We discuss work for the rest of the ride home. Braydon's coming in at ten o'clock for a meeting to get John caught up and assign us back to our previous positions. “Since this one,” he inclines his head in Ilyanna's direction, “is demanding to work from home, she can take over some of the files.” Giving her a pointed look he continues. “And your not going full out. You will be limited.”
She laughs with a salute. “Yes sir.” She grabs his hand and kisses it. “Thank you.” She adds before resting their hands on her lap.
The next thing I know, Brent's nudging my shoulder. “Wake up beautiful, we're at your place.” Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I look around disoriented, taking in my surroundings as his words finally register to my brain.
He laughs at my confused expression. “How long have I been sleeping?” I ask, feeling like a sack of rocks weighed down from exhaustion. The sun hasn't set yet, so I know it couldn't have been too long.
“Just about an hour, we've already stopped by my place so we can just go in and relax until bed.” He takes my hand and pulls me from the back seat of the truck.
Stretching once my feet hit the ground, I turn to Ilyanna. “You guys wanna come in for a bit? Maybe order some take out? Our treat of course for coming to our rescue.” I ask, it's the least we can do to repay them.
She looks to Braydon from the passenger seat and he nods in agreement. “Sure, sounds good. I love being out of the house, the longer the better.” She answers and waits patiently while he comes around to her side to open the door for her, helping her out. Her baby bump is so cute, she's definitely popped since Rachel's wedding. It's hard to believe she only has a couple more months until she has the baby. That reminds me, I have to get with Rachel and finalize the baby shower, which is only a few weeks away.
“Alright. What's everyone in the mood for?” I ask the room at large once we're standing in my kitchen. I pull my collection of menus from the drawer next to fridge and fan them out on the counter. “Let's see, I have chinese, pizza, subs, seafood. I rule out seafood, had enough this weekend to last me a little while. Other than that I'm down with anything. I think we should let momma pick.” I smile at Ilyanna and move away to let her in, waving my arm over the assortment of choices laid out in front of us.
She takes a few minutes to look them over before deciding on chinese. We make a list and I walk into the other room to place the call. When I walk back into the kitchen Brent's phone starts ringing again and he looks at it shaking his head. He exhales before answering it. “Hello?” He sits and listens for a few seconds, then repeats himself. He hits the end button and places it down. “It was the same number from earlier,” he shrugs, “They didn't say anything, weird.”
Yeah, weird. Why would someone be so persistent in trying to get ahold of someone to just not say anything once he finally picks up. Maybe they realized they had the wrong number. “Alright, fill me in on what I missed while I was passed out.” We talked well into the night, completely losing track of time. Brent's phone never rang again but did indicate a text message, but always a good host, he chose to ignore it.
Braydon was the first to notice the time when he checked his phone. “Holy shit, it's ten thirty. Time to get home and get some sleep. Thanks for dinner. Let me know if you need a ride to pick up your car.” Standing, he helps Ilyanna out of her chair.
I didn't notice it before but she's starting to waddle like a duck and I let out a small giggle. All eyes turn to me, wondering what I think's so funny. “She's so cute,” I snort out in full histerics now, bending down and holding my stomach. “I'm sorry, it's your walk. You've started to waddle and I'm just noticing.” Tears are leaking out of my eyes in amusement.
She joins in on my laughter. “I know right, I love it. It just reminds me how close we are until she's born.”
“What? Your having a girl? That's so awesome. I thought you we're keeping it a secret?” I exclaim, they were so set on staying tight lipped.
“I couldn't hold it in anymore, it was killing me. I'm no good at keping secrets. I honestly thought Braydon would crack first.” She's smiling ear to ear. “We've already chosen her name, but that's definitely staying a secret.” She smiles shyly and rubs her belly.
Brent takes Braydon in an awkward manly hug, patting him on the back. “Well looks like I know what to buy you for Christmas.” He comes to stand beside me, placing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.
“Do I even want to know?” Braydon asks, with a grin.
“A shotgun, of course. Your gonna need it if she looks anything like her mother.” I feel absolutely no jealousy at his statement. I have to agree, Ilyanna's a knock out.
“Oh trust me I know, it's already on my things to buy list.” We all laugh before saying our goodbyes and I'm totally burnt out from this weekend. All I can think about right now is taking a nice hot shower and slipping under my covers for a good night sleep.
As if reading my mind, Brent takes my hand and pulls me behind him to the bathroom. “Come on, you look exhausted. Let's get you clean and into bed. Tomorrow's gonna be long day.”
Completely forgetting about her until just now since I haven't seen her the entire time we've been home, I ask, “Hey, have you seen Fenway?” Suddenly panicked, it's not like her to not greet me when I get home.
“Wow, your more tired than I thought. She was curled up on the couch when we walked in. She must have partied while mommy was away. Either that or you share feelings and she's just as wiped out as you are. We passed her again on our way in here, she hasn't moved.” And just like that as sensing we're talking about her, she makes her way to us while meowing to get our attention.
“Hey baby girl, mommy's missed you. Did you miss me too?” I bend down, cooing at her while I rub her favorite spot behind her ear, making her purr. Brent's behind me starting the shower and I decide to check her food and water. Picking her up, I carry her into the kitchen to feed her before returning to the bathroom and finding Brent looking sexy in all of his naked glory.
“Like what you see?” He winks at me and I can't help but laugh at his favorite line.
“You know I do.” I answer as I shamelessly look over his muscular chest, down his toned stomach, to the inviting v lining his hips that leads to my favorite part of his anatomy. I lick my lips, provoking a smoldering look from him.
“Oh no you don't. As much as I enjoy making love to you, your exhausted and we need to get some sleep, you my little sex fiend are insatiable. Believe me I'm not complaining, but I don't want you to be a zombie at work tomorrow from being over sexed.” I pout and stalk towards him as I undress. Seduction it is. As soon as I'm standing directly in front of him, I take hold of his manhood and start working it in my fist, eliciting a moan from his soft mouth. I lean up on my tiptoes and lick the seam of his lips and take advantage of his sharp inhale of breath and plunge my tongue inside. He instantly hardens in my hands and I know I've won.
Laying in bed with my back to his front, he holds me as I fall asleep. The last thing I remember before deep sleep takes me is Fenway being chased by a fair haired little boy, giggling as he runs after her.
*****
Sitting at my desk, I can't help think about how much I enjoy having Brent at my place. Mornings are so much easier than I ever envisioned them being living with a man. He even helps with menial tasks. I wonder how I'm going to broach the subject of him moving in? Would he want to live at my place or his? Can he have pets? Fenway's a deal breaker. If I can't take her, it will have to be mine.
My phone rings, tearing me away from my thoughts. “Hello, Sarah Price, B.C.O financials. How can I help you?” I ask the caller.
“Hey Sarah, it's Rachel. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Absolutely! I'm so happy you called. I was gonna text you later and see if you wanted to meet today for lunch. How was your honeymoon?” I ask, I'm sure she's more than willing to indulge me in the details.
“It was beautiful, I'll tell you more about it at lun
ch. Where do you want to meet? Our deli's about midway, that would work for me.”
“That sounds great. Is noon good for you? A steak and cheese sounds wicked good right about now.” That would have been my choice for dinner last night, I'll just have it today instead.
“Noon works for me, I'll see ya later.”
“I'll see ya in a little bit, I can't wait to hear about your honeymoon and you better have pictures.”
She laughs over the phone. “Come on, you know I do, probably way too many.”
We hang up and I go back to work, counting down the hours until lunch. We'd just finished up our meeting and I'm back in HR with Brent. Braydon said he'll call on me if anything comes up that can't be handled by Ilyanna at home. It's a welcome relief, I was feeling out of my element and just a little overwhelmed.
*****
“I'm so extremely jealous of your tan.” I frown mockingly at Rachel from across the table. “Na, you look awesome. Now show me the pictures.” I demand and stretch my arms toward her clenching and unclenching my fists like a child.
“Damn girl, calm down.” She tells me, laughing while taking her phone from her clutch. She takes a minute to get to the album and hands it over.
There are a few of them together on the beach, but the rest are of the scenery. Breathtaking, crystal blue water, cabanas lining the long expanse of glistening beach. “It looks beautiful.” I say as I hand the phone back to her. “You look great. Have you seen Ilyanna since you've been back?”
“No not yet, we got back kinda late last night and I had work first thing this morning. John and I are going over tonight to visit.” I smile and start to giggle. “What?” she asks and I just shake my head.
“Let's just say she looks like a stuffed duck.” I start to laugh at the look on her face. “You'll see what I'm talking about tonight, she's adorable.” That gives me an idea. “That has to be our theme for her shower, ducks, it'll be perfect.”
“A stuffed duck, huh? Oh boy, I can't wait to see what you mean. I can only imagine. Alright, where are we gonna do this? I think if we go with a hall it will be a dead givaway, so it will have to be your place or mine.” I can tell from the huge smile on her face that she's excited for her best friend.
“I think your place would be better, we could use a ruse of a girl's day. We can smuggle the guests in.” The ideas we could pull off at her house would work much better than at mine. “Not to mention you have a lot more space to accommodate people and it's better for parking too.” We talk about our plans for far too long, making us rush to get back to work.
Ilyanna is going to flip if we can pull everything off. I hope she let's Rachel know about having a girl soon. I was close to slipping a couple of times, but caught myself before revealing the secret.
It was seven o'clock by the time we pulled into my driveway. Brent wanted to stop at his place to grab another suit, some shorts and a tank top, wanting to go for a run tonight. I've decided I'm going to broach the subject of moving in together. To say I'm nervous is an understatement.
His phone signaled an incoming text message next to me on the counter and I wanted to faint from the image on the screen. I pair of naked breasts, flat stomach and powder blue panties were staring up at me, mockingly. I stand frozen on the spot as Brent comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He was just in my room changing for our run and I was grabbing a couple waters from the fridge.
“Ready to go, baby?” He asks, oblivious to what I've just seen on his phone. I stand stock still, slightly shaking in anger. I refuse to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't look good for him at this point. “Baby?” He asks again and turns me to face him. “Why are you crying?” I can't answer him, my eyes cast towards the floor, I can't even look at him. What can I say? I'm speechless. I silently gesture to his phone as I drop it on the counter after illuminating the screen and flee from the room, locking myself in the bathroom.
Fists pound on the door. “Sarah, baby, please talk to me? It's not what you think. Please don't let her win. This is what she wants. Please Sarah? Let me in?” He pleads through the door. I can hear the sadness and anger in his voice and I decide to indulge him. After all I had already decided not to jump to conclusions and that's exactly what I'm doing, isn't it? He thrusts his phone in my face to show me the thread. The offending photo already deleted. “Please look? It's Trisha. I blocked her number from my phone. She must have gotten another one. This is the number that's been calling, making sure it was me before she sent a text. When I finally answered yesterday it was her confirmation. She sent the first last night as you can see, I didn't see it until this morning.”
I take the phone from him and scan the messages. In the one from him to her, he tells her to leave him alone. That he wants nothing to do with her. The ones from her saying she'd made a huge mistake in signing the papers and she misses him. It's obvious he's ignored every one. This bitch is pissing me off. She's already broken us up once, she won't succeed again, that's for damn sure.
I finally look up from his phone into the most heartbroken eyes I have ever seen. They mirror mine and I reach up to wipe his tears away. “She's not going to win this time. She's going to wish she never met you.” He pulls my head in to rest on his chest, completely trusting in what I'm about to do.
Almost forgotten
I couldn't believe the audacity when I opened the text from the same unknown number that's been calling me. It's Trisha, claiming she wants me back. Has she lost her fucking mind? I stare down at her text as I think of a response that will hopefully make my thoughts on the matter perfectly clear. Thinking she could get me back after I spent so much time trying to get rid of her.
I'm teetering on the edge of telling Sarah, or not telling her. I really don't need this mind fuck today, or any other day for that matter. Things are finally getting back to normal now that John's come back to work. I don't want or need any bullshit from my ex.
I'm finally secure again in my relationship with Sarah, feeling like we're moving in the right direction. There's no way I want to go back to the way things were. Those were the absolute worst months of my life.
With anger fresh in my mind I type out a reply.
{ I don't know what kind of game your trying to play, but it stops now. There is no way in hell I would ever take you back. You sealed your fate when it comes to me with your actions while we were married. I suggest you lose this number. I can guarantee it will be changed by tomorrow morning. }
My finger hovers over send, as I read over my words and I make my decision to tell Sarah. The consequences from telling her seem far better than not. If I sound like an asshole, good, I'm trying to. Tapping my screen to send the message, I stare at the phone, seeing it's been delivered. Time will tell if she replies or takes my advice.
I have a meeting to get to and I don't need to be distracted by my psycho ex. Leaving the phone on my desk, I make my way to the conference room. All kinds of reactions from Sarah filter through my mind as I imagine telling her about Trish's last stunt. She's already succeeded in tearing us apart once, I refuse to let it happen again. I just have to get through the rest of the work day with my game face on, worrying about how I'm going to broach the subject. I don't need to seem stressed all day and make her worry when we don't have time to discuss it until tonight.
I must be doing a horrible job of controlling my emotions. The look of concern on John's face as we bump into each other as he's leaving his office tells me exactly what I already know. It's going to be a long seven hours trying to mask my dread.
Slapping me on my shoulder, he stops me in my tracks and I turn to face him. “Hey, are you okay? You look miserable.”
“Well thanks for confirming it. I've had a pretty shit morning. I'm anxious about a conversation I need to have with Sarah later. And no, before you ask, I'm not breaking up with her.” I internally debate asking for advice and it's a short mental argument. “If someone was trying to break you and Rachel up, what would you do? Let's s
ay they send you something in hopes that she sees it, would you tell her and get it over with? Give the other person satisfaction in what they want, or keep it from her and just ignore it?”
I watch as recognition dawns on his face. “Holy shit. Not Trisha? What the fuck's she done this time?” He keeps his voice as low as possible, but I can easily detect the annoyance in his tone. I quickly fill him in as we walk side by side down the hallway.
Seeing Sarah sitting at the table in her usual seat next to mine, smiling at me as I enter the room gives me some comfort. Her eyebrows raise at the expression on my face and I lose it real fast to paste a smile in it's place, hoping she chalks it up to being work related.
The meeting was as uneventful as I thought it would be and all thoughts of Trisha were absent from my mind until returning to my office and finding another text from her on my phone. She has to be delusional. This time pleading with me about how much she misses me, how much she loves me. What she did to me was the worst decision she's ever made and it's enough to send me running to the bathroom to lose my breakfast.
Why? Why? Why?
Why now? Does she have some sick radar that tells her the perfect time to strike?
All I know is having Sarah home alone is not going to get here fast enough. I need to get this off my chest before it eats me alive.
*****
When we get to Sarah's house later than expected, I head straight for her room to change. She decided she wants to go for our run before dinner.
Finding her in the kitchen, standing at the counter, I take her in my arms, her back to my front and can hear her almost silent sobbing. Looking at her hands I notice she's holding my phone. The screen's black but I can only imagine what was on it before I came into the room. Cursing myself for my stupidity, I scream in my head. What the fuck was I thinking, leaving my phone on the counter? I was planning on telling her at dinner. I sure as hell didn't want her to see it on her own and think I'm keeping things from her.
Fighting Desire (Bay State Series Book 2) Page 10
