by Ramona Gray
“It doesn’t,” she said. “It doesn’t sound crazy, Edward. I know how much you miss her and love her.”
“I do miss her and I do love her and always will but since I met you,” he gave her a helpless look, “I close my eyes and try to picture Tabitha and I see you. I used to dream about Tabitha every night, now it’s you I dream about. I want to be with you, Kate. I love you.”
“Edward,” she said sadly, “you’ve gone from saying you don’t love me to saying you do love me in less than a week. I don’t – “
“I quit my job,” he said abruptly.
“You what?” Her eyes widened and, his stomach churning, he stepped forward and put his arms around her waist.
He rested his forehead against hers and took a deep breath, feeling a little light-headed from her familiar scent. “I told Arthur yesterday that I was quitting because I loved you and wanted to be with you.”
“You – you didn’t,” she whispered.
“I did.”
“But being a partner – it was your dream, Edward.”
“Without you, it’s nothing,” he said. “I’ll find another job. It doesn’t matter to me if I’m a partner or not, Kate. All that matters is that I have you with me.”
“Edward,” Kate whispered.
“I love you, please forgive me,” he said before pressing his mouth against hers. She didn’t respond and fear raced through him.
“Please, Kate,” he whispered against her mouth. “Please, I’m sorry.”
His pulse leaped when she put her arms around him and returned his kiss. He kissed her frantically, thrusting his tongue into her mouth and licking at hers before planting kisses on her cheeks and wet lashes.
“I love you, Kate Jones.”
“I love you too.”
She smiled at him as he wiped at the tears on her cheeks. “Please don’t cry, Katie. I’ll never hurt you again, I promise.”
“I know,” she said. “But you really shouldn’t have quit your job, Edward.”
“Arthur wouldn’t technically accept my resignation but when I don’t show up for work on Monday, he’ll have to.”
She blinked at him. “He didn’t accept it?”
“No, but – “
“Good, because I’m quitting.”
“No, you’re not,” he said immediately. “You’re not quitting a job that you love just because – “
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to quit the job you love for me but not okay for me to do it?” She said before arching her eyebrow at him. “I’m quitting, Edward, and you can’t stop me. I can work as a PA somewhere else.”
“Kate, you love your job,” he protested.
“I love you more,” she said. “I’ll give Arthur my letter of resignation on Monday and you can tell him you changed your mind about leaving.”
“Does that mean you’ll come home?” He asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Good,” he whispered before hugging her tightly. “I’m never letting you go, Kate Jones.”
She buried her face in his neck and kissed his warm skin. “I like the sound of that, Edward Turner.”
Epilogue
“Nervous?” Kate asked as she straightened his tie with a quick tug to the left.
“A little,” he admitted. “The groom isn’t supposed to see the bride before the wedding.”
“It’ll be okay.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and tugged on his tie again. “You look great. I’ll see you in there.”
“Right.” He gave her another nervous smile as she left his side and crossed the foyer of the church. She opened the door of the small room and smiled at Olivia.
“How’s he doing?” Olivia asked.
“Nervous. He accidentally saw Lina so I think he believes they’re cursed now.”
“Oh please,” Lina said airily as Julia helped her into her wedding dress. “That’s nothing but an old wives’ tale. I’m more concerned that you’re going to give birth while I’m saying my vows.”
Kate rubbed her rounded belly. “That won’t be a problem. I’m beginning to think this kid’s never going to make an appearance.”
“You were nearly two weeks late and Lina was a week overdue,” Julia said. “We don’t have babies early in our family.”
“You say that now,” Lina said as her mother started to button the long row of pearl buttons at the back of her dress, “but won’t you be eating crow when I’m right in the middle of professing my undying love to Aiden and end up soaking wet from Kate’s water breaking.”
Kate laughed. “That is not going to happen, Lina. Besides, it’s not like it’s a flood.”
There was a knock on the door and Edward stuck his head into the room. “How’s it going in here?”
“Good,” Kate said as he walked up to her, put his arm around her waist and rubbed her belly. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just checked on Aiden - he’s a little green around the gills but no vomiting yet.”
Lina laughed. “My poor Aiden. He’s so worried he’s going to mess up the vows. I swear I heard him reciting them in his sleep the other night.”
“If I was him, I’d be more worried that my kid’s going to make her grand appearance and stop the wedding,” Edward said with a grin.
Kate smacked him lightly on the chest. “I’m only eight months pregnant – I’m not going to give birth at the alter.”
“How do I look?” Lina said as she smoothed her dress down with her hands and turned to face them.
“Oh, Lina,” Kate said softly. “You’re gorgeous.”
“Thanks, Katie,” Lina said as Julia hugged her tightly. “Mom, don’t you dare cry. It’ll make me cry and I’m not getting married with swollen eyelids.”
Olivia kissed Lina on the cheek. “I’m going to go grab my seat. Jon will be wondering where I am.”
She left the room as Alvin walked in. He took one look at Lina and burst into tears.
“Dad! Don’t cry!” Lina said frantically. “Mom, make him stop crying!”
As Julia and Lina consoled the sobbing Alvin, Edward pulled Kate to the far side of the room. “You look beautiful, Mrs. Turner,” he said.
“Thank you, Mr. Turner. All I can say is thank goodness Lina picked stretchy material for the maid of honour dress.”
He rubbed her belly again before pressing a brief kiss against her mouth. “I was thinking about a name for her.”
“Oh yeah?” She said.
“Yes. I was thinking we should name her,” he paused and gave her a wicked smile, “Matilda.”
“I am not naming our daughter after your car,” she said.
“It would be after my grandmother, not my car,” he said innocently.
“Nice try,” she said. “Now, go take your seat. I’ve got to help Lina and mom with dad.”
Edward laughed. “You know it won’t make a difference. He sobbed like a baby the whole time he walked you down the aisle at our wedding. I actually felt guilty that I was taking his daughter from him.”
She smiled and pressed a quick kiss against his mouth. “I love you, Edward.”
“I love you too, Katie-did.”
He kissed her again before leaving the room. Kate smiled at her dad as her mother handed him another tissue. “Okay?”
“Yes,” he said. “This is a very emotional day for me. I can’t believe both my baby girls will be married after today.”
He started to tear up again and Julia patted him on the back. “Your first grandchild will probably be born today too.”
“Mom!” Kate said as Lina snickered loudly.
As her father hugged her mother, Kate took Lina’s hands and squeezed them gently. “Are you ready to become Mrs. Aiden Wright?”
“So ready,” Lina said. “Are you ready to be a mom?”
“Yes. But not today,” Kate said with a grin.
“I love you, Katie.”
“I love you too, Lina.”
END
Want to read Lina�
�s and Aiden’s love story? Check out “The Assistant”.
The Assistant is available at all major ebook retailers.
Please enjoy a sample of Ramona’s newest novel, “Sharing Del”.
Sharing Del will be available at all major ebook retailers in January of 2017.
SHARING DEL
Copyright 2016 Ramona Gray
I’m twenty-five years old and I’m not a nice girl. Even my mama says I’m not nice. When I was sixteen she sat me down and told me I was going to hell. Told me that if I didn’t see the light and walk the straight and narrow, God would strike me down with every bit of righteous vengeance he possessed.
At the time I just chalked it up to her being mad. She had, after all, just caught me sucking Tommy Robertson’s cock in the confessional booth at our church. I can’t help it. I like boys. I like them a lot. I’m not really into what you would call the monogamy relationships. I’ve tried. I swear to the Mother Mary I’ve tried but after a few weeks or a few months, I get bored and I’m moving on to my next conquest.
I tried girls for a while. Figured maybe my problem wasn’t committing to one person but committing to one man. I hooked up with a bad girl named Raquel in my first year of college. Oh my sweet blazing Jesus, could that bitch eat pussy. I mean, the girl’s tongue was magic. Turns out though, my issue wasn’t with men. After only a few months I was starting to get bored. I would have left Raquel if she hadn’t left me first. Well, maybe her leaving me isn’t exactly right. I packed my stuff and left when I came home one night and found her tongue-deep in the pussy of her lab partner. She called me a few times, begging for forgiveness, and I told her it was fine. I didn’t tell her I was about to leave her anyway.
Even though she cheated on me, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and I’m kind of worried you know? Worried that there’s something wrong with me that I can’t commit to just one person. I have three older sisters and all of them are happily married to good Catholic boys and popping out babies like they alone are responsible for keeping the earth’s population going.
Last weekend I visited my oldest sister Angela. I left the city and headed for the suburbs, saying a silent prayer every few miles that my rust bucket of a car would make it. I sat at the dinner table, two toddlers clinging to my legs and a baby throwing up on my shirt, and listened as Angela lectured me.
“Del, you’re going to kill mama and daddy. You know that right? They worry about you constantly. Mama spends all her time at mass, praying for your eternal soul. You need to find the right person, settle down and have babies. Children complete your life – trust me on this.”
I rolled my eyes and wiped at the spit-up on my shirt. “Yeah, this feels like a really great time.”
Angela frowned and took the baby, cooing softly to him before wiping his face clean with the hem of her shirt. “I mean it, Del. Daddy’s been having anxiety attacks and mama hardly sleeps at night. At least come to church with us once a month.”
Good old Catholic guilt. It’s alive and well in my family. My parents have seven children and I’m smack dab in the middle and the only one they fret about. My baby brother Mitchell gave them some trouble for a few months in high school but they straightened him out pretty quickly. I’m the only one they’ve never been able to figure out or fix. The fate of my eternal soul causes them a lot of heartache.
Of course, my eternal soul is the last thing I need to be worrying about right now. Paying my rent, eating more than one meal a day – now those are the things that I really need to concentrate on.
I moved to the city on a whim. I was tired of living in the suburbs, tired of living in my parent’s basement and listening to the lectures about why I failed at college, why I failed at relationships, hell, why I failed at life.
I’ve been living in a tiny little apartment on Fifth Street, the walls so thin you can hear my neighbour Jerry whacking off every night to reruns of the goddamn Golden Girls, and working at a dive bar on 17th Avenue. It isn’t the best area in the city but I carry my mace and know how to use it.
The problem is that I was barely scraping by to begin with and now my landlord’s decided to raise the rent. Nine hundred bucks a month for a shit-ass apartment so tiny I can barely turn around in it without banging into the walls. Nine hundred bucks so that I can take a two-minute shower before the water turns cold, watch the cockroaches running across the floor at night, and listen to an old balding man named Jerry cry out Bea fucking Arthur’s name in orgasmic pleasure every goddamn night.
I’m not going to miss it. Well, maybe Jerry.
I have two weeks left before I need to move and I haven’t found anything in my budget. I’m left with two choices – take a second job or get a new apartment with a roommate. I chose a second job because honestly? I don’t play well with others. Except I haven’t found anything yet and time is rapidly running out.
“Del! You thinking of working tonight or ya just gonna stand there diddling yourself?”
I scowled at the bartender. Mark could be a real asshole sometimes. The owner Bill wasn’t around a lot and Mark liked to pretend that he ran the place. I adjusted my short skirt, picked up my tray of drinks and crossed the crowded bar.
It was Saturday night and it was going to be busy. Once a month Bill brought in a local band to play named “Killjoy”. They always brought in a huge crowd. Their lead singer Jesse had vocals of gold and filled out a pair of leather pants better than any man I knew. The first few months I seriously considered trying to get into those leather pants but after watching the groupies throw their panties on stage and flash their tits I stopped even considering it.
Not that I don’t have a kickass body. I might be short but I’m curvy in all the right spots with a set of tits on me that could make a grown man cry. Long dark hair, bright blue eyes and, thanks to my mama’s side of the family, milky-white skin. Maybe if I wasn’t about to be homeless, I’d have thought harder about seducing Jesse.
I set all the mugs of beer but one down on a table full of frat boys.
“Sweetheart, you get better looking every time you walk over here.” The leader of the group grinned at me with perfect white teeth. He was cute in a frat boy bratty kind of way. I briefly considered taking him home and showing him the night of his life, and then rejected it. Fucking some random guy was no way to avoid my problems. Besides, he was too pretty for me. I liked them big and rough. Still, it didn’t mean I couldn’t flirt my way into big tips.
“Why thank you, handsome,” I purred and leaned over him, letting him get a good look down my shirt at my tits before I plucked the bills from his hand.
I turned to walk away and when he smacked me on the ass, I rolled my eyes before turning and giving him a wink. “You’d better watch it, big boy. You never know what I’ll do with that hand.”
“You can do anything you want to it, sweetheart.” The frat boy grinned again as his friends laughed loudly.
I set the last beer down on the table in the corner farthest from the stage. “Hello, Cash.”
“Del.” The big man nodded and took a drink of beer before handing me a few bills. I counted out the change and held it out to him but he shook his head. I nodded gratefully and shoved the bills into my apron pocket.
Cash came in once or twice a month and always sat in my section. He was quiet, kept his hands to himself, and was a big tipper. My favourite kind of customer. I waited a moment to see if he would take a look at my tits but his gaze had already shifted to the stage where the band was starting to set up.
I headed back toward the bar. Cash never looked at my tits, never made rude comments and never drank more than three beers. At first it kind of bugged me that he never made a pass but after a while I found it refreshing. Not that I wouldn’t have taken him up on it if he had. I mean, the man practically screamed sex. And he was exactly the kind of man I liked. Big and broad shouldered, a permanent five o’clock shadow and tanned skin. Dark eyes and full lips, and if he didn’t have a nice hairy chest that a
girl could run her fingers through, I’d eat my own apron. He always wore a scuffed leather jacket with jeans and worn cowboy boots and once, when I had snuck out back for a cigarette near the end of my shift, I had seen him leaving on a motorcycle. A big old Harley that roared loudly in the cool night air.
My pussy pulsed at the thought of riding behind Cash and my panties were suddenly wet. Christ, I really did need to get laid. I didn’t have a chance with Cash but the frat boy was starting to look better and better. There were sudden shrieks and I knew without looking that Jesse and the rest of Killjoy had taken the stage.
I leaned against the bar and watched for a few minutes. Jesse was wearing his usual leather pants only this time he had decided to go without the shirt. He usually ended up half-naked before the show was over anyway, guess he just decided it was pointless to even wear one. As he swayed in time to the music, I studied his upper torso. He was lean and absolutely ripped. Forget six pack, the man had a goddamn eight pack. His nipple rings glinted in the light and I thought about how nice it would be to pull on those rings with my teeth.
I shook my head. Jesus, I had to get control of myself. My panties were soaked through and I was still leaking. I caught the eye of the frat boy and he gave me a wide grin. I smiled back. Frat boy wasn’t my first choice but he’d do.
* * *
I slipped out the back door of the bar and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply. The smoke hit my lungs in a soft rush and I blew it out gently, loving the sweet hit of nicotine. It had been a long night and my feet were killing me. I had just finished cashing out and decided to have a quick smoke before I grabbed my things and took off. Frat boy and his friends had disappeared about ten minutes before the bar closed. I was disappointed but the part of me that wasn’t a complete whore, knew it was for the best. A night of fucking sounded good but it wasn’t going to solve my problems.
I sighed and took another drag on my cigarette. Tomorrow morning I’d –
“Hello, sweetheart.”
I spun around. Frat boy was standing behind me, leaning against the wall and smiling his straight-tooth grin at me.
