by Tia Siren
I backed out of the parking spot. “Anything.”
“Just make sure she goes back to college,” she said, sighing. “She’s smart. She can do it even if she doesn’t think she can.”
I met Anna’s gaze briefly before pulling out onto the interstate to get to the hospital quicker.
“I promise,” I said. “I will make sure she goes.”
We pulled up to the hospital twenty minutes later. Anna led me up to the fourth floor of the hospital where Jenna’s room was located. I nodded at one of the officers seated outside her room before stepping inside. I turned to look at Anna, but she waved for me to go in without her.
To my relief, Jenna was sitting up cross-legged with her long strands of her hair pulled up in a messy bun. Her eyes were riveted up at the television mounted on the wall. She looked over at the sound of me drawing the curtains back to give us more privacy from the hospital staff.
My eyes went straight to the dark marks around her neck. My blood boiled at the sight of them, but I forced myself to look away. I’d done enough damage to him to get my point across, but not enough to get rid of all my anger.
She looked beautiful though. Nothing could ever take that away.
“Hey,” she said, her voice a bit raspy. “I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”
I sat down next to her on the hospital bed. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I savored the feeling of Jenna leaning up against me with a steady exhale of breath. Her skin felt warm and soft through the hospital gown she wore.
“Your mother bailed me out,” I said, pressing a kiss against her hair, which still smelled fresh from her shampoo. “I owe her about five thousand dollars though.”
“Five thousand?” Jenna pulled back to look up at me in alarm. “Why was it so high?”
“I crushed his face,” I said calmly. “That’s why.”
Jenna shook her head in dismay. “I still don’t understand why they arrested you. You saved me.”
“They didn’t know what to think when they pulled up,” I replied, shrugging. “The charges will be dropped given your statement, so don’t worry about it. They were doing their job.”
“And Leon?” Jenna asked hesitantly. “Where is he?”
“Jail,” I said, and I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for the lie when Jenna sagged against me in relief. “He won’t be able to bail out either. The judge denied bond for him.”
“I bet that made his family happy,” she said, snorting. “The doctors said I can go home in an hour.”
I picked up her hand that rested between us. Pressing a kiss to the back of her knuckles, I rubbed them with the pad of my thumb.
“I talked to Owen,” I said.
“About us?” Jenna asked.
“Yes, about us,” I said, twining my fingers through hers. “He understands that you aren’t going to replace his mother. I’ll explain the rest later when he’s old enough to understand it.”
Jenna was quiet for a long time as we both watched the television for a few moments, leaning up against one another. She eventually looked down at our twined hands. Taking a deep breath, Jenna looked back up at me. “I wanted to move away earlier today because I was afraid of how I felt about you.”
The soft confession didn’t surprise me. I had felt that same overwhelming urge several times to put distance between us before either one of us could get hurt.
“I don’t think either one of us expected this to happen,” I said.
“No,” she murmured in agreement. “I didn’t expect it at all. What do we do?”
“For starters,” I said, smoothing a few stray hairs back from Jenna’s slender face, “we can talk about you permanently staying at my house.” I caught her wide-eyed stare and added, “If you are comfortable with that. I won’t force you into anything.”
“I want to,” Jenna said. “I’m just amazed that you are offering to let me to stay there with you, as you’re…”
She trailed off uncertainly, looking at me for help.
“I’m not one for titles,” I said. “Dating isn’t even something I want to consider. You’re with me, and I’m with you. Is that a good enough explanation for you?”
Jenna smiled brightly at me before her face crumpled in pain. I rubbed her shoulders soothingly as she regained her composure.
“I was going to kiss you,” she said. “I can’t smile without hurting.”
I grinned at her. “You have plenty of time to kiss me all you want starting when we leave this hospital room.”
Jenna sighed loudly.
“My mother is going to be exasperated when I tell her that I’m selling the house after all,” she said.
“We’ll deal with it together,” I said. “You won’t have far to move this time.”
She pressed a soft kiss to the center of my cheek. “Thank God for that.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jenna
One year later
The trees were splashed with fiery oranges and yellows when I stepped out into the chilly afternoon air. A wetness coated the ground from the recent bout of rain. Everything felt crisp and ready for fall. Soon the leaves would fall and even Lone Tree would be bare for the upcoming winter.
The passenger door opened. I turned to see Owen slipping out of the car while trying to fumble with the zipper of his sweater. Crouching down, I helped him work the zipper up with a smile.
“Keep your sweater on,” I said. “It’s going to be cold all day. The summer days are gone.”
Owen pouted unhappily at that. “I want to go back to the ocean then where it’s warm, and where my mommy lives.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but it was Derek who beat me to it. He came around the front of the car to place a hand on my shoulder as I rose from my crouching position. He gave Owen a stern glance.
“We talked about that, bud. You can visit your mommy for Thanksgiving this year.”
“Fine,” he puffed out dramatically. “I guess that’ll do. I don’t like the cold here.”
“Me either,” I said, shivering against the crisp air. “Let’s go inside to eat. My mom is waiting from what I can see.”
Owen darted up the stretch of stone steps that led to the small restaurant in Lone Tree that all the retirees visited daily. It did have good food despite the “old people” smell, as Owen had put it one time. He had bonded, though, with my mother, who enjoyed having him around. “He reminds me of you as a child,” she’d tell me, beaming happily.
Derek guided me along the stone steps with his hand resting on the curve of my lower back. It felt nice to be guided and protected as we followed Owen up into the restaurant. The second I walked through the patio doors, I reared back in surprise to see the entire dining area decorated with balloons and flowers.
My mother stood in the center of it all, dressed in loose trousers and a coffee-colored cashmere sweater.
“There you two are!” she exclaimed, resting her hands on Owen’s shoulders. “You’re late, Derek. What took you so long?”
“We hit traffic,” Derek said, pushing me through the doors so he could shut them behind us.
I caught sight of the word “Congratulations” on a balloon floating in the back. It made perfect sense then why Derek had insisted on seeing my mother this weekend. I turned to look at him, and he smiled innocently.
“You know about this?” I asked, scowling. “You know I hate surprise parties like this.”
He didn’t reply. Instead, he pushed me forward into the center of the room where everyone shook my hand. My mother tugged me into a tight embrace.
“I’m so proud of you, Jenna,” she said, beaming at me through tears in her eyes. “You must feel proud for finally finishing your bachelor’s degree.”
Embarrassed from all the attention, I patted my mom on the shoulder awkwardly as she guided us into the room to sit down at a table. I did feel proud, but a surprise congratulations party was a bit over the top in my opinion. I kept that to myself though, because I
knew Derek and Owen had also planned everything.
My stomach churned queasily at the faint smell of garlic and butter. I looked over at Derek as he took a seat next to me, placing a reassuring hand on my knee underneath the table.
“Breathe,” he said, squeezing a lemon into my water. “Try drinking some water to fight the nausea.”
“Nausea?” Anna turned to look at Derek. She immediately placed a fretting hand on my forehead, much to my annoyance. “She doesn’t feel warm. You didn’t tell me she felt sick.”
“I’m fine,” I grumbled, swatting her hand away. “Don’t worry about it, Mom. This is really nice. Thank you.”
“I like all the balloons,” Owen said, happily tugging at the string of one. “I helped pick out all the balloons for you, Jenna.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “I really like all of them. We can see how many we can pile into the car afterward.”
Once Owen was occupied with talking with my mother, I leaned into Derek’s side to whisper in his ear. “You could’ve warned me about this. You know I don’t feel good right now.”
His fingers squeezed my knee. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t find a way to tell your mother no. If I said anything, she would’ve figured it out. Speaking of that”—he paused, leaning forward to press a kiss to my lips that instantly soothed my already bad mood from trying to find something to wear that fit— “when do you want to tell everyone?”
“Well, I—”
“Tell everyone what?” Anna asked. She was far too perceptive sometimes.
I turned to glare at her as she hovered above me again. “I’m going to turn that hearing aid off. It makes you prone to eavesdropping.”
“You sure are moody for a joyous occasion,” she replied, frowning down at me.
I didn’t know what to say to that. The wheels in my mother’s brain were already turning rapidly. Then realization filled her eyes.
“Oh my!” she said, one hand clutching at her chest. “Please me tell that what I’m thinking is right.”
I looked over Derek, who didn’t even bother hiding that charming and knee-trembling grin of his. Pride flashed in his eyes. He reached up to cover the small bump I had strategically hidden underneath a loose and oversized sweater.
“You’re thinking right,” he said. “There’s a baby bump that is making Jenna a horrible grump today.”
I rolled my eyes in exasperation at that before I was embraced again by my mother, who was practically bouncing in her heels from excitement. It was a right damn miracle that Owen hadn’t told her yet. He was excited to have a sibling to play with.
“I didn’t tell,” Owen said proudly. “I kept the promise like you and Dad asked.”
Derek reached over to ruffle his hair fondly. “You did good, Son. I’m proud of you for keeping quiet.”
My mother sidled down into the chair next to me as a waiter arrived with a platter of various fruits and cheeses. She placed a hand on my stomach with a happy grin.
“When is the due date?” she asked.
“May 24th,” I said. “I’m nearly out of my first trimester.”
“After everything that has happened,” Anna started whimsically. She smiled over at Derek, who returned it. “I’m so happy for you both. A baby and a future wedding to plan.”
“You only like Derek because he got me to complete college,” I said, but a grin tugged at my lips as well.
Even if I felt sick to my stomach, and unable to fit into my clothes, it was hard to contain the joy and happiness I felt. I stared down at my left hand, where the overhead lights sparkled off the ring there. It still felt bizarre and good at the same time to have a ring there.
“At least he got you to,” she replied, sniffing back tears again. “I’m just happy that everything worked the way it has for you. The both of you are blessed with Derek taking on that job as a lead investigator for a private firm, and finishing school after so long…” Anna sighed in relief and sat back to fan herself. “I’m just so relieved too. A baby. A baby. So many changes that I hope you both are ready for.”
I reached over to grasp Derek’s hand. He smiled at me in faint amusement as he gave my fingers a tender squeeze.
“Ready for those changes, Mr. Summers?” I asked teasingly.
He winked at me playfully. “More than you know, Mrs. Summers.”
END OF THE FOURTH STORY
Sneak Peak: 9 Under the Mistletoe
Four sets of twins? I want them all.
It’s Christmas.
So what if I just broke up with my boyfriend?
A girl’s allowed to kiss 8 guys under the mistletoe.
Even if it does get me a death threat from my ex.
So now I need round-the-clock bodyguards.
Big.
Strong.
Devoted.
And the twins all agreed to help me out.
The Wolf Twins, the billionaires.
The Castle Twins, the firemen.
The Jameson Twins, the doctors.
The Oakley Twins, the quarterbacks.
I can’t seem to decide which pair make me feel the safest.
Or the sexiest.
I’ll just have to move in with all 8 of them.
Chapter 1
I curled my hair in the mirror as Courtney put on her makeup. The resort hotel I worked for, Beacon-Ansley, threw several parties throughout the holiday season. Being the event planner meant managing everything from the VIP list to place settings, choosing the colors for the decorations, and triple-checking the menu. But by now I’d lived in Los Angeles and worked for this hotel for about three years. I knew the regulars by heart, could address every person by name, and even had a hand in hiring other individuals if people didn’t work out on my catering teams. It kept me busy working over sixty hours a week, but this year threw me a curveball.
A twin convention!
“So, you really mean it when you say this party’s gonna be filled with twins?”
“Yep,” I said as I fluffed my hair.
“Just a bunch of people who look like another person getting together because they’re twins,” Courtney said.
“Uh-huh. Apparently, it’s a big thing. Twin celebrations happen all across the world. I’m honestly surprised LA hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon sooner.”
“Good thing I’m single. Maybe I’ll get lucky tonight.” Courtney was my best friend. She was the first person who had befriended me when I moved to LA, and now we were roommates. Sure, I made enough money to live on my own, but living with a roommate was just cheaper. I got to pocket more of my money to save up for the house I really wanted to live in someday. I wanted a massive home with lots of rooms that I could fill with the people I loved. Strong men and their dashing desires. Maybe a person or two I could control. I wanted to fill my life with people who loved me.
Especially since I’d grown up without any.
“Too bad you’re off the market. I bet there’ll be some hunks at this party,” Courtney said.
“Honestly? I wish I wasn’t taken.”
“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?” she asked.
“He’s just—getting worse, I guess.”
“What do you mean? What’s Jeremy doing now?”
Jeremy Newberry was the man who had hired me at the resort hotel. He was the manager of hospitality, meaning he oversaw the work of the event planners. When I had that first interview with him, I couldn’t deny how attractive he was. He had this pale skin that contrasted with my dark tan beautifully and luscious lips that I kept daydreaming about kissing. His hazel eyes were mesmerizing against his jet-black hair, and I practically squealed the first time he asked me out on a date. At first our dating was frowned upon, but Jeremy fought for us. He talked with his supervisors and kept me from getting fired on more than one occasion. I owed my career in the hospitality industry to him, but unfortunately it now seemed as though he felt like he owned me.
Like I owed him something.
“He’s just—I d
on’t know. I don’t know how to explain it. If he calls and I don’t answer, he keeps calling until I do. One time I was in the shower and saw I had seven missed calls from him. I called him back and he picked up the phone and berated the shit out of me until I told him I was just washing my fucking vagina.”
“Yikes. Yeah, that’s out in left field pretty far. What else is going on that you haven’t told me?” Courtney asked.
“He keeps bumping into me at places. At first I just thought I was going crazy. I mean, we’ve been together three years. We’re gonna frequent some of the same places, right?”
“Right. You’ve been together too long. Continue.”
“Well, I took a trip about thirty minutes north to see if this one shop had a china design I was looking for. You know the Medical Network of LA’s Christmas party that happens next week?”
“Sure. Go on,” she said.
“Well, they found this pattern they wanted desperately for their plates, and I couldn’t find that shit anywhere in LA I told Jeremy there was a shop north of here that said they could order it, but I wanted to go make sure they were ordering the right design before we shelled out the money. I decided to do lunch there before I came back, and Jeremy just happened to ‘be in the area’ when he walked into the fucking restaurant.”
“Uh, creepy. What the fuck? Is he following you or something?”
“That’s crazy, right? He can’t possibly be. People don’t do that shit, right?” I asked.
“Well, I told you he was weird the first time I met him. I honestly wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I just feel stifled. Now I’m walking around with one eye looking over my shoulder. I’m sleeping with my fucking phone ringer on just in case he calls, and it’s driving me nuts. I’m over it.”
“So break up with him. He can’t fire you because HR finally approved your relationship, so they know he would be biased. If you’re unhappy, Lexi, leave.”
“It just doesn’t seem that simple. I mean, what if he is crazy? What if he, like, dives off the deep end and tries to stab me with a knife psycho-style?”
