Welcome to Pembrooke: The Complete Pembrooke Series

by Jessica Prince

  “Because. If I’d have been a smarter man, I could have had this a year-and-a-half ago.”

  His lips came down on mine in a kiss much softer than the night before, but full of so much more meaning. As his tongue swept forward, seeking entry, I stood on my tiptoes and wound my arms around his neck, meeting the kiss head on. He tasted like coffee, the addictive flavor making me moan and press against him, spurring him into a sudden frenzy.

  His fingers returned to my hair, holding tight as he moved my head to the side for better access to my mouth. The kiss grew heated, hungry. Tongues wound together, teeth nipped at lips, ragged groans. It was the best kiss I’d ever had, and when he pulled away, I cried at the loss. That was, until his mouth came down on my neck, licking and biting just like he had the night before.

  God, the man was talented with his mouth, and as I panted for air, everything in my body tingled with arousal.

  “When we wake up in the morning,” he licked my neck, “everything’s going to be different.” He bit down near my collar bone. “Better.” His tongue traced a wicked path along my ear. “I’m going to fuck you again, then I’m going to make you breakfast.”

  “Oh God.” I don’t know what had me hotter, the thought of him inside me or of him cooking for me.

  He pulled back, the hands in my hair forcing my glassy eyes to meet his. “This is real, sunshine,” he spoke reverently.

  “Okay,” I nodded breathlessly.

  “I’m going to take you on dates. We’re going to make plans with my daughter. I’m not saying it’s always going to be perfect, I know I’ll fuck up down the road, but I want to try with you. I want to give you what you want. I want you to be a part of mine and Eliza’s lives.”

  “I want that too,” I managed to choke out.

  “And if this stays good, I’ll give you that white picket fence, baby.”

  I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t cry. Damn it! I could feel my eyes welling up. He couldn’t possibly know how much saying that meant to me. But I was happy enough just being with him. I didn’t need promises for the future like that.

  “Why don’t we just start with taking this a day at a time for now?”

  “I’m cool with that.” He grinned down at me. “As long as I’m inside you in the next ten seconds, I’m cool with anything.”

  A teasing smile spread across my lips as I took a step back, my hands at the hem of my shirt as I repeated his words, “I’m cool with that.”

  The second the shirt cleared my head, he was on me. I never knew clothes could be removed so quickly! In the blink of an eye, we were both naked and my back hit the mattress. What started off soft and sweet had taken a quick turn to frantic. We couldn’t kiss enough, couldn’t touch enough.

  “Need you,” I moaned as he sucked one of my nipples into his mouth, flicking the tight peak in a way that had my back arching up, desperate to get closer.

  My thighs opened and he settled in, the thick head of his cock skating through my wetness. “I’ve been dying for this,” he ground out, pushing forward just an inch.

  “Wait! Wait!”

  His head dropped down on what sounded like a whimper. “Not again, baby. Please don’t do this to me. Not now. Not when I can fucking feel you.”

  “Condom,” I exhaled, trying not to smile at the agony in his voice. I did that to him. I was the one driving him that crazy. “I’m not stopping you, we just need a condom.”

  His head came up, hazel eyes meeting mine. “I’m clean, Chloe, I promise. I’d never put you in that position.”

  What was he saying? Was he actually suggesting…? “I’m clean, too, but—”

  “Are you on the pill?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you trust me?”

  I reached up and caressed his face. “I do. But do you trust me? Derrick, I don’t want you doing anything you’re not completely comfortable with.”

  In response, he pushed his hard length the rest of the way into me, making me moan long and loud. “I trust you with everything,” he grunted. “Everything, sunshine.” His hips picked up pace, thrusting so deep I felt him fill every single inch of me. My head shot back, eyes screwed closed as I fisted his hair. I’d never felt so full in my life. “Nothing between us.”

  “Oh, God, Derrick.” My hips lifted to meet his as he pumped into me. “Don’t stop. Just like that.”

  His mouth came down and I met his lips, our tongues mimicking our hips as he drove his cock into me harder and harder.

  “This is real,” I panted against his mouth, needing reassurance before falling over the edge into a release so strong it scared me.

  “It’s real, baby.” He bit my bottom lip before licking the sting away. “So fucking real.”

  With that, I went over, my nails digging into his skin as I clenched around him, crying out his name. I came for what felt like hours, until spots started dancing in front of my eyes. Just as I started coming down, I felt his hand slide between our sweat soaked body, his thumb pressing against my clit as he rubbed tight circles.

  “One more, Chloe. Give me one more.”

  My head thrashed back and forth. “I can’t. Too much, Derrick. Oh God, it’s too much!”

  “Just one more, baby.” He pressed down hard just as the head of his cock hit that spot inside me, setting me off like a firework. I screamed as he pounded into me once, twice, three times before burying himself deep and growling out his release, filling me up.

  The last thing I remembered after coming down from the best sex of my life was him placing a soft kiss on my temple and whispering, “Best I’ve ever had.”

  Then I was out.

  20

  Chloe

  True to his word, after our first night together, he’d woken me up with his mouth—the very best alarm clock in the world — and then made me breakfast after giving me two glorious orgasms. It had been three blissful days and, other than work, we’d been inseparable, and even then he’d find whatever chance he could to stop by the bakery for a few minutes a couple times a day.

  As I squeezed my eyes closed and tipped my head back, I let the water rinse the shampoo from my hair, unable to keep the happy smile off my face. It’d been firmly in place since I’d woken up in Derrick’s bed earlier that week. Even the ungodly hour wasn’t enough to dampen my mood.

  The sound of the shower curtain scraping against the rod sounded just before cold air hit my wet body. “Agh! Cold!” I shouted, my eyes shooting open to find Derrick in all his naked glory climbing into my tub. The sight was mind-altering, really. It made my mouth water and my body quiver… but I was already running late.

  He gave me a wicked grin. “Sorry about that. Let me warm you up.”

  “No, Derrick,” I said with a laugh as I tried to dodge his hold in the small confines of the claw foot tub. “I’m already late! This is the second morning this week.”

  He reached for me. “It should be illegal to wake up so fucking early. It’s not normal, baby. Way I see it, I’m doing you a favor by keeping you in bed longer.”

  “Maybe if I was actually sleeping!” I giggled, goosebumps breaking out across my skin. “But I’ve had less sleep in these past three days than is healthy, Derrick. And it’s all your fault.”

  He looked at me with a smirk and nipped my bottom lip. “You’re welcome.”

  “If you don’t keep your hands off me, then the cupcakes won’t get baked. If the cupcakes don’t get baked, the people of Pembrooke will revolt!”

  “Let them,” he mumbled, his fingertips digging into my waist as he pulled me flush against him and began kissing my neck.

  I moaned with pleasure before giving him a pathetic shove, barely moving him an inch. “If they revolt, I’m blaming it all on you.”

  His head came up, his eyes narrowed in playful slits. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Watch me. I’d throw you right under that bus and not feel bad about it.”

  “Evil woman,” he said in a raspy voice, going back to my neck, knowing
damn good and well that spot was my weakness. “Good thing you’re too damned cute for me to stay mad at.”

  It was all too much, sensory overload. His smell, his touch, his mouth against skin as his erection dug into my belly. I don’t know why I bothered fighting it, we both knew I’d cave.

  And that was exactly what I did.

  We stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, then moved to the bed for round two. In the end, I didn’t get down to the kitchen to start baking until a quarter after five.

  And I didn’t regret it a single bit.

  “Look at you.” I glanced over my shoulder to find Erin and a few of my other employees staring at me with shit-eating grins on their faces as I iced the latest batch of chocolate and espresso cupcakes. “You’re all glow-y. Someone’s getting some!” she sing-songed.

  All I could do was grin because she was not wrong. “Pretty sure I pay you guys to do more than stand around and give me shit,” I said, but I did it with a smile.

  “See!” Erin cried. “You’re even smiling when you’re trying to be a hard-ass! It’s three o’clock, you’ve been on your feet all day, and you’re still smiling! No wonder he calls you sunshine,” she winked.

  I rolled my eyes as Kristen, one of the girls that worked the register up front pushed the door to the kitchen open. “Hey, Chloe. There’s a woman up front asking to talk to you.”

  “Really?” I asked, standing from my hunched over position. “You know who she is?”

  Kristen shrugged. “Never seen her before. She just asked to talk to the owner.”

  “Huh. Okay. I’ll be right out.” I handed the piping bag over to one of my pastry chefs and went to wash the icing from my hands, curious as to who was asking for me. The moment I pushed through the door to the front of the bakery, I got my answer. And I was not happy about it.

  “Layla,” I offered congenially even though all I wanted to do was reach across the countertop and slap the resting bitch face right off of her. “What can I do for you? Do you need coffee? Something to eat?”

  “The only thing I need from you is to leave my husband alone,” she blurted out, none too quietly.

  Okay, I attempted being nice even though the woman standing before me was probably the only person on the planet who made me contemplate homicide, but if she wanted a fight, I was down for that, too. Onlookers be damned.

  “I’m pretty sure you mean ex-husband. Because the last I heard he couldn’t stand your manipulative, self-centered ass.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spit out, her pretty face twisted with so much hatred and anger it made her look ugly.

  “Really? That’s funny, because I’m pretty sure I’m dating him seeing as we’ve been in the same bed the past three nights.”

  She let out an indelicate snort. “Please, just because he fucks you doesn’t mean you’re together, you ignorant little girl.”

  I leaned in closer, propping my hands on the wooden surface between us. “Oh, I know that. I’m talking about the fact he told me I’m the first woman he’s met who’s ever made him consider commitment after, and I’m paraphrasing here, so forgive me, ‘living a decade of fucking misery.’”

  Layla’s top lip curled up. “You’re nothing but a home-wrecking slut!”

  “And you’re a shrew who was too self-absorbed to see she had a good man for ten years! And what’s worse, you’re still clueless to what you have because you treat your daughter like she’s nothing but a game piece! You don’t deserve either of them and I can’t wait for the day when it’s all ripped out from under you. Eliza’s a brilliant little girl and you should be counting your blessings that you’re lucky enough to have her. Instead, you’re too consumed with being a greedy bitch to see what’s right in front of you! If you don’t get your shit together, Layla, you’re going to lose her too. And that just makes me sad for you, because you’re too stupid to see what you’ve got.”

  “You stupid bitch!” She lunged, but I’d been prepared for it. With the bar between us, all I had to do was take a step back to get out of her reach, leaving her to make an even bigger fool out of herself as she tried to scramble across the waist-high counter in too tight clothes and impossibly high heels, making the feat impossible.

  I rolled my eyes. “Your pathetic attempt at threatening me isn’t going to work, so you might as well just quit wasting my time and yours and get the hell out of my bakery before I call the cops and have them remove you. And trust me,” I glared, “I’d love nothing more than to do just that. I’m willing to do anything to help Derrick build a case against you for full custody if you don’t get your shit together.”

  At that, all of the color drained from her face and her body went lax, sliding off the countertop until her heels hit the floor.

  “Uh, everything okay here?” I turned to see Noah standing a few feet away, his body drawn tight like he was ready to pounce if need be.

  “Hey!” I smiled, coming around the bar to give him a hug. “What are you doing here?”

  “Harlow had a craving for cookies and when I offered to bake them myself, she threatened to dismember me in my sleep.” I laughed and one corner of his mouth hooked up, but he didn’t quite smile, his eyes sliding back to Layla in concern.

  “Everything good?” he asked, looking back at me.

  “Yep.” I turned to face Layla. “She was just leaving.”

  Having composed herself after my last well-placed hit, she glared at me as she hooked her purse over her shoulder. “This isn’t over,” she warned as she walked past.

  “It’s so fucking over it’s not even funny,” I told her. “And if you ever step foot in my bakery again, you won’t like what happens.” She turned to stomp out, but I wasn’t finished. “Oh, and Layla?” I paused until I had her full attention. “You can rest assured that I’ll be telling Derrick about this little exchange.” I waved my hand around to encompass the room and all the customers sitting in fascinated silence. “Coming into his girlfriend’s place of work and threatening her?” I shook my head, giving her a pitying look. “Not smart, honey. Really not smart. Especially when your daughter’s school got out thirty minutes ago and it’s a twenty-minute drive back to Jackson Hole. Wonder how a judge would feel if he knew you made your own child wait outside her school just so you could stir up drama?”

  “Probably wouldn’t be too pleased,” Noah offered, throwing an arm around my shoulders in a show of solidarity.

  “No one asked you!” she bit out.

  “You’re still standing here,” I said in warning as I reached to pull my phone from my apron pocket. Before I even got it all the way out she was scuttling out the door faster than a woman in heels that high should be able to move.

  “You sure you’re cool?” Noah asked once she was gone.

  I let out a long sigh and looked up at him. “Yeah, I’m good. She doesn’t get to me. I just really can’t stand that woman.”

  He chuckled. “Think the feelings mutual, sweetheart. And who knew you had it in you to be a badass?” He gave me a light jab in my shoulder. “I’m seriously impressed, although I have to say, I don’t think I’m okay with you and Harlow playing together anymore. She’s bad enough as it is.”

  I shot a wink at him as I walked back behind the counter. “Where do you think I learned it?”

  “Damn it! I knew she’d corrupt all the good ones! We need an exorcism, STAT!” I laughed as I boxed up a dozen cookies for him to take to Harlow. “Now, you know you’re gonna need to call your man and fill him in on everything that just happened, right? If he hears it from someone else, his head’s liable to explode.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll call him.”

  “Good. And Harlow wants you guys over for dinner—” I looked at him with panic etched across my face before he could even finish that sentence. Luckily he held up his hands and exclaimed, “Don’t worry. I’m picking up take-out from the Moose.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “In that case, we’ll see
you tonight.” I handed him the box and he gave me a twenty and a kiss on the cheek before heading out. Now to call my overprotective, somewhat moody boyfriend and tell him I’d just had a run-in with his ex-wife from Hell.

  What fun.

  21

  Derrick

  “Keep staring like that and you’re gonna get her pregnant just by looking at her.”

  I choked on the sip of beer I’d just taken and turned to glare at Noah, the bastard. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and elbowed him in his gut, taking pleasure in how he hunched over and groaned in pain. Harlow and Chloe both looked at us from across the deck. I smiled and waved like it was nothing until they turned their attention back on the baby in Chloe’s arms.

  “Will you shut the fuck up?” I whisper-yelled.

  “Just stating the obvious, man,” he grunted, still out of breath from my well-placed elbow to his ribs. “You’re looking at her like she’s a steak and you haven’t eaten in a goddamned week.”

  There was no denying that. I wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but Chloe had suddenly become something I obsessed about on a regular basis. When we weren’t together all I could think about was her. When we were, I couldn’t keep my damned hands off her. I was like a junkie needing a fix. I’d gone from anti-commitment to wanting her within my grasp constantly in the blink of an eye. If you had told me months ago I’d actually enjoy being so twisted up about a woman, I’d have laughed in your lying face.

  But that was then. And as I looked at Chloe holding Lucy, Noah and Harlow’s new baby girl, there was no fear, no dread tying my stomach into knots. I didn’t worry about the what-ifs. I was just happy. Really fucking happy.

  And damn she looked good holding that baby.

  “She tell you about what went down with Layla at the bakery today?” Noah asked, pulling me out of my own head.

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about that woman.” Anxiety clawed at my insides whenever I thought about my daughter. I’d give anything to have Eliza with me constantly, but I just didn’t have what I needed to take to a judge in order to strip Layla of her rights. At least not yet. But the wait felt like it was slowly killing me.