Unexpected Reality

by Ryan, Kaylee

  I stay long enough to help him clean up the kitchen, and then head home. He walks me to my car and gives me a good-bye kiss that I won’t soon forget, with a promise from me that I’ll let him know I make it home safe.

  * * *

  Ridge and I have been official for over a month now. I met his parents at their Memorial Day cookout, and he met mine when they showed up at my grandparents’ house to check out all the work. Ridge promised me that they didn’t say anything to embarrass me.

  This is a short workweek, today being my last day since Saturday is the Fourth of July. My office is closed on Friday in observance of the holiday. Gotta love three-day weekends.

  Ridge and I are going out tomorrow night, just the two of us; Reagan’s going to watch Knox at his place. I’m excited and nervous. We’ve spent every day together this past month, since each night after work, I stop by his place and we have dinner together. It’s just easier with Knox and all his stuff being there. It’s a lot to travel with a baby to anticipate what you might need.

  Normally, I would feel guilty leaving Dawn at home so much by herself, except that’s not the case. She and Mark really hit it off and have been spending a lot of time together. I’m happy for her.

  Me: Leaving work now. Have to stop by the house and change. You home yet?

  Ridge: Yep. The boys and I took off early today.

  Me: Lucky. See you soon.

  Ridge: Be safe, babe.

  I place my phone in the cup holder and pull out of the parking lot. I’m ready for this weekend, and excited for tomorrow night with Ridge. Dawn is staying at Mark’s, so we’ll have my place to ourselves, if that’s where the night leads. If our make-out sessions are any indication, or Ridge’s vow that I’m killing him, I would say the chances are good.

  Chapter 35

  Ridge

  I let the guys off early today. I’ve been ramped up on excitement, surprising Kendall with a night away. I’ve antagonized over leaving Knox, but Reagan will have him at my house. He’ll be in a familiar setting, and regardless of how she pouts when Kendall’s around, he loves his Aunt Reagan. He also loves my girl.

  I’ve been taking things slow with her physically. I know my bet involving Stephanie worried her; I could see it in her eyes. I wanted to make sure she knew she’s what I want, not just what she can give me—not because she loves my kid, but because of who she is. I’ve found willpower I didn’t even know I had. She’s stayed over a few nights and it was hard as hell—literally and figuratively—to hold her next to me all night and not know what she feels like from the inside. Tonight, I plan to change that.

  I need her. It’s way past want; I literally feel like I need her to breathe. I’m falling for her. Every day, something will happen that has me giving her another tiny piece of my heart. From the way she sends me messages out of the blue, just to say hello, to the way she seems to melt into me every time I touch her. She’s great with Knox and my parents, sister, and friends all adore her. They’re not the only ones. My son lights up when she walks into a room. I should be worried that he’s growing attached to her. Hell, he’s only two months old, but you can see it when he hears her voice. He loves her. I’m not worried though because, like my son, I’m well on my way.

  Mark gave me Dawn’s number and she packed a bag for her. He brought it to me to work this morning. I waited for him or the guys to ride my ass about it, but surprisingly none of them said a word.

  I’m just finished putting away the groceries Reagan requested when I hear Knox waking up from his nap over the baby monitor. I rush upstairs to get him. “Hey, little man. You have a good nap?”

  He coos and flaps his little arms. “You remember what tonight is, right? Aunt Reagan is going to have a sleepover while Daddy and Kendall have one as well, just not here close to little ears.”

  I change his diaper and grab his binky before heading downstairs. We settle on the floor under his baby gym, which he loves. That’s how Reagan and Tyler find us twenty minutes later.

  “Hey, you two,” Reagan says, taking a seat on the couch. Tyler follows behind her.

  “Hey, man,” I greet him. Not sure exactly what he’s doing here, because he knows I’m leaving with Kendall tonight.

  “This one forgot to put oil in her car and it wouldn’t start.”

  That explains it. “Sister, I told you to get your oil changed weeks ago.”

  “I know, I know, I just forgot. Don’t worry, Mom and Dad said they would bring me one of theirs in case there’s an emergency.”

  I panic slightly at the thought of there being an emergency involving my son while I’m away having what I hope to be a magical night with my girlfriend. Reagan must see it on my face.

  “Chill, Daddy. He’ll be fine. It’s just better safe than sorry.”

  “I’ll be around, man. Don’t stress. You’ve been looking forward to this,” Tyler says.

  “Thanks. It’s just . . . I’ve never spent the night away from him.”

  “And if it were for anyone other than Kendall I’d give you shit for it, but it’s her, man.” He says it as if just her name explains it all. I guess it does.

  Reagan tries to take Knox from me, but I hold him tight. We sit around and talk for the next twenty minutes or so until I hear her pull up. “She doesn’t know,” I remind them. “Just play it cool.”

  Tyler throws his head back and laughs. “Dude, it’s not us you need to worry about. You’re a wreck.”

  “Hello,” Kendall’s sweet voice calls as she enters the house. “Hey, didn’t expect to see you two.” Leaning down, she hugs Reagan and kisses Tyler on the cheek. I glare at him, which causes him to laugh even harder. “What did I miss?”

  “Nothing, just your man being jealous,” Reagan tells her.

  “Hello, handsome,” she says, leaning toward me. Only her lips connect with Knox’s forehead.

  “Kendall,” I growl. She knows I need those lips first thing.

  She giggles and places a tender kiss on my lips. “I missed you,” she whispers.

  Gone.

  G.O.N.E for this girl.

  “Missed you too, sweet girl,” I whisper back.

  She takes the seat beside me. “Gimme.” She holds her hands out for Knox, and he smiles.

  I hand him over, partly because I want them both in my arms and it’s easier if she’s holding him, and partly because I know she’s attached to my boy. As soon as I have Knox transferred to her arms, I reach behind her, grip her hips, and lift them onto my lap. She doesn’t even yelp in surprise anymore; she expects my caveman antics. It’s not something I can control, or have even tried to. I want them close, always.

  “So, what are the two of you into?” she asks Tyler and my sister.

  “I asked them to stop by,” I say, rubbing circles on her legs.

  “You all want to do dinner?” she asks.

  “Actually, babe, I have a surprise for you.”

  She looks at me over her shoulder. “You do?”

  “Yeah, Reagan is actually going to keep Knox, so I thought we could go away for the night.”

  She looks down at Knox, and I can see that she’s also struggling with leaving him. She does at night, but it’s always with me. “We have a date, just us, tomorrow night,” she reminds me.

  “I rented us a cabin, up at Thompson Lake.”

  “Seriously?” she asks.

  I think it’s finally starting to set it. “I don’t have any clothes. We have to stop by my house.” She looks at Reagan. “Are you sure you can keep him? We can take him with us.”

  My sweet girl.

  “It’s all good, Kendall,” Reagan assures her. “I’ve known for a couple of weeks.”

  Kendall hugs Knox closer. “When do we leave?”

  “As soon as you feel like you’ve had enough loving from the little man. I had Dawn pack you a bag. It’s already in the truck.”

  “Hey, bud, you get to have a sleepover with Aunt Reagan,” Kendall continues to talk to my son. He may not
understand her, but he hangs onto every word. His eyes follow her as she talks, never looking away.

  “You be a good boy,” she tells Knox, and her voice breaks.

  “You okay?” I whisper in her ear.

  “Why am I upset? He’s not mine. I mean, it’s . . .” She stands against my attempt to keep her on my lap, hands Knox to me, and walks out of the room.

  I stand to follow her and Reagan holds her hand up. “Ridge, stop. She loves him; this is a hard situation for her. Let her have a minute.

  I take a step toward the hall and Tyler stands too. “She needs a minute, Ridge. Think about it. She’s been with you since he was, what, a week or so old? She’s here all the time.”

  “She leaves him with you at night, but no one else. She wears her heart on her sleeve, that one,” Reagan adds.

  I wait as long as I can stand it before I hand Knox to Reagan and go in search of her. I knock lightly on the bathroom door and she opens it slowly, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry. I know I have no right, and I’m trying to control it, I just . . . I’m sorry. I’m excited about going away, I am. I want time with you.”

  I step into the small half bath and close the door behind me. Hands on her hips, I lift her to sit on the counter. I pull a tissue out of the box on the back of the toilet and wipe her cheeks.

  “You love him, Kendall. I get that. Hell, it causes all kinds of emotions to swirl inside me. He’s a part of me.”

  “I do and he is, but he’s such a sweet baby, and I miss him when I’m not with you. I miss you when I’m not with you,” she says, looking down at her lap.

  “Baby, look at me.” I wait for her sad blue eyes to meet mine. “We miss you too. Both of us. We love you.” Shit. This is not how I wanted to tell her. I had it all planned out for tonight—to tell her I’ve fallen in love with her, make love to her, candles, a bottle of wine, all that. I had it all planned and I blurt it out in my bathroom.

  Real smooth, jackass.

  I need to fix this. I cup her face in my hands so she can’t look away. She hasn’t said a word, and that scares the hell out of me. “I’m in love with you. All of me, every second, every hour, every day that I spend with you, that love grows, and I ache until I can see you again.” Her silent tears continue to fall, but she remains silent. “It gets me here,” I say, holding our combined hands over my heart. “Seeing you with my son. The way you love him.”

  “I do,” she says, her voice soft. “I love both of you so much, and it’s been fast and perfect, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m just scared that it’s going to go away. That the universe will fight against me, against us being this happy.”

  Not gonna lie, I’m choke up. “You love me?” I ask her.

  She laughs. “You caught that, did you?”

  “I did.” I kiss her tear-covered lips then rest my forehead against hers. “This is real, Kendall. This is me and you and that little boy in there, living life. Who cares if it was fast or what others might think, even the universe? It’s ours, and that’s all that matters.”

  Chapter 36

  Kendall

  I am such a baby. I know he’s not mine, but God does it feel like he is. I love that little boy with everything inside me. If I lose Ridge, I lose Knox, and I think that’s what threw me over the edge. It hit me that those two have become my world in such a small amount of time.

  I wouldn’t come back from losing them.

  “I’m sure they think I’ve lost my marbles,” I say into Ridge’s chest. He’s holding me close as I sit on the small counter in his bathroom.

  He chuckles. “No, they don’t. They get it. They told me to give you time, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you hurting and me not being there to hold you through it.”

  I slip my hands under his shirt and feel the defined planes of his back as he holds me. I told him I loved them, both of them, but it’s more than that. It’s as if I’m no longer me without them. Nothing makes sense in my life without seeing the two of them as a part of it. Part of me is fearful Ridge would think I am trying to take Melissa’s place. Don’t get me wrong, it would be an honor to have that little man call me Mom, but that choice will be up to Ridge. Maybe one day in the future.

  I would never want to take her place. I like to think that she’s looking down on us, and she’s happy that Ridge found someone who loves them the way I do. I think about my parents’ and my childhood. If it were me looking down on those I loved, I know it would bring me peace.

  “You love me?” I ask him, needing to hear it again.

  He chuckles. “I more than love you, Kendall. I just don’t have the words to explain it. It’s all-consuming, fierce, and I promise you it’s forever.”

  Pulling back, I look up at him, a slow smile spreading across my face. “Let’s go say good-bye to little man and head to the cabin.”

  His lips touch mine. “Love you, sweet girl.” He steps back and lifts me from the counter.

  I follow him downstairs, dreading seeing Tyler and Reagan after the way I acted, but I should’ve known better. Reagan has Knox, and as soon as she sees us she walks right past Ridge and stops in front of me.

  “You okay?” she asks, her voice low. I nod and offer her a teary smile. She surprises me when she pulls me into a one-armed hug. “He loves you. They both do. Embrace it, Kendall.”

  I want to tell her that he told me. That I just shared one of the best moments of my life in that little half bath, but I don’t have time before she’s pulling away and handing Knox to me.

  “Hey, buddy,” I say, my voice cracking. He grins up at me, and I can literally feel that grin tugging on my heartstrings.

  “We’re going to take a minute.” Ridge places his hand on the small of my back. I don’t question him, allowing him to guide us upstairs.

  Chapter 37

  Ridge

  It only took us another twenty minutes before we were loading up and on the road. Kendall and I took Knox up to my room and just cuddled with him. The way she loves my son makes my heart feel as though it’s going to beat right out of my chest. I want to tell her that she has nothing to worry about, that she’s it for me and she’ll never be apart from us, but I don’t want to scare her away.

  She’s in my soul, and nothing is going to change that. I want her now and always, and she fucking loves me. I didn’t want to tell her like I did, but in reality it was perfect. She knows it was unplanned, that my love for her bubbled over and I had no choice but to tell her. The fact that she said it back is the cause of the permanent grin on my face.

  The two-hour drive to the cabin is quiet. I reached out for her hand as soon as we were in the truck and she latched on, her grip tight the entire trip. I know my girl, and she’s processing tonight and earlier. The fact that we said “I love you” just hours ago.

  “Is this it?” she asks.

  “Yep, this is it. Have you ever been here?”

  “No, although I’ve heard good things. Dad actually brought Mom here for their anniversary one year.”

  “Smart man,” I say with a wink. That brings out her blinding smile.

  “I think so. My parents’ are amazing.”

  “Of course they are. They raised you, didn’t they?”

  “Charmer.” She grins.

  “Only for you, sweet girl. Only for you.” I grab our bags with complaint from Kendall that she can carry hers. Yeah, not gonna happen. Instead, I hand her the key to the cabin, and she unlocks the door for us.

  “Ridge . . .” She stands in the center of the room and turns in a circle. “This place is great. It’s not at all what I expected.”

  I laugh at that. “What exactly did you expect?”

  “Something more . . . rustic.”

  “I didn’t really want to rough it this trip. I have plans that all the amenities will be needed for.”

  “Oh, yeah? And what might that be? Painting each other’s toenails?” she sasses.

  I drop our bags a
nd stalk toward her, throwing her over my shoulder. “Not even close,” I say, smacking her ass and carrying her off to the bedroom. I toss her on the bed and she’s laughing so hard she can hardly catch her breath.

  “Caveman.” She giggles. “My cabin. My woman,” she says, attempting a manly voice.

  “Not my cabin,” I lean down to kiss her neck. She tilts her head, giving me full access. “My woman.” I trace the length of her neck with my tongue, until my lips reach her ear. “My everything,” I whisper, and she shudders. I’m not sure it’s from my words, my touch—hell maybe both. Not that it matters, of course. I have her right where I want her. Two months. Two fucking long-ass months without knowing what it feels like to be inside her. That changes tonight.

  I pull back from the kiss and search out those baby blues. What I see surely matches the reflection in my own—passion, want, lust, and love. Tonight has been a long time coming.

  Standing to my full height, I lace my fingers through hers and guide her off the bed. She doesn’t hesitate. Once I have her standing before me, I kiss her again.

  Slow and steady wins the race. As much as I want to rush through this, to push inside her now, I won’t. I’m going to savor her, cherish the gift of this amazing, beautiful woman.

  “Lift your arms,” I whisper against her lips. Again, she doesn’t hesitate, her arms slowly rising into the air. My fingers slide under her shirt, and she shivers when my fingers trace up her bare stomach. I run my hand underneath her bra, tracing a line across her chest against the lacy material. Her eyes are closed, her teeth clamped onto her bottom lip. I’m not only driving her crazy, but me as well. I drag my hands down her soft skin and grip the hem of her shirt. Quickly, I pull it up and over her head. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen her, but this is the first time I know she’s mine, know she loves me, and I’ll get to feel her heat wrapped around me. Reaching down, I adjust my hard cock.