Beautifully Done

by Riley Mackenzie

  “She will answer for her sins one day. Her husband has an open seat right next to him in hell. Until then, she’s not yours or Tack’s problem.” The rage I was trying so hard to keep at bay for her sake was percolating. I hated that woman.

  “What about…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Look at me.” I captured her cheeks in my hands and connected our eyes. “You need to know I’d never lie to you. If you ask, I will tell you. But right now I need you to trust me on this. It’s over; it’s done. Nothing’s coming back to haunt you. Let me carry this one for you.” The light from above reflected off her shimmering eyes as several tears pooled behind her lids and slid by. My thumbs instinctively brushed them away before I linked our lips and breathed into her, “I love you, Teeps. I promise it’s done.”

  She inhaled a deep breath and buried her face in my neck. Her shoulders sagged and she melted into me. I would take her weight now and forever to feel her relief. I would’ve never thought twenty-year-old pictures, fabricated or not, would have had the power to consume and dictate. Well, not anymore. Now—with cameras phones and social media bullshit—no one would blink twice at a successful single mother’s teenage mistake. But Talia wasn’t most people. Dignity was irreplaceable.

  I held her until we gave in to the motion of the boat. She wiggled free from my grip and the relief I saw from moments ago had morphed into something else, something I never wanted to see in Talia’s eyes again … embarrassment.

  “Did you ... see them?” she mouthed.

  “No,” I said without hesitation. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. As much as the guilt of my nondisclosure burned my gut, I’d swallow this fire again to save her from knowing that every sacrifice she made was based on a calculated deception, a bluff. “I pinky swear.”

  A slow smile erased her embarrassment and softness traveled down the length of her. I watched the remaining weight lift from her shoulders.

  “You don’t know how to not fix everything, not take care of people. Forget stars and wishes, you already make me feel like the luckiest woman alive. Thank you.”

  “Don’t have to thank me.” I smirked remembering our phone conversation yesterday. “It’s what a man in love does.” She took my hands and led me back down to the trampoline. I slid on top of her and she palmed both sides of my head. “Have I told you lately how stunning you are?”

  “Stop talking, Ace.”

  “You’re perfect.” Understatement.

  “Stop. Talking.” Her face was so close I felt her flush and tasted her breath.

  I loved her reaction to me. I took a deep breath, pride expanding my chest. My woman. My TP.

  It wasn’t going to take much. “My woman want to get lucky?”

  She mumbled an incoherent response against my lips. And I dove in deep. Her fingertips gingerly slid under my shirt, electrifying every nerve in my body. A chill ran down my spine as the opposing heat from her core ran across my chest and stomach. She tightened her bare legs around my thighs when she tilted her pelvis to meet mine. I craved her like nothing else. I wanted to feel her silk and smoothness. Shedding my shirt, I continued my exploration across her jaw and down her neck. Sweet Jesus, was she edible. I slipped her spaghetti straps down, exposing the top of her perfect handful. I loved when she wore no bra.

  “I like that you follow instructions.” I saw her lips curve up even through the blackness. “You bare under here too?” I slid my fingers under the edge of her shorts and she nodded. “You trying to kill me, woman?”

  “Never. You made a wish tonight and I have a responsibility to take care of you. So quit asking questions and start getting me naked because I have every intention of making that one come true, too.”

  I grinned and did as I was told.

  I got her naked and did it fast...

  I slipped inside her and claimed her mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was the wide open sky above us and the ocean below us or the cool fresh air invading our inferno, but something was different this time. We had fucked. A lot. We had made sweet love. We’d done raw and gritty and we’d done gentle and passionate, discovering every inch of each other. But this was different. This I couldn’t explain. I locked on her molten caramels, attempting to process this feeling. Our bodies synced with the undulations below us, while our intimate sounds interrupted the surrounding silence, her moans creating the sexiest melody known to man. This man only. Ripples turned to swells and our breath became more ragged. A thin sheen of sweat developed across our skin. She whispered nothings and everythings against my mouth and squeezed me tighter with her toned legs. We were frenzied, the pressure was immeasurable, and the blast wave inevitable. She wanted closer; I needed deeper. With every penetration I dug deeper and deeper, but the depth of our connection was endless. We were endless. Talia and I may have had a beginning and a middle, but together we had no end.

  “Asher, Ms. Pryce is here. Want me to send her back?”

  “Suz, you like your job?” I stared at the speakerphone waiting for a response. Pretty simple question, if you asked me.

  “No need to be an ass.”

  My office door opened and pure beauty walked in, one heel at a time. I felt my stupid grin creep across my face. Talia in a cream colored pant suit. Smoking hot. And something I wished I was doing right about now.

  Completely distracted with eyes glued on the love of my life I almost forgot Suzie was still on speaker. No way I was letting her get the last word. I snapped out of my TP daydream and spit back, “You do realize I’m your boss, right?”

  “Pfft, pfft,” she returned instantly.

  Seriously? She pfft’d me. Over a damn phone. Oh hell no.

  “Ignore him, Suzie, he’s an ass.” Tal chimed in from over my shoulder before she made her way between my open legs and leaned back on my desk. So much for abolishing my daydream and getting in the last word, this was a porn moment in the making. Talia depressed the speaker button. “No chance, counselor, mind out of the gutter.” I could only imagine how my face looked. She probably needed to wipe the drool threatening to drip. She leaned over and brushed my lips. What a damn tease, she was so not getting away with this. I wanted more and now, but she wasn’t having it. “Don’t pout, gives you wrinkles.”

  “Whatever, you’ll Botox them or some shit.” My hands wandered up her designer silk-clad legs. She batted them away. Torture. Might as well set me up with the Chinese water kind. I collapsed back, my high-back leather chair absorbing my weight. Taking her in I realized my desk never looked so good.

  “You do realize that I’m an actual doctor, right?”

  Smartass. I loved her.

  “Har, har.”

  “Mature, how old are you?” she sarcastically spit.

  “Two months older than you.” She shook her head still not really feeling me. “Fine. So if you’re not here for an afternoon quickie, to what do I owe this pleasure? And make no mistake, it is a pleasure.”

  “Focus, lover boy. I have to get back, I’m covering afternoon clinic. Was just running errands and wanted to make sure we were all set for tonight. I know Tack’s nervous, would never admit it, but this is a big deal for him. Mostly because … well, it is kind of a big deal. Doesn’t help that Paige went home for the long weekend. So you know, he’d feel more comfortable with you being there. I checked with Suzie and she said you had a four o’clock. Do you think you’ll be out on time?”

  Hmm. This was rambling Tal. Sounded like my woman might be the one who was nervous.

  With the help of speed dial, the ring echoed twice before Chase filled the line. “What’s up, man?”

  “You’re home? Don’t you doctors work?”

  Talia’s eye roll was perfectly timed to Chase’s buffoon response. “Fuck you.”

  “Real nice, would you speak to my mother with that mouth?” I sure as shit wasn’t asking if he’d talk to his own mother with it. I knew that answer, hell yeah. But neither one of us were wasting another breath on that woman, she was dead
to us.

  After we got back from the Hamptons a couple of weekends ago, I laid it all out for him. I would’ve carried this burden, but some things a man needed to know. His mother, the carrion-consuming vulture being one of them. When I called him from New York and shared my suspicion that Con had known about Tal and Tack living in California all those years, he said he was done with her. Gave me full rein to do whatever the hell I wanted. When he learned she was part of the blackmail that kept Tal away, he declared her dead. It sucked seeing that bitch slice him open again. She never deserved the title of mother. And as far as Chase was concerned, she not only lost Kimi, but him as well. This was irreparable. I offered to go toe-to-toe, let him work it out, because that’s what you do for family, but Chase shocked the hell out of me and opted for a good old fashion boys’ night out instead, claiming we were getting too old. A bottle of Patron and a six-pack of shit the bartender graciously sent our way kept us there to close. When I found the strength to pry my eyes open late the next afternoon, I begged to differ on the age reference. Beating the shit out of each other seemed like the better way—even at our age. We decided to take our chances back in the ring in the future.

  Talia kicked my shin, not so lightly I might add, keeping me from zoning out. Shit. Another pointy heel to the shin reminded me how much it sucked the first time. Tal was spending too much time with Sierra. She ignored my dirty look and mouthed, ask him what time?

  “Dude, what time are you inviting us again? Tal’s being a pain in the ass, I mean shin.” That shit hurt. I only spoke the truth. Her lips moved with Aw poor baby while she simultaneously rolled her eyes again.

  We heard Chase yell through the phone, “Blue, what time tonight?” Pause, Lil matched his scream, coming through loud and clear, “Five-thirty.”

  “Heard her, sounds good. Looks like good weather, probably no chance of bus accidents or ruptured aneurysms or anything, right?”

  “No, dick. I’m manning the grill. Why? You bailing?” If I didn’t know better, he sounded nervous too. Actually I did know better, he was nervous. “Way Lil talks about him, sounds a lot like Kim, sounds like a good kid.” Solidly confirmed chicken shit.

  Tal bit her lip and wiggled off my desk, she heard it in his voice too. Taking the closest chair, she crossed her legs and unconsciously began to bop her foot. Shit, rambling, now bopping, she was definitely nervous. However, I was stuck on the fact that she moved. And I liked her on my desk. Mental note: we were posing for the camera today. I needed a TP pic front and center when I couldn’t have the real thing.

  “He’s a great kid. But do me a favor, relax, man. It’s a barbeque. Bad enough Tack’s got to see what he’s gonna look like in twenty years. Let the shock of the grey hair settle in before you spook him with your laidback personality.” Grey hair might have been a cheap shot, but my personality dig wasn’t too far off from a little salt and pepper variety. Just saying.

  “Ass,” he grunted.

  Tal’s nervous face faded and she smiled. Then she whispered something about dessert?

  “Yup. Anyway, got that you’re doing the whole cookout thing, but now Tal wants to know what kind of dessert to bring. Obviously there’s some unwritten vagina rule somewhere about what goes with what. And for the love of God, don’t say something made with that bean paste shit.” I grabbed her hand and planted her ass back on the edge of my desk between my legs. Perfect. And way better than a framed version.

  “Smartass. Lil wanted traditional barbeque for the fourth—burgers, dogs, chicken.” That dickhead would’ve ordered sushi. Poor Lil, he was going to turn her into a fucking rainbow roll if he had his way. “As for dessert, you think I know what goes with that shit? No clue. And I’m not getting bitched at for answering wrong. Hold on, I’ll get Blue.” Tal grinned and mouthed, smart hubby. His muffled bellow was still loud. “Oh … and Tal, I’ll see you tonight, blondie. Looking forward to finally meeting your boy.” He knew she was listening in on speaker the whole time. Of course he did.

  Tal shrugged her shoulders and laughed. “Hey, CC.”

  See, all was good. Who was I? All glass half full. That’s right, that’s what Tal did to me.

  “Hi guys!” Lil’s cheery voice popped through the line. An octave higher and she could be Sierra.

  “Hey, gorgeous. Tal’s feeling a dessert. What would you like? And don’t say nothing. Not happening.”

  “Hi Lil!”

  “Hey, Talia. Any chance you want to play earlier, come on over. Sierra and Layla just got here.” That explained the giddy.

  “Wish I could, I’m covering clinic until four. Then I’m picking up Tack before we head to you.”

  “No biggie. You’ll be seeing plenty of Sierra, she has some good news to share.”

  “Awesome, can’t wait! But please tell me your dessert vision?”

  “Oh my goodness! Stop! This fruit arrangement you sent is amazing, we don’t need anything more.” My woman always thinking ahead, she rocked. “Oh wait, I spoke too soon, Sierra is whining behind me, requesting chocolate. Anything chocolate. If it’s not too much trouble, otherwise I can always send Chase out.” Those words left her lips like she spoke them a million times over. Like he was a fucking dog.

  Who was I kidding? We both were pussy whipped Chihuahuas. Damn, I had graduated to his level. No. If I was being honest that shit went down somewhere around the ninth grade.

  “Chocolate it is, gorgeous, now say goodbye. Save your estrogen pow-wow for later, when I’m properly prepared with an alcoholic beverage or seven as my buffer. Besides I have some business to take care of on top of my desk.”

  “TMI,” Lil bit out through a laugh.

  Tal didn’t flinch—she was over my stupid humor.

  “Have fun, see ya later. Bye, guys.” We said goodbye and I ended the call.

  “Now she thinks we’re screwing in your office.”

  “Well, now we have to…” Sounded convincing, I thought. “Besides what are you gonna say when Sierra asks? She’s gonna want to know if the Green Giant rocked your world on a desk. You wouldn’t want to lie.”

  “I’m leaving now.”

  Yup, totally over me. I couldn’t even get her to engage. Damn. I still grinned.

  “One sec, Teeps.” I rang Suzie.

  “Yes, bossman?”

  “Need you to reschedule my four o’clock. I’m out by four thirty. That group’s never on time anyway. Make sure you tell them-”

  “Got it covered, you’re stuck at a closing. Funds got held up. You wouldn’t ever leave a client mid-deal, yada yada. Their closing is the day after a bank holiday. Oh, they’ll understand. No worries.”

  Damn, she was good.

  “You’re the best, Suzie-Q.”

  “That’s why you pay me the big bucks. That and I pick out awesome birthday gifts for those yummy nieces of yours.”

  Traitor. On that note I hung up. Tal crossed her arms and dug her pearly whites into her delicious bottom lip, lost in thought.

  “We’ll get Tack together.” She nodded, but held strong to her stance. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit. Want to try that again? This time remember who you’re talking to.”

  She could eye roll me all she wanted, she wasn’t leaving my desk without spilling. I was pretty sure our high school speakerphone session did the trick of calming everyone’s nerves about tonight’s almost Fourth of July BBQ slash Colton brother meet and greet. Maybe I was wrong.

  “Just a random observation. Do you have a nickname for every woman in your life? Suzie-Q, beautiful, gorgeous, sweetheart. Just wondering? Not that hey you isn’t endearing.”

  Fuck me, my woman was jealous. She tried to play it off by adding a little sass but failed. She asked so I intended to answer.

  Standing, I cupped her chin along the way, wanting, no needing her eyes when I spelled it out. “First of all, Suzie Q doesn’t count, it’s practically her name. I call my mother a
nd my sisters beautiful because they are. Lil is gorgeous because, well she is, but more importantly, what she did to pull Chase from his hell, it was nothing short of awe-inspiring. As for sweetheart, it’s generic, means nothing. I’m not going to lie and I’m sure as hell not proud of it, but I’ve had a lot of sweethearts share my bed. But none of them were you. There’s only ever been one you. You are the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Sexy doesn’t begin to cut it. Passionate, confident, brilliant—all you. The fierceness you love your son with levels me. All I have to do is hear your beautiful voice and I’m done … I’m done. You’ve tilted my axis and given me every first that matters, but more than anything, you make me want to hold on tight and live this crazy ride—with you. Only you. You crawled under my skin so long ago I can’t remember a time it wasn’t about you. So yeah, you is the only endearment that fits until you’re ready for me to call you wife. You say the word, that title’s yours.”

  That lip biting sassy face vanished, replaced by glistening eyes and pure love.

  “I love the … you,” she whispered, swallowing past her emotion. “And all its reasons.” Her little fingers trembled when they found my face. “God, Asher, I love you so much, sometimes I don’t know what to do with it all. I feel it in every part of my being.” I knew what she meant. “It’s endless.”

  I kissed my woman, long and deep, thinking about those simple words that have played over and over in my head but had yet to be spoken out loud. The word forever wasn’t part of my vocabulary eight months ago. Not because I couldn’t imagine wanting it, but I didn’t believe it existed.

  I was wrong.

  We weren’t just forever; we were further.

  Her chest pressed against mine and I tucked her to the only place she fit. I continued to devour her, savor her, and cherish her like I would every day until forever. That was my vow. The rest was a technicality, one I would gladly partake in for now. But Tal made me realize my patience for what I wanted was limited. And I knew what I wanted. Her.