A Kiss Beneath the Stars

by Sterling, S. L.

  “What do you mean apartments? You’re not moving.” She took the paper from my hands. “Derek and I have already talked about it, and we’ve decided that you are staying here.”

  “Evelyn, please, not this again. You and Derek don’t make my decisions. I need to get back on my feet. I’d like to have my independence and my privacy. Plus, now that I’m starting to see Hunter again, it would be nice to be able to have him over, cook him dinner, and watch a movie instead of me always going there.”

  “Well, you will have to fight Derek and me on this, and you’re not going to win. You can have Hunter over anytime you want,” she said, sticking her tongue out at me, causing me to laugh.

  “You’re impossible.” Whether she liked it or not, I was still going to look.

  The doorbell rang, and I went to get up, but Evelyn had already jumped up and run to the door. “Hey, Hunter.”

  I sighed and headed to the door. I was looking forward to seeing him. “Hey, beautiful, you ready?”

  Evelyn turned to me and smiled. “Look after her, Hunter. Don’t let anything happen to her.”

  I rolled my eyes at Hunter and mouthed, “Get me out of here,” to him behind Evelyn’s back. “I plan to, Evelyn. You don’t need to worry.” He chuckled to himself and grabbed my bag from the floor.

  Hunter held his hand out to me. I placed mine in his, and he led me out to the car.

  * * *

  Hunter

  I was quiet on the drive back into the city. I had listened to her tell me about her conversation with Evelyn and then about not being able to find a place. She admitted that she lost the other apartment to another family who was able to put the full amount down. When she finally quieted down, I placed my hand on her thigh.

  “Autumn, love, you’re not supposed to be stressing. We’ll find you a place. Plus, we still have the one I found to look at, remember? I think you’re going to like it.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that Evelyn is driving me crazy. She won’t let me do anything. She already deemed that I would be staying with them.”

  “Well, at least you know you have a place. Now, I want you to relax. We are going to have nothing but stress-less fun over the next few days.”

  I pulled into the parking lot of the condo and took a breath. My stomach was in knots. I was praying that she would take me up on my offer. Everything that had happened over the last few months had shown me that I wanted to be with her more than anything, especially after this past weekend. Seeing her in pain and so scared, I was glad she had turned to me for help and that I had been able to calm her, even if, at the time, I felt completely and totally helpless.

  After we got in and settled, I poured us a couple glasses of water and sat down in the living room. Autumn looked tired. I watched as she sat back and closed her eyes. “Are you feeling okay, baby?”

  “Yes, just tired.”

  I relaxed back into the sofa and patted the spot between my legs. “Come lay with me.”

  She looked at me and smiled and then turned and leaned her back against my chest, resting her hands on her growing belly. “Give me your hand,” she said softly.

  She took my hands and placed them on her belly. “Feel that?”

  I could feel slight movement under my hand. I smiled to myself. This was the first time I had felt my baby. We sat that way for a while, her relaxing against me, my hand feeling my baby move around. I placed gentle kisses on her neck, and she giggled.

  “Hunter, I want to thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For sharing the truth with me about Jason. I was so angry when you first told me, but I guess a part of me always knew something wasn’t right between us.”

  “You’re welcome. To be honest with you, I’m kind of glad he threw you away.”

  “Well, that’s a lovely thing to say! Why is that?”

  “Well, because without him doing that, I’d never have had that chance to meet you and fall in love with you.” I kissed the side of her neck.

  “I love you too, Hunter.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Hunter

  I opened my eyes; the room was still in darkness. It must have been early. I rolled over, careful not to wake her, so I could see the clock. It was only four. I tried to go back to sleep, but instead, I just kept thinking about showing her what I had done with the condo. When my mind simply wouldn’t shut off, I crawled out of bed without disturbing her and made my way into the kitchen.

  I set the coffeemaker to brew and tried hard to relax. I knew she wanted out of Derek and Evelyn’s place, and I couldn’t say I blamed her, but I didn’t want her living on her own or in some slum. The apartments that we had seen were just that. I saw in the paper last week that one of them had been raided by the police. There was no way in hell that my baby or the mother of my child was going to live in that. Not after all that she had been through. I was determined to support her fully even if she wouldn’t let me. That was the kicker, though. Autumn was so determined she didn’t need help that it was frustrating.

  While waiting for my coffee to brew, I quietly opened the door to my old office and peeked inside. If she said yes, she would have everything she could ask for. She wouldn’t want for anything. If she said no, well, I would have to find another way to win her heart. I simply wasn’t giving up. She had no idea what I was capable of when I set my mind to something.

  I jumped when I heard the water run and quietly shut the door and headed out into the living room. I grabbed a mug and poured the hot coffee into it, taking a sip. My nerves were getting the best of me. Coffee probably wasn’t a wise choice. I flipped through the morning paper, waiting for her to appear. Finally, I heard the door of the bedroom click open. She looked stunning wrapped in my oversized bathrobe, hair tousled to the side. “Good morning. Sleep well?”

  “Good morning. I did. It’s so much quieter here. You’re up early. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, of course. I’m just an early riser, you know that.” As she walked toward me, I patted a spot on my lap for her to sit. She carefully sat, and I leaned back into the couch, pulling her into me, wrapping my arms around her, and giving her a deep kiss.

  * * *

  Autumn

  I hadn’t stopped talking about seeing this apartment all through breakfast. Hunter kept trying to change the subject, but I would quickly weave the conversation back to the apartment. I really wanted to be on my own again.

  “What time are we leaving to see the apartment? Did they happen to say if it was available already?”

  “It’s pretty much available right now,” Hunter answered as he loaded the last of the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.

  “Has it been empty long?”

  “Not too long.”

  “How much work needs to be done to it?”

  “Not much from what my friend told me.”

  I took a sip of my tea. “Do they require a deposit plus first and last month’s rent?”

  I was worried about money. I hadn’t been working that long, and the restaurant didn’t pay that well. The money I had received from the divorce and the sale of the house was pretty much gone. Therapy hadn’t been cheap.

  “Autumn, you’re not supposed to be stressing. Now, there is no need to worry. You know I’ll make sure you have all that you need.”

  Before I could protest, Hunter walked over to me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me. “Now, go get yourself dressed, and let’s go see what we think of this place.”

  “Is it far from here?”

  “Not too far. Now go.” He smacked me gently on the butt as I walked past him into the bedroom.

  I was ready in twenty-five minutes. Hunter was still seated at the breakfast bar, his head buried in the newspaper.

  “Okay, Hunter, I’m ready.”

  A nervous smile appeared on his lips as he walked around toward me. “Okay, give me two minutes. Have a seat,” he said, pointing to the couch.

  He headed down
the hall to the bedroom while I made myself comfortable. I’d been waiting for five minutes when I finally stood up and looked out the window. The city was beautiful from up here—so quiet and peaceful while all the little people scurried around. I turned to sit back down when I heard Hunter call my name.

  “Coming.” As I made my way down toward the bedroom, I saw that he was standing just outside his office door. “What is it?”

  “Close your eyes.”

  “What? I thought we were going?”

  “We are, just close your eyes. This will only take a minute. I have something I want to show you.”

  I let out a breath and closed my eyes tightly. I felt him place his hand on my lower back, his other hand brushing against my growing belly. When I heard the door opening, Hunter whispered in my ear to take a step forward. “I’ve got you, beautiful. I won’t let you fall.” Both of his hands gripped my hips.

  Carefully stepping forward, he removed one hand from my waist and up to my arm and whispered, “Okay, open your eyes.”

  As my eyes adjusted, I was taken aback by what I saw. He had turned his office into a warm and cozy nursery. The hardwood floors were replaced with plush, white carpet. A white crib sat underneath the window, the matching white change table to the left and the dresser to the right. In the one corner sat the biggest teddy bear I think I had ever seen in my life. A glider rocker sat in the corner between the crib and change table, an afghan laying over the back.

  “I hope you like it. I did it for you, for us, for our baby. I would love it if you would move in here with me. No more searching for apartments, no more fearing that I won’t be there. I want to be there. I don’t want to miss any more time than what I have already.”

  Everything was so beautiful. I took a few steps toward the crib and peeked inside. A crib quilt covered in teddy bears lay inside.

  “The crib will also change into a regular bed once the crib is no longer needed.”

  He had thought of everything. As I listened to him go on telling me about things, tears flooded my eyes, and once I blinked, they were rolling down my cheeks. Everything was so perfect and well thought out. I looked at Hunter. The smile he was wearing slowly began to vanish.

  “What is it? Do you not like it?”

  I looked around the room at all he had done, all he had given up. There was nothing I didn’t like. How could he ever think that? “It’s not that. You…you gave up your office?”

  “Really, I just downsized into the smaller room across the hall. To be honest, I don’t even really need it here. I work too much as it is.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I just kept looking around, every time seeing something that I hadn’t seen before. The pictures on the wall, the growth chart against the closet door, the mobile that hung over the crib—it was all there. I felt Hunter step up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Can I be honest with you?”

  When I looked at him, his eyes held no lies, and I knew whatever was coming next was going to solidify everything that he had already said through the reveal of this surprise. I nodded my head because I didn’t trust my voice at this point.

  “I’ve never been more scared of losing something in my entire life than I was the other night. I was actually afraid of losing something that not eight months ago, I had never even contemplated having, wasn’t even sure if I ever wanted or would ever have. You came into my life at a time I wasn’t looking for anything except for a little fun, but now I’m so in love with you and in love with everything that can be, I don’t think it’s possible to ever let you go. Please say something.”

  I turned and looked at Hunter. He stood there, his eyes watery. I had never seen him look as vulnerable as he did in this moment. I walked over to him and placed my hands on his chest. Reaching up, I placed my hand behind his head and pulled him forward, kissing him. It only took a second before I was wrapped in his arms.

  When we broke from the kiss, he looked into my eyes. “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Autumn

  After breaking the news to Evelyn, who was surprisingly happy for me, we moved my stuff into Hunter’s that weekend. Evelyn made sure that I knew I would always have a place if I needed, which I already knew, but she still felt better telling me.

  “We’ll still shop, right?” Evelyn cried as she hugged me for the hundredth time.

  “Would you get control of your wife, Derek?” Hunter joked as he stood by the door, waiting for Evelyn to finish smothering me.

  “Yes, Evelyn, we will still shop. You’re acting like I am moving across the country.” I laughed.

  “You’re absolutely sure about this, right? This is the right thing for you to do?”

  Nothing like calling me out on the red carpet in front of Hunter or anything. But I was completely sure of my choice. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  I thought back to that moment as I unpacked the last of my clothes and placed them in one of the dresser drawers Hunter had cleared for me. As I stood back up, I met his reflection in the mirror. “How’s everything going in here?”

  I smiled. “Good. Almost done.”

  Wrapping his arms around me, he nuzzled his face into my neck, kissing my shoulder. “Good, because I want you.”

  He continued kissing my shoulder and up the back of my neck. I closed my eyes, reveling in the feeling. As his hands ran over my breasts, I stopped him. “Not now.”

  I felt bad denying him, because as much as he wanted to, I wanted to. However, I was petrified of having any other complications. We had come this far. He gripped my hips and pulled me tighter into him. I could feel his arousal pressing into me.

  “But the doctor said it was okay.”

  “Yes, I know. You made sure to ask him three times at our last appointment.” Rolling my eyes, I looked at Hunter who let out a low chuckle at my annoyance.

  “Sorry, I can’t help it. You have no idea how sexy I find you right now.” He nipped at my earlobe, sucking it into his mouth.

  “If what’s poking into me is any indication, then I may have a slight idea!” I reached behind me, gripping him through his pants, and squeezed, making him groan deeply.

  I guided him over to the bed, forcing him to sit down on the edge, and pushed him backwards so he was lying down. I ran my hands down his chest and slowly unbuckled his belt. I couldn’t stand to see him beg anymore. As soon as the belt was undone, his cock was already peeking out of the waist of his jeans. As I bent and licked the bead of precum off the head of his cock, he sucked in a breath. Unzipping his pants, I held the weight of him in my hand and stroked his length, teasing the head every once in a while with my mouth. It wasn’t long before he came, letting go of months of pent-up frustration.

  Chapter Forty

  Autumn

  Hunter returned to work the following Monday. He had a full day of appointments, but he had blocked out from noon until two for some personal time. I was going to the mall to buy some baby clothes, and he was going to come have some lunch and spend some time helping me pick things out. We had found out we were going to have a baby girl, which I think scared the shit out of him more than he cared to admit. Even though he claimed that it didn’t matter, I knew he had been secretly praying for a boy. Seemed that girls ran in the Malone family. I pulled the car into the mall parking lot and finally found a spot. I sent Hunter a quick text, letting him know I was at the mall and would be inside.

  I was on my way to the Baby Boutique when I heard my name. I stopped, turning in time to see Jason walking toward me. I was surprised he didn’t stop dead in his tracks from the look I had given. Instead, he just kept approaching. I could feel the panic rising in me, but then I remembered the words Hunter had told me. I no longer had anything to fear; whatever Jason spewed at me would just be words.

  “Autumn.”

  I turned abruptly, making sure that Jason had full view of my very pregnant belly.

  “What do you want, Jason?” He basically
stopped in his tracks. “Wow, you’re um…you’re um…”

  “Pregnant is the word, Jason. Yes, I’m pregnant.”

  “But…”

  “But what?” I glared at him.

  He didn’t know what to say as his eyes met mine. But I certainly wasn’t going to back down from him either.

  “I know everything, Jason. I know the reason you left me was because you were having an affair with Anna. How dare you! You put the blame on me for all those years, making me think I was completely worthless and would never be wanted by anyone. You’re sick.”

  I rubbed my hand over my belly as I felt the baby shift. The look on his face said it all. It was true, and for once, he had no rebuttal.

  “You have anything to say for yourself?”

  “I’ll sue them.”

  “You’ll sue who?”

  “Your boyfriend and his precious brothers. That bastard betrayed my trust.”

  “Save your money, Jason. It wasn’t my boyfriend or his brothers. My brother-in-law told me. He saw you over the years throughout the city with various women all while you were dating me and while we were married. You’re a pig, Jason, and you’ll get exactly what you deserve. Now, leave me be.”

  “Autumn! Hi, it’s been so long.” I turned to see Anna rushing over to me, a grin on her face. “I saw you a few months ago at the restaurant. I was going to come over and say hi, but you were gone before I had the chance. How have you been?”

  I stiffened when she placed a hand on my shoulder.

  Jason wasn’t budging. He just stood glaring at me while Anna was all smiles. Did they honestly think I was this stupid? I was suddenly feeling very cornered and confused when I felt a strong hand grip my shoulder. “Everything okay here, baby?” Hunter leaned in and kissed my cheek. I relaxed almost instantly.