by Gia Riley
“What?” he asks when I sit up a little straighter.
“If Lark hadn’t told me Easton’s real name tonight, were you ever going to tell me the truth?”
He leans his head against the edge of the tub, sighing. “You would have found out when we closed on the property.”
“You would have taken it that far? I’d have walked in there with my realtor looking like an asshole.”
Without responding, he stands up, taking me with him. We’re still slippery from the soap and I almost slide out of his hands, but he sets me back on the counter without dropping me. “I’m dripping all over the place.”
“I didn’t even start yet,” he says, as he opens the drawer in the vanity and pulls out my bullet. He turns it on one of the higher speeds and spreads my legs open as far as they’ll go. I know it’s coming, but I still jump when he presses the cool silver against my clit.
Already intense, I search for something to hold onto. “What was wrong with my question? I think it’s valid.”
“Nothing, but you were hell-bent on making some kind of point, so I thought I’d make one of my own.”
“And what point are you trying to make?”
He leans in and kisses me, his mouth making a creative statement with a giant exclamation point at the end. Hs stops only to push two fingers inside me, whispering, “I know how to make you happy, Noelle. You can ask as many questions as you need to and try to paint me into a corner, but in the end, you know the real reason why I do most everything, don’t you?”
I see his mouth moving and I can tell words are coming out, but all I can focus on is what’s happening between my legs. My head is spinning so fast the contracts and property deals are already forgotten.
Pressing my back against the glass mirror, I shift my hips, giving him even better access to what I want. “Lane,” I practically beg, even though he’s already doing everything I need him to do.
“Baby, I’ll make you feel so good, but let’s get one thing straight real quick.”
“Okay.”
“Every relationship has bumps along the way. It’s what you do with all the noise when everything sucks that matters.”
“That’s a little bit poetic. So, you’re saying that when we argue, you’re just gonna sex my anger out of me?”
“Overthinking ruins things, Noelle. It creates problems that didn’t even exist.”
“I’ll stop thinking if you just keep doing. From here on out, no fucks will be given.”
He smirks when I dig my nails into his arm, practically screaming as he turns the bullet up another notch. “I’m glad we’ve had this little talk, baby.”
“You’re the smartest man I know.”
“And don’t you ever forget it.”
Noelle lays the baby down in the bassinette, her eyes still teary from the birth two days ago. Until now, I never knew a woman could cry so much, but seeing her so happy, with her future in her arms, nothing will ever compare to that. Well, maybe the day she was born. That was pretty damn amazing.
Holding onto my arm, Noelle is shaking so bad I worry I’ll have to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. Despite it being three o’clock in the morning, she has more energy than she knows what to do with.
“I wonder how she’s doing,” she says for the tenth time in five minutes.
I squeeze her hand, desperately needing her to relax. “You heard the doctor; these things take hours.”
She agrees but turns away from me, her eyes focused on the oak tree outside the window. When her shoulders start to shake, I realize she’s reached her breaking point. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
She wipes away her tears with her palms, not giving them the chance to speak for her. After a couple more seconds of silence, she turns toward me with tired eyes. “What if we’ve gone through all this and she doesn’t sign the papers?”
“Noelle.”
“I hate myself for being so selfish, Lane. She’s the one who has to make the hardest decision of her life, not me. But I’m still so scared. I love this baby and I haven’t even met her yet.”
I kneel in front of her, desperate to take away her pain, even though there’s nothing I can do to make it better. That only makes me feel even more helpless than I already am. “It’s out of our hands now. If that little girl is meant to be ours, Lemon will keep her word and sign the papers. If it’s not meant to be today, then we’ll focus on tomorrow. I told you I’ll do whatever it takes to make you a mother.”
She tightens her ponytail and brings her knees to her chest, curling into a smaller ball. “I’m trying so hard to stay positive, but all this waiting is killing me. My stomach is in a giant knot.”
Just as I reach out for her, a nurse calls our names. Noelle’s eyes widen and start to well up again. Assuming it’s bad news, I walk over to her, keeping my voice low when I ask, “What’s going on?”
The nurse smiles warmly, no doubt seeing the fear on both our faces. “Lemon’s asking for Noelle. She’d like her to come in the room during the birth.”
I hear the gasp behind me, and like her prayers have been answered, she stands up and smiles so big it almost knocks me flat on my ass.
“She wants me?” The nurse nods and squeezes her shoulder, the little bit of silent reassurance Noelle needs.
As they walk away, leaving me alone in the waiting room, all I can do is sit back down and wait. I wait for Noelle’s dreams to come true and for my sister’s to begin. What started out as a disaster has ended up breathing life into all of us.
But if I thought waiting it out with Noelle by my side was rough, it’s even harder watching the hours pass alone. I’ve counted the tiny pinholes in the ceiling and the tiles on the floor, plus examined each person who walked into the room, wondering if their life was about to change, too.
Sometime after lunch, I must have dozed off because the next time I open my eyes, Noelle’s shaking me, begging me to wake up.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her as I sit up and let my eyes adjust to the harsh hospital lighting.
“She’s here, Lane. She’s here!”
I stare at her, shocked that it’s over. “How’s Lemon?”
“She did so good, but she wants to see you.”
I run my hands through my hair, trying to get myself together. “Okay, come on,” I tell her. I’m confused all over again when she stays put and doesn’t follow me.
“She wants to see you alone, Lane.”
My excitement nosedives and right away, I wonder if this is the beginning of the end. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I think she needs her big brother.”
Praying that’s all this is, I walk to Lemon’s room with my hands shoved in my pockets, still counting the tiles on the floor and avoiding stepping on any of the cracks.
Before I knock, I take a deep breath. A breath so uncertain I have to think about the next one and the one after that. For the longest minute of my life, I stand in the doorway, watching her holding the baby in her arms. She brushes her finger down her little cheek, staring in awe at the life she created.
“Come here,” she tells me, scooting over in her bed so I can sit next to her. “I wanted you to meet your daughter.”
“You still want to go through with it?”
The smile falls off her face, and I see the panic rising in her eyes. “You don’t want to?” she asks in shock.
Of all the stupid things I could have said, I already regret it. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
“Lemon, all I’ve ever wanted to do is give you the life you deserve. Whether Noelle and I leave here with this baby or not, we want you to be happy. So, I guess I needed you to know that neither of us is making this decision for you. This is all yours. Whatever you decide, we’ll still support you.”
“I know that,” she whispers. “I’ve spend months analyzing life with a baby. Even longer dreaming of life on my own. They’d both be hard, and they’d both be all mine.”
“But?” She looks into her daughter’s eyes, and you don’t have to be anything other than human to see the love they already have for one another.
“But I have to do what is best for the both of us. I can’t let you pay my way through life, Lane. I have to succeed on my own. Maybe I won’t have a fancy house or designer clothes, but I have to find myself. I have to find my way before I can even think about having a family of my own.”
“You’re so strong, Lemon. You can beat this.”
She’s quiet for a few minutes, and all I can do is sit and watch them fall in love with each other, wondering where her head’s at and praying she’s going to be strong enough to stay on track.
“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been tempted. I guess I’m scared that I don’t have a reason to stay clean anymore. I was doing it for her.”
“And now you’ll do it for you.”
“When I look at her, I don’t see Rusty. All I see is a pretty little girl who’s going to be spoiled rotten and have her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She’s going to have everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“Because of you,” I tell her, meaning every single word. If she weren’t making this selfless sacrifice, and if she hadn’t convinced Rusty to sign his rights away, none of this would be happening.
“Some days, I feel like my life’s been shook up and tossed around so many times I can’t figure out which way is up, and other days, all it takes is the warm sun shining on my face to remind me how lucky I am. I want the sun to always shine in her world.”
She hands me the baby, placing her in my arms as she starts to cry. “She looks like you,” I tell her.
“And she’ll love like you.”
Noelle stands behind me as we stare at the baby. Both she and Lemon are being discharged today. Lemon’s been in the room next to us while we’ve started the bonding process with the baby.
I’ve been back and forth between the two rooms, trying to keep everyone happy and Lemon from breaking down. I won’t pretend what she’s going through is a walk in the park or easy. It’s been hell, but before Lemon goes to a sober living house and we go back to the condo, there’s one last detail we need to cover.
With the papers in hand and enough diapers to last us at least a week, I turn toward Noelle and ask the scariest question I’ve ever had to ask. “Are you ready?”
She glances over her shoulder, her nerves getting the best of her. “I can’t believe they just let you walk out of this place with a baby. How long have people been living on this Earth? By now, they should come with instructions.”
Laughing, yet agreeing, I take her hand and pick up the carrier holding our daughter. “She looks so tiny in this thing.”
Noelle stands next to us, smiling. “She’s six pounds. She is tiny.”
Once my arms are loaded down and we’re standing in front of Lemon’s room, I wait for her to get settled in her wheelchair before I ask her, “Do you want to talk to Clementine before we leave?”
Lemon’s eyes are wide and she covers her mouth with her hands. “You named her Clementine?”
“You don’t like it?” I ask her, even though it’s clear she does.
“I can’t,” she sputters as I place the carrier on her lap.
Noelle kneels down next to her chair. “You can, Lemon. Because even though she’s not with you every day, she’ll always carry a piece of you in her heart and in her name. I wanted to name her after you.”
After she places a soft kiss on Clementine’s forehead, the baby’s eyes open wide, making Lemon smile through her tears. She even laughs when her daughter burps right in her face. But the words that come out of her mouth, those are special.
Through her tears, she says, “I’ve only known you for two days, but we’ve spent nine long months together. You’ve sat through all my therapy sessions and cheered me on. You listened at night when I couldn’t sleep and talked to you, and you’d kick me every time I told you I loved you to the moon and back. I’m sorry I didn’t do more to protect you when I first found out you were in my tummy, but I need you to forgive me. I need you to be a good little girl for your mommy and daddy, and go after every one of your dreams. When you need me, I’ll be in your heart and I’ll meet you every night in your dreams. When you’re old enough, maybe we can talk about why I had to do this, because I love you so much, Clementine.”
Lemon glances at me, and I take her subtle hint that she’s done talking to her daughter. In that moment, I make it my secret mission to make sure Clementine understands how amazing Lemon is.
As the nurse pushes Lemon’s wheelchair down the hall, we take our first steps toward moving on—the walk symbolic of the journey that brought us back together in the first place.
“I can’t believe we’re leaving,” Noelle whispers, like she’s afraid to be too happy.
Our little family of four may not be built under the most conventional circumstances, but it’s ours. Addict mothers, workaholic fathers, abusive boyfriends, and tragic accidents may have once been strong enough to derail us, but nobody can take this moment away from us.
This is ours.
Gia Riley is from the small, but mighty state of Delaware. She’s a lover of all things romance—a firm believer that everyone deserves their happily ever after.
When she’s not writing, you can find her roaming the aisles of Kirkland’s, up to her elbows in Play-doh, or trying to hunt down spoilers for her favorite TV shows. She loves reality TV almost as much as she loves a good chick flick. She’s also hopelessly addicted to Starbucks and the revolving menu of specialty drinks.
You can connect with Gia on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. She also has a website for you to follow her new adventures in author blogging.
If you’re on Facebook, feel free to join her reader group, Gia Riley Book’s. Stop by anytime, she loves hearing from readers!
Here’s where you can find her:
Website
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Please join my Facebook group to talk about Rock the City, and to learn more about my upcoming projects.
Facebook Group
Sign up for my Newsletter to stay up to date on sales, new releases, and giveaways.
Newsletter
Thank you for purchasing Rock the City.
Please consider leaving an honest review. It’s the best gift an author can receive.
THE BEGIN AGAIN DUET (NEW ADULT ROMANCE)
Lighter (The Begin Again Series Book 1)
Purchase on Amazon
Weightless (The Begin Again Series Book 2)
Purchase on Amazon
YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE STANDALONE
In Pieces
Purchase on Amazon
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Rock the Boat
Purchase on Amazon
First of all, I want to thank you for taking a chance on a girl from the country with a dream to write. Without you, none of this would be possible. I’ve had a chance to meet some of you at various signings, and your enthusiasm is what fuels me.
To the creative forces behind Rock the City:
Kristin S. of Hot Tree Editing, you’ve been a pleasure to work with. You get my crazy humor and even encourage it. Thank you for helping to make this book the best it can be. I look forward to working with you more in the future.
Sommer Stein of Perfect Pear Creative Covers, thank you for capturing the ideas in my head, and making them come alive. I get these wild ideas sometimes and you always manage to create the most beautiful art. I can’t thank you enough for your impeccable style and for framing my words so perfectly.
Christine Borgford of Perfectly Publishable, no matter what my concept may be, you manage to create it visually, always blowing me away with your special touches. Thank you for your attention to detail and amazing eye.
Sassy Savvy PR & Marketing—Linda, you get me. Most importantly, you’re a wonderful person
with a giving heart. Thank you for sending gifs to make me laugh and for being so enthusiastic about my books. Not only are you my PR goddess, you’re my friend. Here’s to never ending shenanigans.
To every blogger who has supported me—thank you for taking the time to promote my work. A simple post or shout out makes my entire day. Always remember, no matter how big or small you are, your voice matters! Thank you for all you do.
To my Nachos—Without your encouragement, I’m positive P4D2 wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. There would have been less laughing and fewer interruptions, but what fun is that? So, thank you for being the most inappropriate friends a girl could ask for.
My betas:
Tina, I think you were more excited about this one than any other. Considering you’ve been with me since the beginning, that means everything to me. Thank you for helping me grow as a writer.
Kelly, thank you for BR! I had so much fun going back and forth with you on ideas and concepts. You make my face hurt. Don’t ever stop.
To my parents—thank you for always believing in me. Ever since I was little, coming up with crazy ideas, you’ve never once told me my dream was too big. Whether I was sucking it up in the outfield or succeeding on the infield, you’ve always been my biggest cheerleaders. You gave me the belief in myself.
And finally, my husband and son. Our journey is different than most, but it’s ours. Thank you for supporting me when I have a deadline and I’m cranky. Thank you for ordering take-out when I’m stressed. Knowing you’re proud of me makes this so much fun. I love you both.
