Choosing You: The Pierced Hearts Duet: Book Two

by M. Robinson

  He made it up to me though. By the end of the day, I felt and looked like a million bucks.

  “Thank you so much,” I said to the coordinator. “Today was amazing.”

  “It was our pleasure. Let’s get you scheduled for next month.”

  “Oh, no thanks. This was just a birthday gift. I can’t affo—”

  “Ma’am, Dr. Pierce made you a VIP member.”

  “He did what?”

  “A VIP member. You’re paid up through the year for everything you received today once a month.”

  “Is he insane?”

  “I don’t think so.” She nervously chuckled. “You don’t have to come in every month, but we insist that our VIP members take advantage of what they’re paying for, and since yours is already paid…” She smiled. “We can work around your schedule if that’s the issue.”

  How am I ever going to compete with this? This man is way out of my league.

  “Umm… is there any way he can be reimbursed? I don’t know what to say—”

  “A simple thank you would suffice.”

  I spun around, coming face-to-face with the good doctor.

  My jaw almost fell to the floor. He was dressed in all black. His slacks, collared shirt, vest, and shoes were all in unison black too.

  “Holy shit,” I breathed out, in awe of the devastatingly handsome man walking toward me.

  However, it was the glasses on his face which caught my stare the most.

  “Like what you see, Cami?”

  “I think I’m drooling.”

  He wiped my bottom lip. “Just a little.”

  “I really have to stop speaking my thoughts out loud to you.”

  Leaning forward, he whispered, “Please don’t,” in my ear.

  I cleared my throat, holding the front of my robe tighter together. Instantly feeling exposed.

  “You mean I don’t get to see what I paid for?”

  My eyes widened. “Was he talking about my Brazilian?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  Goddamn it.

  He backed away from me, looking over at the coordinator. “Can you give us a few minutes alone?”

  “Of course, Dr. Pierce.” She left, closing the door behind her in my private changing room.

  “Does everyone always just do what you say?”

  “Yes, you should try it sometime. Now, what’s this bullshit of me being reimbursed about? It’s a birthday gift, Cami. All you need to do is say thank you.”

  “Yes. Today, was my present. I don’t need a membership to come back again.”

  He set the bag he was holding down at his side. “And why is that?”

  “No, no, no! You don’t get to trick me with your trickery of questions. You know I don’t need to come back here.”

  “You’re right.” He cocked his head, placing his hands in the pockets of his slacks. Looking all debonair and intimidating, in that Aiden Pierce sort of way. “You don’t need it. You’re fuckin’ gorgeous the way you are, but I want to give it to you.”

  Motherfucking swoon.

  “I really appreciate that, it’s very Richard Gere, Pretty Woman of you, but I can’t accept it.”

  “And why is that?” he repeated, except this time there was annoyance in his tone.

  “Because… because… I don’t know! I can’t fucking think when you’re looking this good and smell…” I sniffed him. “Like that. Oh my God, what is that? You smell amazing, and it’s messing with my senses.”

  “Jean Paul Gaultier.”

  “Obviously, that guy knows what he’s doing. You probably know him considering you’re so rich.”

  “Does me being well off bother you?”

  “Well off? No. Well off is living in a nice house in the suburbs. You are borderline Christian Grey.”

  He arched an eyebrow, not understanding.

  “Sorry, Skyler has me reading all these books and… yeah.”

  “Cami, what’s the problem?”

  “You’re the problem. This is the problem. I can’t compete with this. Listen, I know you pay me a lot of money to be your nanny, but I will never be able to live up to this. I feel like you’re so out of my league that we’re not even in the same playing field. I’m all the way over there—” I guided with my hands “—still in the Southside. I don’t bring anything to the table, Aiden. And you keep paying for all of my stuff. I saw the insurance card with my name on it in the mail. So what? Now you’re paying for my health insurance? You’re completely tying me to you. What am I going to do when you’re not around anymore?”

  “I’m not around? Where am I going?”

  “Well, when I’m not around anymore.”

  “Try and leave, my Tiny Dancer.”

  “See… and then you pull that dominating, alpha card. That’s just… really sexy and really frustrating at the same time. You’re not going to need me forever and neither will your kids. I won’t be the nanny indefinitely.”

  “You’re right. You won’t be.”

  I winced, hating he was agreeing with me.

  “I don’t know what bothers me more, sweetheart. The fact you think so low of yourself, or that I’m so easily disposable for you.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “It’s not that at all. I just don’t want to rely on you.”

  “And why not? I rely on you.”

  I jerked back, caught off guard. “You do?”

  “Mmm hmm.” He stepped toward me, brushing the hair away from my face. His fingers lingered, caressing my cheek with the back of his knuckles. “I rely on you to take care of my kids. To love them, to be there for them. To take care of my home, to cook for us, to be there for us.”

  “Exactly, I’m the nanny and the housekeeper.”

  “You’re not hearing me correctly, so let me spell it out for you.” He gripped onto the back of my neck, tugging me close to his mouth.

  Nothing could have prepared me for what he said next.

  Nothing.

  Staring profoundly into my eyes, he revealed,

  “I rely on you to be there for me. As my nanny, as my friend, as the woman I’m falling in love with.”

  Chapter 20

  <>Aiden<>

  The words just fell out of my fucking mouth.

  Every. Last. One.

  What are you doing, Aiden?

  “You’re what?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Did you just say that to prove a point?”

  “Do I ever say what I don’t mean?’

  “No.”

  “Then you have your answer.”

  I backed away, reaching for the bag I brought in with me. “I know what it’s like to have nothing. To own only the shirt on your back. I worked really fuckin’ hard to get where I’m at in life, both physically and financially. I didn’t do it for myself. I did it for the family I always knew I wanted. I provide, Cami. It’s who I am, it’s how I’m made. You’ve not once asked me for anything, not one fuckin’ thing. Don’t think for one minute I don’t see who you are. Your heart is all I see. Do you understand me?”

  She nodded, faintly startled by what I just shared.

  “Giving you the things you deserve makes me happy. Don’t take my happiness away, not when I’m feeling it for the first time in years. Because of you. That’s what you bring into my life, Cami… happiness. And I wouldn’t change that for all the money in the world.”

  Her eyes watered, her lips trembled, her mind trying to keep up.

  “No crying on your birthday.”

  “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. Besides, they’re happy tears.”

  Those three words.

  Those three goddamn words sent me spiraling back to when I was seven-years-old.

  “Why would I want to make you cry?”

  “Because they’re happy tears and crying with happy tears is like super romantic.”

  “Aiden?”

  “Oh… Okay then. I’ll ask you in a way that will make you cry happy tears.”
>
  “Aiden?”

  “Okay good, but don’t make me cry in any other way than happy tears. Ever. You promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “Aiden!”

  My eyes locked with Camila’s, jolting me to the present.

  “Where did you go? Are you okay?”

  Was I okay?

  What are you doing, Aiden?

  I handed her the bag, trying to focus on the woman in front of me and not the one fucking with my mind.

  “Put this on for me.”

  “You didn’t have to get me—”

  “For fuck’s sake! Just for once, say thank you!”

  She jerked back, earning her a growl from deep within my chest.

  “Are you okay? What just happ—”

  I abruptly turned, fighting like hell to collect my composure. “I’ll be outside.”

  Before she could reply, I walked out of the room, needing some air.

  “Fuck. What am I doing?”

  I was over playing the back and forth between us. I wanted her to know how I felt, what I wanted, but I couldn’t for the life of me get over the betrayal plaguing my mind for my wife.

  Pushing through the double doors, I made my way out to the balcony over-looking downtown. I rested my elbows against the railing, holding my pounding head between my hands. It was still so fucking hard to let Cami in.

  Was I ready?

  I constantly fought the emotions of what felt fucking right and fucking wrong. The angel and demon effect. A part of me wanted to suffer, to hurt, to show my wife she truly was my world.

  A world I would now walk through alone.

  And then another part of me wanted to move on. To stop living in the past and forget the things I couldn’t change.

  I wanted to be set free.

  It was an endless battle in my heart.

  I wanted my world to become Camila. I wanted her to be the center of it all.

  If I didn’t open up to her, I was going to lose her for a woman who was no longer in my life. I understood where she was coming from, my thoughts were a mystery to her. A puzzle she was so desperately trying to put together. I never shared anything with her, and yet I still demanded to know everything about her. It wasn’t fair.

  To her.

  To my kids.

  To myself.

  I wanted to know her secrets, and a huge part of me wanted her to know mine.

  There weren’t many things that could shock me. I’d seen and experienced it all.

  But this…

  Falling in love with Camila.

  Was fucking earth shattering.

  As soon as she stepped out onto the balcony, I saw her from the corner of my eye.

  She was stunning.

  I would be lying if I said her presence didn’t make me feel more at ease, though it was her appearance that left me breathless.

  “You look beautiful, Cami. So fuckin’ beautiful.”

  She gestured to the white, tight fitting dress that went passed her knees. “How did you know my size?”

  “I was the one who put away your clothes, remember? Both in and out of your suitcase.”

  She narrowed her sparkling eyes at me, surprised I’d admitted that.

  In three strides, I was standing in front of her, grabbing her hand. The mere touch of her skin calmed me in more ways than one.

  Exactly how I knew it would.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  We started the night off with dinner and drinks at a fancy Venezuelan restaurant one of my patient’s family owned downtown.

  “Me gustaría una copa de vino blanco.”

  Let me tell you, hearing her speak Spanish to the waiter was as fucking sexy as it was sinful.

  I could sense her resolve was as conflicted as mine, and I hated it. I loathed being the reason for her turmoil. It was her birthday, and I was going to make sure she enjoyed it anyway I could.

  “Si, muchas gracias.”

  “Eres linda, mi amor, linda,” the waiter emphasized, making her blush.

  “The fuck was that?” I snapped, when he walked away.

  “Nothing.”

  “Didn’t look like nothing.”

  “Maybe you should learn Spanish and then you’d know.”

  “I don’t need to learn Spanish, I have you.”

  She giggled in that girly way that made my cock twitch.

  “Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to ask him.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Ma’am, could you get our wai—”

  “Oh my god!” She tore my arm down. “He said I was pretty.”

  “You’re not pretty, Cami. You’re fuckin’ gorgeous.”

  She bit her lip.

  “So, mi amor,” I repeated what the waiter said. “Have you always spoken Spanish, linda?”

  “Look at you. You even tried to accentuate, Dr. Pierce. I like you speaking my native tongue. I learned Spanish before I learned English. I didn’t speak a word of English until elementary school, where I was required to use it. The kids use to tease me relentlessly because of the way I spoke and looked. I hated going until I was probably in junior high. I had to change a few things about myself to be accepted, and in the end, it worked out.”

  “I like you the way you are, Cami.”

  “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew what I looked like back then. Big lips, big eyebrows, big ass hair. Thank God I grew into my face and learned how to use a round brush to straighten out my hair.”

  “What about your ass? Did it shake as much back then too?”

  She smirked, shrugging. “I get my moves from my momma. We are Latina, we dance. But Journey.” She set her hand over her heart. “My homegirl has rhythm in her soul.”

  I scoffed out a chuckle. “When Bailey was pregnant with Journey, music used to calm her down. It always brought her back to me.”

  “Brought her back?” She frowned. “Where did she go?”

  Ignoring her question, I added, “I think that’s where Journey’s love for music stems from.”

  She didn’t dig further, and I was grateful for it. For once, I don’t think I could have stopped myself from telling her everything.

  Not with the way I was feeling toward her tonight.

  “So what did you think of the food?” she asked, reaching for the check when we were done eating.

  I intervened, snatching it out of her hand.

  “Aiden…”

  “It was good, but your cooking is better.”

  “Thank you.”

  “See? Was that so hard?” I stood, handing over my credit card to our waiter. He reached for it, but I held onto it. Spewing, “Ella es mia, comprende?”

  His eyes widened and he nodded.

  With that I grabbed her hand, pulling her up from her seat. Her expression mirroring his.

  “I thought you didn’t know how to speak Spanish?” she remarked on our way to the car.

  “I don’t.”

  “Then how did you know how to tell that guy I was yours, understood?”

  “The soap operas you watch with Journey.”

  “Oh… you mean when you’re creeping on me watching my telenovelas on the nanny cam?”

  “Yes, then.”

  “You’re shameless.”

  I opened the car door for her. “Your chariot awaits, my Tiny Dancer.”

  She stepped in, halting at the last second. “So, am I yours, Dr. Pierce?”

  “Do you feel like mine?”

  “One day…” she baited. “You’ll learn how to simply answer me.”

  “How about this? I’ll answer you the day you learn how to say a fuckin’ thank you, instead of giving me lip.”

  “Don’t hold your breath, old man.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.” I chuckled. “Then who would take you dancing?”

  “What? We’re going dancing?”

  “Get in the car, Cami.”

  She did, smiling like a fool.

 
The rest of the night progressed nicely. I reserved us a table at a Spanish club on Main Street. Also recommended by a patient of mine. Known for its Latin music and floor space.

  We laughed.

  We drank.

  She danced, I watched with a drink in hand.

  “Come on, dance with me!”

  I grabbed her arm, tugging her to my face. “Not when you’re dancing for me.”

  She smiled, beaming.

  With a sway of her hips, she snapped her fingers. Slowly rocking her body in a circle, until her ass was in my face. She got down low, and I took a swig of my whiskey to resist the urge to bite her luscious ass.

  The crazy part about Camila, she truly had no concept of how much she governed a room.

  All eyes were on her. Men and women.

  There was this energy that radiated off her. This confidence and sex appeal you didn’t learn. It was something you were born with.

  She didn’t have to try, it was just there.

  It came so fucking natural to her. Luring you in with a look…

  A smile.

  A slight movement in her body.

  She was captivating. Exuding sexuality. A magnetic pull that forced you in without even realizing it.

  In that moment, as much as I tried to ignore the thoughts hovering, I couldn’t.

  I watched how she danced, how her tits bounced, her ass shook, and how her hands worked their way up her body. Remembering how I fisted my cock to this exact sight the last time I watched her in this way.

  She was addicting.

  Controlling my thoughts, my actions, my decisions.

  Consuming every last part of me.

  Especially how I wanted to end the night.

  With my tongue up her ass.

  “Come here.” I motioned with my finger.

  She deviously smirked, and I pulled her toward me instead. Making her straddle my lap.

  “You’re going to get us kicked out.”

  “Great, faster I can take you home then.”

  “Home? Is that what you think it is for me?”

  “What else would it be?”

  Her lips were close to my mouth.

  Her perfect tits were pressed on my chest.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “I know you do.”

  She didn’t say a word, she didn’t have to.

  Her eyes spoke for themselves.