Just like Grey (Series ONE Complete Set): Billionaire Romance

by Jessie Cooke

  “If you’re going to tell Nicky everything, then I want you to tell her everything, including that we are working towards a future,” he retorted.

  “I don’t know why you are expecting me to do something that even you can’t seem to do? How many conversations have you had with her, yet this is the first she’s learning about any of this?”

  “Because I want to be able to tell her there’s a future with you. Because I want to be able to tell her that, yes—there’s someone else. Because I want to tell her that part of the reason there’s no hope for anything more with me is because you have my heart and I’m committed to you.”

  Bella sat for a second in silence. She didn’t know what to say to Reece, and she didn’t want to work him up any more.

  “I . . . I,” she began, but didn’t get very far.

  Reece shook his head. “I know I’m putting pressure on you, and I’m sorry. I just hate being locked up in this hospital. I’m sick of being here. I’m ready to get out of here and get back to my place with my things and not have nurses bothering me every time I open my eyes.”

  “What are you going to do when you get out of here?” Bella asked.

  “I can hire a private nurse if I have to. My mom would be willing to come stay with me, but—let’s face it: even in situations when you want your mom, you don’t want her there twenty-four-seven.”

  Bella nodded, imagining the insanity her own mother would cause if she were staying with her for days on end.

  “I could stay,” she heard herself offer.

  Reece looked at her intently. “What about work?”

  Bella shrugged. “I have some vacation time and sick leave building up. I could use some of that. If worse came to worse, I could commute to Fort Worth for the day and come back for nighttime with you.”

  A slight smile lit Reece’s eyes from the inside. “That would be great,” he said.

  “Yeah?”

  He nodded. “Then I can wine and dine you some more.”

  Bella laughed lightly. “I think those days are over for you for just a bit, but the sentiment is appreciated. Even though it’s not needed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You have me, Reece.” She swallowed the voice that was rising in her throat trying to stop her from telling him everything in her heart. “You don’t have to try and win me. You’ve won.”

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Reece said, his body leaning forward away from his pillows.

  “I’m saying I’d like to work towards a future with you,” she said. “I’m saying that maybe Nicky’s right: I should just agree to be Hayley Jo’s godmother because I’m with you anyway. I’m saying . . . I love you, too.”

  Reece’s grin spread across his face, and he pulled Bella towards him, crushing her lips to his. She pulled herself back.

  “Careful,” she said.

  “You hear that?” Reece asked and tilted his head towards the machinery. The beeping of his heart rate had accelerated, and they laughed. Bella watched the numbers going up.

  “I’d better get away from you. You could blow a gasket or something,” she said, but Reece responded with another tug.

  “Say it again,” he whispered.

  She put her face right up to his, her lips barely brushing his soft as butterfly wings. “I love you,” she said again.

  “I love you, too,” he answered. “And just so you know, I heard you say it the first night you were here. Both times.”

  Bella’s eyes narrowed at him. “Just so you know, if you weren’t already in such dire straits, Mr. Hamilton, I’d pummel you right now with a pillow.”

  “How about a sponge bath and we call it even?”

  The beeping on the monitor accelerated once again.

  69

  “And so, since you’ll still be taking the pain medication, you should probably just stay in a few days, but most certainly no driving,” the doctor said. He turned to Bella. “I should probably tell you all of this rather than Reece. He seems to me the stubborn kind.”

  “I can be stubborn, too,” Bella assured the doctor.

  “Good. Just make sure he’s comfortable. And keep that foot elevated as much as possible to control the swelling. Other than that, I’ll see you in two weeks.”

  The nurse steered a wheelchair into the room and put the wheels on lock. “Alrighty,” she sang. “Your chariot awaits.”

  “I’m not getting in that thing,” Reece commented.

  “Oh, don’t be such a tough guy,” the nurse said. “Let us take you out in style.”

  “Delilah, have you seen my car?” Reece asked.

  “No.”

  “It’s a sliver Porsche Boxster S series, convertible. That, my friend, is leaving here in style. This contraption is not.” Reece slid himself off the bed and reached for the steel crutches. “I’ll be fine leaving like this.”

  “Well, I wish I could let you,” Delilah began, “but you see it’s hospital procedure. Now, I can take you out nicely, or I can go get Andre to help you out. Have you met Andre? He was a right guard at Baylor before he started working here. We just love him to pieces. Great problem solver, he is.”

  Reece rolled his eyes. “Okay, Yoda. I’ll comply, but you just note for the record that I was very capable of leaving this hospital under my own steam.”

  As she wheeled him out, Delilah turned to Bella. “What is it with men and these things anyway? There’s hardly ever a guy I don’t have to fight to let us take him out in a wheelchair.”

  Bella shook her head. “What is it with men and being sick? I’ve always thought they were such babies. Good thing they aren’t the ones capable of giving birth; the entire human race would die off. They’d never be able to take it. They get a hangnail, and it’s the end of the world.”

  Delilah laughed. “Don’t I know it!”

  “I can hear you two,” Reece commented.

  “Good,” Bella said. “Maybe you’ll think twice now before we get you home and you begin your pity party.”

  Delilah handed her a white paper bag. “These are his medications. One is the pain pill. If he feels like he can go without it, just use Tylenol. He’s been tapering himself down, so he may only want to use a little bit at night so that he can rest. The other is to fight infection. He’ll need that daily as he’s healing.” She went around to the front of the wheelchair. “It was a pleasure to care for you, Mr. Hamilton. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we don’t see each other for a while . . . at least not back here.”

  Reece smiled. “Thanks for everything, Delilah. I am very grateful.”

  Once Bella got Reece settled into his room, his plastered leg propped up on a pillow. He was scrolling through the email on his phone when he grabbed Bella’s wrist and pulled her down on the large bed beside him.

  “I never did get that sponge bath,” he smiled at her.

  “And at this rate, you never will,” she said. “I need to check in with the office and most likely head out to meet a client. Perhaps—if you are a compliant patient—you’ll get it a little later tonight.” She scooted herself over to him and kissed him gently on his lips.

  He inhaled her scent. “Just the smell of you makes me horny!” he grinned, and Bella could tell by the way his cotton lounge pants tented that he wasn’t merely joking.

  She ran her hand along the tent of his pants and heard his breath catch. “It’s a good thing that extra damage was not done,” she said.

  “All the more reason to stay off the pain meds,” he replied, and she laughed.

  Suddenly, Reece snapped his fingers. “Hey. I wanted to show you something,” he said, swiping his finger across the screen of his phone repeatedly. He found what he was looking for: the picture that Officer Jackson had sent him of the unknown guy. Handing the phone over to Bella, he said, “Do you happen to know this fella?”

  Bella took the phone and looked at it for barely a millisecond before she answered, “That’s Dave. Nicky’s ex.”
>
  “Son of a bitch,” Reece mumbled. “That’s exactly what I was afraid of.”

  Bella’s brow furrowed, and she bit her lip. “Hmmmmmm,” she said, and she began scrolling through the pictures on Reece’s phone.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Looking for this,” she said, and she tilted the screen of the phone towards Reece.

  “A picture of Hayley?” he asked.

  “Look at her carefully,” she instructed.

  “What?”

  “Really examine her,” she told him, and he complied by squinting in concentration. She removed the phone and scrolled back to the picture he had of Dave. “Now, look at Dave.”

  Reece’s eyes widened.

  “Like father and daughter,” Bella said tentatively.

  “Son of a bitch,” Reece breathed, and decided he may need a painkiller after all.

  70

  Bella Ryan looked down at the sleeping Reece Hamilton. She could tell that he was dreaming of the accident again. He shouted once, a sharp yelp of surprise, and then his body jerked, and then a loud “oooof” came from his lips. She sat up in the bed, resting her back against the suede headboard of the bed in the apartment Reece insisted she call “theirs”. She reached over to him and smoothed his forehead as she whispered to him.

  “Sshhh, Reece. You’re okay,” she said.

  His eyes fluttered opened suddenly, and Reece looked around him, first in alarm, and then in a settled sense of relief.

  “It’s okay,” Bella cooed. “You’re home. You’re okay.”

  Reece tried a weak smile. “I just can’t stop reliving that moment,” he said. “It’s . . . it’s just so real—I hear the tires squeal. I feel the impact. My body braces as I go through the air. That part almost seems like I’m flying. The weird thing is that it feels like it takes forever, and then suddenly, I feel the pavement stopping me.”

  “Ssshhh,” Bella said as she slid herself closer to him, cradling him as best she could. “I’m sure you’re going to have that nightmare for a while, but just remember: you’re home and you’re okay. The doctor says you’re healing well. You’ll be out and about in no time.”

  Reece relaxed himself against her, his head in her lap, feeling her warmth and softness. “Have I told you today how glad I am that you’re here?” he asked.

  “Not yet today,” she responded, “but you don’t need to tell me. I know.”

  An alarm on her phone was going off, and she disabled it and rose from the bed. “Time for your meds,” she said.

  Reece grimaced. “No pain pills,” he insisted.

  Bella turned to him, a look of concern on her face. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Bella, the nightmares are worse on the pain pills. Not to mention they’re weirder too. Last night I dreamt that I hit the pavement and all these spiders came crawling out of me—all my orifices—eyes, nose, mouth, hell, I even had them coming from my ears. I could feel them inside me. No. No paid meds. Besides, I want to get out of here and back to normal sooner rather than later. The pain pills keep me from being able to do that.”

  She shrugged and followed the action with a nod. She understood. Reece Hamilton was a go-getter, and this accident was keeping him from going and getting as he was accustomed to. She had seen it. The pain killers debilitated him even more, especially mentally, and she didn’t blame him for hating the way they made him feel so slow. She gathered up his antibiotics and filled a glass of water for him. Then took everything into his room and settled herself back on the bed.

  “When are we going to talk about it, Reece?”

  He knew she didn’t mean the accident. He knew she meant the baby. The discovery of Dave and Nicky’s secret reunion, and the comparison Bella had done of Dave and Hayley Jo had been enough proof for the both of them that Nicky had duped them into believing Hayley was Reece’s child.

  “We can talk about it now,” Reece remarked. “I haven’t brought it up because I didn’t want to upset you.”

  “I’m already upset,” Bella replied. “I thought I knew Nicky. I’d never really liked Dave that much—always had a bad feeling about him—but, I’d like to think I know a girl who professed to be my best friend a little better than this!”

  “I know,” Reece sighed.

  “Are you going to have a paternity test done?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t really think there’s that much use in it. Any fool can look at Dave and Hayley and know that he’s the father. I wondered where she got such light hair and broader nose, but I figured it ran in Nicky’s family. Her hair is blonde.”

  “But not that blonde,” Bella pointed out. “And most of hers comes from a bottle anyway.”

  “Yeah, I guess I just . . . well, I guess a part of me wanted it to be true—to feel like I had fathered her. How else do you explain the love you develop for a little one so quickly? I think I was more ready to be a father than I was ready to admit to myself. I felt like Hayley Jo was my greatest accomplishment.

  “She still is, Reece. You’ve been more of a father to her than Dave. And you’ve done the right thing by her—raising her as your own, taking responsibility for what you thought had happened. You’ve done right by Hayley and by Nicky. You’re a good man,” Bella whispered.

  “I’m relatively sure she’s been stealing from me as well,” he admitted.

  Bella shook her head in disbelief. “I just don’t know what became of her. How did she become this person? Hormones can’t make you change that much.”

  Reece laughed a short, dry laugh. “Nah. It’s been there. My guess is she received influence from someone else.”

  “Are you going to confront her?”

  “By all means,” Reece said. He was staring straight ahead, and Bella knew he was imagining the various ways he would reveal his knowledge of all her secrets to her. “I’m going to ask her to come here. Perhaps tomorrow, while you’re gone to the office.”

  “Might be a good idea to remove the portrait from the wall,” Bella mused. He nodded in assent. “What are you going to tell her?”

  “That I know the truth about Hayley’s father, and I that I know she’s been stealing from me, and that I expect her to pay back every single cent she took with interest, or I will call my lawyer.”

  “How is she going to pay all of that back, Reece? She was stealing? Obviously she doesn’t have the money.”

  “She’s been living off of my good graces long enough. I don’t care what she does, but she’s not getting another ounce of anything from me—except my wrath and some time with my lawyer if she doesn’t find a way.”

  Bella noticed Reece’s face reddening with the discussion, and she was sure his blood pressure had risen to levels that weren’t healthy, so she figured it would be a good time to calm him down.

  “I think it’s getting to be that time,” she said.

  “What time?” he asked.

  In response, she sniffed the air around him. “You know I love the musty smell of your manliness,” she started, “but it’s almost getting to be a little overwhelming.”

  Reece laughed. “I guess you’re right. I thought I caught a whiff of myself earlier, and as many sweaty nightmares as I’ve had lately, it’s probably a good idea to freshen me and the sheets up.

  She kissed his head. “I’ll go get everything ready.”

  She came back to find Reece had removed his own clothing and was already aroused at the idea of the sponge bath.

  “What makes you think anything extra comes with this bath?” Bella asked.

  “I can’t help it,” Reece defended himself. “The thought of you washing me down so lovingly had an effect on me.” He grinned his devilish grin.

  “That’s obvious,” Bella said, but she felt herself getting aroused. “If only I had one of those naughty nurse’s costumes, then we could complete this little fantasy I’m sure you’ve had for a while.”

  Reece purred in agreement. “Now you’re really getting me hot.”

>   Bella carried the small tub of warm soapy water over to the side of the bed. The towel she had slung over her shoulder, she placed beside him, and slowly, she began stroking his exposed skin with the soft sponge. She held his arm out over the tub so that it would drip the excess water into it, and then repeated the procedure on the leg that wasn’t plastered. She saved his chest and private area for last, but made sure to get everything good and clean. Reece lay his head back on the pillow, enjoying every touch and every swab she made. His pulsing erection made it very clear just how much he enjoyed it, and Bella couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off him, nor could she stop from becoming excited herself.

  “You know, you’ve done so much for me, Reece,” Bella said as she finished up and took the small tub of water back into the bathroom to toss into the large Jacuzzi tub and rinse down the drain. She came back out stark naked and crawled onto the bed. “Why don’t you let me do a little something for you?”

  She kissed his bare chest, still damp from the sponge bath, and licked her way to each of his nipples.

  “Is this really happening?” Reece said. “I want to make sure it’s not the meds.”

  Bella licked her way down his chest to the part she really wanted. She closed her lips around it, eliciting a moan of satisfaction from Reece. Her tongue stroked the backside as she pulled her lips from him.

  “I don’t think the meds would allow all of this,” she said casually.

  “Turn around,” Reece requested, and she did, so that he could see and access the view he really wanted. She felt his hand slide underneath her to her stomach before he pulled her towards himself.

  She returned her lips to where they’d been and enveloped him in her warmth. The pressure was steady, and Reece could feel her tongue soft and sure against him. His fingers tantalized her, circling and pinching at the pulsing nerve center. She shifted and increased suction which made him gasp, and he knew he could never want anyone like this ever again. It was Bella and only Bella—always Bella—forever.