Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection

by Nikki Bolvair

“You’ll get your dual major, English Lit and Business. And I’ll get my MBA.” I turned my head to watch him. He always talked with his hands. I watched him flail them around as he spoke. “Then, fresh off of a successful college career, you’ll take over the company and fire the bitch, and I’ll start my spa. And she won’t be allowed in the door, no matter how much she tries to bribe my staff.”

  He paused when my cell phone rang—my dad. I checked the time, but it was only four. He should’ve been at work for another two hours. I answered quickly. “What’s up, Dad, everything okay?”

  “Where are you, Ellie?” he asked with an edge to his voice.

  “Todd’s.” I kept it short. There was no telling what sort of story my stepmother had concocted to get me in trouble. Best to wait and see.

  “I need you to come home, please. You can bring Todd, but I need to talk to you.” He disconnected as soon as he was done talking.

  I turned to Todd and stood. “Dad wants me home and said you should come so we can talk.” My heart sank. “He didn’t even mention my birthday.” I shuffled my feet, dreading what was coming as we walked three houses down. Raquel would have some horrible story, and Dad would believe every line of it. He thought I was a rebellious brat. He always talked about how disappointed in me he was.

  Every time I tried to tell him how horribly she treated me, he chalked it up to more rebellious behavior on my part. She’d done a number on him. He never would’ve believed I could be so bad before he met her.

  I trudged up the front stairs and opened the door. “Dad?” The large home made my voice echo. Immediately after moving in, Raquel took down the classy decor my mom left and replaced it with ostentatious junk. Her taste was horrible. It was minimalist meets safari jungle tour. Todd faked vomiting every time he looked at the zebra skin hanging on the wall.

  “In here, Ellie,” Dad called from the kitchen. Todd and I entered the kitchen to the sound of the garage door opening off the kitchen. Dad had a huge grin on his face, and my step mother looked like she’d sucked on a lemon for her lunch.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. I looked from Dad to Raquel with apprehension. What had him grinning?

  “Can you go out to the garage please?” Dad asked politely.

  Todd snickered behind me. “Dad, c’mon. What did I do this time? Am I to have trashed the garage or something?” I dreaded the shoe dropping.

  I felt a push from Todd behind me. “Just go out,” he hissed. I sighed and made my way to the side door that led to the garage.

  I poked my head out the door, expecting to see Raquel’s Mercedes and Dad’s Lexus. Instead, a white Honda Accord with dark tinted windows sat alone in the garage. A huge red bow was pasted to the hood. I looked into the kitchen to my dad. His face lit up with excitement, as if he had received a car himself. “Dad! I thought you forgot!” Tears sprang to my eyes.

  “How could I forget your birthday, Ellie-Bellie? You’re sixteen! Now, hop in, and I’ll take you to the DMV to get your license.”

  The tears broke free and rolled down my cheeks. “Oh, Dad. I took driver’s ed last semester. All I had to do was take the certificate by the DMV this morning, and I got my license. Todd took me before school.”

  Instead of being thankful for the car, my tears were because my own dad didn’t know that I’d taken driver’s ed. He hadn’t taught me to drive. He’d checked out when he married Raquel.

  I still remembered the father who taught me to read while hiding under his big, fancy desk in his office. I remembered the dad who taught me to swim and ride a bike. He painfully and embarrassingly taught me about having a period and where babies came from. I remembered the man that had an active role in my life. He was a shell of the man he used to be. I tried to imagine he was still the old dad, but sometimes he made it impossible to pretend.

  “Take her out for a test drive then. Take Todd. You two have fun.” He fiddled with his glasses, unsure what to say. I guessed he was realizing he should’ve known about my driver’s education class. I walked over and hugged him. Raquel rolled her eyes at me behind his back. Her venom spewed from her eyes. I’d pay for the car later.

  Wes broke through my memories. “Earth to Ellie. Where’d you go?”

  I laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, Wes. Since my dad died, I keep getting thrown into memories I’d long ago repressed. They say it’s normal, but it’s still unnerving.” I realized we were almost at the restaurant. How long was I silent, reflecting my own past? “I’m so sorry I was rude.”

  “Hey, don’t sweat it. You looked sad, so I didn’t interrupt you for a while. I know grief when I see it.” He took one hand off the steering wheel to give my knee a reassuring squeeze. “Maybe, one day, you’ll feel like sharing memories with me. If tonight goes well, that is.” His voice took on a teasing tone.

  I shook off the ghost of the memory and tried to come up with something to talk about. “So… Tell me something about yourself, Wes.”

  He pulled into the restaurant lot and parked. “I work out.”

  “Man of few words. Okay. But, I already knew that.” His physique left no question he spent a lot of time in the gym.

  He laughed. “No, you don’t understand. I love the gym. Lifting weights is a form of meditation for me. It relaxes me and chases stresses away.” He shrugged. “Always has, since I was about thirteen.”

  “Okay, see, that’s better.” I smiled at him. “I know something significant about you now.” I took off my seatbelt and opened my door before he could jump out and come around to do it for me.

  He grunted at me as he met me at the front of the truck. “I thought you liked a chivalrous man?”

  “Chivalry is hot, but I can let myself out of the car. Proving a point is all.” I winked at him to ease the sting of my sass.

  Dinner passed in a blur of excellent conversation and good food. I learned more about Wes, including he had five brothers and sisters, he was mainly Scandinavian and British, and a pet peeve was when people bounce their legs idly.

  I’d let a few things about myself go, tit for tat, and told him a small bit about my stepmother. I glossed over the worst parts, of course. If ever I was completely honest, people got a tragic expression on their faces and went all sympathetic. I didn’t want that from someone I wanted to date. He also asked me why I volunteered so often.

  “I read that article about your volunteering,” Wes said.

  My eyes rolled themselves before I could stop them. “That article was too much.”

  “It sure did make you sound like a saint. Are you too good to be true?” he asked jokingly.

  “God no. I’m a mess most days. I volunteer as a sort of tribute to my mother.” I sipped the last of my dessert wine. I promised myself years ago I wouldn’t skimp on eating while on a date, and I hadn’t, not even for the insanely fit Wes.

  “Your mother? She died, didn’t she? It was mentioned in the article.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “How old were you?”

  “I was eight. It was horrible and traumatic, but we knew it was coming. She had time to tell me what she wanted for me in life. One of the things she told me was I should always make time to volunteer for people and animals less fortunate than myself.” I put my own napkin on the table, done with my meal. “So, I do. And I love it. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch a child’s eyes light up when the math finally clicks. Or an adult’s excitement the first time they bring me a book and tell me they read it through by themselves.” I grinned. “And, obviously, I love working with animals. It sounds terrible, but that’s my favorite. They’re so deserving.”

  “Your mom sounds like she was an awesome lady.” Wes’s eyes started to take on that poor-pitiful-Ellie quality, so I moved on.

  “She was. But, again, this is a happy evening. Let’s talk about something else.”

  We finished the evening with a walk around the botanical gardens. He took my hand, a nice gesture, toward the end of our walk. Nice, hell. You got a zing the second he touched you. Do
n’t be shy. I ignored my inner bad girl, and we ended our date at my front door. Wes, a complete gentleman, didn’t even kiss my cheek. He kissed my hand. “I had a lovely time, Ellie. I’ll be texting you to plan something again. I promise you that.”

  I let out a little puff of air when his lips brushed my hand, and the zing came back ten times stronger with his words. He was a gentleman, hot, smart, and damn I wanted a second date.

  I was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep, when my phone vibrated. I snatched it from my bedside table drawer.

  Wes: I enjoyed our time together tonight.

  Ellie: I did, too. Thank you for a wonderful date.

  Wes: Goodnight, beautiful. I’ll see you soon.

  Ellie: Goodnight.

  I drifted off, feeling beautiful and wanted, with a smile on my face.

  Chapter Four

  After two morning classes, Satan entertained me for most of Friday, when I wasn’t hosting a meeting for adults considering obtaining their GEDs.

  Wes sent two random texts while I was in class. One was a meme about cats, and the other was a picture of his cat, Lemmy. Every time my phone dinged, I snatched it up to check if it was him. Too often it was social media or emails coming through. Eventually, I changed his text tone so it would ring distinct when he sent a message.

  Saturday morning dawned with no alarm clock for once. I took weekends off at the shelter. I couldn’t figure out why I woke early. I had no reason to. A crash sounded in my kitchen. I bolted out of bed, wide awake and panicked. I kept one of my guns in my bedside table, and I slipped it out before pressing the panic button hidden in my headboard.

  Keeping a low-key lifestyle didn’t mean I should be unprepared. I was still a millionaire heiress to a large publishing company. I crept to my bedroom door and shut it as softly as I dared. Turning the lock with a soft click, I ran on tiptoe to my bathroom. There was no other way out, and I could shut and lock that door as well, giving the police time to show up. My panic button alerted the police and our building manager, so he’d be in the lobby, ready to give the officers a key.

  I sat on the toilet with my revolver pointed toward the bathroom door. The only downside to the expensive wood was it was soundproof. I wouldn’t know the intruder entered my bedroom unless he attempted to get into the bathroom. And, my panicked-self forgot my cell phone on the bedside table. I had no choice but to sit there and wait.

  My leg bounced up and down. I tried to quell my nervousness, but the minutes ticked down slowly while I waited. I wasn’t afraid of dying or being hurt. If anyone knocked on the bathroom door, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them through it. The minutes of waiting were still terrifying.

  I counted down four minutes and twenty-four seconds before someone knocked faintly on my bedroom door. I jumped up and pressed my ear against the bathroom door. “Police! Are you in there, Miss Asche?” I barely heard the shouts.

  I’d allowed enough time for them to arrive at my apartment. The likelihood the police were out there was high, so I unlatched the bathroom lock. “I’m in here, and I have a gun! When you got my apartment key from my landlord, he was supposed to give you a safe word. Do you know it?” I called through the door.

  The voice replied correctly, though muffled. “Desk Chair!” I unlocked the door, gun pointed at the floor. Officers streamed in around me and checked my room over, even though I’d been locked in. Arch came in behind them. “There’s nobody here, Ellie. What happened?” I raised my eyebrows at him. I hadn’t expected him to be there with the police.

  I let out a sigh of relief and walked over to my dresser to put my gun up. “How bad is it out there? Is anything damaged?” I sat on the bed, exhausted.

  A short, pudgy officer walked over to me to give his information. “Miss Asche, did you see an intruder?”

  I shook my head. “No, a strange sound woke me. I didn’t realize what it was until I heard a crash in the kitchen. I hit my panic button, grabbed my gun, and tiptoed over to lock my bedroom door. Then, I hid in the bathroom behind that locked door until you came.”

  Satan ran into my bedroom and jumped up on the bed beside me. I snatched him up. “I’m so glad you’re safe, kitty-boy!”

  “Ma’am,” the officer said. “We saw no sign of forced entry. Your alarm was still engaged. There’s no damage or mess in the house. The only sign of anything unusual is your kitchen garbage can has been knocked over, and the contents strewn across the floor.” He fought a smile as I stared at him, floored. “Have you had your cat for long?”

  I turned my head to peer down at Satan. He was curled up in my arms, purring, contentment on his evil face. “Satan! You didn’t?” I scolded him. He twitched his tail at me.

  “Ma’am?” I gazed at the officer. “Satan?” He stood there with laughter in his eyes, judging my poor kitty’s name.

  “Yes. He’s the evilest kitty alive, would you look at him.” I scratched his head, and he laid his ears back and purred louder. “You think my cat knocked over the trash can, and it freaked me out so I hit the panic button and caused this entire ruckus?”

  The officer nodded his head, valiantly fighting laughter. The room cleared of any other officers, and Arch’s face barely contained his mirth. I put Satan down to check out the apartment.

  They were right. The only problem was the trash can in the kitchen. “You can both go ahead and laugh. You’re right. It was Satan.”

  Not only did Arch and the officer crack up with belly-busting laughter, it came from the hall, too. I stuck my head out my front door. Four more officers stood out there, doubled over, laughing their stress away.

  I turned to the officer inside. “At least I provided some comic relief for your officers today.” My cheeks were fireballs. Embarrassed didn’t begin to cover my emotions.

  “Please don’t feel bad.” The officer finally contained his levity enough to speak to me again. “I’ve got three cats. You learn to recognize two sounds. One, the sound of the garbage can crashing to the floor. And two, the sound a cat makes before they throw up. It’s distinctive.”

  I thanked him for coming out and apologized for my overreaction to my new cat’s shenanigans. When he left, I turned to Arch with my hands covering my mouth. “I absolutely can’t believe that happened,” I mumbled through my fingers.

  His laughter renewed. He gasped out around his guffaws, “That cat caused you to call the police! I can’t wait to tell Wes, he’ll love this.” He collapsed onto my couch, still chuckling.

  “How’d you even know they were here? Were they being loud?” How did he manage to show up at the perfect moment?

  His eyes widened. He hadn’t expected me to ask him that. “Yeah, okay.” He sighed. “My power went out, and I was bored.”

  Nodding at him, I encouraged him to continue. What didn’t he want to tell me?

  “I… had my front door open, hoping to hear you get up and get your paper. I was going to bug you to let me come over and hang out here. My apartment was getting hot.” He scratched his ankle idly and rolled his eyes. “I was hoping if you saw my door open, too, you’d come in to see why, and then invite me over so I wouldn’t have to ask. There. Now, you know.”

  It was my turn to laugh at him. “That’s nothing to be embarrassed about! If your power is out, come by and bum my TV or raid my fridge. Do you need to move anything from your fridge to mine?”

  He laughed. “No, I talked to the power company, and they should be out within a couple of hours to turn it on. Turns out, I forgot to pay the bill.” He smiled sheepishly at me. “Sometimes being an adult is hard, and I miss stuff.”

  I snorted. “We all do. Last month I almost forgot to pay my cell phone bill. It happens.” I walked toward the kitchen. “You hungry?”

  “Yes, please,” he replied in a small voice as he followed me. He sat on one of the stools I kept on the living room side of the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. It was a great place to sit and talk to the cook without getting in their way.


  I preheated the oven to make some frozen biscuits before walking out of the kitchen. “Be back,” I said. I went to my bathroom to check I wasn’t too scary after my morning fake-ordeal. Thankfully, my hair was only a little wild, and I didn’t have any gross goop in my eyes. I was wearing respectable pajamas but changed into lounging clothes anyway. After brushing my teeth and hair, I made my way to the living room.

  By the time I came out, Arch turned the TV on to the morning news. I sighed to myself. He belongs on my couch. I blinked my eyes and shook off the familiarity of him being comfortable in my home.

  “How do you like your eggs, Arch?” I desperately needed a grocery store run, but I could make do with a few things on hand. At least I had plenty of eggs.

  “I’m not picky. The only way I don’t like them is runny.” His eyes never left the news. A criminal lawyer would stay on top of the city’s happenings, and the news outlets were one way to accomplish that.

  I left him on his own and threw together a breakfast of eggs, biscuits, and fresh strawberries. When the biscuits came out of the oven, I called him over to my small kitchen table.

  “Thank you so much, Ellie, this is awesome. I would’ve had cereal or a pop-tart at home.” He shoveled eggs into his mouth with vigor. I guess he likes them.

  “No problem. I’m an oatmeal and toast girl myself, but I figured I’d start your day off with something to stick to your ribs.” I shook pepper over my eggs. I began eating as Arch took his last bites. His table manners needed some work.

  He finished long before I did and took his plate to the kitchen. The sounds of the dishwasher being loaded tickled me. He needed table manners, but he got extra brownie points for cleaning the kitchen.

  Once I finished, I added my plate to the dishwasher and joined Arch on the couch. He jumped up as soon as I sat down, and I looked at him in question. “I’m going to check on my power.”

  He came right back. “They’ve already turned it on. I don’t want to overstay my welcome.” He pointed to the notepad I kept on my desk in the corner. “I put my phone number there for you. If you ever need anything at all, text me.” He turned to leave. “Shoot me a text now so I’ll have your number, if you don’t mind me having it.”