He smiled nervously and cocked his head.
I had to admit, he looked so hot, but I was in too much shock to even think anything else at that moment. “What are you doing here?”
“You told me never to set foot in your office again, so I decided to come here,” he retorted.
He was such a fucking smart-ass, but he did have a point.
“What do you want?” I asked, sliding the bills back into my wallet.
“We need to talk.”
“I can’t right now. I have visitors outside and…”
Before I could even complete my sentence, Chris brushed past me and I frowned at him. Closing the front door and leaving my wallet on the mantle, I followed Chris outside.
Melanie frowned at him and then glanced at me. “That’s definitely not the pizza delivery man.”
Hunter glanced up from the sandbox, and his eyes widened. “Chris!”
His little voice echoed through the quiet ambiance of the garden and he jumped up, running full speed towards Chris. Chris picked him up, swinging him in the air and hugged him.
“Hey, buddy.”
“What are you doing here?” Hunter asked, his eyes shining brightly.
“Well, I came to talk to your mom.”
“It’s about time, don’t you think?” Hunter retorted expectantly.
“Yeah,” Chris winked and lowered Hunter down onto the ground.
“Hunter, why don’t you and I go for ice cream?” Melanie suggested.
“Good idea. These two have a lot to talk about,” Hunter nodded, and he and Melanie walked to the patio door. “Bye, Mom. Bye, Chris.”
“Bye, buddy.”
“Bye, baby,” I said with a smile and watched as they disappeared into the house.
I waited a few seconds until I heard them leave and turned to Chris.
“You came here to talk, huh?” I asked awkwardly and glanced at him. “So talk.”
“You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Nothing worthwhile is easy, Chris. We all know that,” I answered and crossed my arms, stepping inside the living area.
“Right,” Chris nodded. “Well, I came here to tell you that I’m sorry for being the biggest idiot this world has ever seen.”
“Okay,” I answered simply closing the sliding door of the patio. I definitely didn’t want my neighbors to hear us arguing.
His shoulders slumped slightly, but I knew that he wouldn’t just give up. He was too persistent to give up now. Or at least I hoped so.
“I’ve fucked things up between us over and over again, ever since college and I did it again because I was feeling insecure.”
“Insecure? That’s new,” I muttered. “You don’t get insecure. Ever.”
“I do. Shocking, I know.”
“What the hell do you have to feel insecure for, Chris?” I asked him. “You’re great at your job, you’re young and attractive, you’re an amazing father and you have the confidence that most people only dream of.”
“Yet, I still can’t get the girl I love to forgive me,” he said and pursed his lips.
“Chris, you have to understand, this whole situation with Sherry and Amelia and you, living together in the same house is weird and I don’t want to get in the way of that. I told you this before, and I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t want to break up a happy home,” I explained.
“It was never a happy home, Hollie, and it was broken long before you came along,” he told me.
“But she’s living with you again.”
“No, she’s not.”
I frowned and my hands dropped to my sides. “What do you mean?”
“I caught her in the guest room doing cocaine, and Lucinda told me that she had been using all this time. She hasn’t spent any time with Amelia the entire week, and she’s been selling off random things in my house to fund her habit, which she lied to me about. She wasn’t clean and sober, not by a long shot.”
My eyes widened and I covered my mouth with both my hands. “Oh my god.”
“Yeah.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “She stomped out of the house after I confronted her and left. I don’t even care where she went.”
“And Amelia?”
“She was upset, but we don’t need someone like that in our lives. We deserve better,” he answered. “We deserve you.”
I shifted my weight and pursed my lips, staring wordlessly at him. When I eventually gathered the courage to speak, he spoke first.
“Look, I get it. I said some horrible things to you, and I treated you like you didn’t matter to me, but I only did it because I didn’t want Sherry to prey on you either. I introduced you as a colleague so that she wouldn’t see you as another target she could take advantage of and manipulate.”
“I am not easily manipulated, you know.”
“Sherry does it without you even noticing it,” he pointed out and stepped closer to me. “I was an idiot and I should not have allowed it to get to that point. I am also sorry that I didn’t tell you about her before. It was just something I didn’t want to talk about because it made me feel like I was that pathetic guy who tried to change a woman who couldn’t change even if she wanted to.”
“Chris-”
“And I should have never let you and Hunter leave my house that night the way you did. I should never have said what I said about you and George. It was uncalled for and unacceptable, and I never meant to insinuate that you were into him, when I clearly knew that you weren’t. I was just trying to make myself look like less of an asshole by making you look like a bigger piece of shit than I was, but that wasn’t possible.”
“Chris…”
He took my hand in his and held it against his chest. I could feel his heart pounding against my hand, and I gazed into his warm brown eyes. “Hollie, will you please forgive me for all the ways I treated you in a way less than what you deserve? I know we belong together, I’ve known it for a while now, and you’re the only woman for me.”
I cocked my head at him and shook my head. “What about Amelia? How does she feel about all this?”
“She misses you as much as I have,” he answered. “She loves you, and Hunter, and she’ll be so happy to have you two back in our lives again.”
“I’ve missed you too, both of you,” I whispered, feeling the doubt rise inside me. “I just don’t want to get hurt again.”
“I won’t ever hurt you again, and if I have to spend the rest of my life proving that to you, then I will. I don’t care how long it takes, I will never stop trying. Even if you tell me to leave today, I’ll come back again. Again, and again, I am never letting you go again,” Chris told me. “People always say that if you love someone, then you have to set them free, but that’s not going to work for me. I want you, every day, for the rest of my days.”
A smile formed on my lips and I nodded. “That’s good because that is exactly what I want too.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I love you, Chris. I’ve never stopped loving you, and I never intend to either.”
Chris wrapped his arms around me and smiled slowly, the corners of his mouth curling upwards in the sexiest way imaginable. “I love you too, Hollie.”
He leaned in and our lips met, instantly deepening into a kiss filled with passion. I playfully shoved him against the glass sliding door, and a wave of desire crashed over me as Chris’s hands slid under my t-shirt.
27
Chris
Sunday
Hollie’s skin was hot to the touch, sending my body temperature sky high. I tugged at the soft fabric of her t-shirt and slid it up her body. Her breasts look amazing in a white lace bra, her skin still golden brown from our trip to the waterpark. My lips kissed the skin of her neck, her hands finding their way under my shirt, her nails softly grazing against my skin. A groan escaped my throat, against her skin, my dick pressing against my pants, begging to be r
eleased.
As if Hollie read my mind – and at times I was pretty sure she could – she slid my shirt over my head, and it dropped to the floor.
I kissed her lips, hungrily, appreciating each and every second with her. I had thought that I would never get to kiss her lips again, never have her body against mine, but here I was.
I scooped her up in my arms and headed down the hallway.
“The last door,” she whispered as she kissed my neck, sending shivers of delight down my spine.
The feelings of desire were so intense that I couldn’t see straight any longer, and I stumbled into her bedroom. I gently dropped her down on her bed and drew in a deep breath.
She pushed herself up into a sitting position and glanced at me, her blue eyes sparkling at me. “You okay?” she asked and bit her bottom lip.
Her hair framed her face softly and she was truly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. “I’m fine,” I answered huskily.
“Is there something on your mind?” she asked.
“Just you,” I said simply.
I couldn’t help but smile as her face lit up from my words and slowly approached her. I knelt in front of the bed and placed my hands on her thighs. Her fingers ran through my hair and I stared deeply into her eyes. She was the only woman for me, and I couldn’t go a moment longer without her. I kissed her once again, and her arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me down onto the bed, on top of her. Our tongues danced a slow and seductive dance, as our bodies intertwined.
Her hands traveled down my back and slid down into my pants, moving slowly to the front. The tension in my pants had grown so immensely that when she slid my pants down, the release almost hurt. I let my lips run down her torso and slowly slid her shorts down her hips. She lifted her ass off the bed, allowing me to take her shorts off and threw them down on the floor.
“Hey,” she whispered just as I tried to position myself a little lower and motioned me back to her mouth with her finger.
I crawled back to her and kissed her. Her leg slid over mine and came to a rest on the small of my back, urging my hips closer to her. I slowly dropped my hand between her legs, gently and slowly stroking her clit.
She gasped against my lips and threw her head back, allowing me to kiss her neck again. My fingers moved a little faster, across the surface, and slid inside her pussy.
“Oh my god,” she whispered, her fingers raking through my hair, gently tugging at them whenever the sensations became too much.
Much to my surprise, she reached down and took control of the situation, ushering my dick inside her. A satisfied moan escaped her mouth and I gazed at her.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” she whispered.
“Do what?”
“Leave me,” she answered.
I brushed a lock of brown hair from her face and cocked my head at her. “I’m never leaving you again, no matter what.”
She smiled at me, and pulled me closer, lifting her hips slightly. I moved my hips, slowly thrusting inside her, our legs intertwined and keeping each other as close as we possibly could.
I pushed myself up onto my arms and sped up my rhythm slightly, watching Hollie as she reacted to every movement I made. I drank in every movement, every sound she made, etching it into my mind.
I moved her arms up over her head, and I slid my fingers between the spaces of hers. My pleasure and desire spilled out over her, and as I felt her pussy tighten around my dick, her ass lifted off the bed slightly, her hips tilting upwards.
Soft moans escaped her mouth, as well as mine, as we climaxed together. It wasn’t the hot, taboo sex we had had in the conference room or the drunken sex we had in the restroom of the bar. This was so much better than all those. This was filled with not only passion but with love.
A love that I thought would never see the light of day again.
A love that made my life complete.
And a love that I never want to let go again.
When the pulses of pleasure faded away, I fell beside her and she turned to me.
“I have to admit, I didn’t think that I would ever get to feel this way again, ever,” she whispered.
“I know,” I nodded and slowly ran my fingers down through her hair. “When you walked out of my house, I thought I’d never see you again, or hold you again, or kiss you again.”
“But here we are.”
I smiled briefly and stroked her cheek. “I loved you so much in college, did you know that?”
“I did, but I also thought that you loved being in control more,” she answered coyly.
I scoffed and shook my head. “Seriously, Hollie. From the moment I saw you at that party, I knew that my life would never be the same again. And I knew that I would never want to be with anyone else ever again. It’s been you. It’s always been just you.”
A tender and loving smile formed on her lips and she placed her hand against my cheek. “You know, I never told you this, but your haircut was pretty bad. I just didn’t want you to be self-conscious about it.”
I chuckled and nodded. “I know.”
“But regardless of how terrible your haircut was-”
“Okay, I get it,” I scoffed.
“There was no-one cuter than you at that party. And I am glad that you walked me back to my dorm that night,” she told me.
“I’d do it again if I had the chance,” I stated. “Of course I would try to not be so competitive and idiotic as I was.”
“You’ve gotten a lot better since then,” she pouted.
“I’ll try to be better, I promise.”
“Chris, you’re already everything I have ever wanted, you don’t have to change a single thing. I love you just the way you are,” she told me.
The love I felt for Hollie was overwhelming, to say the least. I had loved this woman for such a long time, even when I thought I hated her. The truth was that I had never stopped loving her, and there was nothing or no-one that could make me feel anything else for her.
“I’ve been thinking,” I finally said, and she cocked her head.
“Uh-oh. That can only mean trouble,” she joked.
I pushed myself up and chuckled. “Actually, this is quite serious.”
I climbed off the bed and retrieved my pants from the floor.
“What is it, Chris?” she asked and sat upright as well.
I retrieved a small black velvet box from my pants’ pocket and climbed onto the bed again.
“What is that?” she asked, anxiously.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, and as much as I wished I could take it all back, I am inclined to be grateful that it all happened. I wouldn’t have gotten my job at the company I am now, and I wouldn’t have had Amelia. You wouldn’t have had Hunter, and we would not have met again. Even though our paths split, we were lucky enough to have found our way back to each other, and for that, I will be forever grateful,” I told her, meaning every word.
“Chris?” she whispered and glanced down at the black box in my hands.
“I know we’ve been through a lot, but I realized that I don’t want to spend a single day without you. I want to wake up beside you and go to sleep in your arms, every day, until the day I die. I want to cook dinner with you, nap on the couch on lazy Sundays, and I want to see our two kids grow up, together. I love you, and Hunter, like no one can ever love, and I want us to be a family. A forever family.”
“I want that too,” she whispered to me, her voice overflowing with emotions.
“Hollie Jameson?” I asked, opening the box and taking out the ring I had bought nearly eight years ago.
“Yes?” her voice broke.
“I have been keeping this ring safe for almost eight years, and I think it’s about time that it found its way onto your finger.”
“You’ve had this for eight years?” she gasped.
“I have. I bought it a week before we broke up.”
Hollie placed her hand against my cheek and a tear ran do
wn the inside corner of her eye, making a glimmering streak of moisture down the side of her nose. “I never knew that.”
I took her hand and drew in a breath. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh my god, yes,” she said tearfully and kissed me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
“I love you so much,” I whispered against her lips.
“I love you too.”
Our kiss deepened, but I pulled away slowly. A frown formed on Hollie’s face as I climbed off the bed and quickly pulled on my pants.
“Where’s the fire, Chris?” she asked, sitting upright on the bed.
She watched me as I opened her closet, and took out her suitcase.
“Chris, what the hell are you doing?”
“Packing your stuff. I want you and Hunter to move in with me and Amelia," I answered and placed my hands on my hips. "Because God knows I have slept on my own long enough."
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
I stopped and glanced at her. “Because I’m not risking you changing your mind.”
Hollie laughed, reached for her shorts and slid them on. She stood from the bed and approached me. She placed her hands against my chest and glanced at me with a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”
My smile broadened and my heart was on the verge of exploding. I had finally found the woman whom I had loved since the moment I met her, and I wasn’t planning on letting her go… again.
Epilogue
Hollie
One year later
Tuesday
Even though the smell of the cotton candy machine was making me feel rather queasy, I tried to avoid it as much as I could. I glanced out at the back yard and cocked my head. In the middle of the backyard, there was a large bouncy castle and the kids were going absolutely insane. Everyone was having a great time, and yet again I was in awe that Chris had arranged this entire party, with a little help from me as well, of course.
It was Hunter’s seventh birthday, and once again Chris had gone all out. The backyard was decorated with dinosaurs, balloons, and bright green and orange decor dominated the inside of the tent. Even the kids’ tables and chairs were bright orange.
Forbidden First Times: A Contemporary Romance Collection Page 18
