Tonight, she’d have the ring to prove it. I’d just picked it up that afternoon of the accident. It was a four-carat solitaire diamond with a platinum band. When you looked at the ring, it looked like a normal huge rock, but it was the inscription that mattered: No choice, you’re stuck with me.
She moaned as she pushed her ass into my morning wood, a new experience for me. I wasn’t the guy to stick around. I was too busy running my company, making a name for myself, to stay the night with them. Holding her had been a pleasure I planned to keep doing.
“Morning, my love.”
“You’re really here,” she whispered as she turned in my arms and smiled. Fuck, I couldn’t pass that up. I kissed her hard. I wished I could tackle her and bury myself in her.
“Soon,” I groaned to myself. “Fuck, babe. That’s the best wake-up I’ve ever gotten.”
“Me too,” she moaned.
“What’ve you got to do today?”
“Nothing, but I should really call Emmy. She’s probably really worried about me.”
“I talked to her while you were in the shower last night. I told her to call Van.”
“Really? I should still call her.” She scurried out of the bed without looking at me and grabbed her phone off the nightstand.
While she hid in the bathroom to talk to Emmy, I called Tim.
“Tim, is the ass from last night okay?”
“Tim, come back to bed!” Tell me I didn’t just hear my baby sister calling her lover, my right hand man, back to bed.
“So how long have you been fucking my little sister,” I growled. Fury ran cold through me.
“Ummm…”
“Never mind. As of right now, you’re fired.” I hung up the phone. I don’t even know what I was more pissed about—the fact that the head of my security team, who was thirty-two, was fucking my nineteen-year-old sister, or the fact that he didn’t man up and come to me first. Hell, I didn’t know if my sister was a virgin before him, so I shouldn’t care, but I didn’t want to think about it.
I called my father asking for him to send one of his trusted guys to replace Tim.
“So you found out about Vanessa and Tim.”
“You know?”
“Yes, he came to me the day after your accident.”
“He didn’t say shit to me.”
“No matter how protective you are of her, I’m still her father. Plus, we didn’t know how you’d react, and you were recovering.”
“I would’ve handled it better if I didn’t find out by hearing her call him back to bed.”
“Did you have to tell me that?”
“Well, that’s how I found out.”
“Don’t fire him for nothing. He loves her, and she loves him.”
“If he plans to marry her, I’ll think about it,” I grumbled.
“So did you find your girl and make things better?”
I briefly went into the story. It still fucking bugged me that she moved on. So when she came out of the bathroom, I hung up with my father and asked her, “How long after you got that call did you start seeing that fuck again?”
“It’s bothering you. Good. Maybe next time you won’t lie to me or be around one of your ex skanks.”
“You didn’t answer me.”
“Last night was the first time I’d spoken to Jeff since he and I broke up a few months back. Before Emmy reminded me that I needed to live, I’d been wallowing too deeply in my own pain of you fucking her to think about fucking someone else,” she hissed before grabbing her dress and storming back in the bathroom.
She came out two minutes later after I tossed on a pair of boxers.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve. I didn’t cheat on you. I had to deal with that bitch reminding me that you’d been with her. I let it go because I knew that you’d been too injured to have cheated on me with her. Just know if I run into another one of your bust-downs, I might choke the hell out of her.”
“Are you done?”
“What?”
“You heard me. Are you done yelling at me?”
She huffed.
“You want to know why I’ve got the nerve? Because even though you dumped me, which you did by changing your number and not actually telling me, I didn’t go to anyone else. I wasn’t wrapped up in someone’s arms getting ready to go fuck. That’s why I have the nerve. I’m pissed because if I was a few minutes later, you’d have tossed me to the side for someone else. I was heartbroken too, you know. I didn’t know she contacted you. I just thought you were angry with me for not calling sooner. Then you go and change your fucking number, like that shit was going to stop me. It guts me because I didn’t want anyone else, yet you did.”
“I really didn’t, but I wanted to make the pain go away, and he actually cared for me.”
“Come here.” She came to me, and I tucked her into my body.
“Listen, I’m not going to let anyone come between us. Enough with this—we belong to each other. I love you, Natalie.”
“I love you too.” She rested her head on my chest. I was so happy that I didn’t notice the pain in my body from standing so long. With her, I felt stronger. I’d never needed a woman before, but with her I felt more vulnerable than I’d been at the mercy of an unstoppable speeding car. In that vulnerability, I forgot that she’d been destroyed by that bitch.
“Give me your mouth, babe. I want to kiss the love of my life.” She smiled with my words and lifted her face to mine. Our mouths had just met when there was a pounding on the door.
“Fuck, go away,” I shouted angrily.
“Cam! You open the door this instant,” my sister shouted from the other side, sounding just like my mom.
“Grr.” I tried to walk to the door, but the pain was getting worse, and I damn near buckled on the floor but caught myself by grabbing onto the chair. I was embarrassed, but my woman was tending to me in a second. “You didn’t take any medicine this morning?” she worriedly asked.
“I didn’t take any meds since before my flight, and the pain is getting to me. Babe, can you get the door for me?”
“Of course, then I’ll get your medicine.”
Seeing him slumped on the chair, I remembered that he’d almost been killed. My heart was pounding in fear. After getting him righted, I walked to the door and opened it to an angry Vanessa and the big behemoth.
“Vanessa, calm down. Whatever you need to yell at him will have to wait. He’s in pain.”
Vanessa’s rage calmed instantly, and she ran to him. “Damn it, Cam, they told you to take it easy. Have you used the cane? Of course you haven’t. You fight with guys when you’re broken. You don’t need a cane.”
I went into his luggage and grabbed the bathroom bag. I pulled out the pills and got him some water. “Here, Cam,” I said as I handed it to him. He took the pills and the water, and downed them in one gulp. Then he used his good arm to pull me into his lap.
“Oomph,” I moaned when I landed.
I tried to get off of him, but he wasn’t good with it. “Don’t move. I’m trying not to kill this bastard here,” he snarled, looking at Tim.
“Cam, get over it. I’m not a kid anymore.”
I looked confused, so Cameron filled me in. “Right before you came out of the bathroom, I found out that my employee is fucking my little sister. Frankly, I’ve had enough with surprises, so if you two could come back another time, that would be great.”
As stern as Cam sounded, I had a feeling these two weren’t going anywhere.
“Cam, please. Tim and I are happy. You’d be happy for us if I wasn’t your sister.”
“I wouldn’t give a shit if you weren’t my sister, but you are my sister. So, fuckhead, are you going to let my sister talk for you? I guess so because you’ve had a month to be a man and tell me the truth.”
“Look, I know that you’re pissed. If I had a sister, I’d be pissed too, but I love Vanessa. I would’ve told you as soon as it happened, but you were knocked out, and we were busy look
ing for the fuck who tampered with your brakes.”
“For someone who kept a secret from the woman you claimed to love, you’re being a bit of a hypocrite just because they kept a secret from you. I forgave you,” I said as I turned his face to mine and gave a pout. That shit I saw in movies and read in books really worked. He caved, relaxing the tension in his body, and I wanted to get up and do a happy dance.
“Cam, you need to understand that I’m not going anywhere. I’ve asked your sister to marry me, so you’d better get used to the idea,” Tim said as he stuck out his hand.
Before Cameron could even raise his own hand, I jumped out of his lap and squealed as I saw the rock on Vanessa’s hand. We squealed together, and the guys actually laughed at us. At least they were getting along for that. I was so happy. I guess when you were in love, everyone’s happiness was exciting. Had I learned of it yesterday, I would’ve walked away without a care and cried myself to sleep.
“Dude, I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you about us. I’m not trying to hide our relationship. We’re all worried about you, so we thought it was best not to say shit until you were better,” Tim said and stuck out this hand again.
Cameron shook his friend’s hand, but let him know he still wasn’t gravy yet. “I’m not happy, but at least you put a rock on her finger. It makes it a little better, but just wait until I’m better. Then we go in the ring.” Tim nodded in agreement.
Vanessa and I were so busy gabbing away that we didn’t notice the guys moved off to the window and were whispering until my stomach growled.
“Ooh, someone’s hungry. Bro, don’t you take care of your woman?”
“Baby, I’m sorry. Let’s get something to eat.” He hobbled to me, and it worried me that he was walking around.
“Should you be walking around so much?”
“Not much, but I should be using a crutch or a cane. I’ll be fine, especially after you give me a kiss.” I smiled brightly, puckered my lips, closed my eyes, and lifted my chin gleefully. He took my mouth like he was starving too. He wrapped his strong arm around my waist, pulling me against him and drenching my panties. Lord help me, when this man actually took me, I was in deep trouble.
“We’ll meet you down in the lobby in about ten minutes. I still need to get some clothes on. Pick a place, Van,” Cameron said before going to his luggage.
The other two walked out the door, and I felt the tension in the air.
“Nice try, sweetheart,” he growled. His look let me know I was in some shit.
She thought she was slick, but not slick enough. I actually felt guilty earlier when she called out my hypocrisy, but I felt the shift in her body and saw a slight smile on her face. My girl was no actress.
“Nice try?” she questioned, pretending to not understand my meaning. I slid on my pants, buttoning them slowly as I looked at her. I smirked as I watched her worry about what I was going to do.
“Come here, Natalie.”
“Why?”
“Why? I just told you to come here. Come here, woman. Don’t make me come get you. If I do, I’m going to make you pay for the pain it’s going to cause me.” She meekly came to me. I grabbed her by her arm and pulled her close to me, our faces inches from each other.
“I love you, my little Natalie, but know that shit you played earlier won’t always work.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Baby, come now. You tried to play me. Admit it.” I struck like a viper and nipped at her lips, only biting gently, I didn’t want to hurt my woman.
“I just didn’t want you to fight with them. I was worried.”
“I know, babe. I didn’t want to fight either. All I wanted was to be alone with you. Fuck. I didn’t get to tell you how fucking sexy you looked last night. Damn, the next-day look is still as good as last night. You’re too fucking pretty. Put my jacket over that poor excuse for a dress.”
“But it won’t match.”
“I don’t give a shit. I don’t want to choke a motherfucker for looking at you. These tits belong to me now, and they’re damn near popping out. Now, I’m not going to tell you again—put the fucking coat on.”
She huffed, but she did what she was told. I would worship her, but there was just some shit I wouldn’t tolerate. I tossed on a Seahawks tee shirt and then my socks and shoes, not an easy task these days, but hell if I was going to beg for assistance.
“After we eat, we’ll go to your dorm and get some clothes. You’ll be staying with me here until your graduation. Before you start your argument, stop. I’m not going to let you win this one.”
“I wasn’t going to argue. I liked lying in your arms,” she said with a blush.
“Good, babe, because that’s where you’re going to stay.” I gave her a quick kiss and a nice smack on the ass.
“Let’s go before my sister comes to get us and yells at me for not feeding my woman. I can’t have you passing out on me. That wouldn’t look good.”
“Whatever.”
We met them down in the lobby. Vanessa picked a chain breakfast place, and it was good because my ass really wanted some pancakes.
Tim was still acting like he always did. He searched around as we got in the car and the moment we got out of it. I introduced Natalie to our security team. There were four of them with us. I wanted more, but it would’ve made us a bigger target.
We had just placed our order when I mentioned that we had to go to Nat’s place to pick up some clothes and to pack up her shit. Vanessa agreed to help Natalie pack today.
“Thanks, Vanessa, but we don’t need to pack everything right away. I have time.”
“Yes, we do.”
“Emmy and I are going to get an apartment in Chicago when we graduate.”
“The fuck you are. You’re going to be moving to Seattle with me. Don’t start with me. We’ve talked about this.”
“No, we didn’t talk about it. You told me, and I disagreed.”
“So you want to continue this long distance relationship?”
“No.”
“Do you want us to end this?”
“No.”
“Then your ass is moving to Seattle. My company is there, and so is my family. You weren’t even from Chicago, and you don’t have any family there either. There is no reason you can’t move to Seattle. Enough. Our food is coming.” I think she just wanted to pick a fight. She knew damn well where I wanted this relationship to go. Now she was going to act like she wanted to get a fucking spanking.
“So how many tickets do you have for the graduation?” Vanessa asked.
“They’re giving me six,” Nat said shyly.
“Good. So that’s one for Cameron and two for your parents. Who else?” Vanessa’s nosy ass asked.
I saw the look on Natalie’s face, and I knew something was up with her and her parents. Last time we talked about them, she told me they’d called her to tell her that it was their last payment for school and she was going to have to make due or come back home. I wasn’t worried about it. She was coming with me, so I’d be buying anything she needed and wanted.
I whispered in her ear. “Babe, we’re going to talk about your parents later. I can tell you’re upset. Let’s not ruin our breakfast. You need to eat. I can hear your belly monster going insane.”
“Hahaha. I’m going to bite you if I don’t get my food soon.” She tried to take a bite of my hand, but I was too quick for her ass.
My sister and her fiancé were laughing at our asses, but fuck if I cared. I loved this woman. I missed the fuck out of her over the last six weeks. The waitress brought us our food, and we all ate like we’d been starving for weeks. We bullshitted a little while before we got up to go. Tim wanted to pay for the meal, but hell if I was going to let him.
“Hey, you just got engaged. I got this.” He didn’t put up too much of an argument, but after this morning he was playing nice to keep my sister happy.
We got to her dorm, and I was fucking grateful that there was an ele
vator. My leg was feeling the extra movement. I was able to hide it from Natalie, or so I thought.
We had just got off the elevator when she said, “Us girls will pack up, and you can sit on the bed and take another pill if you need it. If you think I’m blind, I’m not.” Damn woman.
She opened the door, and Emmy was sitting on the bed studying. “Hey, Nat, you made it back in one piece.” She gave Nat a big hug and then turned to me, shook her head, and added, “You’re a fucking meathead.”
She turned back to Natalie, and in a loud whisper added, “Give the word, Nat, and I’ll junk punch him. Hell, I should do it for him being so stupid.”
“Em, it’s okay.”
“I’ve packed most of my stuff. My brother will be here to pick up most of my things. I’m going to be staying with him. You know you’re welcome to come with me.”
“No, thank you. She isn’t going to Chicago. She’s going home with me, but if you’re nice, I’ll let you visit.”
“Ass, you’re asking for it.”
“Be nice, you two.” Natalie shook her head at us.
“I’m going to start packing, I already got rid of a lot of my stuff.”
The girls were packing but got distracted by some photos. They were looking at them for over half an hour. Every once in a while my baby would show me a picture. The last one I snatched. It looked like the day I saw her. She had a beautiful smile, and this photo captured it.
“This is going in my office,” I stated.
“No, you can’t!” Natalie said, upset, shocked, and completely embarrassed.
“I love this picture. It reminds me of the first time I saw you, so deal with it. It’s going in my office where I can see it daily.”
“Pussy,” Tim coughed out.
“I think it’s sweet. Are you saying that you wouldn’t keep my picture where you could see it all the time?” Vanessa said as she narrowed her eyes at Tim. Ha. Being with Vanessa was enough punishment to satisfy my anger at Tim. He didn’t realize what he was getting himself into. She may not be the most school-smart person, but her personality wasn’t lacking.
No Choice Page 5
