by Jo Raven
I glance at the flights of stairs and cold sweat breaks over my forehead. No way…
Jesus Christ, I really must’ve fucked up badly in a past life…
Chapter Eighteen
Hailey
He remembers.
And he’s pissed off with me.
Of course he is. I screwed up big time, and didn’t even tell him I know now who the girl who was sending him the messages was. That I know it wasn’t his fault and that I’m sorry for judging him so quickly and so harshly.
Especially after he confessed why he has trust issues.
He let me in all the way – into his apartment, into his life, into his secrets, and I didn’t even manage to apologize. He just looked so…disappointed. And angry.
Was he really going to tell me he remembered it all after tonight? Why did he wait?
I don’t understand.
I scramble down the stairs and step out into the cool evening air. With shaking hands, I call up the app on my cell phone and get an Uber. Hopefully my hotel still has rooms.
And then I need to get a flight back to Chicago.
I knew this was a bad idea.
For once, I was right.
My phone dings with yet another message from Trent as I wait by the side of the street, and yeah, I’m changing numbers the moment I get back home.
Home. Being with Kaden had felt like home these past few days, much more than Chicago ever did.
And I need to stop thinking about that, because…
Because I’m pretty sure my heart is crumbling into fine powder. It’s not him I don’t trust, you see.
It’s myself. If I can screw up a good thing like that, how will I ever find happiness? Why would I deserve it?
The Uber arrives. With one last glance behind me, in case Kaden came after me, I climb inside and give the driver the hotel address.
He didn’t come after me.
Then again, he’s concussed, and that’s a lot of stairs.
Still.
Right?
What in the world am I doing? I’m so frigging confused, I don’t know which way is up. Is this mess his fault? Mine?
Maybe we’re both to blame.
My phone dings with a message from Maggie. I open it automatically.
It just says, “Did you talk or did you run?”
It hits me like a ton of bricks. It’s as if a wall fell on me.
Oh God, I’m running? Again? I can’t be such a coward. Even through the crushed pieces of my heart I feel the connection to him. How can I just let that go once more and regret it forever?
He made an effort.
And then my phone dings again, and it’s not from Trent or Maggie. It’s from Kaden.
Don’t run, baby, it reads, and I clap a hand over my mouth, muffling a sob. Check the videos on your phone. Give me one more chance.
The Uber driver gives me a funny look through the rearview mirror. “Everything okay, miss?”
“Yes, just… Stop.”
“What?”
“Stop the car.” I open my photos and videos up, and sure enough there’s a video with Kaden’s face on the still, uploaded this morning.
My finger hovers over it.
“Want me to go back, miss?” the driver asks.
“No, not yet. Just… wait? Please.”
I draw in a deep breath.
And press play.
He’s standing in front of the drawing of the key in his bedroom. The blinds are down, but there is enough light to see his handsome face. It must have been right after he shaved, because his face is smooth. God, he’s so cute.
If someone with shoulders like a hanger can be called cute.
But he is. Sweetly handsome. Strong. Sexy.
“Hailey.” He angles the phone better, so that I can see his eyes. “Not sure if this is a good idea, but I saw your phone and I thought, hell, why not?” He grins right at the camera, and my heart stops.
Sweet baby Jesus. Look how my heart came back to life just from seeing his face and hearing his voice.
I laugh, and I have tears in my eyes, watching him rub at his forehead and wink at me.
“So a lot of bad has come through our phones, and I wanted to set it right. I am in a setting it right mode today, as you’ll see when you come back home. Home to me.” He brings the camera closer. “And you can tell this asshole Trent, that. You belong with me. You’re my girl, and he’d better keep his fucking hands off.” He considers what he said. “His metaphorical texting hands, too. And his dick is tiny. Tell him that.”
I snort.
The driver gives me a long-suffering look.
“So I am now in your phone, too. To tell you that I love you. Let it be on the fucking record: I, Kaden Hansen, love you, Hailey …, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Nothing can keep us apart, as long as you come back to me. Because I fucking swear I’ll never cheat on you, and you’ll be my everything, always.”
God, what is he doing to me? My tears are cool tracks rolling down my cheeks. I have a lump in my throat.
“Believe in us, Hailey,” he says. “I want to spend my life with you. It took my memory disappearing and then my life flashing in front of my eyes to see what an idiot I was not to ask you sooner, but…will you be mine?”
“Turn the car around,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. I wipe at my cheeks, smiling when Kaden smiles back, as if he can see me. “Take me back, please.”
Without a word, the driver does as I ask him to, doing a totally illegal U-turn and diving back into the traffic.
This is it. I can’t expect any more miracles.
Now it’s really up to me to get my man and find my happily ever after.
I see him when the Uber stops. He’s sitting on the steps of his building and looking at him, I forget how to breathe.
He has his hands in his hair, his face turned away. His shoulders are slumped. He looks crushed.
And my throat closes up thinking I did that to him.
I climb out of the car so fast my purse snags on the door handle, and then the driver yells that I need to get my suitcase, too.
Crap.
I turn back, haul my small suitcase out of the back seat, slam the door shut and start toward Kaden.
He doesn’t notice me until I’m standing right in front of him.
And then his face does a funny shift from dejected to surprised to happy, a light brightening his jade-green eyes. He doesn’t try to get up, and I can’t imagine what it cost him to climb down those stairs like he obviously did.
He did come after me.
But the guilt is lost in a wave of joy when he pulls me down and cradles me in his lap, right there, on the sidewalk, with everyone watching.
Well, I guess they are. I don’t give a damn, because all that matters is the man crushing me to his chest.
The man I love. The only one for me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “For everything. Sorry I was so paranoid I thought you cheated on me, sorry I walked out again—”
His mouth covers mine, stopping my apology. Then he pulls back, and his eyes are serious. “All that matters, baby, is that you came back.”
Part Five
UNFORGETTABLE
Chapter Nineteen
Kaden
She’s in my arms and fuck it, I’m not letting her go ever again.
Which proves a bit of a problem when I try to get up from the fucking cold steps I’m sitting in, with Hailey clutched tightly to my chest, while my legs refuse to hold us.
My knees buckle the moment I try to stand up, the world starts spinning, and damn, this is embarrassing.
Only Hailey takes the sting off when she strokes my face and kisses me again.
Oh yeah, I can get on board with that. No problem. I close my eyes, and the world steadies. Her weight on my legs anchors me. Her lips warm me up.
When we finally break apart, we’re both panting and my hard dick is getting a good, deep impr
int of my zipper up its length.
“Apartment,” I manage. “Now.”
She nods frantically, and she scrambles off me so that I can get up. Hand in hand, we go back inside and climb up the stairs.
The black spots dancing in my eyes by the time we reach my floor are getting pretty damn annoying. I hate this concussion.
And I fucking love the bastard, too, because it brought Hailey back to me.
I open the door and haul her inside, then she drags me into the bedroom and shoves me toward the bed. I sit down and she straddles me, pushing me until I’m flaton my back and she’s filling up my world.
My mouth goes dry when she grabs the hem of her blouse and pulls it over her head. Her bra is black lace and her tits are right in my face.
Oh fuck…
My hips buck up. She’s sitting right on top of my aching cock, and the pressure is unbelievable. I grab her hips, shifting her, a groan going past my gritted teeth.
What this girl is doing to me…
But she has other ideas. She shimmies out of her pants and underwear, letting it all fall to the floor, unclasps her bra letting her tits spill out, and she grinds her naked pussy on top of my fabric-covered hard-on.
It’s driving me crazy with lust.
“Hay, oh shit…” I let go of her hips to grab her tits, feeling like a kid on Christmas day. I squeeze the soft mounds, play with her nipples, and she moans, her head falling forward. “You’re so damn pretty.”
Maybe I wasn’t that bad in a past life after all?
She writhes on top of me, and I can tell she’s close. “Kaden,” she whispers, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. Her hand slips between her legs. “Oh yeah.”
“Come here.” I release her tits to drag her closer. “I wanna taste you as you come. Want you to come on my tongue.”
I pull until she finally sits on my face, and I grunt happily as I finally get access to that sweet pussy. I spread her wider with my hands and lick and suck, torturing her clit, then adding two fingers inside her, until she comes hard, crying out my name.
Sweet like sugar.
She slumps over me, boneless, curling up on my chest with a smile on her face. “Jesus. I may never be able to move again.”
I kiss her hair, her forehead, lift a hand to my lips and nuzzle her fingers. “You will, because I’m not done with you yet.”
She slithers further down my chest, slippery like an eel. “I’d say it’s your turn.”
And she pulls down my zipper and yanks down my pants.
My briefs are tented to the point of breaking, my dick leaking and wetting the soft black cotton. “I can make it both our turns at the same time.”
“We never got around to having desert.” She winks at me as she sits up, pretty like a picture, then she bends over and mouths my hard-on over the fabric.
“Shit. Shit, Hay.” My hips come up, my dick trying to punch through the cotton to find her hot mouth. But then she pulls down the elastic, and takes me in her mouth, and my last traces of coherent thought vanish. “Ugh. Fuck. God.”
Hot, tight. Suction, pressure. Her tongue strokes the underside and my balls draw up.
I’m about to come like a fountain, so I push frantically at her shoulders. “Inside you,” I pant, surprised I find the words. “Now.”
She lets me out of her mouth with a soft pop and leans over me, her hand fisted around my cock. She guides the tip into her pussy and my eyes roll back in my head with pleasure as she sinks down on it, taking me inside her heat.
Oh man. The back of my skull hits the mattress once more, and I’m light-headed with all the blood pooling in my groin, with all the pleasure flooding my bloodstream, spreading down my back like fire.
She bends over me, bracing on my shoulders, her tits swaying. I grab them, and knead them, loving the feeling of them in my palms. She moans her approval, tightens around my cock, and it’s a mad spiral of pleasure, our bodies rubbing together, sliding, writhing, chasing after our release.
It’s close, the familiar burn behind my balls lets me know I won’t last much longer. My dick swells more, aching, and she moans, riding me faster, the smooth walls of her pussy closing in like a vise.
Jesus. Letting go of her tits, I reach between her legs and flick at her clit, even as my dick jerks and I start to come
After that, it’s burning heat, and white light, and unbearable pleasure. I slam into her again and again, and her pussy clenches and releases around my cock in a rhythm that draws another wave of release from me, and another.
Goddamn.
I throw my head back, my jaw tight, struggling not to come apart, my eyes stinging. She’s unlocking me, turning all the keys – by coming back, by covering my body with hers, by loving me.
I’m laid bare, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and the pleasure is so great it’s tearing me to pieces.
I’m undone.
“Hey,” I whisper, petting her hair where she’s passed out on my chest.“You awake?”
She lifts her fingers and wiggles them at me.
I grin. “You never replied to my question.”
“Wha?”
Fuck, she’s adorable when she’s like this. Well fucked and sprawled over me. Adorable and hot and soon I’ll be ready for round two, but first…
“The question I asked you in the video I made for you. I figured you watched it? Isn’t that why you came back?”
She lifts her head to give me a long, hot look. “I’d have come back anyway,” she whispers, and the admission makes me grin wider.
“So…is that a yes?”
“Depends. Was that a wedding proposal?”
I think about it. “It was a love proposal. Wedding is optional, although I really like the idea of you wearing my ring…”
“Oh yeah?”
“…and having my kids. Do you want kids?”
“If they are anything like you, Kaden Hansen… They will be a handful.” She taps a finger on my chest, her smile warm. “And I’ll love them more than I love myself or anything else in this world.”
“…This is a yes. Right?”
She laughs. “How many kids?”
“I’m thinking three.” Her eyes widen, and I shrug. “A boy, two girls. I would like… a Maggie. Like your friend.”
Her smile softens. “Maggie rocks.”
“I know. I was listening whenever you talked about yourself, you know.”
She plants a kiss on my pec. “And a Shawn.”
I smile at her. “Like my dad. Yeah. And maybe…a surprise?”
Hailey laughs. “Oh my God, you’re crazy. I had my doubts, but…”
I waggle my brows at her. “It’s why you love me.”
“Possibly. Among many other reasons. How about we start with two kids and see?”
I sigh, content. “Sure. That’s why the third one will be a surprise. Any more requests?”
“Yes. Let your beard grow again?”
“I can do that. Goddammit, woman, you’re killing me here. Will you answer my question? Will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes!” She smacks my chest. “Yes, I will marry you, Kaden Hansen.”
I grab her face to kiss her properly with tongue and a bit of teeth, until she moans in my mouth.
She just made me the happiest man in the world. She put me through hell to get here, but it’s all worth it. She’s worth it. And I know I’ll never forget today, and everything we promised each other. I’ll never forget anything about her ever again.
She’s unforgettable.
Chapter Twenty
Hailey
Three years later
“You look beautiful,” Kaden tells me for the twentieth time as he drives us to the out of town chapel where his brother Matt and Octavia are getting married. “I swear.”
I’m not convinced. I smooth the soft fabric of my dress over my swollen belly. “I’m fat.”
“You’re not fat, Hay. You’re pregnant. With our baby.” His ey
es shine when he looks at me. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
The sincerity in his gaze makes me feel better, although I still feel like a beached whale. At thirty-seven weeks along, I feel like I’m overdue with this baby, and I really could do without the swollen ankles and huge boobs.
Kaden loves my huge boobs, but that’s not the point. This guy seems to like everything about me, and my eyes fill up.
Oh yeah, I could do with being less emotional, too.
I rub the top of my belly. “Is it far yet? I need to pee.”
I mean, will the joys never cease?
“Almost there.” He glances at me, worry entering his gaze. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Just uncomfortable.”
Today it’s all too much, and I don’t know why.
He parks in the crowded parking lot, gets out and comes around to help me. Despite my discomfort, I smile as I loop my arm around his and let him haul me to my feet.
He makes me happy. And this baby will be so loved when he comes.
Shawn. I rub my hand over my belly and he kicks at it, his tiny foot connecting with my palm.
“I love you,” Kaden says, kissing my mouth quickly, then my forehead. “So much.”
“Right back at you,” I whisper, and fight the urge to cry.
God, these hormones.
Then the baby kicks again, and a tear escapes me.
“What is it?” Kaden wraps an arm around me. “What do you need?”
“Nothing. I have all I could ever wish for. I just think…Shawn is a bit impatient to arrive.”
Kaden turns me around and stares into my eyes, his brows drawn. “Are you having pains?”
“No. It’s just a feeling.”
“Okay. Let me know if this baby decides it’s time to come, and I’ll take care of you. Both of you.”
I know he will.
I’m with the best guy in the world, and I’d trust him with my life and that of our baby without any hesitation.
The ceremony is sweet. Octavia is all in white, with flowers in her dark hair, and Matt is imposing in his dark suit. His kids are there, too, dressed to match the couple, Mary in a white dress and Cole in a miniature dark suit that makes him look super-cute.
