The Blue Collar Bachelors Box Set: The Complete Blue Collar Bachelors Series

by Miller, Cassie-Ann L.

  And I respond with a purr. I’m so sensitive. Everything he does feels like the best thing I’ve ever felt. I’m melting with each drag of his tongue, each stroke of his fingers, each drive of his cock.

  This man is simply magic.

  Tonight, he’s not fucking me. Nah. This is more. It’s deeper, intimate.

  This man is making love to me.

  The way he’s touching me, kissing me slowly. It’s like he’s telling a story. We’re telling it together, writing a poem with our slick, desperate bodies. Each thrust is its own verse. His groans rhyme with my sighs. And we’ve fallen into a rhythm that’s unique, our very own flow.

  I took his cock down my throat earlier. He leaned against the dresser, looking down at me with carnal intentions burning brightly in his eyes. The sound of his jagged breaths filled the dark room, tickling the tight coil in the depths of my belly. Just over his shoulder, the half-moon peeked in through the curtains.

  Slowly running the wet tip of his cock along my bottom lip, he whispered in a soft growl. "Open up, darling. Suck it again."

  I took him until he was knocking at the back of my throat, stretching the muscles there. He faltered, his knees grew weak. I grinned to myself, enjoying the vulnerability carved into his furrowed features. I felt powerful, in control.

  I, Sadie Nichols, bow down to no man. But when I’m on my knees in front of Xavier? Trust me…the pleasure is all mine.

  But who am I kidding? This isn’t just about the sex.

  The words he said to Thandi play on loop in my head. Maybe we could be something more. Maybe we could be more than friends.

  His urgent touch pulls me from my thoughts. Panting, he turns my face up to his and he sears me with a heated kiss.

  I’m at the precipice, right about to tumble over when the phone rings on the nightstand. A wicked smile comes over Xavier’s face and he twists his fingers hard inside of me, his knuckles doing something obscene to the sensitive nerve endings. “Aren’t you going to answer that, love?” he whispers teasingly in that damn sexy brogue. “Would you like me to stop?”

  The fingers of both hands clasp around his wrist, holding him right there, and I swear under my breath. “Don’t you stop,” I grit out desperately. “Don’t you fucking stop.”

  He works his fingers harder and runs his lips up the side of my neck. That stubble is driving me nuts!

  Oh, my orgasm is so close. I feel it tightening and swelling in the deep of my belly. I feel it building. The telephone is long forgotten and my limbs begin to shake.

  “That’s it, sweetie,” he whispers. “That’s it. Let me feel you come on my hand, darling.” His mouth covers my lips and he swirls his tongue in a maddeningly slow tempo. My spine arches off the bed.

  And I come. So fucking hard. “Xavier, Xavier, Xavier!” I shout his name again and again as I spasm against the mattress.

  Before I’ve had a chance to fully recover, the phone starts ringing again. This time, I lift my head and peer down at the caller ID. My blood runs cold.

  “What is it?” Xavier asks, his face pleating with concern as he watches me.

  “The hospital…” A lump lodges itself in my throat. I suddenly feel so very afraid. I sit up, pulling the blankets over my chest. “Hello?”

  “Is this Sadie Nichols?” A grave voice comes over the phone.

  “Yes, it is.” I silently urge whoever it is to get to the point.

  “This is Angie Gallo from the Copper Heights General Hospital. I’d like for you to come down to the emergency room. We’ve just admitted your father.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Sadie

  I blot tears away again. Every time I dry my eyes, fresh tears spring up within minutes. I just can’t come to terms with it. My father lying in a hospital bed, fighting for his life.

  I had no idea that he was sick, that he’s been battling this—whatever it is—all on his own for months. Why didn’t you tell me, daddy?

  A big, warm hand settles on the small of my back and Xavier’s strong fingers knead gently at the stiff muscles there. I look over at him, slouched limply in the waiting room chair. I give him my best attempt at a smile. “We’ve been here all day. You must be exhausted. You should go home.”

  His fingers move higher up my back and rub the space between my shoulder blades. His voice is a husky whisper. “Not a fucking chance.” He loops his arm around my belly and pulls me back. I collapse into his chest.

  And I can’t hold it together anymore. I sob uncontrollably and he strokes my hair. Letting go of control like this is foreign to me. It feels strange. But freeing at the same time. Xavier is perfectly patient. He just holds me and shushes into my ear, whispering calming words.

  When I finally get a hold of myself, I straighten, dragging my soaked tissue along my cheeks. “Oh my gosh, look what I did to your shirt.” There’s basically a puddle in the middle of his chest, the light blue fabric completely soaked through. I run my hand over his T-shirt and feel the steady beat of his heart beneath.

  “Don’t be silly.” He tucks my tangled hair behind my earlobe. His touch is tender but sure. “It’s perfectly okay.”

  I smile weakly at him. “Remember when I said I wasn’t sure if you were really a prince?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckles.

  “I’m sure now.”

  That’s my way of saying thank you, of telling him how grateful I am to have him by my side. I’m so used to being strong for myself, facing challenges on my own. But having him with me makes me feel a little bit stronger, it makes me a little less afraid.

  He holds me tighter. “You need someone to be here for you, Sadie. You can’t face this alone.”

  I’ve sent Nat a few text messages but she has a shift at the cupcake shop. She may not check her phone until the end of the day. “I’m so grateful I don’t have to be here alone, Xavier. I don’t know how I would have kept from falling over on my face.”

  “You’re strong, darling. So much stronger than you realize. I’m just glad I can be here for you.” He leans forward and presses his mouth to the bridge of my nose. I tilt my head up and my lips brush his stubbly chin. A contented exhale bursts from his lungs and I watch his mouth curve into a soft smile at the contact.

  I watch the way he basks in something so simple. This thing between us is real…

  The sound of footsteps approaching causes me to pull back and straighten up in my seat. A tall, imposing man in a fitted Copper Heights Fire Department T-shirt and black pants strolls out of a room at the end of the hall. A dark-haired woman in a white lab coat follows a few paces after him. I recognize them instantly. Angie Gallo is one of the doctors treating my father. Ben Riggs is a lieutenant firefighter. The two are a bit of a power couple around town. They’re friends of Reese’s and stop by the cupcake shop a few times a week. I watch them expectantly as they move in our direction.

  Ben reaches us first. He wears a concerned look and gives me a little squeeze on the shoulder. “How are you holding up, Sadie?”

  I want to lie and say that I’m fine but I can’t. “I’m freaking out a bit,” I whisper and Xavier’s fingers slide through mine, tightening reassuringly. “You were at the scene where my dad was found?”

  He rests both hands on his hips and nods. “Yeah. Eyewitnesses at the scene say he collapsed as soon as he stepped off the bus from Chicago. Luckily, they called for help immediately so he was able to get quick medical assistance.”

  Angie takes a step forward. “He’s a bit dehydrated so we’re giving him fluids while we wait for the results of his labs. But he’s been asking for you.”

  “He has?” I’m already on my feet.

  She smiles. “Yes. Follow me.”

  I throw a look at Xavier. He smiles reassuringly. “I’ll be right here waiting for you, love.”

  My gut tightens with gratitude and something else, something tender. “Thank you.”

  Leaving Xavier and Ben in the waiting room, I follow Angie down one brightly-lit hal
lway and then another. She pushes a door open and I see my father lying in the hospital bed. And I barely recognize him. He’s gaunt, his eyes and cheeks sunken in.

  “Daddy…?” The shock of seeing him like this has me knotted inside.

  He smiles, his eyes weak. “Seashell…There you are.” He stretches both arms out to me and I collapse against him. He squeezes me as hard as his frail arms will allow him.

  I pull back and watch him again, at a loss for what to say. My father has always been big, brawny. A manly tower. I don’t understand who this person in this bed is. It must be written all over my expression.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he admonishes.

  “Wha…what happened?” I manage to croak out.

  Angie cuts in. “Your father is very sick, Sadie. He has been for a long time.”

  Clasping his clammy hand in both of mine, I turn my wet eyes to the doctor. She tells me that my father has some illness I can’t even pronounce the name of. Basically, his kidneys are failing. His body is crumbling as a result of years of abuse—smoking, drinking, poor nutrition, overwork. She tells me that he doesn’t have many options. There are experimental avenues we could explore but a run-of-the-mill kidney transplant is the most obvious answer.

  “I’ll give him one of my kidneys.” I say it simplistically because that’s what it is. Simple. He made the biggest sacrifice for me. He gave me a family when I had no one else. I owe him so much. And now I won't hesitate to pay him back.

  My father needs a kidney so I’ll give him one of mine...right?

  The doctor's eyes fill with sympathy. “Sadie—you’d have to be tested. You’re not guaranteed to be a good match.”

  “Of course, I’ll be a match,” I say forcefully. Then my voice drops to a pleading whisper when I look into Dad’s weary face again. “I have to be a match. Please. He’s my father.”

  “Can I speak with my daughter in private?” My father asks, his eyes on Dr. Gallo.

  “Of course,” she says, backing out of the room into the hallway. “I have to go do my rounds but if you need anything, press the little button by your bed and a nurse will come to you.”

  When the doctor disappears, my father gives my hand a little tug and I sit on the edge of the bed. His eyes are somber but he smiles anyway. “You know I love you, right? More than anything in the world?”

  “Yeah.” My dad hasn't been perfect by any means but he's loved me as best he could. He's the only person who's ever really loved me.

  “From the moment your mother handed you to me on my front step, I fell right in love with you.” Tears bleed from the corners of his eyes.

  I cling tighter to his hand. “Daddy, what are you saying?”

  “Sadie, I’m saying that I don’t think you’ll be a match to donate a kidney to me.”

  “Wha…Why?”

  “You know why, Seashell.”

  He doesn’t need to say it out loud. In all my life, my father and I have only had this conversation once. I was probably seven or eight. I remember it so clearly. We were at my pediatrician’s office. I was in the corner of the room, scribbling in a coloring book as my father and the doctor whispered quietly over by the door. I don’t know what they were saying but I remember that daddy balled up his fists in anger and started yelling. The doctor scurried out of the room to give us privacy and my father explained it all through his clenched jaw as he fought back tears. I remember him lamenting, trying to figure out how a mother could be as cruel and heartless as mine.

  After that day, I pushed the memory away, I tried to bury it. But right now, it’s alive and well and playing out before my mind.

  “I’m not saying this to hurt you, Seashell. I’m saying it because you need to face the truth. Even though it’s hard right now.”

  He’s right but that doesn’t help.

  I feel untethered, anchorless. Even more so than I usually do. Terrified that the one person who has always been my family is about to be torn away from me and there’s nothing I can do to prevent it.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Xavier

  The past few days have been tough for Sadie as she's been coming to terms with her father's health condition. And though I would spend every minute at the hospital just to be there for her, I realize that she needs some time alone with her dad.

  Plus, after sitting in the same spot for 72 hours, I was starting to smell like stale nacho halitosis and dirty socks. I think she was just too polite to tell me.

  Eventually, I grudgingly left and went home. I’ve been doing odd repairs around the building and going to AA meetings to keep active but I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. I’m so damned worried about her.

  So when she texted a little while ago to say that she was on her way home for the night, I knew I had to see her.

  At the sound of her opening the door and entering her apartment, I throw on a shirt and take the stairs down to her place. When I knock on the door, it swings open and she’s standing there, looking tired and disheveled but smiling just for me.

  “Hey,” she says softly.

  “Hey.” Without hesitating, I step forward and scoop her into my arms, lifting her off of her feet. I press my mouth to hers and it isn’t until I’m kissing her that I realize just how much I’ve missed her. My eyes slide closed as I set her back on her feet and cup her cheeks in both hands. Her arms come tightly around my waist and I kiss her some more.

  And tiny footsteps come stampeding toward the door.

  Thandi grins wide as she curtseys. “Hey, your Highness!”

  I grin right back. “Hey, Lady Thandi. How’s science camp going?”

  “Super cool,” she tells me. “Today, we made a battery using a lemon and a rusty nail!”

  “Well, that just sounds awesome. You’re gonna have to show me how to do that.” I ruffle her hair like a little animal.

  She sort of furrows her nose. “Uh, maybe some other time.” Her eyes dart to where Judge Judy is yelling at some poor bloke on the television. “I’m sort of in the middle of something.”

  I nod in understanding, trying not to look too disappointed. “Yeah, some other time.”

  Just before she turns to head back for the TV in the living room, her gaze darts between Sadie and me and she asks me, “You did make her your girlfriend, right? Like we talked about?”

  I avoid eye contact with both of them. “Um, well…”

  And I’m not sure how it works but it seems this 7-year-old is much smarter than I am.

  She looks alarmed. She speaks with a hint of urgency. “Dude! You'd better lock it down quick. Lots of guys like Aunt Sadie. You might get her stolen from you.”

  Sadie’s reached her limit. "NATALIE!" she hollers.

  The bathroom door bursts open and the frazzled redhead stumbles out.

  "Come get your child!" Sadie demands.

  The mother looks worried. "Oh god. I hope she hasn’t been over here embarrassing me."

  "I told you to stop letting her watch all those mid-afternoon TV judge shows." That hue of pink looks glorious on Sadie's cheeks and at least when she’s blushing like this, she’s forgetting to be heartbroken over her father.

  "Thandi is absolutely lovely," I assure her mother.

  “A lovely handful,” Natalie scoffs as Thandi pickpockets a packet of gum from her mother’s jeans and plops down on the couch in the corner by the window.

  My eyes bounce between Sadie and Nat. “I didn’t realize you ladies had plans for the evening. I just came over to see if Sadie wanted to go for a walk. I mean, after being in that stuffy hospital for days on end.”

  Natalie canvasses her friend’s face. She clasps her hands together with finality. “Nope. No plans. I just came over to fulfill my bestie duty of making sure that this girl is fed and functioning. I’m about to go into meal prep mode and stock her fridge with some home-cooked meals but she looks like she could use a walk.” She lifts a brow at me suggestively.

  Sadie nods, almost as if she’
s in a daze. “Yeah, I guess some fresh air would do me good.” She throws me a quick glance. “I’m just gonna go change out of my uniform.” She ambles down the hall toward her bedroom. Her shoulders are slumped and her gait is melancholy.

  Nat waits until Sadie is out of earshot to approach me with a quiet voice. “It’s breaking my heart to see her like this,” she says sadly.

  I blow out a heavy breath and scrape my fingernails along my skull. “I’d give the moon and the stars to put that spunk back into her, to see her happy.”

  “Prince Xavier—”

  “Just Xavier, please.”

  Natalie looks at me, her stare hesitant but fiercely protective at the same time. “Xavier, you seem to have good intentions but I’ve got to say that I’m worried.”

  “What do you mean?” I shouldn’t even be asking because I can already guess what she’s going to say.

  “You’re not here to stay. You’re merely passing through. And…she’s fragile right now. Vulnerable. Just…don’t lead her on. Don’t give her the impression that things are more than they really are. Don’t hurt her. Please.”

  For a moment, I stand there speechless. I’ve fallen into a routine with Sadie. I’ve fallen into her life. Every now and then, the reality that this thing is only temporary completely slips from my mind. Natalie is right. Sadie is coming to depend on me and I’m coming to depend on her. This could become dangerous. For both of us.

  Before I find the right words to assure Nat that she has nothing to worry about with me, Sadie comes back into the room wearing a snug tee with Elmo’s big red face across the front and a pair of faded denim bellbottoms with floral decals up the sides. Her hair is up in a messy bun and she looks so pretty. She takes in my reaction and laughs. “Cut me some slack. My laundry pile is up to here.” Her hand slices the air a few inches above her head. “I’ve been at the hospital all week.”

  With long strides, I close the gap between us. “Are you kidding me? You look amazing. Trendy as fuck.”

  She snorts at my flattery and rolls her eyes. “Ready?