“Matt,” she said into the phone as she lay in her bed, her head on her scrunched-up pillow, “you are the only person I ever told why I can’t sleep at night.”
“I’m honored, Em. And I promise I would never reveal the story you told me to anyone. Ever.”
“I feel like such a wuss. I know some kids have gone through much worse than what I did.”
“That is irrelevant, my love. You were hurt and traumatized and if I ever meet your mother—”
“You never will. She is living in Alaska now with some guy.”
“May an oversized icicle fall on her head.”
Em laughed. “You are like a little kid sometimes. That’s why Sadie has so much fun with you.”
They talked about random things for a while until she got sleepy and ended the call.
“Looks like I’m going to win my bet,” Em said to her father the next morning, as she wiped Sadie’s face with a washcloth after she finished her breakfast.
“Don’t be so sure Matt Sr. will sign those papers for that building. And that is still only one part of it.”
Em felt her cheeks go red. She knew he was talking about Matt sticking around on a permanent basis. “I think I’m winning that part too.”
Jack took his coffee cup to the dishwasher and turned, leaning back against the sink. “Really? I don’t see any ring on your finger.”
“Why do you have to be so negative?”
“Well, he proved to be a pretty weak man before. I don’t trust him. He left you, he left his wife, and I’m not so sure he won’t leave you again for the next gal. People don’t change all that much, Em.”
“He was not being weak, Dad. He was being loyal to his father.”
“And what is to say he won’t be loyal to his father again this time? You really think because he brings your daughter toys it means he is going to abandon his tight-knit family ties for you? He’s a Rocklyn.”
Em just shrugged. She did not want to have this conversation. She lifted Sadie out of her high chair and took her out back in the sunshine.
“Horsey, horsey!”
“Okay, sweetheart.” Em placed her on the springy plastic rocking horse Matt had bought for her. He was spoiling her something awful. Maybe she had better ask him to hold back more. Em did not want Sadie to think she could have every little thing she desired.
Especially if there might come a time when Daddy did not show up.
It was one thing to lead Em on and do a U-turn, but it was quite another thing to pull Sadie into his web of charm and then disappear.
Could her father be right? Could it be Matt would abandon her again?
Chapter Nine
The tension filled his father’s home office. Matt had felt it building as he and his uncle presented the plan to buy a second space for the wine bar and rent out the first one that was not quite right for their needs.
“Sorry, son, but you are confusing your needs with the needs of Rocklyn Winery. We have already bought a building to house the wine bar in Greenport. We do not need another one. And that is totally separate from you needing to please the little whore who is servicing you.”
“Don’t say that, Dad. Don’t call her that.”
“See? I’m right. It’s all about you and your dick. Rocklyn Winery does not need this other property you are proposing we buy.”
His uncle cleared his throat and said, “Actually, the one Matt found is much better suited to our wine bar plans. We won’t take a loss if we buy that and rent out the first space.”
Matt Sr. smirked at his brother. “What happened to your balls?”
“This has nothing to do with balls. The space Matt found is better than the one I originally chose.”
“If this has nothing to do with balls—my son’s balls in particular—then I propose we make some real money on the first space by kicking out that lousy little bait and tackle shop and rent the space to a tenant who can pay us double what Mr. Cliffords pays.” He gave Matt Jr. a pointed look. “How does that proposal suit you?”
Matt fumed. “You made your point. Okay, so I am trying to not ruin the life of a man who has been in business for thirty years.”
“Oh, so it has nothing to do with his daughter.”
“Yes, of course it does. What is so wrong with that?”
“Do you care who we’re replacing in the second building?”
“That space has been standing empty for two years.”
“Why? Is there something wrong with it that is going to cost me a mint to fix? Just so you can make your slut happy?”
Matt refused to take the bait this time, but his uncle stepped in saying, “I had an inspector check it out. The building is sound.”
“Sorry, we are not buying two buildings when we only need one. And that is final.” He shook his head. “You disappoint me, son.”
Those were the words Matt had spent most of his life dreading. As if the whole world would crumble around him if he ever let his father down. Well, here he was and he could feel the old quake in his voice, but he said, “Uncle Mike and I have two votes to your one for the Rocklyn Winery Associates.”
His father exploded. “I AM the Rocklyn Winery. I built this place, this business, this association—all of it. And YOU, pipsqueak, are not going to be calling any of the shots just to please a little slut.”
“Stop calling her that! She is the woman I love and the mother of my first child.”
“Your what?!”
“Yeah, she gave birth to my little girl three years ago when my marriage should have been to her instead of the farce you pushed me into.”
“Have you gotten a DNA paternity test?”
“I know the child is mine.”
“You fool,” Matt Sr. said, his tone scornful. “Marry her and I’ll disown you.”
“You can’t take away my percentage of the company. I know my legal rights on that.”
“No, but I can drag your ass through the courts trying. And I can fire you as my winemaker. And kick you off my property.”
Matt ignored the threats, steadied himself, and went into his backup plan. “I can solve this. Since you do not want the winery to buy two buildings, I will buy the first one from the winery. Then the winery is only buying one—the second property.”
Matt Sr. just studied him with a quizzical eye. “I never thought you would be the one who could get pussy whipped. I guess I chose the wrong son.” He turned for the door. “This meeting is over.”
***
Em noticed Matt was quiet tonight at dinner. She had been more reserved lately herself, after that confusing conversation with her dad. But when Matt said he wanted to take her to dinner tonight, she was hoping it would be to celebrate settling the issue with the properties and the winery and his father.
But Matt’s somber demeanor gave her the impression it had not been settled.
They sat at a small slate-topped table in Barba Bianca. It was another of their favorite places, right on the dock in Greenport, the inside of the bistro filled with vintage photographs of white bearded (barba bianca) fishermen from the old days.
Em nibbled on mushroom polenta toast but did not like seeing that Matt was drinking more than eating. “It’s already May and I am grateful that the winery has not kicked my dad’s shop out of the building, now that you have taken it over, but have you any idea how the long run is going? You said you were ready to meet with your father?”
“We met today. That’s why I’m in such a foul mood.”
Oh no. “Want to tell me about it?”
Matt hesitated, looking as if he was deciding how to tell her something bad. Her shoulders tensed as she waited for what was clearly not good news.
“He won’t budge, but don’t worry. I am going to buy the building from the winery so your dad can stay.”
“What? Can you do that? Do you have that kind of money?”
“Not as much as the Rocklyn company has, but I look pretty good at the bank, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
And I can sell my sailboat if I need to.”
“You have a sailboat?”
He smiled for the first time tonight. “Yeah. I’m not exactly poor, Em. Don’t you know that?”
“I guess I do, but I never really gave it a lot of thought.”
He reached over and took her hand. “If I don’t have to sell it, I’ll take you and Sadie out on my Tartan when the weather warms up.”
“Is that safe for a three-year-old?”
“Yes. It is big enough that she won’t be hanging in the water for the sharks to eat her legs.”
“Don’t even joke about that, Matt.”
“Sorry, my humor is a bit dark tonight.” He took another sip of his martini. No, he was not drinking wine tonight. Not a good sign.
“So, how did things end with your dad? Is it bad?”
“About as bad as it could get.” He let out a quiet laugh. “My dad threatened to fire me as wine maker, kick me off his land, smother me in court cases, disown me. Oh, and he called me some really great names.”
“Because of me.” Em bit her bottom lip. “I don’t want you to lose your family because of me.”
“This would have happened eventually anyway,” Matt said, his tone serious. “My father does not like his authority questioned. And I think it is about time I made my own decisions for my own life. If the only way I can keep my family happy is to be my father’s puppet, then I will have to give up my family.”
Em held her breath. The master cynic Jack Cliffords was wrong. Matt was not going to cave to the great Rocklyn patriarch. But did it mean he would stick by her? He had already made a legal commitment to Sadie. Of course that did not commit his heart to Em. Or mean he would marry her.
“Can you stay out late tonight?” Matt asked her.
“Yes. My father is putting Sadie to bed and he’ll hear her if she wakes up.”
“Great. Do you remember my little bungalow that I built on my parents’ land?”
Em’s cheeks burned as she recalled the steamy nights they had spent there in the past. “I sure do.”
“Well, I might be leaving it soon, so I say we go there right now and enjoy it while we can.”
“I’m game.”
Matt paid the bill and they walked hand-in-hand to his car. Em was glad she had let him pick her up tonight because he’d had three martinis. “Let me drive, Matt, okay?”
He pulled his key fob from his pocket and handed it to her. “Do you remember where it is?”
“Do you think I could ever forget?”
Matt tugged her to him and kissed her under the streetlamp, his lips firm and demanding. She opened for him and his tongue swooped in, his arms clutching her close, his hard arousal pressing into her, letting her know what he planned for the rest of the evening.
Em drove out of Greenport and continued west for about ten miles along the main road until she reached the village of North Cove and the familiar white sign for the Rocklyn Winery. She turned onto a long wooded drive that took them past the old farmhouse that was now the public wine-tasting bar, past rows and rows of planted vines, past the various buildings that served the grape-growing, wine-making, and wine-selling aspects of the business. She also passed the huge three-story house that was his family’s home, but she turned to the north end and followed the dirt road, winding around an orchard and some fields for other crops, until she reached the small, one-story house that Matt had made for himself when he was nineteen.
Matt had told her he’d bought a house with Nicole somewhere in the community when he was married, but his ex had bought him out when they divorced, and Matt had moved back here to live for the time being.
Em followed Matt inside and saw that the place looked exactly as it had when he used to bring her here four years ago. A simple open living room-kitchen area in the front with a leather recliner and love seat. The kitchen was Pullman style and basic.
She glanced through the open door of the back room that was a large bedroom and an office. The king-sized bed was unmade, pillows strewn about. The dresser against the wall was a cluttered mess. Even the office looked like a cyclone hit it.
“You need a wife,” Em said, and the minute it was out of her mouth, she realized her faut pas.
But Matt took it in stride with a wide grin. “A wife and a lover,” he said, and before Em could figure out what he meant, he had her in his arms again and began raining mind-numbing kisses all over her face and mouth.
By the time they got into the bedroom, her breathing had turned ragged and she could not get out of her clothes fast enough. They both stripped bare and dove onto the bed, rolling and rubbing, legs entwining, arms gripping, lips meeting. He trailed kisses down to her breast and tongued her pebbled nipple, his hot breath on her skin.
Em pushed him onto his back and knelt beside him and slid her lips over his cock. No patient licking, she pulled it deep into her mouth and was rewarded with a gasping moan from Matt. She began working him, adding her hands to the base and cupping his balls as she moved up and down steadily. It didn’t take long for Matt to lose it, and she swallowed every drop, loving every part of this man.
“Em, you’ve wrecked me,” he said, panting.
She flopped on her back next to him, and Matt rolled over on top of her, crushing her underneath him. It felt so good having his big muscular frame blanketing her. She wrapped her arms around his torso, letting her hands stroke his back.
“Judging by what I feel growing between my legs, you aren’t too wrecked.”
Matt dipped his head and his teeth locked on to her lower lip, and he sucked it into his mouth, then kissed her hard and deep. His hand moved to her clit and played with her, taking her to the edge, then dipping his fingers inside her to send her over the top.
“You are so damn beautiful when you come,” he whispered against her lips. He left her and crawled to the side of the bed, and she immediately missed him.
He came back with a condom and covered himself, then pulled her on top of him. “You usually like this position, right, my love?”
Em nodded, trying to control how wild her heart went every time he said “my love” to her. He had told her he loved her several times now. Did he really mean it? Or was it something he said too easily?
That dark hurt that still lingered somewhere inside reminded her that he had said he loved her four years ago and still decided to leave her.
But she was not going to let herself think about that now. Not when she had this hot hunk beneath her, giving her that scorching look. Straddling him, Em lifted herself on her knees and hovered over his erect shaft, then all at once, she impaled herself on it, smiling at her ability to make him moan.
As Em began to ride him, he thrust up into her, gripping her butt and pulling her down on him each time. Their pace grew frantic, driving them harder and faster toward the climax they screamed out together.
As she cuddled in Matt’s arms afterward, sated and content, her head on his chest, the spring air coming in the window, moonlight falling across their naked bodies, Em sent out a little prayer of thanks to be lying here next to the man of her dreams.
***
Matt wanted to kiss Nicole. Not in a romantic way, but because she was a team player. When he had told her he wanted to bring Em and her child to a family gathering but knew his parents would think it was an insult to Nicole, she said she would handle it. And she did. She announced her engagement to Stephan to her parents and called Matt’s mother to let her know the news—and that she would not be coming to the Saturday afternoon family dinner his mom had planned for this week.
But that was hardly the only hurdle. For some reason his father thought the worst of Em and nothing Matt could say seemed to matter. Of course the fact that Matt and his Uncle Michael were going forward with their plan—Matt arranging to buy the first building himself and Michael setting up the purchase of the second one for the winery—did not sit well with the domineering Rocklyn patriarch.
When Matt went to Em’s ho
use to pick up her and Sadie for the afternoon get-together at his family’s home, he could hardly believe how beautiful they looked. Em wore a pink-and-white flower print dress that showed off her toned legs, and Sadie was dressed in a pink polka dot dress with a bow in her hair.
“I told my mother I was bringing a guest, but I didn’t tell her who it would be.”
“What? Oh, Matt, this could be a disaster. Did your father say anything? He would probably guess it was me.”
“Uh, my dad and I are not talking a whole lot lately. But I did tell Tucker and he promised to offer backup if needed.”
“How comforting. Sounds ominous.” She turned to the car seat in the back and brushed a curl off Sadie’s forehead. “I’ll be frank. My daughter comes first and I will not allow anyone to upset her or scare her.”
“That is not going to happen, Em. I won’t let it.”
But as Matt led Em and Sadie into the house and stepped into the den where his family was having cocktails and pre-dinner snacks, all conversation stopped and all eyes turned to him and the guests he had brought.
Matt was grateful his sister, Kendra, and her husband, Orlando, were there with their baby girl. He knew they would be supportive. Sitting next to them he saw his cousin Shannon and Tate, her husband. His brother Jeff was not here, and Shannon’s brother and sister were not here, but her father, Uncle Michael, was, as well as Matt’s two bachelor brothers Tucker and Grant.
Matt snuck a glance at his father and could see the barely hidden rage in his face, but he said nothing. His mother stood up, smiling, and said, “Who do we have here, Matthew?”
At that moment he realized how wrong it was that he had never brought Em to meet his family during that year they’d spent in each other’s arms. But that was part of the comfort he had found in her—she was totally separate from his family. Someone who belonged only to him. And he had wanted to keep it that way.
Sweet and Sassy Baby Love Page 8