The Harder They Fall

by Brooke St. James

  Everything I was taking to Chicago was already packed into a U-Haul that was parked at my house. We would leave first thing in the morning. I would drive my car with Patrick in the passenger's seat, and we would follow Isaac in the moving truck.

  As for now, Isaac and I had the rest of the evening to ourselves. Ivy would spend the night at my house so that she could keep an eye on Patrick. Isaac and I talked about getting a super fancy hotel room for the night, but he had a nice, big king size bed in the room he'd been staying in this whole trip, and it was a comfortable enough place, so we decided just to spend the night there rather than worrying with moving all his things. Besides, I had fantasized about that bed plenty of times when we were hanging out in his room watching TV or talking, so I knew it would come as sweet satisfaction now that I could follow my instincts without holding back.

  I was a little nervous, but not really. I was confident enough with myself and with Isaac's love for me that I knew I really couldn't make a mistake. Even if I did mess up, it wouldn't matter.

  We came into the room, setting our things down by the door.

  I had changed out of Shug's dress at the party and now had on a white pantsuit that Taylor picked out for me.

  Isaac, on the other hand, was still wearing the suit he wore during the ceremony. He looked like a model, a handsome prince, a billionaire, aristocrat, athlete, movie star, rock star, super hero all in one. He was everything I dreamed of, and here he was, standing in front of me with an irresistible, barely there grin.

  He shrugged out of his coat and threw it onto the desk, loosening his tie as he turned to face me again. He pulled on his tie until the end of it came out of the knot, and he slid it out of his collar before tossing it onto the desk with his coat.

  He unbuttoned the first button of his dress shirt, stretching his neck by tilting his head from side to side. Next up were his sleeves. One at a time, Isaac unfastened his cufflinks setting those, too, on the desk.

  I just stood there and watched him.

  He tugged on his shirttails, pulling them out of his pants and sighing at me with a smile as if he was relieved to finally be comfortable.

  I bit my bottom lip. "You look as good getting out of your suit as you looked in it."

  His expression changed when I said that—to something more carnal, challenging. It made me smile. Somewhat shyly, I stepped toward him and reached out, letting my fingers come in contact with his second button. I unfastened it before moving down to the third and then the fourth, and so on. I was somewhat disappointed at around the second button to find that he had on an undershirt. I unbuttoned his dress shirt, anyway, pulling on the sides so I could inspect what was underneath.

  "I didn't know you had on so many layers," I said.

  He smiled confidently. "You trying to get down to this?" He lifted the bottom hem of his undershirt, exposing his bare stomach.

  My knees got weak and my insides turned warm at the sight of him. I blinked, not knowing where to begin.

  "I kinda wanted to take a shower," I said numbly, staring blankly at his abs.

  He stepped closer to me, and in one motion, he reached out for me, drawing me toward him. I landed in his arms. The whole night had happened so quickly that I felt as though I had blinked, and here I was, at the end of it, in Isaac's arms with a diamond on my finger.

  "I kinda want to take a shower too," he said, pulling me against him.

  The front of his body was pressed to mine, and it caused me to lose my breath. I stared at him—his face only inches from mine. He leaned down, letting the side of his nose touch the side of mine. Our lips were almost touching. He pulled my body to his, holding onto me so firmly that there was an underlying promise in his embrace—a promise of things he wanted to do. I could hardly breathe.

  "I think," he whispered, kissing me softly. "We should." (Another soft, slow kiss where our lips got stuck together.) "We should shower at the same time."

  "You mean together?" I whispered with wide eyes.

  Isaac smiled and nodded. "You are my wife, aren't you?"

  "Is that something husbands and wives do?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "I've never been a husband before. It sounds good, though, don't you think?"

  He kissed me again before I had the chance to answer. He leaned down, his lips touching me gently at first. Then he began kissing me with more urgency, probing me to open to him. I was weak with desire, and I basically went boneless in his arms as he continued to kiss me. In those next moments, Isaac held me against him, kissing me so deeply, so passionately that I was panting and out of breath by the time he broke the contact and pulled back.

  "I love you, Shelby Charles," he whispered.

  "I love you, Isaac Charles."

  I felt his hand begin exploring the back of my top. My blouse had buttons all the way up the back, and Isaac found the one at the bottom, carefully unbuttoning it before moving to the next one. I gave him an excited smile. He kissed me again on the cheek and then on the mouth as he continued unbuttoning. He tugged at me, and we began crossing the room. We were kissing, and unbuttoning, and walking all at the same time, in a frenzy of unbridled passion.

  "Where are we going?" I whispered.

  Isaac didn't answer me. He didn't have to. It was kind of a rhetorical question anyway. The answer was the shower. The glorious, magical, wonderful, splendid answer to my question was that we were going to the shower.

  Epilogue

  From the time they broke ground, Courtney's building took fifteen months to complete. Isaac and I had spent the majority of that time in Chicago, but he traveled to Memphis on a monthly basis so that he could check on the progress, and most of the time, I went with him.

  He had projects going on in other places as well—mainly Chicago, but he did start one in Minneapolis and another in Toronto, and he traveled a bit for both of those. He was extremely driven with his work, and it was inspiring and fun to witness him working on the projects in their various stages.

  Isaac and I had gotten married in November, and by the time we went back for my brother's wedding the following January, we found out we were expecting our first baby.

  We had just been back to Memphis for Christmas and, at that point, we had no idea, but we learned the good news a few weeks later, when we went back for Liam and Taylor's wedding.

  I wasn't feeling well for the trip. I felt weak and queasy. I thought it was something I had eaten before we left or that maybe I had come down with something on the flight. I pushed through it, though, pretending that I was fine for the sake of Liam and Taylor.

  I hadn't decided what to do with my house in Memphis, so for the time being, Ivy was living there while she went to college. I was letting her live rent free in exchange for keeping up the place, and she always went back home to stay with her parents when Isaac and I came back for a visit. She was especially happy to stay at home with her parents that time, because her big brother, Wes, had come from London for Liam's wedding and she was anxious to catch up with him.

  Isaac and I had just come back from the wedding reception and were settling into the house when it occurred to me that my queasiness might not have anything to do with something I ate.

  I asked him if those symptoms could possibly mean I was pregnant, and he instantly began quizzing me about when I was supposed to have my next cycle. I told him it could be anytime in the next couple of days. We Googled whether or not it was too early to tell, and Isaac ended up going to the pharmacy that night to purchase a test. It came out negative, but he had bought a multi pack, and I took another one first thing the following morning, which came out positive.

  We were blown away, relentlessly ecstatic.

  Isaac and I knew we would remain in Chicago for the pregnancy and birth. I really did want to be back home in Memphis, but I didn't want to rush the move. We had talked about it and planned extensively, and we had a two-year goal for relocating his business and our family to Memphis. While I really desired to share the birth of
our first child with my family, I knew it was best for us all to stick with the plan. Besides, we got closer to Isaac's family and the Kennedy side of my family, so it was really a priceless time that I wouldn't trade for the world.

  Cora Adeline Charles was born on the first day of October. We all thought she was going to be a September baby, but I had a twenty-eight hour labor which ended in a C-section. Thankfully, though, everything went fine with the surgery, and we both came through it healthy and happy.

  Isaac was the most caring and attentive father on the face of the earth. I should have known he would be that way after his past experience, but his love and devotion to Cora and me was still somehow astounding. I wasn't sure how he managed to devote so much of his time and effort to his work while still making it seem like we were the center of his universe.

  Patrick was still very much a part of our family, and he loved Cora as well. He was protective of her and gentle too. One of my very favorite photographs was of Cora when she was only a week old. She was curled up, sleeping next to Patrick who was staring down at her. He seemed like an absolute giant in comparison to her, which made for a stunning black and white photograph. We had it blown up to 16x20 and framed it for our wall. That was obviously a staged photograph, and we didn't make it a habit of letting Cora sleep unattended next to him or anything, but he was, in general, really gentle with her.

  Cora was three months old now, and we were currently on her first trip to Memphis. My family had all been up to Chicago to meet her, but it was her first time to make the trip.

  It was the grand opening of the Memphis Center for the Arts, and Courtney was playing an acoustic set in the main theater. It was a sold out crowd, and tickets were so in demand that if you managed to get your hands on one, you could sell it on the internet for five times its face value.

  It wasn't a formal event, but we all got dressed up for the occasion—even baby Cora had on a little red dress that coordinated with mine. Our whole family was attending, but Uncle Max and Aunt Betty were babysitting Kip, and they offered to watch Cora as well. I almost agreed to it, but she was such a good baby that I figured she would either sleep or chill out through the whole concert, so I decided to take her along. I knew she was too young to remember or appreciate any of it, but I still didn't want her to miss anything.

  Courtney was planning on bringing Isaac and a couple of other people up on stage to introduce them before the show and thank them for their part in making the building come to life.

  We got there an hour early so that they could do an interview and take some pictures. It didn't surprise me that Cindy Rogan was the anchor in charge of the interview. She rarely, if ever, left the studio, but this event was big enough that I figured she'd be the one doing it even before we got there and I saw her.

  I didn't expect a confrontation from her. I expected fake hugs and fake smiles and a few seconds of cordial small talk before she got to the business of interviewing Courtney and Isaac.

  What I got was something totally different.

  "Oh, my gosh, who is this?" Cindy asked, walking up to me.

  "Baby Cora," I said as I turned to the side to let her get a better look. Cindy stared down at Cora who was swaddled in a blanket and sleeping peacefully. She really took her in for a minute, touching her arm with her fingertip as if she was in awe. Finally, she looked up at me. She scanned my face, and then stepped back, scanning my body. I was a little bit taken aback by all the attention, but her expression seemed sincere that I just stood there, smiling curiously and waiting to hear that she had to say.

  "Shelby, motherhood really suits you," she said. "You look amazing."

  I smiled. "Thank you," I said, feeling at a loss for words.

  "No, really, I mean it. You look so beautiful and happy."

  "Thank you, Cindy, I, I, really am happy."

  "I can tell," she said nodding.

  She was so serious and genuine that I felt somewhat stunned. She reached out and gave me an unexpected hug. "We miss you around the station," she added. "But I'm happy for you. I'll have to tell them all how good you're doing."

  I hugged her back, feeling my eyes begin to sting. For whatever reason, her sincerity had me feeling touched. I felt thankful and truly humbled. I thanked her again and told her how good it was to see her and that she looked beautiful as well. Then I went off to find a quiet place to nurse Cora before the show started.

  Our family had a section in the front, and I sat with Mom and the others while Isaac stayed backstage with Courtney. She came out and spoke with the audience for a minute before bringing out Isaac and a woman named Carol who was the COO of the Center. She introduced them both, and bragged on them, saying how she could have never done the project without them.

  While they were on stage, she showed a five-minute video that highlighted some of the construction and told about the goals of the center and some of the upcoming events. It was well put together and inspirational, and I was so proud of Isaac and Courtney both.

  Courtney hugged them and thanked them one last time once the video was finished, and then the lights went down, and the crowd got quiet with anxious anticipation as they waited for her to begin.

  She was in the middle of her second song when Isaac discreetly found his place next to me. He leaned over to kiss me on the cheek and then reached out to adjust Cora's blanket so that he could peek in and check on her.

  Everyone clapped when Courtney finished that song, and Isaac used the opportunity to lean in and speak near my ear. "I'll hold her if you get tired," he said.

  I smiled. "I'm fine. Thank you. How'd your interview go?"

  "Good. She said it'll run on the 10 o'clock news, but that she'd forward a link in case we miss it. I saw you talking to her. Did that go okay?"

  I nodded. "She was really nice."

  Both of us were being discreet so we wouldn't detract from Courtney's set. He leaned in to whisper in my ear again. "She told me you and Cora were the two most beautiful women here."

  I gave him a surprised look and mouthed the word, "Really?"

  He nodded.

  "What'd you say?" I whispered.

  "You'll have to watch the interview to find out."

  My eyes widened. "She said that in the interview?" I asked, still whispering but wearing a dumfounded expression that made Isaac laugh as he nodded.

  He slid his hand under my arm, resting his palm on my thigh. It was warm and protective, and I relished the feel of it.

  We sat there and watched the rest of the song, and when it ended, he clapped with the rest of the crowd. I couldn’t join in since Cora was sleeping in my arms.

  I started to ask Isaac something more about the interview or how it had been backstage, but I decided I didn't need to know about any of those things. All I needed to know was that after he finished clapping, he rested his hand on my thigh again.

  We grinned at each other just as Courtney went into another song, and all was right with the world.

  The End

  (till book 8)

  And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

  Genesis 45: 4-5

  Other titles available from Brooke St. James:

  Another Shot:

  A Modern-Day Ruth and Boaz Story

  When Lightning Strikes

  Something of a Storm (All in Good Time #1)

  Someone Someday (All in Good Time #2)

  Finally My Forever (Meant for Me #1)

  Finally My Heart's Desire (Meant for Me #2)

  Finally My Happy Ending (Meant for Me #3)

  Shot by Cupid's Arrow

  Dreams of Us

  Meet Me in Myrtle Beach (Hunt Family #1)

  Kiss Me in Carolina (Hunt Family #2)

  California's Calling (Hunt Family #3)

 
Back to the Beach (Hunt Family #4)

  It's About Time (Hunt Family #5)

  Loved Bayou (Martin Family #1)

  Dear California (Martin Family #2)

  My One Regret (Martin Family #3)

  Broken and Beautiful (Martin Family #4)

  Back to the Bayou (Martin Family #5)

  Almost Christmas

  JFK to Dublin (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #1)

  Not Your Average Joe (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #2)

  So Much for Boundaries (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #3)

  Suddenly Starstruck (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #4)

  Love Stung (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #5)

  My American Angel (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #6)

  Summer of '65 (Bishop Family #1)

  Jesse's Girl (Bishop Family #2)

  Maybe Memphis (Bishop Family #3)

  So Happy Together (Bishop Family #4)

  My Little Gypsy (Bishop Family #5)

  Malibu by Moonlight (Bishop Family #6)