Hate Me or Love Me

by Ella Miles

  “I don’t deserve to know about the baby. You lived your life while I was picking up the pieces to mend mine.”

  She bites her lip and then the words fall out of her mouth. “The baby is yours.”

  I freeze. “What?”

  “The baby is yours.”

  I jump out of the booth and over to her side climbing into the booth next to her. I get a better look at her stomach and realize that she is about to pop any day now.

  “Can you forgive me? I wasn’t going to tell you about the baby even though it’s yours. I wasn’t sure I could take the chance that you wouldn’t hurt this baby too. But after I thought more about it, I knew you would never intentionally hurt this baby. I was hiding the baby from you to get back at you. I had turned heartless and wanted you to feel the pain that I felt.”

  I laugh. “I don’t care. I’m just so happy that the baby is mine and not some other asshole’s.” I put my hand on her stomach, feeling the baby kick inside her. Magical is all I think as I feel the baby inside her.

  “God, Victoria, I know I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past, but know that I’m going to love this baby with everything I have.”

  “It’s a boy,” she says grinning.

  “I’m going to love and protect our son with everything that I have.”

  She nods. “I know.”

  I hold out the ring to her, not sure where we go from here, except that I love her and I need to be a part of her life.

  She takes the ring hesitantly in her hand, then places it on the ring finger of her right hand. “Maybe someday I’ll move it to its proper place on my left hand, but for now I just want to be happy. I want to work hard. I want to take care of this new baby. And I want you to be a part of that.”

  I grin and kiss her long and slow.

  “I know that you have mixed emotions toward me, but how do you feel about me right here in this moment? Do you still hate me or love me?”

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Because there is a restroom behind you that I would love to fuck you in.”

  She grins. “Love. Definitely love.”

  Epilogue

  Victoria

  I hear Charlie crying as I clasp my bracelet onto my wrist. We were supposed to leave five minutes ago for our dinner date, but it seems that Charlie really doesn’t want us to go.

  I walk out of my bedroom and head down the hallway toward Charlie’s room. I guess our dinner date will have to wait a little longer. I make it almost to his room when Carter grabs my hand and pulls me into the hallway closet as he shuts the door behind us. He puts his hand over my mouth and makes a shh sound.

  I raise an eyebrow at him and wait for him to remove his hand from my lips.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “We aren’t here remember. We are on our date. We haven’t had a date since Charlie was born six months ago and we aren’t going to get trapped here again. What is the benefit of living with your entire family if you don’t take advantage of the free babysitting?”

  “But Charlie—”

  “Is fine.”

  I listen and I hear Amber and Sailor comforting Charlie down the hallway.

  “See?”

  I nod.

  “You look sexy, by the way,” Carter says, looking me up and down in a skin-tight red dress.

  I bite my lip. “I thought you would like it.”

  “I’d like to see you out of it more.”

  He grabs the back of my neck and pulls me into a deep kiss. My arms fall around his neck as I breathe in his cologne. He smells good, almost as good as he tastes.

  He pushes me hard against the closet wall and I let out a squeal.

  His hand covers my mouth again. “You have to be quiet Victoria. I’m going to fuck you and you wouldn’t want anyone to hear you.”

  “We can’t,” I whisper. “They are all just down the hallway.”

  “Then you better be very, very quiet.”

  He slides his hands up my thighs pushing my dress up until he reaches his goal. He hooks one finger under my panties and pulls them down, hard. He kisses me to keep me quiet as his fingers move to the slit between my legs.

  “Carter,” I moan.

  “Shh,” he says as he unzips his pants and pushes his cock against my stomach.

  “Wait,” I say.

  He stops. “What? I’ll make sure we don’t miss our reservations, but I need you baby. Now.”

  I bite my lip. “I know.”

  “Then why are we waiting?”

  He kisses my neck and I forget what I wanted to tell him.

  I moan and he grins.

  “God, I can’t get enough of that sound.”

  He pushes his cock inside me hard and fast, while I wrap my legs around his waist and ride him hard. Sex with Carter is never normal. We rarely fuck in a bed and he always likes to keep things interesting. I sometimes pick a fight with him, just so we can have savage, rough sex that only he can give me. But right now, it’s not about that. Because after seeing how Carter is with Charlie, I couldn’t hate him.

  “You want to come, don’t you baby?”

  I nod.

  “Good, don’t scream. Or I’m going to take you to our bedroom and really have my way with you and we will never make it to dinner.”

  I bite my lip as hard as I can as Carter fucks me into my orgasm. I try to keep my mouth quiet, but my whole body is screaming. My body tightens around his and my hands claw at his neck.

  My orgasm finally stops and Carter grabs my left hand that is clawing at his neck far too hard.

  “Jesus, Victoria. You don’t understand how to be gentle, do you?”

  I bite my lip. “Sorry.”

  He grins and then looks more closely at my left hand. His eyes widen when he finally realizes what I wanted to tell him.

  “Does this mean what I think it means?” he asks, staring at my engagement ring that I finally put on my left hand.

  I nod. “I want to marry you and have more babies with you and live happily ever after with you Carter.”

  He kisses me hard on the lips and I couldn’t be happier. I never thought that I could be this happy. None of us did. Our lives started out so crappy. But somehow, we came back together and became a family, all under one roof taking care of each other.

  “I’ll marry you under one condition,” he says.

  I smirk. “Oh? I don’t think you are in any position to be making demands.”

  “I think that’s exactly where I am.” He kisses me again and he knows I would give him anything.

  “I’ll marry you if you promise to never stop hating me as much as you love me. I’m not sure I could ever give up our rough, love to hate you sex sessions.”

  I grin. “I think I can give you that,” I say, half lying. There is no way I can hate Carter, but pretending that I hate him is easy. I’ve had years of practice hating him. I’ll spend eternity loving and hating him.

  The End

  * * *

  Thank you for reading Savage Love!

  * * *

  Continue on to read Not Sorry…

  Not Sorry

  1

  Sean

  I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here. I promised I would never come back to Chicago. It’s too damn cold here. Still, I find myself stepping off a plane at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Why?

  Because I’m an idiot.

  And, when Jamie Parks calls me, saying she needs help, I come running. I would do anything for that girl, and she knows it, including marrying her, if she would only say yes. But I know that’s not in the cards for us. It’s been over a year since the last time I saw her. I’m just hoping she’ll let me take her on a date after I help her save her real estate company.

  I wheel my carry-on bag through the airport and out to Arrivals where Jamie said she would pick me up, but I don’t see Jamie waiting for me anywhere. I sigh. Jamie always used to run late.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and ge
t started on answering emails and returning daily phone calls to check in with my company. I pace back and forth as I talk, trying to stay warm, which is impossible due to the snow and cold wind that are whipping around the side of the airport and hitting me straight in the face over and over again.

  Fuck this.

  I head back into the airport to wait for Jamie. I text her that I’m just inside Arrivals and then continue doing work until she gets here.

  I hang up on my latest call and glance at the time. She’s over forty minutes late. This is getting ridiculous. I should have just taken a cab to her office.

  The doors slide open, letting in another burst of cold air that I’m getting more than annoyed with, but there isn’t anywhere else for me to wait. I glance at the woman standing in the doorway, hoping it’s Jamie, but I immediately realize that it isn’t.

  Still, I continue to stare at the woman in the doorway, transfixed with how much of a giant mess she is. She’s wearing dark snow boots that look white from the snow that is covering them. Her legs are shivering because, for some crazy reason, she decided not to wear pants or tights or those yoga pant things women usually wear. And she is wearing the smallest yet puffiest pink coat I’ve ever seen. In her hand, she is carrying a cup of coffee from what I assume is a local coffee shop because I don’t recognize the brand on the side of the cup.

  She nervously glances around the room and then smiles when she sees me. She walks over to me, and I think she is going to ask for directions or how an airport works because she looks completely out of place here. Hopefully, she is traveling someplace warm, which would explain her bare legs. I will admit, those legs do look hot—long and lean, just like I like. I guess it would be a waste of good legs if she covered them.

  “Are you Sean?” the woman asks.

  My eyes widen a bit in shock, partially from the fact that she knows my name and partially when I see that she is wearing makeup on only about half of her face. I laugh a little at the sight. I can’t help it. But then the door opens, and another breeze of cold air pushes through us. Her long, frizzy dark hair blows in her face, and my nose breathes in her sweet smell. Apples and cherries maybe?

  This woman is clearly having an off day. I hope it’s an off day because I can’t imagine anyone going through life every day like this. But, underneath all of the mess, something has me intrigued.

  “Yes, although no one calls me that.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Jamie didn’t tell me that you went by a nickname.”

  I shake my head, chuckling a little bit. “I don’t go by a nickname.”

  “Oh.” She frowns, unsure of what I mean.

  “I go by Mr. Burrows.”

  She bites her lip. “I’m sorry, Mr. Burrows. I’m just so happy I found you. You have no idea about the morning I’ve had.”

  I snicker as I look her up and down and cock my head to one side. “I have a pretty good idea.”

  She blushes. “Anyway, I’m Olive. I’ll be driving you to the Parks Real Estate office.”

  I frown. Jamie couldn’t even bother to come pick me up.

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Burrows,” Olive says as she leans forward.

  I have no idea what she is doing. I assume she has to tell me something privately, so I lean forward a little, too, and the next thing I know, her lips graze my cheek before brushing against my lips.

  I smile when her soft lips touch mine. I assume she is passing along a greeting from Jamie, and her lips are very nice. I will never turn down a kiss.

  But, the next moment, I feel hot coffee all over my body, and I look up to see a blushing Olive with a cup of coffee in her hand that I’m sure is empty now.

  “Oh my God. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to spill coffee on you. I bought it because I figured, with your early morning flight, you would need some coffee to get through today. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kiss you. Um…I’m sorry. I’m not used to the two-cheek-kiss thing you do in Europe. I’m sorry.”

  I look down at my light-blue shirt and black slacks that are now covered in coffee. It’s just not as visible on my pants as it is my shirt. I packed lightly. Everything I brought with me is inside a small carry-on. I doubt that I’m going to be here very long. Jamie just said she needed some help. I’m sure I can have her company headed in the right direction in no time.

  “It’s fine. I’ll just need you to point me in the direction of a dry cleaner later.”

  “When you get to the office, you can change, and I’ll have this dry-cleaned for you by the end of the day.”

  I nod. “Lead the way.”

  I follow Olive outside and am thankful that she parked against the curb even though I’m sure it is breaking the rules. You aren’t supposed to park your car against the curb.

  A security officer is standing outside of Olive’s Mercedes.

  “Is this your car, miss? It’s a no parking zone,” the security officer says.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll move it right now,” Olive says, climbing into the driver’s seat.

  The officer gives her a stern look but then nods. I toss my carry-on into the backseat and then climb in the front seat, next to Olive. She immediately pulls out and begins driving.

  I glance around the interior of her car. It’s nice, really nice. “Your car is nice. Jamie must pay you well for you to afford something this nice.”

  Olive blushes. “It’s not my car. It’s Jamie’s. She gave it to me to come pick you up since I don’t own a car.”

  I look around now, more amazed with Jamie. She’s doing well for herself if she can afford this.

  “So, what do you do for Jamie?”

  “I’m her assistant,” Olive answers.

  I nod. It makes sense, although I’m not sure Olive is doing the best job she could as an assistant. Maybe that’s what Jamie needs me to do. Prune the employees who aren’t doing so well to help her continue to grow.

  Olive surprises me with how she manages Chicago traffic for someone who doesn’t own a car. She drives efficiently and safely but quickly gets us to the office.

  “Thanks for picking me up, Olive,” I say as I climb out of the car.

  “Of course, Sean—I’m sorry. I mean—”

  “Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind if you call me Sean.”

  She smiles and then leads me into the office building. Then, we ride up in the elevator to the floor that Parks Real Estate occupies.

  We climb out, and to my surprise, it seems like the whole team has gathered to welcome me to the building. There are about fifty people gathered with all their eyes focused on me and Olive. I glance over at Olive, who also seems surprised at the gathering.

  Olive begins speaking before I have a chance to, “This is Sean—uh, Mr. Sturrows.”

  She bites her lip when she realizes she said the wrong last name and begins to open her mouth to, I assume, correct herself, but I cut her off.

  “I’m Sean Burrows. I’m excited to work with all of you for as long as you and Jamie will have me. I’ve heard wonderful things about all of you. As for my stained shirt, I’ve heard that’s what happens when you work in real estate and when you have an assistant like Olive pick you up,” I joke.

  The room chuckles and laughs, obviously used to Olive doing things like spilling coffee on a regular basis, but when I glance over at Olive, I immediately regret my joke. I expected her to look embarrassed or maybe a little upset with my joke. But she doesn’t look embarrassed. She looks downright angry.

  “I’m so happy you could make it,” Jamie says, softly kissing me on the cheek.

  “I’m happy to be here. I would do anything for you.”

  She smiles, and I have a chance to study Jamie. She looks different. Her cheeks look the slightest bit fuller. In fact, her whole body looks slightly fuller. Not in a bad way, but in a perfect way. Her skin seems to be glowing, and her long blonde hair is shinier than I’ve ever seen it.

  I realize immediately why she brought me
here, and it’s not because she wanted another date or a one-night hook-up or anything to do with me other than she trusts me.

  “You’re pregnant,” I whisper in her ear.

  Jamie blushes, and I know it’s true.

  “Have Olive take your clothes to the dry cleaners and get changed. We have a lot to discuss.”

  Jamie heads to her office, and I can’t help but stare at her gorgeous ass as she walks.

  “Come on, Romeo. I’ll show you to the restroom, so you can get changed, and I can get your clothes to the dry cleaners. Although no one believes it, I do have more important things to do with my day,” Olive says, walking toward the restroom.

  I follow her. “Is it that obvious that I like Jamie?”

  She shakes her head. “You are unbelievable. How about an I’m sorry?”

  “Why would I say sorry?”

  “Because you said something hurtful at my expense.”

  “It was a joke. It wasn’t hurtful. It was truthful.”

  “You should apologize instead of worrying if it’s obvious that you like Jamie. It’s obvious that everyone likes Jamie, so it’s not that unusual. No one but me notices because everyone else is already too busy pining over Jamie.”

  “So, who’s the baby daddy?” I ask.

  Olive stops and looks at me seriously. “She told you she was pregnant?”

  “No, I just guessed. You confirmed.”

  “I didn’t confirm anything.”

  I smile. “Yes, you did.”

  “Whatever. Just get changed, so I can take your clothes.” She pauses at the restroom for me to go inside. “Although you probably want to take them yourself since I will just ruin them.”

  I begin unbuttoning my shirt and watch as her eyes drift to my chest and then abs. I remove the shirt and hand it to her. “Just take the shirt. It’s a favorite of mine. I’ll just buy new pants if I need them.”