as he begins to wake. I run my fingers through his long, brown hair. It’s quite overgrown.
When his eyes open, I smile down at him. “You need a haircut.”
He laughs at me. “Good morning to you too, and you’re right, I do. I will work on that this week.”
“Are you ready to get up?” I ask him as I look down at my watch. It’s nine thirty.
“Yes, because I want to get you home, where you’ll be safe and I can start figuring out how to show you just how sorry I am.”
Licking my lips, I say, “I have a few ideas.”
“Oh you do, huh?” He pulls me down to the bed and rolls on top of me, pressing his erection into my stomach. “Do they involve him? I hope so, because my ideas definitely involve him,” he says, continuing to rub his erection against me.
“They definitely involve him. I’ve missed him very much,” I say in a soft, seductive voice as I wrap my fingers around his cock and give it a slight squeeze. He moans at the pleasure he feels from my touch, and it only makes me want him more.
“Let’s go. I want you home with me.
” He jumps up from the bed and begins putting clothes on. I giggle as I watch him rush around the room so we can get out of here.
“Are you laughing at me?” he asks as he climbs up the bed like he’s a predator and I’m his prey. I simply nod my head in response, when suddenly he pounces and tickles me. I burst into a fit of laughter.
“Derek, stop tickling me,” I shout, but he continues on. “If I pee their bed…” I say through laughter.
He stops. “Come on, let’s get going so they can have their house back.”
I get up, slip on my clothes, and gather my things, making sure not to leave anything behind. We quickly make the bed and then we make our way out into the kitchen, where we find Patty and Carter eating breakfast and drinking coffee.
“Do you guys want something to eat?” Patty offers.
“Nah, we’re going to go to Derek’s,” I respond with a smile as my way of letting her know that we’re good.
Derek places his arm around my shoulder and kisses the top of my head. I look up at him and say, “Derek, I need to run home and take care of a few things. I’ll have Jordan and Jared take me there, and I’ll meet you at home in about thirty minutes.”
“Okay baby, but don’t take too long. We have all that making up to do,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me.
Derek sends a text to Jordan as we thank our friends with a promise to invite them over again soon for dinner and cards. Derek takes my bag and carries it down to the waiting car. Jordan and Jared are standing beside the car, waiting for me to slip into the back. I inform my driver that I’m going home to pick up a few quick things and then we’re going to Derek’s. He nods as Jordan and Jared climb into their car. Derek pulls out of his spot. We begin to follow because our houses are in the same direction. Jordan and Jared are directly behind us, ensuring we aren’t being followed.
I look out the windshield and watch Derek drive away, so happy that we’re good again. All of a sudden, it looks like Derek is losing control. Cameron slowly backs off because he doesn’t want us to crash into him. I’m panicking as I try to figure out what’s going on.