“Collin,” Jenny said turning to face me, “What’s the deal with the photos?”
I promised myself I’d tell her everything. I swallowed and grabbed both her hands. “They’re photos of my famous VIP clients doing things. Sex. Drugs. Gambling.”
“Holy shit. You knew all that?”
“I knew all that stuff went on in my clubs. As long as no one got hurt, I always looked the other way, so long as they were buying my overpriced high end booze. That’s the world I operate in.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. Fuck, I wanted to be honest her. She deserved to know everything.
“Baby, I want to make everything up to you. Everything. I never should’ve let you go the first time.”
“Why’d you do it? Stop answering my emails?”
I shook my head, in the seven years since I last saw Jenny, I never forgave myself for leaving things hanging the way I did.
“I didn’t think you’d approve of the things that went on in my clubs, you’re too good for it. I didn’t want to lower you to my level. I’m sorry.”
“That’s crazy. And you’re still doing it?” She took a step towards me, holding my gaze.
“I told Daniel yesterday, I’m out once and for all. I’ll still own the company, or at least the bits that I don’t sell off, but I’m having nothing at all to do with the running of it. I moved back to Chicago to settle down, and that’s what I intend to do. I only hope it will be with you. I need you in my life baby.” After the last words, I held my breath waiting for her response.
Jenny looked up at me, the glow of the tiki flame reflecting in the tears in her eyes. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, in stark contrast to my frozen lungs. Too much time passed.
I stroked her cheek with my thumb, wiping away the few tears that had fallen. I looked straight into her amber eyes, not letting her look away.
“I love you Jenny, I’ve always loved you.”
Jenny
My body trembled under the weight of Collin’s words. I struggled to understand the situation. An hour ago, hell thirty minutes ago, I thought Collin was gone from my life forever and that I’d sealed the lid on my happiness for good.
And here I was, standing on his beach in the midst of flaming torches and he just told me he loved me. Collin loved me. A surge of heat rushed through me. Nothing else he’d told me mattered.
“I love you too.”
Collin brushed his hand along my cheek and around my neck, pulling me into him when it reached the back of my head.
His mouth connected with mine, his minty tongue probing my mouth and I kissed him back with all my being.
Everything about the moment threatened to overwhelm me: the kiss, his hold on me, the flaming paradise he’d created on his beach. I wanted to scream and jump and cry, but more than anything else I wanted to stay in his arms locked in this kiss for all of time.
Collin broke the kiss and smoothed my hair away from my face.
“Our food will be ready, we should eat.”
He took my hand and led me through the path of torches and to a table that seemed to be straight out of the pages of a fairytale. Orange hibiscus flowers the color of my dress made up the centerpiece of the table.
A man dressed in full waitstaff uniform appeared and pulled my chair back for me before laying a linen napkin across my lap.
“Did you like the tour of the island?”
“Oahu is gorgeous, did you arrange it all?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. I really wish I could’ve watched the sunset with you. It was kind of pathetic watching it by myself, thinking it should’ve been all romantic and I had no one to share it with.”
“My house is east facing. I thought you’d like to see it before you came.” Collin paused and motioned around, “And the torches would be more impressive in the dark.”
“I like sunrises better anyway.” My heart pounded in my chest as the words left me.
“We can watch the sunrise in the morning, you’ll love it.”
My eyes flared and shifted to my half eaten tilapia. Collin meant it, and that made everything so real. So absolute. So perfect.
“I’d like that.”
We talked through the rest of our five course dinner. Each dish featured my favorite foods. Collin remembered them all, which tasted better than all of the delicious food put together.
The waiter brought Collin a coffee and me a camomile tea.
“Thank you, that will be all,” Collin told him. Almost at once all of the people who had been serving us left. We were alone for the first time that evening.
* * *
I traced the rim of the cup, not wanting to lose the feeling consuming me right now.
“Remember when we first went camping in our final year of college?”
“Do you mean the time we went skinny dipping in the lake?” My cheeks warmed from blushing.
“You know, the water here is a lot warmer.”
He looked from me to the ocean, and I realized his intention. Before waiting, I stood and pulled my dress over my head and tossed it to the side. Collin stood and I took off running to the ocean, not breaking my speed until the water reached my waist.
“You’re crazy,” Collin said, standing at the edge of the water.
“You like crazy,” I said, my voice wavering with my giggles. I hooked my hand in the waistband of my panties, slipped them off and twirled them on my finger. “Aren’t you coming in?”
“I hadn’t planned on it.”
I released the twirling panties and they landed at his feet. Damn, I missed.
“Oh, it’s like that is it?” Collin unbuttoned his shirt and shorts and stripped them off followed by his boxers.
My breath hitched over the sight of him, standing bared before me, his only covering the tattoo on his chest and shoulder. Our eyes locked as he waded into the water. I stood still, the occasional big wave bringing the water to my breasts.
He reached me, the water only coming to his thighs. Collin lifted me with his strong arms and pulled us both deeper into the water. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, ready to go wherever he took me.
“How deep are you taking me?” The water reached the tops of his arms,deep enough that I couldn’t touch the bottom.
“You’re the one who wanted to go swimming.”
“That moment’s passed, I’d rather do something else.” I pressed my body tight against his.
“Oh, and what would that be?” He left a trail of kisses across my cheek, my skin tingling at the contact.
“I don’t know.”
“You want me to make you scream?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged my shoulders though the heat already pooled between my legs.
“‘Cause I want to hear you yell my name loud enough for the neighbors to hear.”
“Your neighbors? They’re so far away,” I said, my voice a breathy whisper.
“Exactly.”
I gasped as his hand moved up my leg and his finger dove straight into my pussy. My body molded against him and I gripped him harder, holding on with my arms as my legs threaten to lose their strength.
His finger moved in me, curling against my g-spot, my walls drenching it in excitement. Our mouths crashed together, tasting, sucking, licking each other. My chest heaved, each breath more frantic than the last.
Lost in his touch, I vaguely noticed him walking back to shore. The breeze blew cool air across my back, but I was already shivering with lust.
Without the support of the water, my arms and legs gave out, and Collin supported all my weight. His hard cock dug into my thigh, and I stopped fighting the urge to get to it.
Breaking our kiss, I said, “Let me go.”
“Never.”
“Please, let me suck it.”
Collin laughed and let go, I slid down his body and sank to my knees. The water came to the tops of my shoulders, the ends of my hair floated around me.
My hand wrapped around the base of his co
ck, my tongue licked up the shaft, circling the head. I took the head into my mouth, pausing to circle it with my lips and tongue before taking as much of it into my mouth as I could, his taste flooding me with raw desire.
The coarse sand scraped against my knees as I wiggled and moved and the waves bobbed with my head on his cock, the occasional wave knocking into my head. Collin knotted his fingers through my hair, slowing my speed and pushing his dick deeper until I could take no more.
His balls drew up against his body, and he pulled me away. I protested but he pulled me up by my armpits and half dragged me along as I pawed at his dick. My reluctance to move caused us both to tumble in the shallows, both of us landing with a thud against the edge of the shore.
“It’s like that is it?”
Before I could respond his hands were on mine, our fingers knitted together and he held them beside my head. His lips were on mine, parting my mouth and sucking my bottom lip.
My walls flooded and my pussy was wetter than the whole fucking ocean. I moaned through his mouth, wanting more. He forced my legs wider and pushed his tip against my entrance. I waited, but he held it there, teasing me. I knew what he wanted and I pulled my mouth away from his.
“Please.”
“Please what?”
“Make me scream.” Before I finished saying the last word, his cock drove into my wet pussy.
The ocean waves ebbed and flowed around our bodies. Collin thrust into me, bringing me higher and higher until my body seized with tension and teetered on the edge of the abyss.
Everything washed away, the beach, the island, the world. For that moment we were the only two things in existence.
“Collin!” I screamed and writhed, digging my body deeper into the sand.
Wave after wave of the most intense orgasm I’d ever experienced crashed through my body.
“Collin!” I screamed again, my throat raw from the word ripping through it.
“Fuck,” he said, filling me with his seed.
He rolled off me, and we laid side by side on our backs looking up at the stars.
“That wasn’t how I’d anticipated things would go,” he said.
“Was that bad?”
He laughed. “Fuck no, I’m not complaining.”
We fell into silence but without the distraction of each other, the waves swamping our bodies was too much. Collin stood and took my hand, pulling me up. My legs threatened not to hold me but he put his arm around me for support.
* * *
He grabbed his clothes from the beach, and we recovered my dress from the dining table. God knows what happened to my panties. Naked, we walked through a gate, giving me the first look of his house.
“This is crazy,” I said.
“What is?”
“The size of your house, it’s insane.”
“It’s not as big as my house in France.”
“You have a house in France?” I blurted.
“I have several houses. But the one in France is the biggest, it’s a chateau in Provence.”
I shook my head and laughed.
We skirted a large pool and Collin opened the near invisible glass sliding door for me. I craned my head to see in the rooms we passed as I followed him.
“Babe, I’ll give you a tour in the morning,” he said.
I followed him into a large bedroom furnished in a modern Scandinavian design. Collin scooped me off my feet and laid me on the bed and flopped down beside me. He laid on his side and pulled me tight against him.
“Baby, this is where I want you. Where I need you.”
“Good, this is exactly where I need to be.”
“I missed you, those whole seven years.”
Before, those words would’ve brought me to tears, to fill me with pain for what we had lost. But now, I don’t know, that wound has healed and the words have lost their power. Now is about right now. About the present and the future. The past is done and gone.
“You never told me the story of your tattoo.”
“There’s no story.”
“Of course there’s a story. You got it in Sydney, but why? And why that design? Just because it’s Irish?”
“It’s a Celtic sailor’s knot.”
“What’s that?”
“Sailors used to make them when they were at sea and missing the woman they loved. It’s two ropes woven together, like the two people.”
My brow creased, struggling to understand his point.
“So who were you missing?”
He gave me a playful shove. “You, baby, I was missing you. And I just kept adding and adding to it over the years, until it got this big.”
I didn’t need to ask him why he didn’t just phone me. All those discussions were done for good. Instead the news warmed my heart. He’d missed me as much as I missed him. That’s all that mattered.
Collin
Having Jenny back at my side, in my life for good dissolved half my anxiety of the day.
Daniel still hadn’t called. What the fuck was taking the paternity test results so long? I told them I didn’t care about the money, that I wanted the results fast, whatever the cost.
And fifteen hours later still no word about either the results or the reason for the delay.
Jenny’s breathing slowed in a steady pattern, at least she’d managed to fall asleep.
What would I do if Blake turned out to be the father? I’d been so focused on Jenny all day that I hadn’t considered the outcome of the test. Now I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I might lose Harlan in the morning.
Being careful not to wake her, I got out of bed and walked to Harlan’s room. He was asleep on his belly, his legs folded under him and his bottom up in the air. I placed my hand on his back.
He didn’t stir, so I slid my other hand under his body and slowly picked him up. I nestled him against my shoulder and carried him back to my room, laying him on the bed between Jenny and I.
With the two people I loved both with me, I relaxed and fell asleep.
* * *
“Oh my god,” Jenny said. He voice brought me out of my shallow sleep.
I opened my eyes to see her running a finger over Harlan’s little body. He reached his hand to grab her finger.
“Morning,” I said, putting my hand on top of hers.
“I take it this is Harlan. He’s adorable.” Her smile lit up the room as she played with Harlan’s little hands and feet.
“He is.”
“Dada.” Harlan turned his head to me and let go of Jenny’s hand to grab mine.
“Hey big guy, are you hungry?”
“Bana.”
I got up and pulled on some shorts.
“I don’t even have any clothes,” Jenny said.
“Where’s your dress from last night?”
“In a wrinkled heap on the floor. Plus my underwear went missing on the beach and I didn’t have a bra to begin with.”
“I’ll get the hotel to send your stuff over. In the meantime maybe Liv has something you can borrow.”
“Who’s that?”
“The nanny. I’ll go find her and send her to you. Here, wear my bathrobe in the meantime.” I passed Jenny my cotton robe from the ensuite.
My phone rang and I retrieved it from my bedside table. Daniel’s name appeared on the screen, my gut wrenched.
“Yeah, did you get the result?”
“Hello to you too,” Daniel said.
“I can’t wait, just tell me already.”
“Are you ready for this?” I didn’t like the tone of his voice, my skin prickled with the anticipation.
“Blake’s the dad. He’s coming to get Harlan in an hour.”
I sank to the bed, the phone dropped to the floor and I buried my face in my hands. This could not be happening. Within seconds Jenny was at my side, her arm around my shoulders.
My nostrils flared and my insides filled with rage, and the need to break shit. Like Blake’s face.
“I love you.” Jenny s
queezed my shoulders. “It’s so unfair. It’s awful and horrible and painful and everything else, but I’m here for you. I’d do anything for you.” She rested her head on me, her tears trickled down my back.
“I only have an hour,” I said, not taking my face from my hands.
“Shit, that’s cruel.”
“It is. I’m going to send Liv with him, so he has someone he knows. And I’m going to pay for her. I wish I could fire him, but I need to make sure he has a job so Harlan’s taken care of.” Asshole.
“That’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
I straightened my body and twisted to look at her. At the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.
“Just when I think it’s not possible you make me love you even more. I love you baby.”
“I love you. We’ll get through this. Together.”
I wiped the tear from her cheek and kissed her.
Epilogue
Five weeks later…
“I can’t believe this place,” I said, entering through the double doors.
“It’s perfect. I couldn’t think of a better place to settle down in.”
Collin put his arm around me and swung me around in the huge wood paneled entrance hall.
“Stop it,” I said, laughing.
He tugged my hand and we walked deeper into his new house. Only three streets away from Abbie’s house, it was a supersized house like all the other mansions in the exclusive gated community.
It proved Collin really did intend to settle down for good once and for all. Not that I’d ever doubted him, not after Hawaii.
“Hold on, I want to show you the best bit.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ll see; patience.”
I followed him into the dining room, my heart stopped when I stepped through the door. Candles flickered on the table in the otherwise dark room. We’d already eaten dinner at Dish, but Collin insisted we didn’t have dessert. Now I knew why. Set side by side, two plates held an assortment of my favorite desserts. Chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate mousse, lemon meringue pie and mini cherry cheesecakes.
Dirty Billions: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance: (A Chicago Suits Second Chance Romance) Page 16
