Under Contract (The GEG Series)

by Jacquelyn Ayres

  “But ...” She looks up into my eyes.

  “I know, Charlotte. I know. Please, not tonight.” I palm her face. “Tonight, all you need to know is that I am just where I want to be. Where I intend to stay. Okay?”

  “Mitch.” She exhales through pursed lips. I can see she’s trying to fight off tears.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Charlotte. I wish I could go back and change what I did. No. Actually, I don’t want to change it. If I didn’t behave like that, I wouldn’t have made it to this point of certainty. I know that none of this makes sense to you now, but it will. I promise it will. I just can’t get into it tonight. We’ve had an exhausting day, baby. We really need to recharge before we pile on more. Trust me. Please?” I plead with my eyes and thumb away the tears she was unsuccessful in keeping at bay.

  She finally nods. “Okay.”

  “Yeah?” I smile and kiss her.

  “Yeah.”

  “C’mon, let’s get you into your comfy PJs. We’ll have snuggle time instead of sexy time.” I pull her with me, leading her up the stairs.

  “Snuggle time can be sexy,” she says.

  “Any time with you is sexy time.”

  “Well, now you’re just pushing it.” She shakes her head, then giggles.

  I love listening to her breathe. It’s soothing. The way she’s sleeping on my chest, I can feel her heart beating against mine. I bring a fistful of her hair up to my nose and inhale deeply. Mmm, Charlotte ... my favorite smell. Quickly, I’m realizing, she’s becoming my favorite everything.

  Scared?

  Scared doesn’t come close. I feel like I’m in the middle of a free fall. I have no control whatsoever. At the end of the day, though, we don’t have much control over anything in life, do we? I thought I did. I thought I could control everything in my life from now on. After losing Kelly, I never wanted to take a chance in obtaining anything I couldn’t control, personally or professionally.

  Obtain?

  I didn’t obtain my feelings for Charlotte. It’s more like they clobbered me over the head. I knew it that first night. I wanted to choose flight over fight. I was scared right then and there.

  It’s good to be scared. If you’re scared—you’re alive. If you feel alive—you’re living. I wasn’t living before. I was existing. Hiding. Coping. Lost. I lost so much damn time. I’ve pushed away so many people. If Kelly were here, she’d kick my ass for it. I don’t know why I handled my grief like that. Why does anybody handle grief the way they do? It’s not something that can be expedited. Everyone has to find their own path around the bend and come full circle—some people just get there quicker. Most people, I bet, have gotten there a hell of a lot quicker than me. Maybe my journey was supposed to take this long. Maybe life wasn’t supposed to start making sense again until Charlotte was here to help me make sense of it. So ... did I really waste time? She’s in my arms, breathing her little breathy noises, her heart beating on top of mine. And she loves me. No. No, I didn’t waste time. I was waiting on time. I was waiting for time to bring her to me. To make me scared. To make me feel alive. To bring me full circle.

  Clasping Charlotte’s hand, I bring the back of it up to my lips, where I peck it softly and caress my cheek with it. I glance sideways at her and catch her loving smile. I inhale deeply.

  “It’s unbelievably gorgeous today,” I whisper as Kyle steps up to the podium.

  “I know,” she says with the same happy incredulity. “Look at the turnout, Mitch,” she adds.

  “I know.” I squeeze her hand. “We did good, baby.”

  I look around at the endless sea of people, then bring my attention to Kyle when he clears his throat. I’m still not sure why PR thought it’d be better for me to sit facing the crowd. Not only do I have to stare at Kyle’s ass (uncomfortably, I may add), but I think it would’ve been more appealing for Charlotte and me to be in the audience. Two Steps Forward was created to help people in situations similar to ours, so we’re just a small fraction.

  “Thank you!” Kyle bellows out. The crowd quiets down. “On behalf of Colton Technologies and Two Steps Forward, we thank you for showing your support today by being here with us to kick off this fantastic foundation!” Kyle moves his notecards. “As you know, Colton Technologies has always focused on the latest innovations for the cars we drive. But what about the latest innovations for the people who drive the cars?” He looks around, making eye contact with individuals. “What makes you tick?” He points to a random area. “What are you struggling with in your life?” He points to another.

  “We all have a story, right? We all struggle with something. Don’t we all feel, at some point, that when we take two steps forward, we also take three back?” He looks around again. “Well ... am I right?” he asks, his voice louder. The crowd makes some noise.

  “How many of us are so devastated or feel so defeated that we don’t even bother to take those first two steps at all?” Kyle asks, raising his own hand. Charlotte and I raise our hands as well.

  “Your head’s spinning so much, you don’t know where to start or what you’re even looking for.” Kyle takes the mic and starts walking around the stage.

  “Well, no more. Whether you’ve never taken the first two steps or tried to several times, when you walk through these doors behind me, you will be taking two steps forward in the right direction.” He holds his arm out, indicating the doors.

  “I can tell from the look on some of your faces that you’re not quite sure what I mean. Let me give you some basic information. Two Steps Forward is equipped with top-notch people in research, social work, life coaching, and more. Whatever you are going through or need help with, if we don’t have the answers in that building already, we have the people who will find them for you—no matter what. See, we don’t want you to take two ordinary steps forward. We want two leaps. We want extraordinary.” He stretches his arms wide.

  “I bet I know your next question.” He smiles. I look around at the crowd again. He’s got their complete attention. He’s such a politician. “Why?” he asks into the mic. “Why would Colton Technologies want to do something like this? Why would they care? Why would Mitch and Charlotte Colton care?” He shrugs.

  “Well, why don’t I let them tell you?” He puts the mic back where it belongs. “I’d like to introduce you all to Mitch Colton, CEO and owner of Colton Technologies, and cofounder of Two Steps Forward.” Kyle begins clapping as he looks over his shoulder at me. The crowd joins in as Charlotte and I stand up. We head to the podium.

  “Wow, man, you did a phenomenal job!” I shake his hand and pat his back.

  “It was nothing, Mitch! I’m so proud to be a part of this.” He smirks. Fuckin’ smirker—love this guy!

  I step up to the mic with Charlotte by my side. After waiting for the cheers to die down, I tell them my story. You could hear a pin drop, it’s that silent. The crowd gasps as one when I talk about losing Kelly and Isabella. Charlotte rubs my back. I discuss how the grief changed me. How the guilt took over my personal life.

  “Can you survive grief without any help? Sure. I did. It only took me almost twenty years. It shouldn’t have. I wore my grief like armor. My heart was caged. Then, out of nowhere, a beautiful woman—in every sense—came along with the key.” I look over at Charlotte and wink. She gives me her sexy little smile. Damn, the things that smile does to me! “So,” I say, turning back to the crowd, “I was cured, right?” I wait until I start seeing some of them nod in agreement, then shake my head. “Wrong. As I chipped away at the grief, the guilt took over—and it terrified me. I almost pushed her away, like I did everyone else. Luckily for me, Charlotte is not the type of woman to give up. She fought, and it helped me realize I didn’t want to lose her too.” I grab her hand and bring it to my lips again. “I finally did something I should’ve done a long time ago. I sought out the help I needed. I wanted to make sure, after the trauma of losing my first love, that I fixed my heart and head as much as I could before handing them ove
r to my second one.” I take in a deep breath. “Because I did this, I have something I never thought would be mine: an amazing wife and four beautiful children. No, I’m not Superman.” I smile. “Three are from Charlotte’s previous marriage and, as most of you know, we were blessed with the arrival of Bernadette just six weeks ago.” I look back at her sleeping in her car seat.

  Yeah, we went with a “B” name. She’s named after my mother. Funny coincidence, huh?

  I continue to talk about how things could’ve been different had I gotten the help I needed in the beginning. Not so much my love life, because I couldn’t imagine anyone but Charlotte at my side, but my friendships—how I could have saved old ones and gained new ones. I’m lucky to have Kyle as my best friend, especially after once forgetting how nice it is.

  Charlotte takes her turn to talk about how Josh abandoned her, and its affect on her life and her children’s lives.

  “We both suffered from abandonment, though from two different angles. You know, life keeps happening—at a fast pace. It doesn’t stand still just because you wake up one day with a life completely different than the one you knew the day before. Your heart ... your mind ... they shut down. Not life, though. It doesn’t give you a chance to blink. Life tells you to throw that luggage on your back and carry on. After a while, you stop looking for a place to set that luggage down. You forget there are places to put it, that you can stop the carousel ride that is life. Just for a moment. Stop the spinning. Take a breath. Figure things out. You can do that. Mitch did it. I did it. Two Steps Forward will help you or someone you love do it. Life is a puzzle—sometimes you need a second pair of eyes to see where all of the pieces go. We want to be your second pair of eyes,” Charlotte says with such warmth, I swear she verbally hugged everyone in the crowd.

  “She asleep?” I whisper when I walk into the room. Charlotte’s in the rocking chair with Bernadette cradled to her breast. She smiles and nods. I turn the night-light on and the lamp off. Charlotte gets up slowly after Bee unlatches. She carries her over to her crib and lays her down. We both stand here, staring at her. “Have I thanked you today?” I whisper in Charlotte’s ear before I nip her lobe.

  “For?” She turns her head to look up at me.

  “You. Her. Our other three. Our life,” I say, pecking her lips after each thing I’m grateful for.

  “No, you haven’t.” She turns to me and slides her arms around my neck. “But I have a wonderful idea of how you can.” She smiles against my lips.

  “Yeah?” I run my hands along her bottom.

  “It’s been six weeks, baby.” She smiles coyly.

  “I know. I can’t believe she’s been here for six weeks already.” I play dumb. I know what my baby wants.

  “I’ll meet you in our room in a few minutes.” She shakes her head at me. Yeah, she’s not falling for it.

  “Yeah? You sure, baby?” I don’t want her to jump back into sexy time if she’s not really ready.

  “Yes. I am very sure. Besides ... I’m under contract.” She bites her smile back.

  “Yes, you are, indeed, under contract,” I agree as we head out of Bee’s nursery. “Tell me, Mrs. Colton, are you still satisfied with the terms of our contract?” As we walk, I wrap my arms around her waist from behind and press her against me.

  “Oh, yes! The conditions of this contract are far better than the original version.” She squeezes my arms and giggles when I take in a long sniff of her neck.

  “Oh, yeah? What are some of your favorite aspects of this contract?” I let go, sit on the bed, and pull her onto my lap.

  “Well, let’s see. I have an amazing husband who makes me feel special, loved, and cherished every day. He prioritizes me and our kids. He’s a fantastic father. We’re all proud to have the Colton name.” She rests her forehead against mine.

  “That was the greatest gift—besides Bee, of course—anyone has ever given me.” I close my eyes and squeeze her to me.

  “You should send him a card.” She laughs lightly.

  “Do they make cards that say, Thanks for being an asshole?” I ask. Fuckin’ prick. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful he relinquished his rights to the kids so I could adopt them. I just can’t get over the fact that he would give up his kids to avoid tax-evasion penalties. Well, not the penalties, but jail for not paying them. Let’s just say Josh hadn’t been too honest on his returns the past few years.

  Unfortunately, Charlotte got roped into his fraudulent behavior since she was married to him the first two years he started tweaking the returns. That’s the only reason things went down the way they did. I would’ve let him fry for it, but I didn’t want Charlotte’s name dragged through the mud. So, I made an offer he couldn’t refuse. I would pay off all of the penalties if he gave up parental rights so I could adopt the kids. That asshole took all but twenty seconds to think about it.

  How did the kids take it? Let’s put it this way—Brogan said he felt like he had won the World Series. I love that kid. I love all three of them. They started calling me ‘Dad’ before Charlotte and I got married. It is the most wonderful sound in the world.

  Blessed ... I am fucking blessed!

  The adoption took place right before Bee was born. It was perfect. We had a huge barbecue to celebrate. I’m not ashamed to admit that I stopped quite often during that day to take a look around at all the family and friends who were there, sharing in our happiness, and I teared up each time.

  Each day, I’m starting to feel more whole—complete. It’s not just Charlotte and the B.C.s (my nickname for them). It’s the steps we take together as a family to solidify our future. It was building this house together (in the same town, so the O’Briens can linger as much as they like) and syncing the family schedule: trips, dinners, et cetera. Everything in my life now revolves around my family. My family. Best phrase in the world. Family—best word in the dictionary.

  I’m the richest guy in the world, and it has nothing to do with what’s in my bank account.

  Mitch looks deep in thought. He gets like this a lot—reflective. It’s sweet.

  “Hey,” I say.

  He looks into my eyes. A small smile creeps into his, and they crinkle at the corners. His eyes are even kinder these days. I stare into them, feeling a connection—a sense of contentment—that I have never known with another man. He is my one and only. The keeper of my heart, mind, and soul, and the source of my balance. He’s the man you dream of when you’re a little girl picturing your knight in shining armor.

  “Damn it, Charlotte, I could stare at you for hours. So pretty.” He caresses my cheek and strums his thumb over my bottom lip.

  “Mitch ...” I whisper. My breathing becomes shallow. Two years later and he still has this effect on me.

  “What, baby? What do you need?” he asks. Damn him and that sexy voice. “Tell me, baby.” His lips rub gently against mine—not a kiss, but the slight tease of possibility.

  When Mitch talks like this, he wants sexy talk. He wants naughty Charlotte.

  Mitch loves him some naughty Charlotte.

  “You want to know what I need?” I ask softly and dart my tongue out to lick his lips gently.

  “Mmhmm.”

  I climb off his lap, turn, and straddle him. Yeah, I guess I’ll save the sexy nighty I bought for another night! I palm his face.

  “Open your mouth for me, Mitchy.” That’s what naughty Charlotte calls him these days. I keep my tone soft and sexy—I know it drives him crazy. He complies and I drop my mouth to his, allowing my lips to taste, my teeth to nip and pull. Mitch releases a low groan. His hands slide back and cup my ass, where he begins rubbing and squeezing. Kitty grinds to the rhythm.

  My tongue slides against Mitch’s as it enters his mouth. Meticulously, our tongues caress each other. Fuck ... the way our tongues dance! Mitch’s hand travels up my back until he reaches my neck. He fists my hair and brings my face closer to his as he licks hard into my mouth, showing me his urgency and rendering me breathless.
Kitty rubs the boost out of Morale. All hands are on deck. This could get messy, people—and loud!

  Mitch pulls away to whip my shirt off.

  “What do you need, baby?” he asks, his voice breathy as I rip his dress shirt open. Naughty Charlotte can be aggressive at times. He tosses me onto my back and yanks my yoga pants off. I immediately part my legs for him.

  “Gah—Mitch!” I gasp as he slaps the inside of my thighs, squeezing and pushing them open wider. Mitch and I worked through his manhandling of me a long time ago. I let it go because I do love it, and let’s be honest—he’s the only man who’s ever known how to handle me.

  “What do you need, baby? What do you want? Don’t make me ask again.” His thumbs move around in devilish little circles right beside Kitty. I can hear her purring loudly. I move my hips, thrusting them into the air. Mitch squeezes my inner thighs again—painfully.

  “Your tongue,” I finally breathe.

  “Where do you want my tongue, baby?”

  “My pussy,” I pant. Sometimes it’s still hard for me to talk like this. I think Mitch loves it even more when I feel shy and awkward—kinky bastard!

  “I’m sorry, baby, who’s pussy?” He hovers over me, hot breath in my face, provoking me. His hand slides between my legs. His fingers pet Kitty, but just barely. “Who does this pussy belong to?” he asks again. I can barely focus on anything but his finger circling my entrance.

  “You, Mitch.” I tremble.

  “Tell me what you want me to do,” he murmurs against my lips. My man is all about the details.

  “I want you to lick me, slide that hot tongue up and down, taste every inch of me.” I grind up into his hand. “I want to feel your tongue dart inside me over and over again—teasing me.”

  “You like it when I fuck you with my tongue, baby?” he asks as he plunges two fingers deep. My hips fly into the air ... craving more ... wanting to be filled.

  “Your tongue.” I bite at his lips. “Your fingers.” I push against them. “Your cock.” I reach down between us and rub the bulge in his pants. A low groan escapes his throat. “Your mind.” I reach up and lightly touch his temple.