“Look, if you’ve got something going on, I’m here to talk about it, but I won’t watch you go get wasted and take home some random chick to make yourself feel better. Don’t you think it’s time to grow up? Maybe take responsibility for your actions?”
Even though hooking up with another woman was the last thing on my mind, Todd wasn’t wrong. I tended to avoid my problems by reverting to old habits. I just had no idea that my friends saw right through me.
Todd sighed. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, Jeremy. I’m tired. I haven’t slept well in weeks. Dominic has colic and Liz has made getting angry at me for every tiny thing an Olympic sport. The fuel tank is empty, my friend.”
I felt like a terrible friend. Probably because I was. “How about I come over next week? I’ll pick up a six-pack of beer and we can watch the basketball game. We’ll watch little Dom and Liz can nap or take a bath or whatever.”
“Really?” I could hear Todd’s tone brighten, which made me feel worse. I did have a tendency to be so far up my own ass that I couldn’t see what was going on around me.
“Really. I’m only sorry I haven’t been by before now. You and Liz choose a day and let me know.”
“Thanks, Jer. That would be great. I haven’t watched sports in months. If it’s not cartoons, I don’t see it. Liz would appreciate it too.” There was more muffled talking on the other end. “I’ve got to go. But take my advice, for what it’s worth if you’ve messed something up, face it for once. Maybe fix it even.”
“Thanks, man,” I said sincerely.
I hung up and felt a new sense of purpose. If something was messed up, I needed to fix it.
Marlena couldn’t get past my... well, past. And it felt like the longer we kept whatever we were doing in the dark, the more muddled things became.
We needed to get out of Southport. Away from Adam. Away from all of the reasons for Marlena’s insecurities. We needed a chance to reset, relax, and maybe learn to be something else together.
I grabbed my laptop and sat down, pulling up a website. Twenty minutes later I had rented a luxury cabin in the middle of fucking nowhere for the weekend.
I heard my phone buzz but ignored it. I was making plans.
Then I quickly packed a bag and got back in my car.
If Lena needed to relax, I’d make sure she relaxed. But with me.
**
I knocked on her door and waited. It was almost two in the afternoon. What if Lena wasn’t home?
I pulled out my phone and checked to see if I had any messages. I was surprised to see one from Lena. From three hours ago.
Oops.
I’m sorry I was such a bitch this morning. Forgive me?
Goddamn it! She was going to think I was blowing her off because I never responded. I quickly dialed her number and listened to it ring. I could hear her phone from inside her apartment. At least that meant she was home.
When she didn’t answer my call, I tried ringing the doorbell again.
“What the hell?” I muttered under my breath, starting to get worried.
She hadn’t been feeling well, what if something happened? What if she was passed out on the floor or something?
I banged on the door with the flat of my hand. “Marlena!” I bellowed.
After another five minutes passed and she still didn’t answer the door, I was ready to barge my way inside. Hanging onto my rationality, I started looking around for a spare key. I found one above the door jamb—which was a ridiculous place to keep a spare key, anyone could find it. She and I were going to have a chat about home security.
I unlocked her door and went inside. I noticed her purse on the couch, her phone on the coffee table. I checked the kitchen, which was empty, before heading to her bedroom.
“Marlena?” I called out.
I found her kneeling in her closet, pulling piles of clothes from the recesses, earbuds in, bobbing her head in time to whatever music she was listening to.
Now that I knew she wasn’t dead, I stood in the doorway and watched her. Her long hair was piled on top of her head. She was wearing a too-large sweatshirt that fell off one shoulder. Her gorgeous ass was encased in tight-fitting black leggings. The woman could wear a potato sack and be as sexy as hell.
I walked into her room and tapped her on her shoulder.
That was a bad idea.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, jumping to her feet. She whipped around and promptly kneed me in the junk.
“Arggg.” My cry was garbled, and I fell to the floor, cupping my dick and balls.
“Jesus, Jeremy, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” she shouted, kneeling down beside me.
I rolled into a ball. “I think my testicles are going to need to be surgically extracted from my body. Fucking hell!”
She didn’t look remotely contrite. “What did you think was going to happen, moron? Sneaking up on a woman by herself like that?” She glared at me. “How did you get in here anyway.”
I slowly sat up, taking long, careful breaths. I felt sick to my stomach. She might have done serious damage. “You keep a spare key above your door. Which, is a stupid place to keep a key by the way,” I wheezed.
“Christ on a cracker, come on, let me see if you’re okay.” She helped me to my feet, and I hobbled, with assistance, to the bathroom.
She started to unbuckled my jeans, but I stopped her. “Not that I have a problem with you handling my balls, but I think I can look for myself.”
Lena dropped her hands. “Fine. Whatever.”
I gingerly put my hand in my boxers and felt around. Everything seemed okay. Only tender.
“The boys are good. No permanent damage,” I announced after zipping up my pants.
“Well, thank goodness for that,” Lena retorted dryly. “So, you want to tell me why you’re here? What happened to taking the night off?”
She was testy. I guess I deserved that after my less than a stellar entrance. “I got your message,” I said.
Lena looked away. “Yeah, well I was being a jerk this morning.” She was stiff, not quite looking at me.
“I only just saw it when I got here,” I explained.
I noticed that she relaxed slightly. “Oh. Okay then.” She finally met my eyes. “So why are you here if not because of my message?”
I grinned. “I need you to pack a bag. We’re taking a trip.”
She frowned. “Are you high? Drunk? What in the world are you talking about?”
I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her. “You’ve had a rough couple of months. We’re both burned out. We could use a relaxing weekend away from everything, don’t you think?”
She looked up at me with a slightly incredulous expression. “You want to go away for the weekend? Together?”
“No, I thought we’d take the whole neighborhood.” I rolled my eyes and kissed her forehead. “Yes, together. Away from Southport where we don’t have to worry about being seen by Adam or anyone else. And you can unwind a bit.”
She was chewing on her bottom lip. “But I have casework to do—”
“And that will be there on Monday. Forget about work for one night. We’ll be back late tomorrow, so if you really want to, you can deal with it then.” I gave her a squeeze. “Come on. You know you want to.”
Eventually, she smiled. “Yeah, okay. Just give me a minute to change and get some stuff together.”
“Pack something nice. I made reservations for dinner and you’ll want to get dolled up.” I ran my hand down her back to rest on her butt. “But don’t change. I love the way your ass looks in these leggings.”
She threw me a sultry look. “Fine, go wait in the living room.”
I did as I was told. A few minutes later Marlena came out with a duffle bag and grabbed her puffy winter coat. I handed her the spare key and she started to put it on top of the door again. “Don’t leave it there, babe. You’re asking for some weirdo to come in and surprise you when you’re alone.” I spoke teasin
gly, but it was laced with genuine concern.
She must have picked up on that so instead of putting it back in its old spot she handed it to me. I looked at her questioningly. She shrugged as if it were inconsequential. “You’re here enough, you should probably have it. That way if I lock myself out, I know someone has a key.”
There was that fucking lump in my throat again. I tucked the key into my wallet and neither of us addressed what a huge deal that was.
Once we were in my car and on the road, it started snowing. It had been flurrying on and off most of the day, but by the look of the sky, it promised more significant weather. The cabin I had rented was only an hour away. Far enough to escape the watchful eyes of Southport, but close enough that we weren’t spending all afternoon on the road.
“How was brunch with your parents?” I asked once we pulled onto the highway.
“Good.” She was chewing on her bottom lip again. I had learned that was a dead giveaway that something was on her mind. Once upon a time, I would have badgered her. Poked and prodded until she fessed up. But I had learned to wait patiently for her to tell me.
I got a sense of satisfaction when she finally relented and shared things with me. It was as if little by little she opened herself. I was beginning to feel a desperation to see all of her. Marlena Ducate wasn’t an overly complicated woman. She didn’t play head games and she didn’t put on a show. She was straight from the hip. She was feisty and intelligent. She spoke her mind but not in a way that was rude or condescending. She cared about people. Diplomacy mattered to her. She was kind and considerate, even toward those she found frustrating—like yours truly.
I had developed a respect for her when she was our paralegal, but now that I was growing to know her on a different level, I appreciated her in ways I had never appreciated anyone.
Mom would love her.
The thought came out of nowhere. But it was the truth. I had never introduced a woman to my mom. And not because I kept my family a secret—though I definitely didn’t make it a point to talk about them. It was because I was careful not to develop emotional connections. I didn’t do commitment and I didn’t do longevity. Because of that, there was never a reason to bring a woman ‘round to meet Mom. Yet I could imagine the two women meeting and liking each other.
The image was slightly unsettling. It threw me off balance. Was I actually contemplating making this thing between us more permanent?
Was it even possible?
Because there was one huge barrier... Adam.
Honestly, I was getting more than a little sick of tip-toeing around his poor wittle feelings. Marlena and I were adults. And if we wanted to be together, that was between us. We didn’t need Adam Ducate in the middle. I wasn’t into those kinds of threesomes.
“My big mouth friend Hannah told Mom I was seeing someone. So of course, she started role-playing grand inquisitor,” Lena finally said.
“You told your friend about us? Aww, baby, you’re talking about me.” The fact that she was talking about me with her friends was a good sign. Perhaps this weekend would be the push we both needed to take this thing into the light.
Lena snorted and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Make room for the giant ego.” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. There was no bite to her tone. “Yeah, I told Hannah and Jenna. I should have known better though. Hannah and secrets are like oil and water.”
I reached across the center console and took her hand, lacing our fingers together. “So what did your Mom say when she found out about us?” I asked. I ran my thumb along the back of hers. Her skin was cold.
“I told her there was no one, of course,” she replied as if it should be obvious.
I tensed. “So, I’m still the dirty little secret.” I couldn’t help but sound resentful. Because I realized that I was.
“Don’t be like that, Jeremy. We agreed that what was going on between us stays between us. There’s nothing to tell anyway. And if Adam found out—”
“He’d kick my ass. Blow a gasket. Yeah, yeah, I know the story by heart,” I snapped.
Lena stared at me in surprise. “Does that hurt your feelings?” she asked incredulously. “Why? Because you can’t go around bragging about your latest conquest?”
Why did she have to do that? Turn everything around and make me out to be the bad guy in this scenario. Why did there have to be a bad guy?
I dropped her hand and gripped the steering wheel. Maybe this trip was a bad idea. The snow was starting to fall a little harder, but the roads thankfully remained clear.
I was contemplating turning the car around and forgetting the whole weekend away when Lena put her hand on my leg. “I’m sorry. That was messed up for me to say. I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. My emotions are so out of whack. I shouldn’t use my ridiculous insecurities as a reason to attack you.”
I wanted to tell her she had no reason to be insecure. To remind her that I wasn’t with anyone but her. That I didn’t want to be with anyone but her.
But talk was cheap. I knew my recent past painted a not so pretty picture. Instead of telling her, I’d have to show her. Starting with this weekend. I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles, squeezing her hand to my chest. “That’s why you need a chill weekend away.”
She let out a sigh. “You’re right. I think this is just what the doctor ordered.”
“Okay, I’m going to relinquish control of the music. It’s all you,” I told her magnanimously.
She widened her eyes dramatically. “Wow. Those are bold words, Wyatt. Do you know what you’ve done?”
I laughed. And as we drove away from Southport, I felt myself lighten.
**
We arrived at the cabin a little after four. We had to drive off the main road and through the woods for a good thirty minutes before finding the driveway tucked into the trees.
“You’re not taking me out here to kill me and dispose of the body, are you?” Lena teased as I turned off the engine.
We got out of the car. The porch light had been left on for us as it was already growing dark, given it was less than a month until Christmas and the sun was already setting. The snow was still coming down, but not hard. Just enough to dust the ground. It was completely silent.
I took Lena’s hand. “Come on, let’s get warmed up.” I led her to the front door and entered the keypad combination I had been given by the rental agency.
Once inside, I was glad to see that the heat had been cranked. It was warm and toasty. The cabin was beautiful. Not overly large, but luxurious. I turned on the lights as we walked down a short hallway that led to an open living room/kitchen area. The entire back wall was composed of glass that overlooked a snow-covered valley. The setting sun bathed the area in soft, red light. The living room was sunken and furnished with plush couches and throw pillows. A large stone fireplace took up most of one of the walls and someone had already started a fire that crackled nicely. The kitchen was state of the art with gleaming stainless-steel appliances and a commercial gas range.
“Damn, Wyatt, this is impressive,” Lena breathed, taking it all in.
“If I’m going to take you away somewhere, I’m going to do it right,” I told her, pulling her into my arms and kissing her.
She laid her head against my chest, relaxing into me. “I should let you take me away more often,” she murmured.
I held her tightly. “Anytime, baby. Anytime.” She had no idea how sincerely I meant it.
“Let’s check out the rest of this place,” Marlena said after a few minutes, extracting herself from my embrace, but taking my hand again.
There were three bedrooms, but the master bedroom was truly opulent with a California king-sized poster bed taking up the center of the large space, there were more picture windows that overlooked the valley, and a two-seater couch tucked away in a nook. There was another fire blazing from a stove in the corner.
Lena released my hand and slowly walked to the windows. “God, it’s go
rgeous. This is about as close to my dream house as I’ve ever seen.”
I came up behind her and put my arms around her waist. She leaned back into me and I rested my chin on the top of her head. “I could stay here forever,” I admitted.
“You and me both. It’s perfect,” Lena agreed.
It would have been so easy to turn this moment into something sexual. To slowly move my hands down her front. To let my fingers dance between her thighs. To palm her breasts. To do all the things to her body that I knew she loved.
But I was hesitant to go there.
Not because I didn’t want to—God, I wanted to—but because this was an opportunity to spend time together in a different way.
I nuzzled the side of her neck, relishing the taste of her on my lips. “Get changed. Put on that something fancy I told you to pack. It’s time for me to wine and dine you,” I murmured.
“We don’t have to go anywhere. Maybe we should call something in,” Lena suggested.
I turned her around so that she was facing me. I cupped the sides of her face. “We keep this thing between us secret for obvious reasons. But there’s no reason to do that here. There’s not a chance anyone will see us.” I caressed her cheeks with the pads of my thumbs. “Indulge me. Let me be a decent guy for once. Let me show you I can treat you like a queen.”
Her expression went soft. “You don’t need to prove anything to me, Jeremy.”
I kissed her. Softly. Tenderly. “Maybe I do.”
Chapter 14
Jeremy
Lena wore a form-fitting black dress that dipped dangerously between her cleavage. The skirt hit right above her knees and she wore red high heels that showed off her long legs. She had pulled her hair over one shoulder and a solitaire diamond necklace rested in the hollow of her throat.
“Fucking hell, woman. Dressed like that I’m not sure we’ll make our dinner reservation.” I licked my lips, thinking of how much I would enjoy taking that dress off her later.
Lena put a hand on her hip and gave me a saucy smile. “I thought you wanted to wine and dine me.”
I stalked across the room and took her in my arms. I captured her mouth greedily. My tongue plunged inside, mating with hers. I wanted to devour her. I wanted to consume her completely. I pulled away after a few seconds, both of us panting. “I do. But I also want to woo and screw.” I raised an eyebrow and Lena laughed.
Say You Love Me : An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 18
