by lanie love
I was shocked at the vitriol she was spewing. She’s usually so poised and private. I guess all that goes flying out the window when you find out your husband knocked up his housekeeper/cook turned mistress. As much as I understood it, I really want to pop her one good time for some of the things she said about mom.
I hate going to the grocery store checkout. Big pictures of Mom and Jay frolicking around without a care in the world on the cover right next to a gaunt and devastated Kathleen, mock me. Where they get them from, I have no idea, but Aaron says they’re photoshopped. I refuse to read a single story, but what kills me are the headlines. They don’t even bother using Mom’s name. They just call her the home wrecker.
Kathleen may have been silenced, but it hasn’t stopped everyone else who was on the Queen Mary that night from selling their stories to the highest bidder. Mom had to replace her entire staff because they couldn't keep their mouths shut about her being the other woman to the tabloids. Even still, the stories just keep coming. I want to grab all of those papers and just rip them up and bitch slap every one of those so-called reporters for writing their garbage.
Kent pulled all of his support from Mom's business. Shocking, right? What surprised me was that he talked to me about it first. Of course, I understood. I even feel better about things now that I know he's at least not taking it out on me. He’s always been able to compartmentalize his feelings well.
Brooke, on the other hand, is a different story. She's trying really hard to keep it friendly, but sometimes her anger over the situation gets the better of her. We aren't close anymore. Hell, we barely talk beyond anything other than polite, “nice weather we're having,” conversations.
Who I miss the most is Kathleen. She hasn't said a word to me since the Queen Mary and no, I don't blame her, but it hurts not to have her in my life anymore. I feel like I've lost half of my family. Aaron swears she and Brooke will come around, but I don't believe that. How could they after such a betrayal?
****
I smile as the committee speaker acknowledges Aaron and Wade Construction and expresses nothing but confidence in his work. The day is just wonderful. The sun is out and the slight breeze is keeping everyone comfortable. If it wasn’t for this damn bee that keeps buzzing around distracting me, it would be perfect. I knew I should have sprayed on some bug-off.
A photo is taken of Aaron shaking the Mayor’s hand and I’m bursting with pride. He smiles at me and I blow him a kiss. Another photo is taken of him with the Mayor as he breaks ground. I see Connie sitting in the media section with her own photographer and I send her a quick text asking if she could get me hard glossy copies of the photos. She texts back, saying she'd have them for me tomorrow before the story runs. I’ll have them framed for Aaron’s office.
****
We spend a little time mingling with all of the bigwigs, historians, and politicians, which proves to be great photo opportunities. I stay proudly on Aaron's arm as he talks to the Mayor. He tells us that he just signed off on building a new courthouse expansion. I nearly faint when Aaron slips him his business card.
“Aaron,” I say, when we are out of earshot. “Did you really just hand him a business card?” I'm not really sure that's proper etiquette when dealing with the Mayor.
“Was I not supposed to,” he asks me in all seriousness.
“You're asking me,” I tell him and he laughs when I look back at the Mayor who puts the card in his pocket.
****
Aaron declares he’s ready to leave before he dies of starvation, so Kent insists on treating us all to dinner at Dan Tana’s to celebrate. He, Brooke, and Tuck are as proud of him as I am. We get a big table in view of everyone. Usually, Kent opts for more privacy, but I think we all want to be seen right now. I chalk it up to being a part of the bragging rights. It’s not every day, you’re dining with a highly sought-after architect who rubs elbows with the Mayor, even though Aaron would never call himself one. He simply says he’s in construction. I swear, his modesty is endearing and hair-pullingly frustrating at the same time.
“You looked good up there, Big Brother,” Brooke says to him.
“Thanks, Sis.” He’s trying to act like he’s not thrilled about the whole thing, but those teeth he can’t stop flashing tells us the real story.
“I'm going to go call Mom,” Brooke says. “Tuck, order me whatever you're getting.”
“Alright, Babe.” Tuck studies the menu as the waitress saunters over in a too-tight blouse that’s showing way too much cleavage. I don’t know how she’s bending down to give us our water without her boobs spilling out all over us.
I cut eyes at her when she leans a little too close to Aaron. If one of her boobs comes within a millimeter of him, I’m knocking her ass out. I must be throwing daggers at her because Aaron takes hold of my hand and Kent chuckles into his water glass at me.
After we place our orders, I excuse myself to go to the ladies’ room. I’m about to open the door and step inside when I hear Brooke's voice on the other side.
“He was great, Mom. You would have loved seeing him up there,” she says, and I smile at the memory of how distinguished he looked on the stage. “Yeah, of course, she was there,” she says, and judging by the disdain in her tone, I know she's talking about me. “I know. I don't know why he would want to date the daughter of a slut. She’s probably just like her mother. Hopefully, she’ll be just a flash in Aaron’s pants and he'll move on soon.”
I step back out before she comes out of the stall and sees me. I want to cry. My best friend for ten years and the woman I love like a mother are actually saying things like that about me. Maybe they are saying it to Aaron too, but he would never tell me if they were. He knows how much it would hurt. I pull myself together and go back to the table.
“You okay, Baby,” he asks me as he pulls out my chair and helps me sit down.
“Perfect.” I refuse to let this ruin his night, but he stares at me, knowing me too well. I kiss him and he relaxes. Brooke joins us at the table and I smile sweetly at her. I won’t give her the satisfaction of caring. She can kiss my ass from now on. “Let’s just take care of your craving for Italian,” I say to Aaron.
“A toast,'“ Kent says, and we raise our glasses of Cristal he ordered for tonight. “I know I speak for everyone here when I say no one deserves this success more. Big brother, no one is prouder of you than I am. To Aaron and Wade Construction.”
We all drink to that. Aaron laughs at me when I pour another glass. This is by far the most decadent champagne I’ve ever tasted and I’m going to enjoy it, especially when it’s in his honor.
Chapter Five
Pacific Palisades, California
Aaron Wade’s Apartment.
Aaron Wade
By the time I get her home, my baby is feeling all kinds of tipsy. I don’t think she knew how strong that Cristal was. The alluring fabric of her dress is putting me into a seductive trance. It sways with her hips when she walks through the living room. She nearly tumbles through the bedroom door, but I pretend not to notice it.
“Did you have fun today,” she asks, clumsily walking over to where I’m shucking off my blazer.
“I really did. One of the best days of my career.” I watch as her fingers undo the buttons of my shirt. She slides it off, but it gets caught on my cuff links. She waits for me to take them off and tosses the shirt before she moves on to my pants. I get hard, feeling her hands working the belt buckle and the zipper. “There is one thing that would make it totally perfect.”
“What's that?” She’s all ears, but she still laughs for no reason and I can’t help but kiss her. I love seeing her this way. Not necessarily buzzed, but relaxed and unbothered.
“You on top of me in our bed,” I say. Her eyebrows arch and her lips spread into a playful grin.
“I think I can manage that.” She takes my hand and leads me to our bed.
I make slow work of taking off her dress, loving the way it floats down, revealing
her body. Her panties soon join it. I just have to shake my head in appreciation of her. She’s been on my arm all day, meeting all the important people who run the city, and none of them had a clue of the body hiding under that damn dress. If they did, I’m certain they would have declared her a national treasure. Hopefully, she’ll be okay with just being my treasure, because I do treasure her. I also love undressing her. In fact, it’s my favorite pastime next to making love to her. She stands naked in front of me, save for her bra while I slip off my pants and underwear. She pushes me on the bed and climbs on top of me. Her lips find mine and our tongues dance. The mixture of her taste and wine invades my mouth. She pushes me back flat on the bed and settles herself between my legs.
“Aw, fuck Baby,” I moan as she takes me into her mouth. “Ssssss,” I say when she runs her tongue along the tip of my dick before she plunges it back into her mouth to swallow me down. Right before I explode, I pull her back up on top of me. “You keep that up and I’m going to come and I'm nowhere near wanting this to end yet. Jesus, do you have any idea how good you make me feel? How good I want to make you feel?” She shivers from my touch as I run my hand up her back. I grasp the clip of her bra and release her tits. She sits up and I drag the bra free, exposing her pink puckered nipples to me. “Mmm, Baby.” I take one into my mouth and suckle it. When it becomes rock hard, I abandon it for its twin.
“Aaron, please.”
I lift her up and guide her down on top of my dick. I watch as it slowly disappears inside of her.
“Mmmmm, Baby, you feel so good,” I moan. “So wet. So perfect.”
“Oh my God.” She threads her fingers into my hair and I kiss her neck as she grinds herself into me over and over again bringing us both closer to our release. I love seeing her like this. I love getting her like this, so turned on and wanting me. “Aaron,” She screams as her cum drowns my dick. She contracts around me and I pump my sperm deep inside her calling out her name.
We lay with me still semi-hard inside of her. Our juices are running down between my legs and tickling my balls.
“I love you, Air,” she says, relaxing in my arms.
“I Love you, Allie Cat.” I kiss her just before she falls asleep.
…..
I wake up before the alarm with Allie already gone. It’s the reason that I wake up. I didn't feel her next to me. I roll my eyes because I know where she’s gone. I still drag my ass out of bed to have breakfast ready for her when she comes back. She ripped me a new ass when she got back and saw that I meant what I’d said. I literally had just sugar packets and coffee left in the kitchen.
“How the hell do you function,” she asked as she looked around the kitchen with her mouth and eyes wide open. She made a show of going to each cabinet opening them up and checking for the canned goods. All she found was a few bottles of seasonings and some used cooking oil. “This was all stocked when I left. I was only gone a week.”
“Hey, guys binge eat too, ya know,” I told her. She popped open the fridge and saw the spoiled leftovers and the case of beer. My eyes shot to the side of my head to avoid her stare. “And drink.” I shrugged.
“What am I going to do with you?” She shook her head coming into my arms.
“You could not leave again. That would be a big help.”
She had other ideas in mind.
Now, I’m made to cook breakfast sometimes, so that I’ll “get in the habit” of eating more than canned food when she’s not around. I would call bullshit because I never plan on letting her not be around. I’d secretly inject a chip into her if it wasn’t frowned upon by society. So, here I am, the former king of fuck and duck, whisking eggs with a goddamn Kiss the Cook apron on and I halfway want to grab my balls from her purse. But she has me on my own private cloud nine so, I really have nothing to complain about.
“I got ‘em,” she says, holding a stack full of papers in her arms, entering the kitchen just when I am setting her plate down.
“Baby, you of all people know you can get those articles off the Internet.”
“It’s not the same,” she says. “I like the actual newspapers and magazines.” She sets the dozen or so of the Los Angeles Times newspapers and various business magazines she bought down on the table before skimming through to the Business section of one of the newspapers and pulling it out. “Oh my God. A picture of you and Kent takes up the entire page.”
I grab a paper to check it out for myself. There’s a picture of Kent that’s supposed to be candid, but I know damn well he authorized that shit, and a picture of me in front of the newly opened Strong Media. I can't help the goofy-ass grin that comes across my face as I read the article.
LA is known for stars living in the fab-lane and these two Wades are no exception:
Aaron, of Wade Construction along with his younger brother Kent, of Wade Works Industries is taking the business world by storm.
Wade Construction has recently come on the radar with its success in building The Strong Media Center. Just yesterday, the Mayor broke ground on a new project, the restoration of the beloved Los Angeles Concert Hall.
We here at the Los Angeles Times are relieved to learn that the trusted Wade Construction will be handling the city’s very important restoration project.
“We’re living in the fab-lane, huh.” I laugh. Never would I thought I’d be categorized as a star. I’m known mostly for being the Senator’s kid, but living in Dad’s shadow is completely different. I scan the article again, realizing that it doesn't even mention him.
“This is amazing,” Allie squeals.
“Do you think my dad had something to do with it?”
“Why would you say that?”
“It’s weird that he’s not mentioned. Every article I’ve been in, I’m Aaron Wade, son of Senator Jay Wade. Maybe he paid them to write this about me.”
“Bullshit. Aaron, you are it right now. You. This has nothing to do with your dad or politics, okay. You’re doing this. You’re building media centers and restoring historical buildings. This is what you’ve always wanted. It’s finally happening and I won’t let you ruin this moment for yourself.”
She kisses me before rushing off to place the articles in her scrapbook along with the ones she clipped out for the Strong Media opening. I didn't even know she was into scrapbooking, but she has a clipping of Connie and me at the opening, as well as one of her, Kent, and me at the announcement of Digital Arts and Wade Construction moving into the new Wade Plaza.
“While you're getting all of those papers, why don't you start looking at the real-estate section,” I tell her as she sits back down next to me in the kitchen to eat her breakfast.
“Okay. Are we looking for a one bedroom?”
“Shoot for four.”
“Wow, that's a lot of bedrooms,” she says, stirring the brown sugar in her oatmeal. “Do you want to stay close to here or maybe downtown?”
“Malibu. I want to see the water, but I don’t want us too close to it. Actually, the house isn't important. It's the property I want. I can build us our house.”
“Our house?”
“Yeah,” I say, swallowing my orange juice down hard. “I think we should have a house. I want my family to be comfortable.”
“Family?”
I wipe the sweat off my palms and take out the little red box from my pajama pants pocket that I've been carrying around for the last two months. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was for Allie. It’s a Marquise cut diamond set in platinum. It’s a flawless gem, breathtakingly understated, but still manages to wow you when it catches your eye. It’s everything I feel about her, but can’t quite find the words to convey. She lets her tears silently fall as I get down on one knee before her.
“Allison Moore,” I begin. “I love you more than I can ever say. But if you will agree to be my wife, I will spend the rest of my life showing you. Will you do me the incredible honor of marrying me?”
“Aaron—”
“Baby, I know,” I shake m
y head, looking down at the open box and her ring that’s inscribed with two letter A’s intricately looped and laced together. “I know that it’s not perfect right now. I know that our families are torn apart and I’m probably moving way too fast for you and jumping some kind of gun. But Baby, I want this. I want you to be my wife. I want you to have my name. I love you so much, Allie. I’ve loved you for so damn long that it doesn’t seem like marrying you can come quick enough for me. But I know it’s different for you. If you need more time, Baby, I can give you time.”
“No.”
“No?” I’m trying to remember to breathe as my heart rips away from my chest and shatters. I’m about to close the box and put it away. I’m racking my brain to think of a way to save this, save us from this fucked up ditch I just ran us into.
“No,” she says, taking my hand, shaking her head at her words not coming out right. “I mean: no, I don’t need any more time. No, Aaron, I mean, yes,” she says it quickly. “Yes, I want to marry you. Oh, my God, of course I do. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
One Month Later
Allison Moore
Sage and Laura are finally California girls and I cannot be happier. I honestly didn't believe they were coming. Not until Aaron and I picked them up from LAX and I saw them for myself. Just like I knew she would, Laura freaking loves it here and just like I knew she would, she got an apartment near Venice Beach. I’ve never seen her so tan. Sage, on the other hand, is finding it hard to adjust. I think LA is a bit too slow for her. She made sure to get a loft downtown, so it can remind her of home. Laura and I are crossing our fingers that she doesn’t give up and run back to New York.
“Can we now officially hate you,” Sage asks as we cruise down Sunset in her Beemer.
We just saw the property that Aaron and I bought to build our house on. A silent film movie actress lived there. She was a recluse and a hoarder. The dilapidated old house has been boarded up since the late eighties, but the moment I saw the property, I fell in love with it. It looks like it’s right out of the movie Sunset Blvd. The house is condemned and was scheduled to be torn down until Aaron stepped in and offered to take the place off the bank’s hands for asking price. I swear I saw little hearts dancing in their eyes as we signed the paperwork.
