Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist. "I thought we agreed I was having your pussy for breakfast?"
She turned in my arms and draped hers around my shoulders. "I was coming back with coffee."
"Coffee can wait. I can't." Sliding my hand between us, I lifted the hem of the t-shirt and slipped my hand to her pussy. "No underwear. I approve."
"I—" Ashleigh moaned as my fingers ran through her slit. I silenced her with my mouth, kissing and devouring her lips as I sank two fingers into her. I really could get used to waking up each morning and making her come either by my fingers, my mouth, or my dick. I didn't care what anyone said. Pussy was better than coffee.
I spun her around, opened the middle drawer next to her, and lifted her foot onto it to open her up for me. Bending down, I spread the lips of her pussy, and just like I had with her mouth, I devoured her between her legs. She held onto the counter and looked down at me. I didn't stop my feasting, and the sight of her watching me only intensified my need to please her.
"Don't stop," she panted and grabbed onto my hair.
The drawer her foot was on started to move, and I knew she was riding my face. She pressed my head hard against her, and even though I could barely breathe, I didn't stop until she shattered around my tongue, and I drank her juices for my breakfast.
Nick and I were cuddling on his couch, having a lazy Sunday, when I woke to my cell phone buzzing later that day.
"It's Everleigh," I stated, and reached for it. "Hey," I answered.
"Sister, sister."
"What's up?"
"It's him."
"Douglas is dead?" I sat up straighter, my gaze moved to Nick, and his mouth hung open. I put the call on speakerphone.
"And his parents."
"That's crazy."
"I know. I'm a widow."
"Now what happens?"
"The Bureau of Consular Affairs is working with me to arrange to have their bodies sent back to New York."
"They pay for that?" I asked.
"No. I have to."
"Well, that sucks," I replied because it did suck. They weren't in love, and the jackass had tried to leave her behind for her to die.
"Yeah, but I can still play up the widow card. I did some research on the plane ride here, and it can take up to three weeks for the inheritance to be transferred."
"And you still get that?"
"I think I get it all since I was his wife."
"Really?"
"I'm not sure. I know everyone was waiting to hear where Doug was, so once they learn he died, I should know more, right?"
I nodded. "I think so."
She blew out a breath. "This is all so crazy."
"It is," I agreed and met Nick's stare. I smiled at him. If Everleigh knew that I hired Nick, essentially broke up, and now we were dating for real, she'd think it was even crazier. I would never tell her or my parents that Nick was an escort, and I'd hired him.
"When are you going back to New York?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Have a safe flight."
"Are you trying to get rid of me?"
"What?" I giggled. "No!"
"Is Nick with you?"
"He is."
"Hi, Everleigh," Nick said.
She laughed. "Hello, Nick."
We said our goodbyes, and I set my phone on the coffee table.
"That's some shit," Nick stated.
I nodded. "Yeah, but I was hoping it would be him."
"I think we all were."
"I just hope it means that she can still get the money," I confessed. "My parents need it."
"Yeah," he agreed.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Speaking of money …"
He waited a few moments, probably for me to elaborate, but I didn't. He finally asked, "You mean my job?"
I nodded. "I know I can't make you quit, but I think we need to talk about it."
We faced each other on the couch, and he sighed. "This is one of the reasons it took me so long to call you mine."
I smiled at the term of endearment. I loved hearing him say I was his.
He continued. "I've only been an escort, so I don't know what to do."
"Do you want to still do it?" I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
Nick sighed. "I can't."
"You can't?"
He leaned forward and cupped my cheek. Running his thumb along my bottom lip, he said, "I went on a date the other day, and all I thought about was you."
"Oh," I breathed, looking away from his eyes. Did he sleep with someone else? It wasn't as though we were really dating, and we had just broken up. It was literally his job.
"I didn't sleep with her if that's what you're thinking."
My gaze shot back to his. "You didn't?"
He shook his head and smiled, still running his thumb along my lip. "No, and that's when I knew for sure that I needed to figure us out."
"And did you?"
"Only that I want to be with you."
"I want to be with you too."
He removed his thumb. "But I haven’t figured out what to do about work and making money. I've never been in a real relationship before, but I doubt you want me to be a deadbeat boyfriend."
My eyes widened. "I …"
Nick laughed. "Yeah, I didn't think so, but I have money saved, and I can figure it out."
"That's fine with me." We went back to watching Impractical Jokers on truTV until a thought came to me. "Have you ever thought about running an escort service?"
He balked and met my stare. "Running an escort service?"
I shrugged. "I'm assuming your boss doesn't go on dates, right?"
"Right."
"So, you can start your own and train guys or something," I suggested.
He thought for a moment. His eyes lit up. "Or I could be a recruiter."
My brow furrowed. "A recruiter?"
"Well," he grinned, "how do you think most of the guys get hired?"
"I … I wouldn't know."
Nick laughed. "Of course not, but I can totally be a recruiter."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. And this is why I love you." He tackled me, so I laid back with him on top of me. "You're a genius."
* * *
Two days later
* * *
My phone rang while I was on my lunch break.
"Hello?"
"You are not going to believe this," Everleigh stated, not using her normal sister, sister greeting.
"What's wrong?"
"I was going through Doug's laptop, and I came across an email in the trash that literally made me want to kill him if he wasn't already dead."
"What did it say?"
"He planned the kidnapping."
"What?" I gasped.
"He planned the kidnapping," she repeated.
"I heard you, but you need to explain."
"I was searching the trash folder and found one to some weird email address. When I opened it, it was a reply message that said, "Confirmed," so I scrolled down to read more of the email exchange, and long story short, he had hired someone to kidnap and kill me."
"What?" I inhaled again.
"I know. He wrote that he would be okay with him being taken too, but to only kill me and to make it look like a struggle with him. He was to pay them—"
"A million dollars?" I asked because that was what they wanted from Nick.
"Yes!" she screeched. "Can you believe it?"
"He had a million dollars to spare for this?"
"His inheritance is five million."
My mouth hung open. "Seriously?"
"Yep."
I thought for a moment. "Do you think he left with his parents so he wouldn't have to pay the kidnappers, and they would still kidnap and kill you, thinking the plan was still the same?"
She gasped. "Oh, my God. Do you think that's what happened?"
"I think the tsunami either sped up things or put a kink in the plan."<
br />
"What do you mean?"
"Obviously, none of us could predict a tsunami, but I think once he got the alert, he figured you'd either die by the tidal wave or the kidnappers would do it when they realized they couldn't reach him."
"Are you fucking serious?"
"I mean, we don't know for sure, but it makes sense. I can't picture Douglas getting a scratch on him. He probably thought he was smart, and you'd die either way."
"Why would he want me dead?"
"So he wouldn't have to pay you."
"I'm going to kill him."
"You don't need to since Mother Nature took care of him for you." I chuckled.
"Thank goodness for that."
"Any update on the inheritance, which I can't believe is five million."
"Yes, actually. His attorney called me and said it was being deposited into the account specified by Douglas before his death. I have a meeting with a probate attorney tomorrow to discuss what to do next since I don't know how it all works."
"Keep me updated."
"I will."
"Don't!"
I held up my hands as I walked into Mark's office and grinned. "Don't what?"
"You know."
I laughed and sat in one of the chairs across from his desk. "It's not what you think."
"Really?" He tilted his head to the side. "You didn't fall in love and are quitting?"
"Actually, no."
"No?"
I grunted. "I did fall in love, but I'm not quitting."
Mark's mouth hung open. "Your girl is okay with this line of work?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Not exactly."
He rolled his eyes. "So, you are quitting?"
"I hope I'm not."
"What are you saying then?" He furrowed his brow.
"How do you feel about me recruiting for you?"
He balked. "Really?"
"Saddles & Racks is literally all I know. You don't want to lose your best guy, so I could recruit and train for you."
He thought for a moment. "Well, shit. If that's the only way to keep you, then let's do it."
* * *
Eight weeks later
* * *
My phone started to buzz on the nightstand, and I untangled myself from Ashleigh's warm body to see who was calling. It was Paul.
"This better be good," I snapped into the phone.
"I wouldn't call you at three in the morning if it wasn't."
When Ashleigh groaned and turned over to face me, the streetlights outside cast enough glow through the blinds for me to see her beautiful face. "Who is it?"
"Paul," I replied, and brushed a piece of her hair out of her face. "Spit it out, dude."
"Cat's in labor."
I quickly sat up. "No shit?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"Heading to the hospital now." I hung up.
"Cat?" Ashleigh asked as she got out of bed.
"Yep," I replied, and slid out as well.
"I'm so excited," she stated as we both started to put our clothes on. "I love babies."
"Yeah?" I slipped on my T-shirt. "You want me to knock you up?" I never thought I'd want kids, but I wanted them with Ashleigh if that was what she wanted.
"Not until you put a ring on it."
I grinned. "Noted."
Cat delivered a healthy baby girl named Abigail Rose McKenna. That meant there were two boys and two girls in our circle of friends. Gabe and Autumn had Liam, who was almost two, and one more on the way, Vinny and Tessa had Colton, who was at least seven, and Riley, who was a little more than a year old, and now Seth and Cat had Abigail. It was crazy to think that only three years ago, we—except Seth—were all in the game and had no desire ever to settle down. The guys were right, though. It only took one woman to change everything.
I was thinking about proposing and babies because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Ashleigh. I didn't even care that we'd only been dating for a little more than two months. I was ready for forever. What started out as any other client booking had turned into more, so much more, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
But I had to put a ring on it, as Ashleigh had said, because I knew that was what she wanted. She wanted to come home each night and cook dinner together. She wanted to have that forever love only found in fairy tales. She wanted that with me, and I wanted that with her. It honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I wasn't sure why I had been scared to settle down. Maybe it just needed to be the right woman.
I pulled up to the jewelry store where Cassie worked. It was where Brad had gotten shot and where Cassie worked before shit went down. She’d ended up getting her job back, and lucky for me, she was going to help me out because I had no clue what I was doing.
When I walked in, I spotted her right away. "Hey, Nick," she greeted. "I pulled some rings that I think you might like."
"Cool." I walked closer to the case she was standing behind.
"If none of these work, we have more."
I nodded and peered down at the rings sitting on the case. I took a few minutes to compare each one, and then held up the one I wanted. "This one."
"Oh, I love that one," Cassie replied.
I smiled. "Me too."
"You're not going to believe this," Ashleigh stated as she walked into my house. Since being back together, we hadn't spent a night apart.
"What's that?" I asked, looking away from the TV.
She kissed me quickly and then sat next to me on the couch. "Everleigh's a millionaire."
"She got the money?"
"All of the money," she elaborated.
"Damn." I whistled. "She lucked out."
Ashleigh snorted. "I know. If it had been me, I probably would have ended up dead."
"We almost did," I deadpanned.
"I know, but things happen for a reason, right?"
I pulled her against me. "Right."
"Everleigh also said she wants to move here."
"Really?"
"Well, she said she wants to move here with our parents. Some studies indicate that drier climates are better for Dad's lungs, so they are hoping to find a doctor in LA. It would be easier than flying to New York from Alabama when he has a doctor's appointment."
"Because they can drive to LA," I supplied.
"Exactly."
"Well, I know that will be good for your relationship with them."
"Yeah." Ashleigh smiled.
"Did she say when?"
"They want to fly out here in a few weeks to house hunt."
"With millions, they will find a nice house."
"For sure."
"Speaking of …"
"Yeah?"
"We don't need to keep our two places, do we?"
Ashleigh grinned. "Are you wanting to come home to me each night, Mr. Hawkins?"
I turned and brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, baby, every fucking night. Will you move in with me?"
She thought for a moment, tapping her finger against her chin, then she shrugged and smirked. "I guess so."
"That was easy." I chuckled.
"Being with you is easy."
"That's exactly how I feel about you, baby." I pressed my lips to hers. Things were definitely going in the right direction.
No matter where I hid the ring in my house, I worried it would burn a hole and fall out to expose my future plans.
Getting out of my bed, I slipped over to my dresser, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out the black velvet box. I took out the one carat, emerald cut, white gold, twisting infinity ring from the box, and slid back into bed. When I was certain Ashleigh was still asleep, I lightly grabbed her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. I laid back down and waited for her to stir. She didn't, and the minutes turned into an hour as I stared at her, waiting for her to finally wake up.
The night before, we had fucked multiple times because we were happy that we were taking the next step and moving in together, but a
pparently, I’d fucked her into a coma, so I did something I knew would wake her. I got out of the bed again, went downstairs, and made her a cup of coffee. When I made it back up to the bedroom, she was still sleeping. I ran the mug below her nose, hoping the smell would finally do the trick. It did. Her eyes fluttered open.
"What … Coffee in bed?"
I grinned and held out the mug for her to take. "It's time to wake up."
She sat up and grabbed the mug with the wrong hand. "Why?"
"I have a question for you."
"Okay?" She took a sip.
"Actually, two questions."
"Okay?" she repeated.
"How would you hold that mug with two hands?"
Her forehead scrunched. "What?"
I nudged my head toward the mug and repeated, "How would you hold the mug with two hands?"
"Um, like this?" And she did, holding the handle with her right hand and bringing her left up to the side of the mug. The ring clinked against the ceramic, and her eyes widened.
I got down on one knee, watching her as realization finally dawned.
"Nick …" she whispered, looking at her hand.
"I know we haven't been dating that long, but since our dance under the Fijian moonlight, I realized that I never wanted to go a day without you in it. I should have never let you go when we got back to Vegas, but I was a coward and didn't know if you felt the same way—"
"Just ask me your next question already."
I laughed and grabbed her left hand. "Okay. Ashleigh, baby, will you be mine forever?"
She was already nodding before I finished. "Yes."
I stood, grabbed the coffee out of her hand, and devoured the lips I'd get to kiss forever.
Six months later
* * *
I stared at myself in the floor-length mirror. I'd always envisioned this day, but I never imagined I would have another life growing inside of me while I was dressed in a white lace dress.
When I woke up this morning, I felt nauseated. I thought it was wedding jitters, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I hadn't had my monthly visitor in some time. Without anyone knowing, I went to the drugstore, bought a three-pack of pregnancy tests, and went home to take two of the tests.
Paradise & Vodka (Saddles & Racks Book 6) Page 16