by Dawn Martens
I clench my jaw shut, glaring out my office window at Cori. I told her to leave it the fuck alone. She sees my look through the window and looks away quickly.
“If I had known, I would have gotten you… or something. I didn’t think she was that type of person,” he continues to speak, not giving me room to say anything. “I’ve spoken with her. Right after I found the proof, I spoke with her. The kids overheard us as they were over for supper. They want to meet you, away from Linda. Linda, even faced with the truth, won’t admit to knowing you or having you.”
Fuck. That hurts. I go to talk, but he keeps on going.
“You have a brother. He just turned eighteen, name is Kevin. Your sisters are twenty-three, twins. Both are married. Lorraine is expecting her first child, and Layla has a four month old.” He’s telling me the names of my siblings. Shit.
Finally, I get my chance to speak. “Thank you for calling me. I have to be honest, I didn’t know my girl was going to do this, and I’m pissed as hell at her for it, too. I told her to leave it alone. But if my brother and sisters want to meet up at some point, I’m all for it.”
“Good, son. Good. I hope to meet you at some point, as well. Even if Linda doesn’t, I would like to,” he tells me.
“That would be nice.”
We talk for a few more minutes, my anger at Cori still simmering at the top when I let him go. I sit for a few moments after clicking my phone off, wanting to make sure I don’t completely lose it.
Chapter 40
Cori
Uh oh. Going by the look Blake just gave me, I think he knows. What else could it be? I brace when he walks out of his office and stands on the other side of my desk. “In my office. Now,” he growls at me.
I rub my lips together and quietly follow him. The second I make it past the door, he slams it shut.
“Why? Why would you go and write my mother a damn letter? I told you to leave it the fuck alone!” he shouts at me.
“I know! Okay, I know, and I get it—it was wrong. I get that. Promise I do, but Blake, she needed to know what she gave up! I wanted to make her hurt!” I shout back at him.
He stares at me in silence. “What you did, though, Cori, has just ruined her marriage. And her other children are pissed at her.”
“That’s not my problem. That’s hers!” I snap at him.
“What don’t you get? You say you get it, but you really don’t. I am happy with my life now. She was happy in her life. You just ruined it all. Now, I have a step-dad that wants to meet me, siblings and kids that want to meet me. And still… a mother who is still denying she ever had a son before my twin sisters were born.” I gulp at his words.
“I’m sorry, Blake,” I whisper, tears forming. “I just wanted to make her hurt, sorry, something. I care about you so much, and she just abandoned you and moved on with her life, and that pissed me off.”
We stare at each other for a few moments before he moves, pulling me in for a hug. “Fuck, Cori, I’m still pissed you did that, but I understand why you did. Hell, I got after your mother for pulling shit on you,” he says, his face in my hair. I let out a sob. “Stop crying,” he demands.
I jerk back and glare at him. “You can’t tell someone to just stop crying. Crying stops when it’s ready to stop.”
He looks at me, amused. “I just did, and you stopped.”
“Yeah, except now I’m annoyed.”
“Then stop doing that, too.” I only stop because he kisses me.
His arms are around me, and it feels so right. I don’t know how I got so lucky with him, but I am so glad I did. After all the dates I have planned for him and the flowers I sent on his behalf to other women, I never thought I would be his. We just fit together. He’s mine, and I am his. I sometimes feel scared by how strongly I feel for him. He has become such a part of me, and I don’t ever want to let him go. I don’t want to lose the feeling of home I get when I am with him, but things never stay good in my life.
I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something will come between us and bring everything crashing down.
BLAKE
I love how much fire Cori has in her. I am still pissed she went behind my back, but it’s really sweet that she went through the trouble. Guess I know why Adam is avoiding me. That fucker had to have aided her.
“Let me make it up to you,” she stresses, undoing my zipper and stroking my length.
“You drive me wild.”
I grip the back of her neck, clamping my lips to hers. Her sweet tongue caresses mine as she continues to test my limits.
My pants fall around my ankles, along with my boxers. Turning Cori around and shoving her skirt up, I shove her face down across my desk and slide in from behind.
“Gotta be quick. I have a meeting in a twenty minutes.”
“Sure thing. The girls are coming to take me to lunch.” She wiggles her ass, and I thrust deep and hard.
I let go inside of her when my office door flings open, and Melissa and Chelsea are there, now suddenly closing their eyes. “Oh my God. I so did not want to see that.”
“Get out,” I bark at them. Melissa practically runs out of the room.
“Can I look? Because I just saw your ass, and damn, boy,” Chelsea says through a smirk.
“Get out, Chelsea!” Cori shrieks at her.
Once the door is shut, I start laughing, which causes Cori to slap at me. “It’s not funny, Blake! They just saw us, post awesome, and your ass.”
“Babe, it was funny. Next time, we need to remember to lock the door.”
Cori growls at me as she gets dressed. I just smile.
“You go hang out with your girls. I need to chat with Adam and Marcy.”
Her eyes go wide. “Don’t. Please don’t. They told me shit would backfire on me, tried talking me out of it. Please don’t be mad at them,” she begs.
“They still should have told me so I wasn’t blindsided. What’s done is done, but once you sent that letter, they should have said something.” She goes to argue, but I cut her off. “Nothing you say will change my mind, Cori.”
“Fine.”
I grab her, pulling her in for a kiss. “I’ll see you at home tonight.”
“Okay,” she whispers.
She walks out but quickly comes back not even a second later. “Oh, be home by seven. We’re going out on a double date tonight with Melissa and Monster,” she says and takes off.
Chapter 41
Cori
Melissa and I finish getting ready for our double date. Things seemed to change for her after Blake’s confrontation with Dray, and he’s around a lot now, trying hard to get on Melissa’s good side. They seem to be doing okay, and tonight, they invited Blake and me out with them.
Melissa is wearing a simple red flowy dress that hugs her just right and shows off the baby bump she’s sporting. When I look at her, it hurts. Sometimes, I think about telling Blake about the baby I wasn’t allowed to keep, but I don’t want him to look at me in disgust. I’ve often thought about asking Jasper to look into it, but decided against it, because honestly, what kind of mother would I make?
I’m sure, wherever my child is right now, he or she is having a much better life than I could ever give.
I pull on my new dress I picked up from Suzy Shier. It’s simple but a bit long, obviously, since I’m so short. I swear, that store only has tall people in mind for their clothes, but it hugs me perfectly.
We end up going to one of those kiddie places with games where you earn tickets to buy shitty plastic prizes, but we have the best time. Dray and Blake are competing at shooting hoops, while Melly and I play something simpler—Skeeball. I don’t win many tickets, but Blake doesn’t let me down, earning enough to get me a giant panda bear. Melly is pouting because Dray only earned enough for a smaller snake. He keeps teasing her, saying she can’t handle his anaconda.
He is being super sweet and attentive with her, keeps rubbing her belly, pulling out her chair and opening
doors for her. After we have had our fill of games, we share a large pizza and a pitcher of Sprite. Normally, we would have ordered beer or something, but with Melly and her baby, we didn’t want to make her sulk more.
I pull Blake into the photo booth, and we make out like teens as the camera snaps our photograph. I love that I can be as silly and goofy as I want with Blake, and he matches me being just as goofy. I’ve never felt this comfortable just being me with any of the guys I have messed around with. I like this feeling a lot. I hope I can keep it… and him. We just feel right.
BLAKE
Our double date goes well. Melissa ended up going home with Dray afterwards. I spoke with Adam and Marcy after Cori left the office. Marcy was first, and all she did was give me lip, saying her loyalties were with Cori. Betraying bitch.
I let it go and went to Adam. He told me about the blackmail, saying Cori would be cheering Clara on with the divorce if he didn’t help her. At first, I was pissed off all over again, but then I got over it once I saw what Cori was wearing tonight.
“Can we go out?” Cori says, sitting next to me in my car.
“Where? We were just out.”
“I know, but we are always either at home or work together. I want to go out—dance, drink. Something.”
“Sure, that sounds fine. Where do you want to go?” I ask her. I’m hoping she’ll pick Randy’s club, especially since I know that Stacy is banned from that place. I haven’t heard from her since the mess at the office months ago, and I want to keep it that way.
“Randy’s club. I get free drinks there, good stuff, plus—VIP section.”
I nod. “Should we invite anyone out with us?” I ask her.
She gives me a hungry look. “Nope.”
I adjust my pants and debate if we should just go home instead.
*~*
Randy comes over to us after I drag a highly drunk Cori off the dance floor, and he smiles at us. “You okay to drive?” he asks me.
“Yeah, man, I only had two beers when we first got here. Time to take her home before she barfs on your floor,” I tell him.
He gives his head a shake and chuckles. “Nice to see you two together,” he says and stalks off.
“Come on, drunky. Let’s get you home,” I say to Cori, holding her tight against me.
“You’re so handsome, Blakey poo,” she slurs.
“You’re pretty adorable when you’re drunk. Hopefully you won’t be miserable at the bake sale tomorrow,” I say to her.
She yawns and wrinkles her nose. “I almost forgot about that.”
I get her into my car, and she instantly passes out. Arriving to her place, I call up to Griggs, the night doorman, to help me out so I can carry her upstairs.
I lay her on the bed and tuck her in.
Chapter 42
Cori
I wake up with a hangover from hell and groan. I check the time and panic. “Shit!” I yell and then clutch my head. Holy fuck! That hurt.
“What?” Blake asks, bolting straight up beside me.
“It’s ten. We’re late,” I say, throwing the blankets off me and running to my dresser to put clothes on.
Both Blake and I make it out the door twenty minutes later, neither one of us taking a shower, just loading up on deodorant.
We make it to the event and run past everyone. I spot Zippo and Trevor standing ahead of the crowd. Melissa and Chelsea are both passing out baked goods while taking money. Shit, they look swamped; taking money is supposed to be my job.
“I’m so sorry. We over slept,” I say, out of breath.
Melissa smirks. “All good, sis.”
I stand behind the cash box and start doing my job. Blake is at Chelsea’s table, helping her with cash.
A little boy, who looks about three, and his mom come up to the table, and he smiles at me. “You’re pwetty,” he tells me.
I smile. “Thank you.”
“Will you be my giwlfwiend?” He can’t say Rs, and it’s adorable.
“I would, little guy, but I’m already taken,” I tell him softly.
He frowns. “Can I at wease hab a kiss?”
I laugh, and his mother looks embarrassed. Before she tells him no or takes him away, I come around the table and bend down to his level. I tap my cheek.
He leans in, kissing me sloppily, and backs away, face beaming brightly.
“Hey, you stealing my girl, kid?” Blake asks teasingly to the little boy.
“She’s pwetty,” he declares.
“Yeah, I suppose she is,” Blake says, winking at me.
“Okay, Ryder, time to go. Say goodbye.”
They walk off, and Blake pulls me in for a kiss. “Gee, even hungover, you’ve got people swooning over you,” he tells me with a chuckle.
I laugh. “Get back to work,” I say, pushing him playfully off me.
“Yes boss.” He mock salutes me.
*~*
Today was such a good day. The club made over ten grand just at the Red Deer bake sale alone for the families they are helping. Of course, not all of that was baked goods, but also because some of the club members offered rides to the public. People loved that idea.
I curl into Blake. I’m so happy, so damn happy. Everything over the last seven months has been absolutely amazing. I love him, and I need to tell him that. So I do.
“Blake?”
“Yeah, babe?”
He looks at me, and for a moment, I want to chicken out and say something else, like ‘go get me food’ or something, but I don’t. I face this fear. “I love you. I’m so in love with you,” I say quietly as tears well up in my eyes.
“Fuck, Cori, I love you so fucking much, too.”
BLAKE
I push Cori on her back when I see the tears in her eyes after telling me she loves me. Fuck, I love those words. Her gaze holds mine; she has me hooked. I can’t imagine my life without her in it. She is so perfect for me. I want to frame this moment forever in my heart. Her hair spills over the pillow, framing her face, and she looks heaven sent. Leaning forward on my elbows, I plant kisses along her jaw, wanting to show her just how much she means to me. She is so damn sexy in nothing but her panties.
My hands roam over her curves, touching and teasing her. She is soft and warm, everything a woman should be and more. Her fingers stroke my hair gently as I kiss my way down her stomach and slide her panties down her toned legs.
She squirms, ready for some lovin’.
“Gonna lick you from head to toe,” I warn and promise. I want to taste her sweet essence on my tongue.
Not wasting any time, I fulfill my promise. I suck on her clit and finger her tight channel. She is so damn juicy and excited. I love it. Her hips buck, and her back arches up off the bed as she surrenders to her passion.
“I want you to come riding my face,” I tell her.
I trade her places as she gets into position, grinding her slick heat on my tongue. Perfection.
I snake my arms around her front and rub on her clit, knowing she is on the verge of ecstasy.
She surprises me, leaning forward and taking my erection in her mouth and sucking me hard.
“Let’s finish this together,” she whispers.
Fuck yes, let’s.
She cups my balls, massaging them, as her tongue glides up and down my shaft in a circular motion.
The pressure begins to build, and I can’t stop when I shoot down her throat. Cori caps her mouth over my cock and takes it all. I press harder on her clit, and she tightens over my mouth, shattering into a million pieces.
“Damn, woman, that was...”
“Wonderful,” she finishes for me breathlessly.
I hold her in my arms, enjoying our closeness.
“I love you, but I gotta go brush my teeth,” she teases, getting up from the warmth of our embrace.
I can only shake my head at her. She is so funny about sex sometimes.
Chapter 43
Cori
Blake and I have been togeth
er for eight months. Tonight, we decided to go out to celebrate us. It’s not a year or anything, but eight months together is a pretty damn good thing to celebrate. He took me out to The Keg, the place we had our first date, and then we walked around downtown, again redoing our very first date.
It’s been the best evening ever. Blake breaks from kissing my neck as we walk into my room, when he says something that causes me to have a mini panic attack.
“God, Cori, I love you so damn much. I can’t wait until my ring is on your finger, my children in your belly.”
His words cause me to stiffen. “What?” I whisper.
He pulls back. “What do you think this is?” he asks, staring into my eyes.
I shake my head. “I don’t want kids, Blake,” I tell him, feeling as if my throat is closing on me.
He steps away from me, his face pale. “You don’t want kids?”
I shake my head.
“Never?” he asks me.
“Never, Blake,” I confirm stonily.
He turns around, placing his hands on my dresser. “You’re positive? Nothing will ever change your mind?”
“I’m positive.” I could never bring children into this world, not with how I was raised. I would never bring a child into my messed up life. I would be a horrible mother. How can I ever have any more children after my own child was torn away from me when I was just a child myself? I can’t do that.
“This changes everything,” he concedes, brokenly. “I want kids, Corinne,” he says when he turns around to face me. “I’ve always wanted a few of them.”
